The Cut Collective

Edition #295

Good morning! ☀️

With Christmas done and dusted, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things here at TJW. Tomorrow we’ll preview the Seahawks game, but today I wanted to take a little look back.

Coach Saleh said this about cutdown day back in August "It’s absolutely miserable because you're going to have to say goodbye to someone you've been with since OTAs, some guys you've been with since last year. This is the worst part of the job and the worst part of the game, but it's one of those necessary evils.", what happened to some of those players?

It’s a good exercise to see if Joe Douglas made the right decision in terms of his roster construction, but also if you’re reading this you’re probably like me and want to know as much as possible about past Jets, current Jets, and future Jets.

🧐 How poor has the left side of the Jets line been in the running game this year? Very poor. According to ESPN stats and information. Over the last two weeks, Duane Brown ranks 67th out of 67 qualified tackles, and Tomlinson ranks 65th out of 68 qualified guards in terms of run-block win rate. McGovern and Herbig are also bottom five in that timeframe.

👍 The Jets designated offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to return to practice having been on injured reserve and having missed the last four games with a groin injury. Barring injury, he’ll be a backup the rest of the way with Duane Brown and George Fant manning the tackle positions. It’s good to have some cover considering Max Mitchell has been shut down for the rest of the season.

🏃‍♂️ Earlier this week Coach Saleh spoke about Streveller and potentially using him the rest of the way in a limited package, he didn’t guarantee it but he left the possibility open. Usually, if an offense is moving the ball, I hate teams taking out the QB, but it completely depends on the situation.

🚨 There was an interesting report in the Washington Post recently which quoted a “high-ranking NFL official” saying: “This is killing [owner Woody Johnson] trust me, I know him well ... All of that booing is driving him crazy. He already wasn’t really sold on this coach. He’s going to want [offensive coordinator Mike] LaFleur out and some changes to that staff. He can’t help himself. Weren’t they 6-3 at the bye? And now they’re getting booed out of their own stadium at Christmas. I’m telling you, something is going to happen there” Definitely one to watch.

🕵️‍♂️ According to multiple reports, The NFLPA initiated a joint review Tuesday into the application of concussion protocol in relation to the Dolphin’s handling of QB Tua Tagovailoa. Just a reminder that this is Tua’s third concussion of the season or at least the third time he’s entered the protocol.

🤒 In terms of injuries for the Jets, Joyner was back at practice and Denzel Mims is in the final stages of the concussion protocol, so he’s nearing a return. Jeff Smith and Brandin Echols were both absent.

Before we get to the cut focus, I think it’s worth just spending a couple of minutes talking about Derek Carr.

First-year Raiders coach Josh McDaniels announced yesterday that they were benching their QB, a player who had started 91 straight games for the franchise in favor of former Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham.

According to an ESPN source, it was decided that Carr would step away from the team for the rest of the season so as to not be a distraction. This comes just months after Carr signed a new three-year $121.5 million extension, before convincing his former college teammate Davante Adams to join the Raiders in a trade.

Carr has had a disappointing first year with McDaniels but has still thrown for over 3,500 yards and 24 touchdowns, although he does have a career-high 14 interceptions. Carr had a stretch this year where he threw 9 touchdowns to just 1 interception over 7 games, but a couple of 3 interception games have ballooned his turnover numbers.

Carr holds pretty much every single franchise passing record for Las Vegas and while McDaniels didn’t call this the end, it’s tough to bench your franchise QB who’s thrown 10 more touchdowns than interceptions, and then go back to him in the off-season. Chances are he’ll be moved and the Jets, in my opinion, should be very interested.

Carr has been able to find success on a relatively poor team over the years, and when you talk about a QB being able to elevate the players around him, I think Carr is the perfect example. Over the course of his career he’s passed for the following:

35,222 yards
64.6% Completion
217 Touchdowns
99 Interceptions
33 Game Winning Drives
28 Fourth-Quarter Comebacks

He’s also been pressured on 36% of his dropbacks this year but thrown for 1,034 yards and 6 touchdowns (4 INT) when facing that pressure, completing 50.9% of his passes which is a top-12 number among full-time QBs this year who have at least 60 drop backs of pressure (34 in total).

I’ve included his passing chart below and we’ll look into this in more detail as we get closer to the off-season, but for now, my interest is most definitely piqued.

I’m not going to focus on all the cuts we made, as I’d need to go through around 40 players and you’d all probably fall asleep before you reached the bottom. I’m also not going to focus on any player that was cut but returned through the practice squad like Chris Streveler.

Instead, I’m going to focus on 5 players who made an impact or were seen as developmental prospects, who ended up playing elsewhere in 2022, starting with a player the Jets drafted.

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Jason Pinnock

The Jets drafted Pinnock out of Pittsburgh in the 5th round of the 2021 draft. Towards the end of the season, he moved from cornerback to safety and made a handful of plays which raised expectations heading into camp this year.

Unfortunately for Pinnock he was rather anonymous through camp failing to make an impact and it ultimately came down to Pinnock or Ashtyn Davis, the Jets liking the athleticism of Davis decided to cut Pinnock free.

The Jets were interested in bringing Pinnock back if he cleared waivers, but the Giants stepped in to sign the 23-year-old and he’s managed to play 12 games so far, including starting 4 of the last 5 games at free safety.

Pinnock has 36 tackles on the season including 2 for a loss. He also has 10 pressures and 2 QB sacks while having two pass breakups against just the one touchdown allowed. He is allowing 66.67% of passes to be completed into his coverage, but as a 2nd year player in the league, he’s holding his own.

If you then look at what we’re getting out of Ashtyn Davis, I think it’s probably safe to say that if we were given the option again, we’d make a different decision.

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Trevon Wesco

Was it a surprise to see Wesco get cut? Not really. The Jets haven’t really utilized a fullback in their offensive philosophy this year and the tight end room was absolutely packed with the signings of Conklin and Uzomah to go with the drafting of Ruckert.

Wesco ended up in Chicago with Justin Fields and he’s predominantly been used as a run blocker this season, with the Bears favoring a run-heavy attack. When he’s been asked to pass-block (just 15 snaps) he’s done it well, allowing 0 pressures.

Chicago has used Wesco as a more traditional TE, with the former Jet only seeing 3 snaps all season from the backfield.

As a receiving threat, Wesco hasn’t offered a great deal. He’s been targeted just 3 times this season, catching 2 of them for 26 yards. Wesco has been missing over the last few weeks due to a calf injury he picked up in the game against the Jets in week 12

I don’t think anyone in NY is losing sleep over this one.

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Tevin Coleman

Perhaps one of the more surprising cuts of the off-season, I thought the Jets would keep Tevin around based on his experience both as a professional and within the offensive system. He averaged 4.2 yards with the Jets last year for 356 yards. Instead, the Jets decided to keep hold of Ty Johnson.

It took Tevin 3 weeks to find a new home as he returned to San Francisco via the practice squad. Coleman has largely been inactive this year, being elevated for just three games. He had one good game against Carolina where he rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass to, but that’s really been in for the year.

With Coleman averaging 2.2 yards per attempt, it looks as though the Jets made the right move in keeping Ty Johnson who’s largely been on the outside looking in this year, but has averaged 6.0 yards and attempt. It’s also worth mentioning that Johnson has vastly improved his pass-blocking as well this year.

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Javelin Guidry

Unlike the first three guys on this list, Guidry didn’t find it quite as easy to find a new home in 2022. After being cut by the Jets on the 30th of August, Guidry made a few pit stops.

First, he was claimed by the Cardinals off of waivers before being waived by Arizona on the 10th of September. On the 12th of September, he was claimed by Las Vegas off waivers before being released on the 21st, later signing to the Raiders practice squad on the 23rd. On the 25th he was released again.

On the 31st he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles to their practice squad before being released on the 6th of December. On the 8th of December, he was signed to the Falcons practice squad and hasn’t been activated once.

It seems as though the Jets made the right call here.

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Jabari Zuniga

I always like Zuniga but he never developed the way you hope a 3rd round pick will develop and after spending much of the 2021 season on the Jets practice squad, the writing was always on the wall.

After being cut by the Jets on August 30th, Jabari found his way to the Seahawks practice squad before being cut on October 12th. From there he worked his way to the New Orleans practice squad, which is where he’s stayed for the majority of the 2022 season.

Zuniga did see action in New Orleans's week 11 game against LA and did register a pressure, but that’s the only game he’s been active for.

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