Stock Report

Edition #201

Good morning

Today we’re going to complete our coverage of the Philadelphia game and look toward our joint practice with the Falcons on Friday/Saturday ahead of our pre-season game against Atlanta on Monday.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning straight away that Zach Wilson’s surgery was deemed a success with no new surprises showing up. So the original diagnosis of a meniscus tear and a bone bruise was accurate, the timescale for that injury ranges from 2-6 weeks.

According to multiple reports, the Jets won’t rush Wilson, so don’t be surprised if Joe Flacco is starting in week one against Baltimore.

• Tuesday represented the first cut-down day in the NFL where teams needed to trim their rosters from 90 players to 85. The next deadline is Tuesday the 23rd of August when teams will need to trim their roster from 85 to 80.

• We've released DB Luq Barcoo, OL Derrick Kelly, DE Timmy Ward and WR Rashard Davis. The Jets also announced that they had placed tackle Mekhi Becton on IR, completing the 5 player roster trim.

• New left tackle Duane Brown was working out to the side again yesterday. He’ll need multiple days of conditioning before he enters team workouts. Hope is that the offensive line will have time to gel before the season starts.

• There was good news for the secondary as DJ Reed returned to team training after getting over a hamstring injury. His absence gave Bryce Hall a chance to remind everyone of his talent and he’s largely done a very good job.

• Sacks continued in practice yesterday with Carl Lawson sacking Joe Flacco on his first pass attempt (beating Mitchell) and then Jermaine Johnson sacking Mike White on his first pass attempt.

• Joe Flacco did get some payback though as he threw back-to-back touchdowns in the red zone. First, he connected with (who else) Tyler Conklin, and then on the next play, he hit Breece Hall, who continues to be a dangerous receiving weapon out of the backfield. Later in team drills he connected on two touchdowns to Corey Davis.

• Braxton Berrios has had a pretty quiet camp so far by all accounts, but he was found by Mike White for a touchdown yesterday. Nice to see slim shady coming up big.

• Chris Streveler then added touchdown passes of his own to Ty Johnson and Tevin Coleman. He then found Denzel Mims in double coverage and the Jets wide receiver climbed the ladder to bring it down. Plenty of touchdowns on the defense in yesterday’s session.

I’ve managed to go back and have another look at the game, and today I’m going to outline players who really helped their cause and players who hurt their stock.

STOCK UP

Micheal Clemons - We don’t need to spend too much time on this one considering yesterday’s newsletter was dedicated to him. The 7 pressures and sack were great but he also showed a real controlled aggression and football intelligence in his pass-rush and when playing the run. Overall he was the most impressive Jet on the field.

Rachad Wildgoose - Playing inside and outside, Wildgoose had a good day in defending the run, he was credited with 4 defensive stops that represented a failure for the offense. He allowed 30 yards on 3 catches in 29 coverage snaps. I’m not sure there is a place on the team for Rachad but if he keeps playing like this he’ll find a spot somewhere, in NY or elsewhere.

Tanzel Smart - The Jet’s interior defensive line depth is a little murky, so Smart was a pleasant surprise on Friday with 5 pressures and 2 sacks. He was constantly getting a good push inside and although he was sometimes out of position on running plays he also was credited with 4 defensive stops. There’s a world where he makes the 53-man roster.

Jabari Zuniga - The 3rd round pick from the 2020 draft hasn’t enjoyed a straightforward run with the Jets, he was waived last September because signing back onto the practice squad. On Friday he was credited with 5 pressures, 1 sack, and 5 total tackles. With all the depth at the defensive end position, I don’t see a spot for him on this roster, but he may well be playing his way into a trade. If we can get a somewhat valuable pick back for Zuniga, then that will be a win for the Jets.

Lawrence Cager - The former Georgia man now looks the part of a tight end after transitioning from being a wide receiver. He’s a maximum effort player who continues to improve with every snap he gets at his new position. He was only in for 18 snaps, but he caught both passes that came his way for 40 yards and he showed some wiggle after the catch to force one missed tackle. He was also given a 73.7 grade as a run blocker.

Nate Herbig - When we nabbed Herbig off waivers from the Eagles in May I thought it was a bit of a steal, and throughout the off-season, he’s done nothing to change that opinion. Herbig played 36 snaps on Friday (2nd highest for a lineman behind Mitchell) and he gave up 0 pressures, despite playing both left guard and center. He was given a decent 62.9 run-blocking grade as well. We may not feel comfortable with our tackle depth, but inside we’re all good.

Jeremy Ruckert - Ruckert may have only played 10 snaps, but he brought in a touchdown and received a 74.7 grade in the run game, something he was known for at Ohio State. Ruckert only started practicing last week so to already see him produce in the game is very encouraging. Hopefully, we see more of him against the Falcons.

Chris Streveler - The former Miami Dolphin only signed with the Jets in July and up until Friday he hadn’t taken any snaps in team drills, so for him to come in and complete 66.7% of his passes for 2 touchdowns and 0 INTs is impressive. I know e was playing against backups and I’m not calling for him to replace Zach…but he certainly helped his case to stick around on the practice squad.

STOCK DOWN

Zach Wilson - I hate having to include Zach on here but it wasn’t the best opening performance. He sailed an easy completion over the head of Garrett Wilson then threw an ugly interception to a linebacker by staring down his receiver, and then followed that up by staying in bounds and failing to protect himself, which led to him injuring his knee. The injury is what it is, but the performance beforehand is the reason he’s here.

Keshunn Abram - When you’re a wide receiver who’s on the bubble, you can’t afford to make a mistake. Abram had one target and he had one drop, a few days later he was released to make room for the signing of Duane Brown, unfortunately, that’s the harsh reality of the NFL. With the depth at receiver, he was always a long shot to make the final 53 and he may still be brought back for the practice squad.

Irvin Charles - This one pains me but Charles didn’t help himself on Friday. He was targeted three times, twice in the red zone and he failed to come down with a catch. He had a touchdown before losing it as he went to the ground, the defender made a great play on the ball, but Charles would expect to do better there.

Denzel Mims - Denzel had some good moments catching 2 balls for 25 yards, but he has also targeted more than any other Jet and his 40% reception rate isn’t great. He had a bad illegal formation penalty when he lined up incorrectly and then that led to a bad drop on a pass he’d expect to catch 99 times out of 100. Mims is a prime trade candidate this off-season but he needs to take the chances when they come to him.

Mike White - The 2021 Halloween Hero looked off in his first pre-season game and he was convincingly outplayed by 4th stringer Chris Streveler. White completed just 10 of his 20 attempts for a 50% completion rate while averaging just 4.9 yards per attempt (Streveler was at 6.9 yards). He didn’t turn the ball over but he also didn’t look like the Mike White we saw against the Bengals.

The Philadelphia Eagles traded wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the Seattle Seahawks for defensive back Ugo Amadi. The former 2nd-round pick moved to tight end this off-season but apparently, the Seahawks are planning to move him back to WR.

Carl Nassib signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Bucs yesterday, returning after leaving Tampa for Las Vegas after the 2019 season. His most productive years came while with the Bucs.

The Denver Broncos announced the signing of linebacker Joe Schobert, a player who tied for the league lead in tackles in 2017.

Cleveland Browns Center Dawson Deaton suffered a torn ACL at Monday's practice. Cleveland already lost starting center Nick Harris for the season last week.

Some news from our week one opponents as Baltimore activated star CB Marcus Peters off the PUP list. Peters missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL.

The Houston Texans waived former Jet Jordan Jenkins yesterday, Jenkins appeared in 11 games for the Texans last year after spending the first 5 years of his career in New York.