-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...east/index.html New York Jets Challenge No. 1: Fix the Pete Kendall issue. Despite signing a lucrative extension in March 2006, Kendall has voiced displeasure with his contract and has raised the possibility of a holdout. Though Kendall is still viewed as a serviceable starter at guard, his declining skills and penchant for being a locker room lawyer leaves the Jets in a bind. The team would love to find a suitable replacement so they can jettison the lineman before he becomes a bigger distraction. Adrien Clarke is getting the majority of the reps with the first team. If the third-year pro can convince the coaching staff early in preseason that he is ready to be the starter, Kendall will be traded or released prior to the end of training camp. If Clarke falters, the team will likely bite the bullet and keep Kendall. Challenge No. 2: Find a capable backup for Chad Pennington. Pennington is one of the top quarterbacks in the league when healthy but the Jets have to solidify the backup quarterback position in case of injury. Former second-round pick Kellen Clemens has not developed as quickly as hoped and free agent Marques Tuiasosopo has yet to prove he can be a solid player in the league. Both Clements and Tuiasosopo should see significant time early in preseason games. If neither performs up to par, expect the Jets to shop around for a backup. With the quarterback position being the key to New York's success, it is critical that they feel good about the depth at the position. Challenge No. 3: Get the top draft picks on the field. In the first two rounds of the draft, the Jets aggressively made moves to secure cornerback Darrelle Revis and linebacker David Harris. They need to push to get these guys on the field because they could be critical pieces in the building of the 3-4 defense. Though teams are reluctant to pencil in rookies as starters, both of these players are significant upgrades over the players who previously manned the positions. With Revis having to guard the likes of Moss, Lee Evans and Chris Chambers, he should play as much as possible during the preseason. While the adjustment to linebacker should be a little smoother, Harris also needs to see a plenty of work during the preseason. As an inside linebacker in the 3-4 defense, much of his game will involve making critical checks and adjustments for the front seven. Plugging him into the lineup right away will get him much-needed experience against formations and shifts that require quick adjustments.
"Former second-round pick Kellen Clemens has not developed as quickly as hoped" Now there's a subjective statement with absolutely no backing.. Nobody is saying he's ready to take over the helm, but not developed as quickly as hoped? I didn't realize that they expected him to be peyton manning this year. So far as I've heard, he's been doing great under chad's wing. He's at least better than ramsey was if they got rid of him.
Not to mention there has been no objective reasoning behind any of this Clemens stalk beyond subjective statements like this from the media, looking for a story. All actual reports from the offseason, have KC doing some positive things, but being inconsistent(very common for a developing young QB).
I've read stuff like this before about Clemens and I think that this talk comes from the training ground. Maybe he can't come to terms with the playbook or his 'reads' are not right. Theres nothing concrete at the moment , but we will soon see.
well he may not be struggling or developing as slowly as said, but he isnt excelling and pushing chad or replaced him... so whether the comments are true about clemens or not the statement about the backup position is true...this is a very important training camp/preseason for clemens
I'll withold judgement until I see him at TC this year. It should be expected that he would need an absolute minimum of a year of clipboard holding.... and he will have to show his abilities this year, especially in preseason games where he should get a fair number of snaps, even against the other team's 1 defenders. Slow development, eh? Based on what? OTA's? OTA's that the beat reporters had limited access to? And these beat reporters... Cimini said Pouha moved like someone's Grandma, or words to that effect. Now, he talks about him as a potentially viable NT in the 3-4. Even I could see Pouha had potential, given he could improve his mechanics, and he certainly wasn't slow. I'm sure the same negative sort of stuff about Clemens eminates from these knuckleheads, who have no clue what they are watching and reporting about. Rock of Newsday is apparently no better... unfortunately for the fans, the Jets hired the best NY area beat reporter we had.... now, only Hutchinson is the sole remaining competant beat guy covering the Jets. I'll wait and see with my own eyes, which although are those of an amatuer's, are still more objective than the likes of Cimini, fatso Cannizaro and Cimini wanna be, Rock.
I seem to remember at the end of least years draft , that moist people , fans and critics alike had Clemens pegged as a top 5 QB in the draft. |These are the QBs from the 2006 draft; 1. Matt Leinart Southern Cal 2. Vince Young Texas 3. Jay Cutler Vanderbilt 4. Charlie Whitehurst Clemson 5. Omar Jacobs Bowling Green 6. Brodie Croyle Alabama 7. Kellen Clemens Oregon 8. Reggie McNeal Texas A&M 9. Darrell Hackney U.A.B. 10. Bruce Gradkowski Toledo 11. Marcus Vick Virginia Tech 12. Brett Basanez Northwestern 13. Erik Meyer Eastern Washington 14. Justin Holland Colorado St. 15. Barrick Nealy Texas St. 16. Tarvaris Jackson Alabama St. 17. Paul Pinegar Fresno St. 18. D.J. Shockley Georgia 19. Drew Olson U.C.L.A. 20. Ingle Martin Furman 21. Bruce Eugene Grambling St. 22. Josh Betts Miami (OH) 23. Kent Smith Central Michigan 24. Travis Lulay Montana St. 25. Quinton Porter Boston College 26. Matt Baker North Carolina 27. Brett Elliott Linfield 28. Matt Bohnet Eastern Michigan
I'm just going to leave that alone, BUT I think all the reporters have noted his shaky, off-target throws and I certainly noticed his penchant for hanging on to the ball too long last year. I think both of those things derive from him not trusting what he sees, or not willing to commit to it. I'd much rather have myt young QB make dumb decisions rather than make half-hearted decisions. So, to me, he IS in fact progressing slowly, this is not just a made-up "story" That said, I will be most interested to hear TC reports on him and see him in preseason. Hopefully, more game action will help.
How many snaps did he take last season that were pass plays? I can't answer that, but he only threw a single pass in a game last year, and I'd be willing to bet the number of actual pass plays called could be counted on one hand. Are you talking about pre-season or training camp when he was still trying to learn an NFL offense for the first time? If you are basing this analysis on pre-season, how can you possibly say he's progressing slowly as he has an entire year under his belt at this point? The bottom line is that no one has seen much of this guy at all and there's really not enough out there to evaluate him on yet. Unless you're someone inside the Jets organization that is familiar with evaluating rookie QB's progress, I see no validity to these reports. There has to be a reason we got rid of the only QB on our roster with real NFL experience other than Chad Pennington don't you think?
I liked the first couple of articles Brooks wrote but it's been mainly downhill from there. Jet's Training camp challenges: 1. Assemble a coherent defensive front 7 that can stop the run consistently. 2. Avoid an injury on an already thin offensive line while fending off Kendall's distractions. 3. Fit Thomas Jones into an offensive scheme that is about as far away from the Bears power north-south as you can get.
I've heard the rumors in several publications about him not growing as fast as they thought football wise too... We have no idea to know if they are true or not, but this isn't the first time it popped up.
Heck, if we have to resort to using Clemens or Tui during the regular season we are pretty much up the river w/o a paddle no matter how everything else comes together. Are 2 straight seasons of play from our QB that much to ask; I hope not, b/c this offense does not come across as something that is easy to process, and after last year I'm perfectly happy with Chad P under center. I agree w/Bradway Sux, finding a run stopping Front 7 and creating an offense that lets our best players make plays will be key to a successful TC.
