Now that the season is officially starting, i guess I should finish posting the rest of the State of the Franchise positions, I will update all of them as signings become official. 2011 Starters: Calvin Pace – 9th Year: Pace has missed several games the last 2 season and has not been as productive of a pass rusher as we all had hoped. It didn’t help him that he was lining up a lot as a down lineman on passing downs due to lack of pass rushing depth on the D-Line. He still runs well and is able to play the run while offing a little on the pass rush. I believe that he is a compliment rusher, if the Jets a pass rusher that could draw the focus, his numbers would increase, as it is now, he is probably the 1st guy the other teams focus on stopping. Pace is a solid LB who will hopefully break out of his current trend of missing games at the beginning of the season. Bryan Thomas – 10th Year: Thomas, one of the oldest members of the Jets, is a productive run stopper and a smart player; he never developed into the pass rushing specialist that was envisioned when he was drafted. While a solid OLB, he doesn’t make a lot of big plays for this Defense. He is a good player to have on the team, but at this point of his career, he would be better suited as a reserve player, or a 2 down LB, although he did pick up several coverage sacks last season. 2011 Backups: Jamaal Westerman – 3rd Year: Westerman has not developed into the pass rushing OLB that we had hoped. The addition of Jason Taylor last season probably kept him off the field and dropped his production, became more of a special teams guy when he was activated for games. He is in his 3rd season, so it is make or break time for him, he has come out and said that he wants to be the starter, unless a free agent is signed, he should at least get an opportunity to compete for Thomas job. Garrett McIntyre: McIntyre is the right size to help set the edge at 6’3” and 270 lbs. – so should have the frame for the task. The question as always for this level of player is the skill. McIntyre had a tryout with the Jets back in December, and it sounds like it’s not official yet, but could be soon. It looks like he’s bumped around the NFL, AFL and CFL for a few years now, so it’s hard to wonder how serious the Jets are about him. Received favorable reviews by Rex after the second practice! Cody Brown – 3rd Year: Have not seen Brown play before, here is his scouting report, Strengths - A tenacious defender who uses excellent athleticism to get past opponents and make plays. A good pass rusher who also adjusts well to pick up ball carriers. Hard-working and versatile. Weakness - Not particularly fast or explosive. A bit undersized. Somewhat injury-prone. Joey LaRocque - 1st Year: Another player I know little about, here is his scouting report, Strengths - A focused and hard-working tackler on defense and special teams. Very aggressive defender who can get into the backfield. An intense competitor. Weakness - Not an elite athlete and lacks ideal size. Brian Toal – 1st year: Strengths - Aggressive player who is like a heat-seeking missile towards the ball carrier. Sure tackler who rarely is caught out of position. Plays bigger than he measures. Lots of leadership, football IQ, and other intangibles. As a short-yardage back, he is deadly around the goal line. Has a knack for finding the right crack in the defense and for picking up the needed yardage. SS/FB, dual-role, Patriots type guy. Weaknesses - Undersized. Surgically-repaired shoulder. Not an elite player either on offense or defense. Might have to make his mark on special teams, and might never be more than a special team’s warrior and an insurance policy at various positions. Tightly wound emotionally and physically. Eddie Jones - Rookie: Injuries have not caused Eddie Jones to miss many games throughout his career at Texas, but it has certainly hindered his production. Dating back to his high school days, it has always seemed like Jones is coming off of some injury or another. Coming out of high school Jones was a very highly regarded recruit, but it took until his senior season (2010) for him to start playing up to those lofty expectations. Through ten games, Jones has totaled 46 tackles, 10.0 tackles-for-loss, 6.0 sacks and a dozen quarterback hurries. Unfortunately for Jones, Texas is having an awful season by their standards and not many are paying much attention to how well Jones has been playing. Jones' stock is rising as his senior season continues to be quite impressive. He should test out well at the pre-draft workouts and that could boost his stock up even more. However, Jones' injury concerns will continue to haunt him and even with good showings before the draft, his ceiling is probably in the middle rounds. http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/profile_display.cfm?prospect_id=2665 Outlook: While the Jets possess adequate starting OLB’s, their depth is weak with Westerman (2 years) and Mauga (1 year) really being the only other OLB with NFL game experience. An injury to one of the starters would be devastating to the team. This is an area on the team that needs to be addressed, an since it was not done during the draft! Cut: Jason Taylor – 15th Year: Taylor showed a few flashes of the Taylor that terrorized us for years, but not at as often and consistent as we were expecting. Said he would only come back to play for Rex. Its nice to know that option is there, just not sure that I would be happy if he came back, I would rather give a younger player like Westerman a chance to prove himself. Signed back with the Dolphins, going to be hard for him to talk tough this year... Stafford Gatling - Rookie:Gatling is a 3-4 OLB prospect, but is pretty average in every way. He’s slow and short. Nothing more than a special teamer. Probably more of an ILB for the Jets.http://www.nyjetsdraft.com/2011/07/jets-rookie-free-agent-signings/ Note: the scouting reports of the lesser knows players where found at several different websites and I included them so that we would have some information about them, if you know something that I do not, let me know and I will correct the post.
I appreciate the effort you put into these threads, but you should link to some of the scouting reports you're referencing. Or maybe you did that in another thread?
I haven't link them anywhere in the threads, there are just too many that I am having to pull from in order to try and find something on these guys. Sometimes its SBNation.com, NYJetsDraft.com, TheJetsBlog.com, NFL.com, Sportingnews, Foxsports, or where ever google search takes me to find something useful.
I agree it's time to move on without Jason Taylor, but I'm not a fan of having Bryan Thomas start opposite of Calvin Pace. I'm pleased with Pace as a starter, I feel he's a pass rushing threat from the outside, but I hope to see Bryan Thomas come off the bench this year as our 3rd OLB. I'm not sure he's the best option as a starter. Which OLB's are still FA's?
I have heard Matt Roth's name mentioned a lot, he is familiar with the Jets system because he played under Rex's Brother in Cleveland.
I've never really payed attention to Roth on the football field, but he did record 86 tackles with 3.5 sacks last year. We may not be able to find a full time starter opposite of Pace during FA, but I wouldn't mind having Thomas/Roth split time either. Manny Lawson is another player I'd love to take a gamble on. I mean, Bryan Thomas can get after the QB... He put up 8.5 sacks in 06, 5.5 in 08 and 6 sacks last year... but we've yet to see Thomas become a consistant player thus far. Hopefully that changes this year.
i really believe westerman is going to have a nice season.i'm looking for 7.0 sacks minimum this year. i have no factual reasoning for this just a hunch.
There are not a lot of options out there that are upgrades to Thomas, I am hoping that Westerman, now with 3 years of experience, has a break-out season. Pace should be more of a factor this year as well, he had to play as a down rusher a lot last season due to injuries, he should be standing up more this year with the added depth in the daft along the DL. I think that they will stay with the same guys this year, although I could see Thomas cut as a salary cap casualty and them signing a cheaper OLB like Roth.
yea probably more hope then anything.it would be nice if a bonafide pass rusher was on the roster already.i think we will be chasing that spot for a while considering where we will/should be drafting the next few years
Jason Taylor and Bryan Thomas are essentially the same player at this point. If Taylor is willing to play for near the minimum than I say cut Thomas...especially if we can use those savings towards signing Asomugha or re-signing Edwards
Can't believe Thomas is entering his 10th year with the Jets, it's crazy in these days for a role player to stay with one team for that long. Doesn't feel that long ago that we drafted him.
For what they paid for Pace he hasn't delievered much. 55 tackles 2 years ago and 51 last year don't add up to me as being pleased with his performance. Yes he only played 12 games each the past 2 years but for a guy with expectations of getting after the QB and producing around 100 tackles a year he's fallen far short. I don't knock him for taking the money, I'd do the same thing. It would be nice if he can make his presence known prominently this year.
He did put up 80 tackles for us back in 2008 though. He's also put up 20.5 sacks with 9 forced fumbles since joining the Jets 3 years ago. He's the least of our worries, he's a player who can not only tackle but also get after the QB. It's the other OLB's we need to be worried about. Pace is a winner.
I'm more worried about safety but you're right the other OLB's are an issue as well. The D-Line looks to be very solid now and for a while. Drafting Ellis and Wilkerson adds a lot of size, that may help the LB core tremendously. I'd also like to see what Pitoitua can do, he's one big dude. If he can develop into a monster on the line along with the draft choices its going to force a lot of teams to abandon the run. The question is do the favor the TE if they abandon the run and can we get enough safety play to stop the TE's from eating them alive like they did last year.
