Too early for this, but for fun, how do you see the opening day 53 man shaping up? QB: 1) McCown 2) Bridgewater* 3) Darnold *Bridgewater's health status could provide an opening for Hackenberg, who otherwise hits the PS. HB: 1) Powell 2) Crowell 3) McGuire McGuire gets the advantage over Rawls due to rookie contract and Rawl's injuries. Rawls could get an opening if McGuire plays really poorly or if someone gets hurt. FB: 1) Flowers Love Thomas, but Flowers is more gifted for the position. WR X: 1) Anderson 2) Pryor Anderson's job to lose. WR Z: 1) Enunwa 2) Stewart Welcome back Quincy, we missed ya. WR Y: 1) Kearse 2) Hansen Hansen earned more opportunities to play last year and I expect the team to find ways to use him. TE: 1) Tomlinson 2) Herndon 3) Leggett Tomlinson is the best blocker and coming off a solid underrated season, he has earned the job. TE is used heavily in Bates offense so Herndon and Leggett will have ample opportunities to show what they have. Walford looms over Leggett if Leggett struggles this preseason. LT: 1) Beachum 2) Ijalana LG: 1) Carpenter C: 1) Long 2) Swanson Swanson is arguably more talented but the Jets made the investment in Long, and he will play one way or the other. If either of our guards get hurt, Long can slide over and move Swanson to starter. RG: 1) Winters RT: 1) Shell 2) Qvale* I don't think Qvale actually makes this team but I can't settle on someone who will here. I'm really hoping one of the UDFA OL is a diamond in the rough. LDE: 1) Anderson 2) Shepherd 3) Cooper Jets will keep 7 DL imo because there's a whole lot of unknown, between Anderson's health and both rookies uncertainty as capable players. Cooper showed enough last year to earn a back end roster spot. NT: 1) McLendon 2) Pennel RDE: 1) Williams 2) Fatukasi LOLB: 1) Jenkins 2) Copeland Copeland is the sort of versatile linebacker and special teams contributor the Jets love to have on the back end of the roster. A player who I'd be less surprised if they don't make it. LILB: 1) Lee 2) Hewitt Hewitt has starting experience, provides some insurance if Lee doesn't progress. RILB: 1) Williamson 2) Pierre-Louis Pierre-Louis has a similar skillset to Williamson, not nearly as talented. ROLB: 1) Martin 2) Bishop I see Bishop as a top bubble player. Like Qvale, this spot is an enormous opportunity for a UDFA to make the team. Hoping someone steps up here. Also, Martin is arguably the least talented starter on this roster, along with potentially a few members of the OL. Certainly least talented on defense. CB X: 1) Johnson 2) Clark Burris could very easily beat out one or both of Clark and Jones and sneak back on to the roster. CB Z: 1) Claiborne 2) Jones See above. CB Y: 1) Skrine 2) Nickerson Skrine's curtain call. FS: 1) Maye 2) Brooks SS: 1) Adams 2) Middleton Hard to put Middleton in here over Miles, but he's much younger. Coming off an injury, no guarantee here. K: 1) Rose Rose has more upside than Santos, assuming he can kick the ball accurately (failed to do this last year) P: 1) Edwards LS: 1) Hennessy KR/PR: 1) Cannon Roberts will get the job if Cannon struggles, but frankly Roberts sucks and the Jets will be better off if Cannon can lock down this spot.
good stuff. I agree with the vast majority. If I'm going to split hairs, I think Qvale is the best depth Olineman we have, and we can only go without a backup G if he shows he can backup both there and RT. Martin imo is the most talented OLB we have, and a great contributor on specials, so I don't agree with that assessment. Would prefer to keep Lawrence Thomas over Cooper, and let him add DL depth plus goal line lead blocking at FB. I think Bass being resigned makes the team over Bishop at OLB, and Minter has a good chance at earning an ILB spot. I wouldn't rule out Xavier Coleman, Daryl Roberts or Burris at CB. last years late picks are no lock over them. Interested to see Lucky Whitehead on punt returns, and I love Miles on specials. If Robby Anderson gets cut, I like Charles Johnson.
Another guy I don't see on your list is Lorenzo Mauldin. I do believe he'll make our 53 man roster, and have an impactful season for the Jets getting pressure on the quarterback.
When I first put the list together my first run was 63, and I needed to make 10 "decisions" to get down to 53. Mauldin was one of them. I think he still has a shot but he's towards the end of his rope as far as getting a pass.
As far as OL goes, I think they value Ijalana as a LT backup, which even if Qvale is technically better, he is still more expendable as replacing what he does is easier. I think the Lawrence Thomas on defense experience is over as by the end of last season he was fully converted to FB. Keep in mind he was also cut at the beginning of last year. I think Flowers is a pure FB who showed a lot at Oklahoma, and think he's an upgrade specifically in the passing game. Expecting him to give a strong showing here. I can see Bass making it, he played well last year. Not as sold on Minter, though I do believe he's familiar with Bowles which is a plus for his chances. CB will be a very interesting competition for the last two spots. I'm giving the advantage to the guys they drafted exactly for that reason, though I can absolutely see either of them hitting the practice squad if they aren't showing well this preseason. Miles I cut due to age. Whitehead has a shot too. Ultimately think they enter the season with one returner and MacCagnan seems reticent to cut draft picks.
There are going to be some tough cuts for the Jets this season. It's going to be very interesting. Basically a good job, but I have some disagreements. I think the competition on the DL is going to be the tightest, and the player(s) the Jets wind up cutting will probably be their toughest cuts. I could see them wanting to keep 8 instead of only 7 players, but I can also see their being forced to keep only 6 due to needs at other positions. They could decide to keep another DB, as the competition there will be tight as well, and with Bowles being a former DB, they might opt to keep 7 CBs or 5 safeties. They could also decide to keep another TE, as the competition there could be very tight as well. On one hand, I'd be surprised both if they only keep 8 OL and Dozier isn't on the roster, but OTOH the numbers are gonna be really tight and with a lot of good players/prospects at TE, DL, CB and S, something is going to have to give. There's gonna be someone or several someones at some position(s) that the Jets would like to keep, but aren't able to. I love Powell, but don't see him starting over Crowell. I could see Bowles going with Pryor over Anderson, but you could be correct. I think TE will be one of the most interesting competitions. I can easily see Walford making the team and being the starter. Tomlinson's a good blocker, but not much of a threat as a receiver. The last TE spot could come down to a battle between Leggett and Herndon. The Jets may not have much patience with Leggett since he basically missed his entire rookie season. If he gets nicked up and can't stay healthy, he'll either get stashed on IR or be released. One of Herndon/Leggett could possibly get stashed on the PS, but likely he would get signed by another team. At OLB, I agree that Bishop and Mauldin will be the odd men out. I don't know anything about Copeland than what I see on his NFL.com profile, but looking at it, he doesn't seem to be anything special. Still, the Jets signed Copeland before they re-signed Bass, so he may be the better player, but anything could happen in a head-to-head competition. Bass is only a year older, has a lot more experience and better stats at least. Martin probably makes the team due to his STs value, but if Donahue, Copeland or Bass prove that they can be an effective STs player, Martin could go. The Jets seemed really high on Donahue last year. Unless his drinking issues have turned the team off or he has lingering effects from his injury, I'll be surprised if he doesn't make the team. I think he's the fastest OLB we have and was looking like our best pass rusher in TC. That will be an interesting competition to watch as well. The Jets have a lot of talent and versatility on the DL. Williams should be the only player that stays at DE, as the Jets have stated that McLendon, Shephard and Fatukasi can/will play both DE and NT. Pennel will probably stay at NT. As BacktoQueens intimated, Lawrence Thomas has shown a lot of promise at DE, and he had either won a spot in the regular rotation or even a starting job two-three seasons ago. He has some versatility also as he could serve as an emergency FB if Flowers were to get injured. Cooper played pretty well last year, but could be the odd man out if the Jets opt to keep Thomas. Simon and Pelon are probably goners, although Pelon might go to the PS. They might be able to stash Fatukasi on the PS, but he could quiet possibly get signed away by another team if he shows much at all in TC and preseason. The competition at CB will be interesting as well. Clark, Burris and Jones were draft picks, but Jones (or was it Clark?) spent his rookie season injured. They have size and play press which Bowles likes. Burris played well early, but has seemed to regress, so he's probably gone, but as you say, could turn it around and win a spot. Daryl Roberts has played pretty well for them, so I would be surprised if he isn't on the final roster, even if the Jets didn't draft him. Safety is gonna be tough as well. Miles has been a good player for the Jets and a very good STer. For him to not make the roster, someone is going to have to step up big time at S. They could possibly stash Middleton on the PS. The kicking competition should be interesting as well, but I think Santos wins by virtue of experience. He's only 26, and Rose is only 23 and does't have a lot of kicking experience in the NFL. Their legs look pretty equal in terms of longest FG made and distance on kickoffs. I think there's a pretty good chance that Whitehead wins the return job. Cannon could get stashed on the PS.
Unless the Jets are really concerned from the character perspective, I don't think the offseason will affect what happens on the playing field in TC and preseason. The Jets seemed VERY high on Donahue last season, and I think according to reports at least, he was their best pass rusher until he got injured. I also think he's the fastest and has the most potential as a pass rusher. Greene loved him. I think he makes the team and very well could wind up starting opposite Jenkins.
I only really see 3 linebackers as being "safe" on this roster, being Jenkins, Lee, and Williamson. This is one of the most open positions in terms of available jobs and opportunities.
Think he was a Green pick. Youre right, Green couldnt say enough about him. Will be interesting to see how much his off season issues come back to haunt him
Wow, that must've taken a week to put that together. Impressive. After the final cut, a moderator should pin this to see how much of it played out. So is this more based on prediction or what you want to see happen?
Really like Clark and Jones, hope they both make the roster. Clark was projected as a 2nd round talent before he blew his knee out. If he’s fully healthy he could be a really nice addition to that backfield. 6-3 220, physical, great tackler, can press at the line. Can also play safety.
I loved Leggett at Clemson, was really disappointed he missed the entire year. The guy who intrigues me is Bucky Hodges.
I wish this would have happened sadly I don't see it happening, this guy is lucky to still be on the roster . In my opinion our current linebackers are bad and this guy still should not be here that says something.
