Somewhat random, but this is what I would like to see happen to our D-Line in the offseason: - switch to a 4-3 defense, with 4 D-Linemen on every down - Snacks is resigned and remains the nose tackle - Richardson moves to the 3-technique tackle spot - we draft Randy Gregory with our first round pick to be one of the DEs (if we cant get a QB) - we sign one of the elite young pass rushers available in free agency to be the other DE (available FAs: Jason Pierre Paul, Greg Hardy, Justin Houston) - we trade Wilkerson for high draft picks that we use on other positions, such as OL, CB, QB, etc - Coples can also be either traded for picks or remain as a backup in this scenario Why? Well, I feel like we are not optimally using our players right now. Wilkerson and Richardson are great, but as 3-4 DEs, they are overqualified for the job. Lots of snaps if we are just rushing 3, they are double teamed, other plays they are dropped back into coverage, if they get double teamed, we don't have the OLBs behind them to really make the offense pay, if we get those OLBs, then we'll have to pay a lot of money to both 2 linemen who are just eating up blocks, and to the OLBs. It just doesn't seem to work out well either way. Gregory might also be the best guy for us to draft if we cant get the QBs, Williams is the same player type as Wilk/Sheldon, and WRs are a bad position to draft this high. We have a lot of cap space and money to make a run at the elite pass rushers in FA, and with a dominant pass rushing 4 man front, that could cover up our secondary issues as well. Finally we need O-Linemen and Cbs, but we can't pick them with our first round pick, because that would be reaching this year. But if we could get a mid round extra first round pick for Wilkerson, that would be a good spot to grab a left tackle or a corner. One potential trade partner is Houston. Clowney is not working out well for them so far with all the injuries, imagine them teaming up Wilkerson with Watt, I am sure that would be appealing to them at least on some level. They are not grabbing a QB with their middle of the pack first round pick, so I think they might be willing to trade. 1st and 2nd rounder maybe, or 1st and 3rd. If Seahawks traded a 1st, 3rd and 7th for Harvin a couple of years back, Wilkerson might get at least a similar type deal. Anyways, just some wishful thinking after a bad loss (or win in this case), but if we cant get a franchise QB this offseason, imagine coming away with a Gregory, Snacks, Richardson, Hardy/JPP/Houston frontline. Or tell me how stupid this idea is.
I think doing all of the trades is a little unrealistic, but using our current personnel could be a pretty bad ass 4-3 front. Coples-Snacks-Wilkerson-Richardson. It would be a pretty heavy 4-3 front, but Wilkerson and Richardson are so athletic that either could play the end.
Well, his natural position is an interior lineman, not an outside pass rusher. He could lose some weight but he would still be very big for an outside DE, so I don't know if he would have the optimal speed and stamina for a 4-3 DE. He might make it work, but he probably wouldn't be really dominant at that position. Coples is also very inconsistent. So Gregory and one of Houston/JPP/Hardy look much more menacing on paper than Coples and Wilkerson as the 4-3 ends.
I agree with moving back to the 4-3. I have a totally different take however and I don't believe we have to make whole-sale changes in personnel to do it either. - Keep Snaks - this next move is predicated on if we don't get one of the top QB's and are able to move down in the draft. Move back to the late teens early 20's and take Washington DT Danny Shelton. Shelton is a guy who at one point was leading the Huskies in Tackles!! He's a 340 pounder that was leading the team in TACKLES!! Just let that sink in for a moment. - Move Richardson to DE. Can that work? Um... Absolutely. In fact he lines up as the End in the 3-4 often. I think he has the skills to dominate LT's. He's powerful, quick and has great hands. He would need to work on a few outside pass rush moves, but I think he can do it and dominate - Keep Wilkerson as the Strong Side End. - Think of our front as similar to the front that the 2000 Ravens had with Siragusa and Sam Adams in the middle and McCrary and Rob Burnett as the Ends. - Our LB's would be Harris in the middle with Davis manning the strong side. Davis as the strong side LB is my only concern. If we don't keep Harris then Davis would go to the Middle and Coples would man the strong side. - With this scenario then we will pick up a few additional 2nd round picks. With one of them, we finally solve our Pass Rushing OLB issue by drafting Washington OLB Hau'oli Kikaha. Yes, I know that this would be the 2nd University of Washington defensive player that I would take. But I would not hesitate bringing these guys in. Kikaha is an absolute beast as a pass rusher. He gets off the ball so fast, plays with tremendous leverage, has great hands and knows how to get to the QB and be a disruptive force on the outside. With this scenario we would dominate the middle of the line with Harrison and Shelton. Richardson and Wilkerson would be one on one with the OT's and I believe both would dominate in those matchups. And we would have a premier OLB to rush the QB. How would you block this? Shift an OG to take on Shelton and leave Kikaha one on one with a tackle? I believe Kikaha would destroy the edge and Richardson would dominate the poor OG. There wouldn't be a pocket for the QB to step up into either because Shelton and Harrison would destroy one on one blocking on the inside. Keep a back in for protection? Good luck, you're not going to be able to block these guys. Then we also don't have to blitz to create pressure on every play leaving up to 6 defenders in coverage.
Why are we fixing something that's not broken? Our front 7 is not the reason we're 3-11. We could definitely use an outside passrusher, I admit, and I understand the concern about paying for Wilk, Richardson, Harrison AND a top OLB, but we have a top-3 DLine at the moment. They could certainly get more sacks but they are a fearsome bunch. We don't need to make any drastic changes to it IMO.
Richardson and Wilkerson are very quick (and fast) for interior linemen, but dominant outside pass rushers are a whole another level of fast. You can see it this year, the times when Mo or Sheldon run around their blockers, they give it a strong effort but most times they don't get there in time. That's why I think Richardson would work well as a 3-technique tackle, because then he would be very close to the action when the opposing QB steps up in the pocket, and Richardson just has to beat his blocker. When he or Mo have to run around, it doesnt work as well. Also, with your plan, we would have 340+ pounds Snacks and another 340 pound guy in the middle. That's great for stopping the run, but I don't see either of them putting pressure on the QB with that kind of size. They would have to run for 3 minutes just to get their entire body around the blocker. If we sign JPP, Houston or Hardy, all 3 of them have proven to be excellent pass rushers in the NFL, are about Wilkerson's age, and their contract would probably be in the same area as his. So it's the same type of thing, but they would just fit much better into a 4-3 defense. Randy Gregory would come cheap for several years on a rookie contract, and it seems like right now, based on what I read in scouting reports, he is the clearcut favorite as the pass rusher to grab early on. There might be some other good ones later on, but it's more of a crapshoot. Don't see Harris a 4-3 MLB. Rex's schemes make it easier on Harris with his pedestrian speed and crappy coverage skills, because not only do you have 4 linebackers, but both safeties are often around the box, and sometimes linemen drop into coverage, so there is a ton of people in the middle of the field. In a vanilla 4-3 defense, at least one safety will be playing deep, sometimes 2, there are only 3 linebackers, and linemen usually just focus on getting upfield. So a MLB has to be much faster than Harris in my opinion. I think if we go that way, Davis will probably be the MLB, unless we get someone else. We can probably pick up a couple of OLBs in free agency that are not super expensive.
You could just put Wilkerson at strongside DE, in the same position Shaun Ellis played for years, have Harrison on the nose, put Richardson at 3T and draft a natural pass rushing DE to play on the right. That would be an outstanding 4 man line. Pull Snacks on passing downs sometimes for the 5th DB.
Well, what started me thinking about this is our win yesterday, which might have put us out of the running for the 2 QBs in the first round. If we can't get Mariota or Winston, I think the only pick that makes sense for us, if we can get him, is Randy Gregory. But if we do get him, I just don't like the idea of paying massive contracts to Wilkerson and Richardson for playing 3-4 DEs, and then the OLBs behind them. Seems like a waste for what they are required to do in that system. I think we can both save a lot of cap and let Richardson be more effective by switching to the 4-3. But then if we do that, why not go all the way and get a young pass rushing stud on the other side as well, especially since we have so much cap anyway. I think with that kind of a D-Line, it will improve our linebackers and secondary just by pressuring the hell out of opposing QBs constantly. Trading Wilkerson would also net us some valuable early picks, which we could use to address other holes such as OL and secondary. Yeah that would be OK, but if you remember, Ellis didn't exactly generate a ton of pressure. It would be a nice line, but if we can put a guy like JPP/Hardy/Houston there instead of Wilkerson, then it would go from a nice line to the kind of line QBs have nightmares about at night.
totally agree. we are one of the best teams at stuffing the run. why would i want to change the base D behind that? on about half our snaps we are in the Nickel, with a 4 man front anyway. So essentially we are talking about changing what we do on early downs, which already works. To improve this D we could definitely use an OLB with edge rushing abilities, as well as corners who can cover for more than 2 seconds. That would increase sacks/turnovers, and improve the overall D quite a bit. crazy thought, but i would consider keeping Thurman and Dunbar on the coaching staff.
Ellis generated a lot of pressure when JAbe was opposite him at RE. If teams can really pay attention to Wilkerson he'll just tie up a bunch of blockers but if all they can do is put the RT on him and chip him with the TE, well he's going to get in on the QB often enough in that scenario. The thing to remember about Ellis early career is that the Jets had very different plans from him when they drafted him and during his rookie year than they did for the rest of his career. 2000: rookie - 3-4 RE with JAbe slated for ROLB next to him. 2001: 4-3 LE with JAbe opposite him at RE. 2002: 4-3 3T (aborted in camp when it became obvious it was a waste of talent) with JAbe next to him at RE. Back to LE for the rest of his time with the Jets.
I'd like to see the Jets keep all their DL, resign Wilkerson, and draft an OLB. I'm not understanding the notion of worrying about cap space when you have like 30 mil to play with.
I don't know why everyone wants JPP, he's going to stay with the Giants and is far too inconsistent. Greg Hardy is a questionable pick after what he went through, would not touch him. Houston most likely will resign with KC. I've seen a few people on the Trade Wilkerson bandwagon. You don't trade away elite players for draft picks. Resign him.
Closer to $40 million, up to $50 if we cut Harvin or restructure him. That being said, we need to re-sign Harrison, potentially Harris, and address the following positions before re-signing Wilkerson: RG, CB1, FS, MLB, QB, and potentially CB2 and LG. Assuming we don't sign any flashy WRs and play our cards right, I think we can get this team back on track and re-sign Wilk before the start of next season.
Forget Harris; I'm not sure what he does that virtually anyone can't do...and for significantly less. And I don't understand the notion that any of those other needs are a greater priority than resigning Wilkerson. My feelings are: keep a strength with a known quantity before you address a weakness with an unknown.
Btw, I like how you've detailed the needs... Colon's the RG, right? For sure, he needs to go. And if there's someone better than Aboushi/Winters who can be had for cheap, sign him too. CB1 and CB2: I think you have to count on either Milliner or McDougle coming back and playing well and the other CBs are reasonable nickels. FS is a luxury. Btw, what happened to Allen? Did he stop playing? MLB/ILB: if the Jets draft an OLB with a 1st or 2nd round pick, it becomes less of an issue. Need to get faster at this level of the defense, that's for sure. The Jets have $40 mil in cap room. Use it!!
Just move Wilkerson to inside. Put Shelden outside and grab a speed rusher or two to complete the other end spot. If you feel Coples can do that, make him exclusively the other end. The DLine isn't the issue. I feel the Jets need two LB's. Keep Davis. Maybe one of the young LB's can fill one spot and grab another outside guy. Man I wish Lansanah was still here, he's having a heckuva season in TB
I want to move to a 4-3 badly! I would never consider trading Mo Wilk unless it was going to get us Cooper and Mariota (Madden Dream Once). Wilk/Coples/Snacks/Richardson would be monsters on the line. With upgrades at CB and adding a pass rusher our defense could be good again.
here is my take on the 4-3. its a little out there but i don't think its too crazy. dl wilk, harrison/barnes*, sheldon, coples. not the fastest on the edge but all 4 can beat there guys and will need some extra attention. * harrison is given a 1st rd tender. if any team bites, we say good bye to snacks lb davis was projected as a sam in a 4-3 so he will be the sam. need a will, i don't really see one on the team but between f.a. and the draft we can get a serviceable wlb mlb- antonio allen. sure he is smallish for the position but with this dline i don't see many guards gettting to the 2nd level nd blocking him. he has the experience picking up t.e.'s and the speed to ove sideline to sideline plus is a sure tackler. this is my plan, it keeps things simple and lets us focus our picks and cap on the bigger problems while keeping most of the talent we do have. flame away
