It's probably a bit of a longshot but given his propensity for highlight hits I think Pryor is going to at least be on the radar for DROY. With a few highlight hits and INT's who knows? Without seeing anyone play on an NFL field yet it's a way too early projection but do you think he's got a shot? I figure Clowney and Mack have to be the early favorites. Here's all the 1st round defensive players: Clowney Mack Gilbert Barr Donald Shazier Mosley Pryor Clinton-Dix Ford Dennaqd Verrett M. Smith Bucannon Easley J. Ward Roby
Glorified D-Line stats are hard to come by, even for a guy like The Clown playing opposite JJ Watt. Mack, on the other hand, is probably the best player in the draft. But the point you made about the highlight real is SO true for a hard hitting Safety. Everyone LOVES seeing players get BLASTED going over the middle and every pick-6 is replayed over and over on ESPN. May come down to who votes on DROY. I'm not even sure.
Awards are only in part about actual talent. As important is how the talent is showcased and that depends on how a team uses a player and how opposition plays against him. Revis of 2-3 years ago was clearly the best corner, but QBs would rarely throw in his direction and his numbers were not very impressive. Clowney might be clear cut best talent, but if opponents constantly double team him, the talent won't show as much, not in the stats. He'll be enormously important to the team, no doubt -- drawing extra coverage will free up someone else, but showcasing won't be there. By comparison Pryor in Jets D should shine. Brady, Payton, Rogers are thriving on short passes as is. With our projected front line they hopefully might not have enough time in the pocket for the deep ball, forcing into short passes even further. This plays right into Prior's position so he should have plenty of opportunities to shine. I'd say hoping for DROY is not that far-fetches. Given of course Pryor lives up to his talent.
it's tough for DB's to win it. usually takes some good turnover stats, which don't come easy for rookies. if the tackle numbers are real high, there are a few highlight reel hits, and the turnovers are there, then I'd say he has a shot. last DB to win was Charles Woodson in 98. some other DB's of note, Mark Carrier in 90, and the Jets own Erik McMillan in 88.. Edit** here's a link to past winners if anyone interested.. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/award_apdroy.htm
I think it's a longer shot than you realize. The last defensive back to win DROY was Charles Woodson in 1998, the last safety to win it was Mark Carrier in 1990.
Way to early to talk about any of this. Kid could be a bust for all we know at this point. Probably not but the point is, anything can happen.
And the prior three the Jets pretty much discarded in their prime. What's that tell you, about either the award or just how piss-poorly managed this team has been over the years?
what that tells me is how unproductive constant regime changes can be. neither Hugh Douglas nor Vilma fit very well in a 3-4 base. If the Jets were to move on from Rex, it would be a big set back for the roster. some guys in their prime wouldn't be fully maximized, and others would be dealt for peanuts or not re-signed. I'm really hoping we'll stay the course, and drive with some consistency for a change.
Normally you wouldn't blitz with your centerfielder too much. However, i do expect Rex to disguise his coverages, and use Pryor and Landry interchangeably at times. That will allow opportunities for Pryor to blitz. one of the reasons i'm fully convinced Landry will be starting day 1.
This is why a lot of people want Allen to start opposite Pryor. He's faster and he has shown ability in coverage. That would free Pryor up to blitz the edge.
Allen has not shown he can play the FS position. I don't believe he has the skillset or experience to do that, which would limit using Pryor interchangeably. i don't believe Allen is faster or better in coverage than Landry either.
Then I don't know what to tell you. I've been watching the defense from last year a lot recently and he is both faster and better in single coverage.
Antonio Allen has a very interesting skill set. He primarily plays box safety, but he has unique man coverage ability for a strong safety. He hasn't shown the instincts in zone coverage you want for a guy who has center fielder responsibilities, as it is a different type of coverage than man coverage. Man coverage requires the ability to shadow a receiver's movements and to predict their route, but you are looking at it from a totally different perspective than a high FS player does. Allen is physical at the line and gives us a unique skill set, as he can line up over the TE and get off blocks to make tackles, or press man cover that TE as he runs a route. The length of his arms and leaping ability are beneficial for this type of responsibility, because it allows you to go up for jump balls vs tall TE's and also helps you get off blocks on the line (Mo's long arms are very helpful to him in this way as well.) Dawan Landry was our other starting safety as we went into the season last year, and although he has the experience and instinct to play either safety position, he is ideally suited for more of a strong safety position. He takes good angles from a high safety look vs passes and from a box safety look vs the run, but his diminished athleticism causes him to be ideally used closer to and in the box. As we went into the year, the coaching staff believed they had a good combination of players in the secondary. As Cro was going to be relied on to shadow an opposing WR as he had in 2012, they could play Allen in his unique role while Landry showed a bit more range, playing primarily closer to the line but also giving Milliner some support in a higher FS look. The problem was that by game 1 it was pretty clear something was different about Cro's ability, and Vincent Jackson was making catches all over him. Since Milliner was not able to immediately become that #1 CB (most rookie CB's struggle) we had a problem; Teams were able to target both CB's on different ways on different plays and find relatively consistent success doing it. A good ranging cover FS is the best way to assist with this, especially one like Ed Reed who has such a great ability to read plays early and position himself well. Since Rex was coaching for his job, Reed was so familiar with his system, and could be had for under $1 million, Rex brought him in to play that role. He ultimately improved our pass defense by a lot, helped save Rex's job, and helped develop Milliner in the process. I really appreciate what Reed did for us actually. When the Jets looked at their secondary going into the offseason, they knew they weren't going to be able to rely on 2 press man cover CB's in 2014. They understood that they could sign a quality CB for far less money to play opposite Milliner, and save that cash for the first extension of a defensive cornerstone: Muhammad Wilkerson. I guarantee drafting a man cover CB in the first round was on their radar, but ultimately Pryor was a better player than the CB's they saw. It is debatable which guy has more value to a defense, a Darrelle Revis type player, or a Troy Polamalu type player, but either way they both represent immense value. Perhaps the Jets saw Kyle Fuller as a guy with Revis like potential, perhaps not, we will never know. One thing I can tell you though, is as good as I believe Darqueze Dennard is and can be, he does not have Darrelle Revis potential. Now most of us were not aware how much of a mastery Pryor had over his defensive scheme, and of course since we were not able to be there for workouts or interviews this is understandable. Rex and Idzik would have seen it though. Understand, I'm not saying Pryor will be Troy Polamalu. He does have the potential to be based on his measurables and everything the coaching staff and front office have been saying about how quickly he is grasping the defense. Landry cannot replicate the unique skill set that Allen provides, and he's got nothing on Pryor's athleticism. Landry is a solid third safety for the rotation, and the only way he loses a roster spot is if Jaiquawn Jarrett has improved a lot in camp, and lives up to his 2nd round selection in 2012.
