Been taking a look at some of the safety prospects for the upcoming draft. Allen-Bush-Jarret is a pretty good start but both Bush & Jarret are more so role players & Landry can be easily upgraded. In my opinion the team needs a rangy disciplined center fielder type who can compliment Antonio Allen who will likely have alot more room to roam within the scheme as he becomes more seasoned. The vacancy becomes alittle more complicated when you consider what Rex typically likes in his safeties: 1. Physical enough to play in the box 2, Ability to close 3. Blitzing ability I've found it difficult to evaluate alot of this year's crop considering how different alot of these safeties are being used from team to team/system to system. Nonetheless here is how I'd rank them based on all the unbiased anti-highlight film I could find via youtube. This is also how I'd rank them as fits for the Jets. 1. Tre Boston UNC-He's currently projected as a 3rd or 4th round but I think He'll be a 2nd rounder by draft day. Ideal size (6' 205) great mobility, always around the ball & a dependable tackler. He's not an interception machine & isn't gonna gamble too often. Just a dependable plus athlete who would compliment Antonio Allen very well. He displays SOME ability to play in the box though I wouldn't say that's his strength & I haven't seen much of him blitzing so that bares watching. 2. Lamarcus Joyner FSU- He's only 5'8 190 so that concerns you when you're playing Rob Gronkowski twice a year. You also don't see alot of him in centerfield/back end duty. Joyner is used quite a bit closer to the line of scrimmage & even matches up w/ alot of slot receivers in press coverage. He's a very unique gadget player it appears you can use in alot of different ways. He's a very good blitzer, he can set the edge & as I mentioned above he can man up on smaller quicker receivers. About the only thing we don't see alot of him doing is center field/deep duty.His pro day/combine will be very important to identify his ball location/hips & ability to close. Very plausible that Rex will like this guy's ability to help in alot of different ways. Think Jim Leonhard w/ a MUCH higher ceiling. 3.Hasean Clinton-Dix Bama- I'm not as high on this guy as others are. You love the size & who's coaching him..I'm just not blown away by much else. He's above average in terms of raw skills..ALA mobility/strength/instinct but I don't see alot of explosion & frankly I think he lacks some closing speed. He's late on alot of deep balls to his half. Still he doesn't really have any glaring weaknesses & is a pretty dependable tackler. 4.Dion Bailey- Really liked what I saw from this kid. Great instinct, fluid athlete & devastating tackler. Problem is..he's playing a similar role to what Antonio Allen did in college.I will say i could only find footage of him from 2012 so perhaps this has changed. We see him lined up as a hybrid OLB/Safety type routinely in the front 7. He almost always drops into a intermediate zone rarely w/ deep responsibilities.Is this another Darnell Bing? We'll just have to wait till the combine/pro day.
In my opinion it's go big or go home. We need a big heavy hitting safety to lay guys out. Landry is sorely missed
Haha Clinton-Dix,Deonne Buccannon, Tre Boston, Craig Loston and Vinnie Sunseri are my top safeties at this point
I really like Ed Reynolds out of Stanford. His football IQ/instincts are off the charts. I think he may be the smartest non-QB in this draft. Couple that with some nice ball skills and coverage ability, I have no idea why he's being talked about as a third round/fourth round prospect. I guess it's because he doesn't run a 4.4 40.
I'm curious to see what Rontez Miles can do for the Jets if/when he gets a shot on defense. He's older than the typical rookie (I think he's 25), but he definitely has the potential to be a good safety. With that said, you can't go into the draft banking on that - unless he sees some significant playing time toward the end of this season - so you have to look at a FS/SS in the first 4 rounds of the draft
with respect to cdix,i dont think we'll be taking a secondary player from alabama without second thoughts
And imo, that is one of the reasons that Rex must go. He just doesn't get that a team needs a fast, ball-hawking FS. You'd think that after having Ed Reed in his prime, he'd understand that, but he obviously doesn't. Unless Idzik drafts one anyway and forces Rex to play the kid, I can't see Rex going for the type of FS the team needs.
LSU Craig Loston in the 3rd, Tre Boston in the 4th or Kenny Ladler from Vanderbilt in the 4th or 5th round is good value. Safeties drop on draft day. Loston is more like a SS and I want Antonio Allen to play there for years to come. Ladler and Boston are more like FS. EDIT ---- I really like Deone Bucannon from Washington St. I had him in my mock about a month or 2 ago, but that was a 3rd rounder and he has been shooting up draft boards to the 2nd round at which point I would prefer the JETS pass.
Christian Bryant from Ohio St is the guy I undoubtedly want. Their defense took a big hit once he went down. Might be able to get him at a good value too since he's coming off a broken ankle. The guy fits perfectly in the Jets defense. He's got some LaRon Landry in him. He's not as big of a hitter but he's more rangy. A former CB that moved to safety, so he's got very good range and speed for the position. He's a hard hitter and just overall aggressive in nature. He flies to the ball and throws his body around with intentions of setting a physical tone and intimidating others. He was a team captain and a leader on that OSU team. If I had to think of someone he reminds me of from recent drafts, it would probably be Eric Berry. Not saying he's going to be as good as Berry, who is one of the best safeties in the NFL in my opinion, but his game reminds me of Berry. Former CB, physical and aggressive enough to play up in the box and also has the range/speed to be good for you in coverage against TE's.
I can't wait for the bowl games to get under way. One safety to add too the list is Kenny Ladler from Vanderbilt.
