This is just one example of our lack of depth, or in this case, WE DON"T HAVE ONE BLOCKING TE!!! Our RB, OL, TE and LB's all lack depth, especially, with young players coming up, not over the hill guys. I believe our previous drafts where we had traded away or up has caught up to us big time http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?teamId=3430&type=team http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/ Because of injuries to FB John Conner (knee) and TE Dustin Keller (hamstring), the Jets will have a hard time establishing a power-running attack Sunday against the Dolphins. Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano will have to alter his strategy, perhaps shuffling his personnel groupings. Conner, not expected to play, is the only fullback on the roster. Without him, they won’t be able to use as many two-back sets as usual. When they do, it’ll be H-Back/TE Konrad Reuland in the backfield. Reuland, hardly a bruiser (or a Terminator), spent the week practicing with the running backs to brush up on his blocking. Then there’s the tight-end issue. Even if Keller plays – he’s 50-50 – he’d likely be limited to spot duty, probably third downs. The lack of a true blocking tight end is coming back to bite the Jets. Non-blocker Jeff Cumberland would start, with backup OT Jason Smith coming in as an extra blocker in certain packages. Using a 300-pound lineman as a tight end, of course, restricts the passing game. It’s not the Sparano way, but maybe he should try to run out of spread formations, using one back and three or four wide receivers. He should dust off RB Joe McKnight and give him a chance, splitting him out as a receiver and trying to get him isolated on a linebacker. It won’t be easy to use a conventional running attack against the Dolphins, who have gone 16 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
I strongly disagree that we lack depth on our OL and LB units (especially the LBs, we are loaded with depth.... the problem is the quality of the starters). RBs and TEs I agree we didn't do a good job. Especially considering we are (should be?) a run first team and we have no blocking TE. We were unlucky in losing our H-back / TE (Baker) but it's not an excuse. Bennett is playing great for the Giants and I don't understand why we didn't even give him a try... he's EXCATLY what we need.
^Bennett has Eli throwing him the ball and Nicks and Cruz rolling coverage. That might have something to do with his good start.
Yup. I drafted Bennett in a deep FF league this year, because nomatter who Eli has at TE, he will have success. It was Ballard last year and before that Boss. You pretty much can't go wrong. Also about David Harris. I love the guy and he's the signal caller for the line, but he's not quick at all and can't cover. He looked horrible on that touchdown, didn't even look for the ball, just got burned. LBs that can cover is going to be the next big thing in the NFL. Hopefully Davis will be contributing sooner rather than later. I think he just might be critical against good passing teams, but we're going to need another cover LB badly. Next years draft will probably be LB in 2 of the first three rounds. Then TE, OT, OG, RB mixed in somewhere.
I have watched Bennett since he was drafted by the Cowboys perform in preseason and then play volleyball in the regular season. He's a good blocker, but Eli knows how to utilize the TE far better than Sanchez and there's nothing telling me that Marty B would be that better of a receiving option for the Jets than Cumberland.
Agree about LB depth vs. starter quality. Obviously we can't just shed the starters because we're paying them several fortunes, but I wouldn't mind seeing them ride the bench a bit more and watching Davis, McIntyre, Magua, Sapp, Bellore, and Maybin running around back there. I mean when those guys get beat, at least I can say "he's young, he'll learn from that"...when Scott and Pace are getting burnt I feel like I'm watching our salary cap disappear along with our chance of staying in a game.
So Sanchez doesn't know how to use Keller? I thought Keller had a good year last year. Keller is also known as Sanchez's security blanket. Mark knows how to use his TE, only if they would turn their head to catch the ball smh
