1) Jamaal Westerman - WTF right? He played a good game. He pushed a FB and TE into the RB for a two yard loss, and he's pushing the pocket. Its a matter of time until he closes and gets a sack. He didn't play well against the Texans, but he did well today. I'll look for his production to increase as the season goes on. 2) Eric Smith - I can see why the coaches love him. He makes plays, even though he has zero flash to his game. He's a gamer and I don't know why Jets fans don't love him more. I'm mean, a scrappy white player? Isn't that what every Jet fan loves???? 3) David Harris - Plenty of highlights for the Hitman tonight. Hell of a game. 4) Ropati Pitoitua - there was one play where he got cut blocked, then got back up and made the tackle. That's good fucking hustle. That's playing like a fucking Jet. I can't recall others, so add your own.
Westerman looked much quicker, stronger, & more confident than ever before. Tonite was his coming out party. Eric Smith makes plays, he's just slow. Good as a reserve. {Where is Taylor Mays}.:smile: Sharp play {lateral on INT}. When have Jets been so clever. Smith is still not better than Kerry Rhodes. Kerry didn't like to hit, but seldom got burnt deep ??? Also...Jets don't need any crappy, scrappy white guys. They need players that make plays. Play like a fuk'n Jet !!!
Before I get to guys who stood out to me....I will talk about the Jets depth. That is what's standing out to me. DL, LB's, even secondary. I believe secondary is Jets weakest unit. U may ask how with Revis, Cro, & Wilson. Its the Safetys. Jets need that playmaker at safety. {Taylor Mays, Darren Sharper (1yr deal ???)} Jets will address Safety in next years draft, if they don't address position by 53 man cut-down day. Jets DL looks super. Jets won't miss Ellis in field, just in lockerroom. So many young guys with potential & ability. Jets used ther 2 top picks on DL. Coupled with Dixon, Gilbert, Pitoitua, MTV...all these guys were just feeeling there way at this time last season & now they are ready to bloom. All bursting with eagerness. Its just beautiful to watch. Its a great time to be a Jets fan. Jets LB's...this is the best group they have had & most quality depth. Gotta chalk this up to ability combined with good coaching. Mauga is ready to take Scotts position by next season. WOW...Jets blitz package is gonna look crazy-stupid. Brashton Satele with the INT!!! When is the last time u saw a Jets LB in coverage & get a INT {that wasn't a deflection} ??? Lance Mehl ??? lol. Eddie Jones & #50 :metal:Garrett McIntyre..impressive. Jets have sustainable depth to DL & LB to avoid drop-off from injuries. Hey, when was the last time Jets had more than 1 NT on roster ??? Jets seemed to take an honest inventory of self last season & have significantly improved defensive depth. They even found a potential passrusher in Maybin. Safety..."the final frontier". Can Jets win with what they have back there...yes ! Do they need to improve the position....yes. Actually Jets potentially have there needed FS on there roster Kyle Wilson. I have observed that he is actually a better Safety than CB. He seems to play faster & react better with the play in front of him & has good closing speed to ball. He definetely has the speed & size & is a good strong tackler. Jets still need a SS. {Taylor Mays???}. Special Teams: Neither of the Jets punters have stood out...the book is open on them. Folk needs to practice, practice, practice...:up::jets:
you seriously think that Taylor Mays who has no idea what our defense is, while being discarded a year after being drafted, would have zero preseason in NY and apparently sucks balls is a better option than our safties? Good to see you havent changed...
they're definitely not optimal, but with the talent that has been around them and more importantly the depth filling in the gaps this year they're definitely workable. Leonhard is pretty good, he should grow a few inches but other than that you'd have to move to an elite guy to improve much which is absurd...you can always play around with using Smith or Pool against different packages and teams and based on who is playing best right now. If that is our biggest deficiency...we don't have any to speak of on this side of the ball. Kyle Wilson thoughts anyone? If he's going to step up this year our D is going to be about as unexploitable as it gets.
As someone with a lot more football knowledge than me (not hard) pointed out in the game thread, Wilson is not suited physically to playing the role he is currently playing so its hard to know what we have with him and how much he has improved over the off season.
The safeties are quarterbacking the defense. A lot of what they bring to the table is in presnap adjustments/reads. I think the pats blowout from last year when Jim wasn't back there to make those reads is confirmation of this.
Good post. Factually incorrect though, Eric Smith is as black as they come. I think you meant David Harris there. I'll add Maybin as well, his quick first step really has me intrigued going forward.
Mick...it's really hard to argue with your list. Westerman looked awesome last night. He was everywhere, it was good to see, but the Bengals suck. hahah. Maybin had the strip sack and almost had a sack on the series before that. He might have made the team with his play last night. Satale (sp?)....great play in the 2nd half. The INT, obviously sticks out, the anticipation on the play was spot on, but he also made a TFL, and another nice tackle on a short gain. After watching Hard Knocks, I'm rooting for him. Ropati....I'm dying to see what he can do when it counts. Ellis...Wow. I love this fucking guy. He's getting double teamed already and clogging up the middle. I'm sure he's going to make this CS feel real proud when he's an all-pro by next season. That's right. All-pro by next season. He has the tools to dominate, and if he works hard, he'll be the quintessential D-lineman in this style of defense. We should sent the kid who's face he broke a box of chocolates and roses, because this guy had no business making it to the 3rd round. He looks like he's been in the league a couple of years already.
How about Revis and Cromartie? They were targeted 10 times and 1 pass was completed. For that matter the whole secondary was good.