Four games used to be a convenient quarter of a season, and a decent time to have a look into rookie contributions. The 17-game schedule has messed that up a bit, but I think our rookie class, so far, is looking special. We have seen contributions from everyone except Jeremy Ruckert. Here are some key stats for our top four rookies, along with extrapolations for how this production would look over a full season - not guaranteed, of course). Sauce Gardner 5 passes defended 15 tackles, 1 tackle-for-loss Garrett Wilson Rushing: 1 carry for -2 yards Receiving: 39 targets, 20 receptions, 255 yards, 2 TDs (85 receptions, 1084 yards and 8 TDs over a season) Jermaine Johnson Sacks: 1.5 (6 sacks over a season) QB hits: 2 Tackles: 12, 2 tackles-for-loss) Breece Hall Rushing: 38 carries for 178 yards, 1 TD (757 yards and 4 TDs over a season) Receiving: 27 targets, 15 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD (480 yards and 4 TDs over a season) Max Mitchell has also been far from a disaster in his emergency stand-in role and hopefully will pick up where he left off when he comes back from injury. This makes such a welcome change from those years where we have waited patiently for a rookie to do anything. The early signs are that this is a special draft class.
Great way to look at this--also Ruckert has played 29 ST snaps and I'm pretty sure he hasn't gotten a penalty so there's that. The drop he had from Flacco was a dumb pass that we knew from scouting he was not expected to catch at this point in his career.
Good post - agree with everybody else too. All JD needs now is another solid off season. He has to solve this OL once and for all. The Jets need to draft another young OT since it appears they will not be able to count on Becton going forward. A center will be a need also. The LB core could use an infusion as well- a pash rushing OLB would do wonders for this defense and Moseley is going to need to be replaced. I hope he focuses on those two positions in the offseason - not saying to ignore other spots - but if he fixes those the Jets will be a real dangerous team going forward.
I think the coaching staff needs to reverse how they use MC and Hall. MC is a bit more fluid with softer hands in the passing game especially after getting his rookie year under his belt. Less explosive in the open field which is why they’re trying to get Hall the ball in the passing game. I want to see Hall line up 8 yards deep and take some wide zone runs so he can use a cut back lane. He did it masterfully in college and I think he’s the better rusher than MC.
I want to see literally anyone do this. We must be the only team running a “wide zone“ scheme that only runs inside the tackles. I understand the line is a train wreck right now but as you are pointing out, it’s a total waste of Hall‘s talent to be using him the way we have the first four games.
That might be related to having 4 OTs on the IR. It's is frustrating to watch the running game though.
If we continue to draft well and do poorly with free agents it might be our scouting department that deserves the credit and not JD. Easy to pass a test (the draft) if someone is feeding you the answers.
I don’t know about our tackles in particular but the wide zone can usually hide a bit of offensive line talent deficiencies. The Vikings are a good example. They’ve had pretty mediocre offensive lineman over the past couple years but they’ve generally ran the ball pretty well because they find good scheme fits. Wide zone is about getting in front of a defender and letting his momentum carry him where he wants to go. That’s what creates seams. It looks more like we run more of an inside zone concept relying on combo blocks.
I think we could also use a safety…Joyner had a great game against Pitt and if he keeps that up then we may be good there but if he plays like he has the first three games then we need an upgrade. hopefully it’s coming together and he’ll be fine the rest of the year but I think safety all f with OL and a pass rusher who can close would be great
This is exactly what we are doing and it’s unbelievably frustrating when you consider the skill set of Hall and the never ending revolving door at 3 of our 5 OL positions.
I wonder if LaFleur is keeping it simple for our patchworked O-line. Have we seen any plays involving a pulling guard? I'm not savvy on line play... but our two feature backs should be seeing bigger & better gaps... in my opinion.
Add avt, the Carters and Moore and the last 2 drafts have netted a bigger return than all of Rex/Tanny/ idizic and mac combined.
A shame no other GM thought of this in the last 10 years. Though it is the first time I have ever seen somebody knock a GM because a scouting department has finally done a good job, undoubtedly they will have passed on reports on the players, it is their bloody job to do so, along with the 50 other players JD didn't draft.
