Mangini said in a press conference the day after he was released, that they would not be bringing him in for an interview/workout.... I don't have a source, but that was essentially what he said.....
Yeah because they did so last year. The brought him in last year and either did not like him or did not think he would fit. It is not easy to have a 35-36 year old fat bastard play a new position and be effective. Maybe they felt it was not worth it. You will notice, almost all the cast off they sign mid season are all young..................... That being said: I can see being infuriated by having a LG like Clarke bad decision and no back up plan. I can see being infuriated by having Clement as RT knowing he sucked. I can see being infuriated it took the staff 9-10 weeks to figure out a defensive system that can make the D an effective unit. etc. etc. etc. But Grady Fucking Jackson? LOL come on man that is just nitpicking. Shit look at all the energy we just wasted arguing on this guy and he is not even worth that.
Well, he was a HUGE player who had been around the league, and, in my opinion, had the capacity to pick up a new defensive scheme better than any young player, when, at the time, we were TERRIBLE at the NT position, and lacked decent veteran leadership (and any 'character issues' related to Jackson, did not have anything to do with his personality or on-the-field demeanor, but rather with his idiot agent, Rosenhaus).... It just seemed like a stubborn move to say that a guy like that was not even worth bringing in, when, especially at the time, our defense was TERRIBLE, and a lot of the issues could be traced back to lack of production at the NT position....
Q. What percentage of College teams run a 3-4? A. Very few Q. How old were those players when they started in the 3-4? A. Very young...Grasshoppers so to speak. Q. Were they drafted into that system? A. Yes, they were. Q. Did they play the 4-3 at all in the Pro's if so how many of them? A. To my knowledge, more of them did not, except Ferguson. Q. Did they play 14 years in the NFL before they started NT? A. Since they all are carreer 3/4 guys and Furg has not been in the league that long, the answer you are looking for is, no. HOWEVER... Jackson is the prototypical run stuffing DT that gets converted to an NT. He has played in the league and has learned many systems. As DTs age and slow down NT can sometimes suit them better bc speed is not as important at that position but strength and mass are. That is why guys like Washington can play the position for a long time. Although men, in general, start to loose speed in there early thirties, they typically maintain their strength longer. This is why it can be a good transition. Since there is NO prototypical player on the horizon who can fill this central position on our defense, for the 1.1M Jacksonville gave him for 1 year, he is worth a shot or at the least a workout.
I think stubborn is the key word here. I can appreciate Tangini's character plan and maybe Grady is not a 'character' guy. But he is not a thug either. I am not suggesting PacMan or anything but I'd like to see some flexibility.
Fair enough. That was an excellent reply, except the part about men slowing down in their 30's, thanks for that reminder. BTW Williams was the only one of those mentioned to start as a 4-3 DT in the pros and convert over.
