Sorry if this has been posted already... From KFFL.com: Randy Lange, of the Bergen Record, reports free agent LB Brad Kassell (Titans) visited with the New York Jets Tuesday, March 14. Randy Lange, of the Bergen Record, reports free agent TE Jerame Tuman (Steelers) visited with the New York Jets Tuesday, March 14.
Didn't know much about Kassell, so here's his bio from the NFLPA site: Position: LB Years Pro: 4 Draft Date: free agent Draft Team: free agent Born: 01/07/1980 Hometown: Llano, TX College: North Texas Pro Career 2004: Played in 15 games and set new career highs in starts (14), tackles (128), quarterback pressures (two), tackles for loss (four) and passes defensed (six). Started final 14 games of season and finished second on team in tackles. Led team or tied for team high in tackles in five games. Missed all of preseason and the first regular season game (9/11 at Miami) due to left Achilles injury. 2003: Played in every game and started four contests at middle linebacker for Titans. Totaled 41 tackles on defense and finished second on the club with 23 special teams tackles. Helped team finish first in league against the run. 2002: Played in nine regular season games for Titans, posting one defensive tackle and 14 special teams tackles, which ranked third on the club. College Career A four-year letterman who played in 44 games at North Texas...was named Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year during junior and senior seasons...received unanimous first-team selection to conference teams and team MVP in final two seasons...ranks third on school's all-time tackle list...ranked second on team with 93 tackles during senior season..
Ive seen him play. Deceptive speed, but makes bad decisions at times. His angle when pursueing is bad at times. Not an especially big guy, but can bring down big players. He was used primarily as a run stopping LB, but he did work his way into more passing downs as the year progressed. Not a bad signing, just not a very interesting signing either, if he comes to NY
Solid LB depth. Look at the Patriots and how many different guys you'd see on the field for them. Had probably close to 10 LB's on the roster and almost all of them would get playing time. My guess is Mangini will bring a similar system to NY.
I saw on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette site that Jerame Tuman was close to re-signing with Pittsburgh, so perhaps his visit to us was simply aimed at gaining more leverage with the Steelers...
