We're going Leaping

Edition #660

Good morning! ☕

Can you feel it? Football is in the air and it’s about time we got back on that horse. August is one of my favourite months on the calendar. The NFL is back to business with pre-season games coming thick and fast and the European football season kicks off, which provides me with both work and entertainment.

Veterans will be reporting to camp tomorrow, the team will start practicing on the Wednesday and the first practice open to the public will be this coming Saturday. We’re about to find out if this team has what it takes. Does it have the skill, the depth, the mentality, the toughness and the luck to go all the way?

Welcome to football season ladies and gentlemen, it’s good to be back ⭐🏈

🟢 Jermaine Johnson made an appearance on NFL insiders and a lot of time was spent talking about Aaron Rodgers. Among the sound bites Johnson confirmed that his absence at OTA’s had zero impact on the team and that he found it strange that people wanted to scrutinise him even though he was at all the OTA’s he didn’t need to attend. He also believes that Aaron will come through in a big way: “First ballot Hall of Famer, [that will never change]. I am just excited to play with him. I grew up watching him. I am excited to be his teammate; I know he is going to come through for us”

⚪ Will Haason Reddick show up tomorrow? Or will the veteran EDGE decide to hold out in the hope that the Jets will cave to his contract demands? My instinct tells me that he’ll be there, and he recently hosted a football camp in his hometown decked out in Jets gear, and that’s all we have to go on right now.

🟢 Remember when Shaquil Barrett chose the Miami Dolphins over the New York Jets this off-season? Well the veteran pass-rusher has already seen enough of Miami before training camp begins, announcing this weekend that he is going to retire with immediate effect. "I'm ready to shift my full focus to my wife and kids and helping them realize there dreams," Barrett wrote as part of an Instagram post. "I've been thinking about this for a while and the decision has never been more clear then it is right now." Make no mistake about it, this is a blow to the Dolphins. The man took one look at Tyron Smith and wanted out, and I don’t blame him.

⚪ Cory Woodroof of USA Today outlined 10 training camp trade candidates and one Jet made his way onto the list. “The New York Jets feel like a team that could make an aggressive trade to add talent this summer to help maximize the remainder of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ career. With only about $6 million in cap space, that might make a player like Lazard expendable in what will be a crucial season for the Jets. While he joined Rodgers in the 2023 offseason, he’s probably not going to start for the franchise this fall. Trading Lazard for a late-round pick would net New York $10 million in cap space, which could easily go to good use to add talent elsewhere on the roster.” - He outlined the Steelers, Lions and Eagles as potential trade destinations.

🟢 Our long quote today comes courtesy of Breece Hall who made an appearance on the ‘Up & Adams’ show to talk expectations heading into the new season.

“For me, it feels really good just knowing that I’m servicing him and… I’m going to be one of his best friends just him coming off his injury,” Hall told Adams.

“Me being the bell cow of the team, I’m going to be getting the ball the most other than him, I’m going to be touching the ball the most.

“For me, I’m just trying to put our team in the best position possible and then I want everybody to follow – obviously we’re following Aaron’s lead but I feel like everybody looks at me as well in that same aspect as I’m the best playmaker on the team. As the offense goes as I go.”

The Jets have some lofty expectations heading into year two, as they should with an elite defence, a hall of fame QB, numerous offensive weapons and a revamped offensive line.

To hit those lofty goals of a championship they’ll be relying on their second year players taking a leap, and while nothing is more important than the health of #8, a lot of things need to go right in a Super Bowl winning year.

Let’s have a look at some of those second year players and the expectations on them heading into the new season, and we’ll continue with part two tomorrow.

Will McDonald - EDGE

The Jets had one of the most dominant edge rotations in football last year, but there will be plenty of change when it comes to the defensive line.

Out goes Bryce Huff who took his talents to Philadelphia and JFM who was a salary sacrifice to Denver. In comes Haason Reddick.

McDonald had a fine rookie season considering the limited opportunities. The first round pick registered 3 sacks and 12 pressures on just 99 pass-rush snaps. His 16% pass-rush win rate was higher than Jermaine Johnson (12%) and JFM (14%) but was noticeably inferior to Bryce Huff (22.9%).

McDonald did have the second highest pass-rush productivity number on the Jets behind Bryce Huff and the big question this year is two fold:

1. What happens to those numbers when he’s asked to play more downs?

2. What kind of a jump does he make in year two considering his raw talent?

How well Will McDonald does will go a long way to determining how effective this pass-rush is, and how effective the pass-rush is goes a long way to determining how effective this defence is.

It’s not all on McDonald. Jermaine Johnson could take another leap forward and there’s a reason we shelled out to get Haason Reddick in the building, but McDonald as a first round draft pick needs to make a leap this year.

Joe Tippmann - Centre

Tippmann didn’t start until week three against New England, and when he did play he was played out of position at right guard. It wasn’t until week nine that we got to see him play his natural position at centre, and that was around the same time we started having a number of players jumping on and off the carousel called the Jets OL.

Tippmann had a good rookie year when you consider the constant chances on both the offensive line and at QB. He allowed 3 sacks and 20 pressures n 578 pass-blocking snaps and held his own in the run-game, especially when asked to climb to the second level and block on the move.

But we know there is much more to come when it comes to Joe Tippmann and his potential. This year the Jets are hoping that he takes a giant leap forward, and if we can get a full year from Simpson and AVT on either side of him, it wouldn’t shock me if at the end of this year Tippmann is regarded as one of the best centres in football.

There is a lot of leadership coming into that offensive line room and working with a QB like Aaron who not only recognises and communicates blitzers as well as anyone in the business, but also makes quick decisions and gets rid of the football as well as anyone should certainly help that.

Carter Warren - Offensive Tackle

It was a difficult year for Warren who missed a lot of time at the start of the year due to a shoulder injury and didn’t come off the PUP list until early October.

The Jets didn’t really want to play Warren last year, they wanted to give him a redshirt year…especially after he missed so much time early in the season, but the injury bug meant he was forced into action.

I think his rustiness and rawness was showcased as he debuted in week 11 at left tackle before moving out to the right side in week 13 and staying there for the rest of the season.

Over the course of 258 pass-blocking snaps he allowed 5 sacks and 20 pressures with an efficiency rate of 94.9. It wasn’t a complete disaster as he put some positive reps on tape (Washington and New England stick out to me). But there is plenty of development needed before he’s ready to start.

Fortunately for the Jets, we do have a contingency in place for Smith/Moses with 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu and 2022 4th round pick Max Mitchell, who needs a strong camp and season to maintain his place on this roster.