Time For Action

Edition #685

Good morning!

As I’ve said throughout pre-season, it’s better to wins games than lose them. Winning becomes a habit, and it helps organisational confidence, so while it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, I’m pretty happy that the Jets are walking out of the pre-season relatively healthy and with a 3-0 record.

The dress rehearsal is complete, now it’s time for the action to start. The next time we see the Jets, we’ll be seeing the starters face off against one of the best teams in football, on the road. I’m not sure there’s a much tougher test in football than the 49ers in San Francisco. How good can this Jets team be? We’re about to find out.

As mentioned last week, I’m in Germany this week in the beautiful city of Cologne. I’m going to try and keep things as normal as possible, but if we miss an odd day or the timing is off, it’s likely because I’m eating bratwurst with a stein of beer…or my kids are dragging me around the chocolate factory for the 10th time.

• By my count, four players really helped their chances of sticking with the 53. Izzy Abanikanda (9 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD) did everything you could ask and more. He’s done enough to be RB4 and he’s shown some really encouraging signs with his ability to run through contact. Takk McKinley feasted (2.5 sacks) and honestly he could have had more. He said he has a lot of personal growth to work on through his career, well the Jets could be the beneficiaries. Leonard Taylor III was a nuisance all night, if the Jets want to develop him they’ll have to do so with him on the 53 man roster, he won’t make it through waivers. Braiden McGregor (2 sacks) had himself a good game and he’s going to make it very tough to cut him. My gut is the Jets do cut him and he gets picked up on waivers, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make it. Eric Watts on the other hand, I think he’s gone.

• Greg the Leg missing two field goals in one game? That was strange. But it’s pre-season and he probably wasn’t locked in with his roster place secure. Sure he’ll be back to his best once the season starts.

• The Dolphins are releasing former Jets QB Mike White, and no we shouldn’t look to bring him back. We’ll always have Halloween, but we need to move on.

I’ve been reflecting on my roster projections for the new season. I genuinely believe this is the best Jets roster in at least the last 15 years. Is it better than those 2009/10 rosters? For me the answer is yes. Maybe this is as good as it’s been in the 21st century.

Over the next 24 hours, teams are going to cut around 37 players each. That’s around 1180 players hitting the waiver wire in a 24 hour period. Because of the sheer volume, some teams believe they can sneak talented players through to the practice squad.

The Jets tried to do that with Jason Pinnock, and the Giants pounced. Logic would dictate that the better a team is perceived to be, the more attention they’ll get on cut-down day. If I’m the Jets scouting department, I start the waiver wire focus on teams like the Chiefs, 49ers, Ravens, Lions, Texans, Packers and then work my way back to the likes of Washington and New England.

For the Jets that’s an issue. Many believe the Jets are at least playoff contenders if not championship contenders. So all those teams are going to be focused on the cuts made by Joe Douglas, so if he hopes to sneak someone like Leonard Taylor III onto the practice squad, it’s not going to happen.

This means that he’s going to need to do some real roster gymnastics. We’re in a privileged position where we have more than 53 players who deserve to make an NFL roster. A few years ago we had less than 53 players who deserved to make an NFL roster, so we’ve come a long way under Joe Douglas, and while he is far from perfect, I still think he’s done an incredible job building out this roster in the right way.

Here are a few players I think we’ll cut, who will get claimed by other teams.

Braiden McGregor - I had him in my final roster, and that’s before his multiple sack game on Saturday night. But if you really look at the numbers, it’s hard to work him in. The Jets run an 8 man rotation on the defensive line and they’ll likely carry 9 defensive lineman. If that’s the case then the numbers just don’t work for McGregor as he’d be battling for that final spot with Leonard Taylor III, and I would be pretty shocked at this point if he didn’t make it. If the Jets carry four linebackers instead of five then you can fit McGregor in, but the Jets love both Barnes and Surratt so the more you think about it, the less likely it is. If McGregor doesn’t make the cut expect him to end up somewhere like Denver, Arizona, Minnesota or maybe even Carolina. He’d be a rotation piece on all of those defensive lines.

Kohl Levao - I haven’t really spoken about Levao much this off-season but he’s had one of the better pre-seasons of any Jets offensive lineman. He clocked up 168 snaps through the three pre-season games and allowed just 3 pressures while also grading out as one of the best run blockers on the team. Could he be a shock addition at the expense of someone like Xavier Newman-Johnson who I have as the main interior backup alongside Wes Schweitzer? Potentially. But it’s likely he’s heading to the waiver wire and I think the Jets will be looking to stash the former Hawaii Warrior. During his time in college he played every position other than left tackle, so he has some really good versatility. If claimed, I could see him landing in Washington, New England, New Orleans or maybe even with the Giants.

Eric Watts - I think the Jets have a better show of sneaking Watts through to the practice squad than they do McGregor because he hasn’t flashed the same kind of potential through the pre-season. But, Watts is still an incredibly talented developmental prospect, but the Jets just can’t afford to carry him on the 53-man roster. He got himself a sack and 4 pressures through 55 pass-rush snaps so it’s not as if he was invisible. Watts has the size, the athletic profile and the frame to be a very good 4-3 defensive end, the issue is that he’s still raw technically. There are a lot of teams out there who can keep someone like Watts at the bottom of their DE rotation and develop him for the next 12 months (Arizona), the Jets can’t do that so I think it’s likely we’ll be saying goodbye tomorrow.

Jaylen Key - 2024's Mr. Irrelevant could well make it as the Jets 4th safety, as I don’t think any of the players have done enough to really secure that spot. I gave it to Oliver based on his history with the coaching staff, but if they see developmental potential in Key then I can see them giving him the nod, after all they must see developmental potential otherwise they wouldn’t have drafted him. He had 132 snaps through pre-season and he really didn’t do a lot wrong, the Jets moved him around the field and he showcased his main strength which is his reliable tackling. You have to remember that this is a player who didn’t allow a single touchdown into his coverage over 5 years in college, and while he wasn’t lightning quick his athletic testing pre-draft was pretty good. I could see a team taking a shot on a former Alabama man who has his skill-set and profile. It wouldn’t shock me to see Miami put in a claim for him.

• The 49ers received a big injury scare when prized off-season acquisition Leonard Floyd went down holding his knee. Head Coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that it was a minor issue and that Floyd is day-to-day which puts him on course to face the Jets in the season opener.

• Rookie first round wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is returning to practice today after being out since the 6th of August. Pearsall has only taken part in 6 of 19 sessions but if all goes well, he’ll also be available to face the Jets on September 9th.

• Yetur Gross-Matos did suffer a sprained knee and he is now considered week-to-week. Shanahan would not rule him out for week one, but the 49ers primary DE backup faces a race against time to be ready.

• Linebacker Dee Winters suffered an ankle injury against the Raiders and the 49ers are still waiting for the MRI to return on that one.

• Talanoa Hufanga has still not returned to practice and now the 49ers need to decide whether to put him on PUP to start the year. It seems unlikely that the All-Pro safety will be ready for the Jets in week one.