Who makes the team this season? The FO has certainly added a lot of quality depth. Let's take a look at the roster: Starters DE - Leonard Williams NT - McLendon / Pennel DE - Henry Anderson Williams is a stud. I'm really glad we re-signed Pennel who I believe will rotate with McLendon, and be used on short ydg situations. Anderson as long as healthy easily wins a starting role imo. Roster Depth DE - Nathan Shepard The FO must see a lot of potential in him to draft in round 3 despite age and small school experience. For 2018, he will be on the roster as depth. DE - Lawrence Thomas Even with playing some FB snaps, I'd still like him to play defense also. He's good depth, and gives us more roster flexibility. On the Roster Fringe NT - Dion Simon Are we going to keep 3 NT's? We didn't last year, and seems hard to justify. He may end up on PS squad again short of injuries. DE - Fatukasi Seems like a good run stuffer, but a 6th round selection does not guarantee any roster spot. Generally only keep 5-6 Dlineman, so it will be an uphill climb. Will have to prove he's ready to earn anything more than a PS slot. On the outs Xavier Cooper and Claude Pelon are decent players, but they'd need a combination of injuries plus a great camp to have a shot at this point. All in all, pretty good depth even after losing so many key lineman. And a lot cheaper than bringing on Hankins to solve the problem.
Agree with your starters. Anderson who we just traded for HAS to pass a physical or the trade is void(perhaps he already has passed? haven't heard he hasn't and I'm sure Jets docs will do that test sooner rather than later). Anderson has been snake bitten with injuries his whole career. 3 season ending surgeries in 3 years. He has talent ON the field, when healthy. If Anderson fails the physical, or gets hurt early in camp. They I think you will see Shepherd/Cooper battling it out for the starting job. I think we carry 4 DE, Williams/Anderson/Shepherd/Cooper. Or Williams/Shepherd/Cooper and perhaps the DT rook Fatukasi sticks to the 53 man as he can be NT/DE. FB- UDFA Flowers will PUSH L. Thomas. BOTH offer varying intangibles. Thomas obviously with his DE capability, but Flowers with his pass catching capability out of the backfield. This job may be determined by the health of Anderson and the capability of Shepherd/Cooper/Fatukasi. I could be wrong, but D. Simon may likely be out of Practice Squad eligibility. Also- McClendon is in last year of his contract and he's long in the tooth. Fatuksai is his likely replacement in 2019, not sure we can stash him on PS. He was graded as 4th rd pick, fell to us in the 6th.. if we stash him on PS.. someone might take him from us. Coming into the draft, DL was WEAK, it certainly is better. I like both draft picks.
The DL has a bunch of names and a bunch of question marks. I like Anderson more than a 7th round pick, but he's played in 29 games in three seasons. Let's pump the breaks on anointing him anything. There's a reason he was had for such little compensation. However, I think he sticks, but I'm not sure who else does aside from Williams. I think even someone like McClendon could be an end of Training Camp release if one of these (what feels like) 73 young DL we have brought in this offseason can show promise/potential. Pennel probably makes it due to the three year deal he received, but again, one never knows. The battle on the DL, as well as at TE and CB, will be fun to watch for fans this summer. There are a lot of names, some big and some small, and only so many roster positions to fill.
Good break down here. The only one I disagree with is Thomas. I think he will have a hard time making the team. Is he a fb or dt? If he is a dt he has a chance but I think an uphill battle. Mac got good depth for the d line. Lunch pail guys. Good mix of vets and rookies and what seems like a good rotation for us.
Dont rule out that Foley kid. I have no basis for this remark other than his name but a Long Island kid with the name Foley Fatukasi definitely sounds like a New York Jets lineman.
I agree. I think Thomas' days as a FB are over unless they decide to keep him in the DL rotation AND as a backup/emergency FB. I think Flowers will be our FB.
Shepard would have climbed up into round 2 if he had not been injured during senior bowl practice. He would definitely have been selected in round 3 had we passed on him. Quite alot of teams were high on him and he had a great combine and interviewed really well by all accounts.
As much as I like the Flowers guy, I hope they don't carry a FB slot at all. The position has been basically eliminated but for hback rotations
I really liked him at Oklahoma. Maybe the position is going away in a classic but I would love to see Bates find creative ways to use a guy of his skill set. He’s way more than just a lead blocker.
Yes , the DL is in place for the next 5 seasons with absolute studs..whoopee..they better help the mess we had last season after 3 or 4 drafts of nothing but Defense..I'll believe all this when I see it Meanwhile the OL ranked 30th by PFF does nothing and Sam,the QBs struggle to keep the chains moving against a tidal wave of bodies
The depth is ok this year but wait until we draft a DE in the 1st round next year! I agree with others about Thomas and think he should move to Fringe and Foley should take his place in the rotation.
I totally disagree on this. I think this guy may be better than some (most) of our TEs: Honestly think this guy is the best UDFA the Jets signed.
Lawrence Thomas has already been converted away from DL; he's done here. Xavier Cooper played very well last year and think he's earned a spot in the rotation, especially since we have no idea about the health of Anderson or whether Shepherd can transition quickly into the rotation. Fatukasi will make it because Mac rarely cuts rookies.
DAMN.... I take these Highlight clips with a big grain of salt as theyre just that, but that was pretty good. Looks pretty versatile, and creates some mismatches. Hard to judge some because he was so WIDE open on alot of that. Was it because of the mismatches he created vs LBs, or was it just blown college defensive plays? He at least made some nice blocks too Maaaaybe he has the chance to be Richie Anderson
Mac hasn’t been very good drafting in the later rounds but he’s come away with some gems as UDFA’s. Here’s to him being the next one.
I hope so to! I really was surprised when he went undrafted. I could see him becoming our version of Kevin Faulk, not great at any one thing, but good enough at so many of them he carves out a long term role on the team.
Yes, I get it. I didn't say that I hope they cut Flowers, I said that I hope they don't carry a FB slot. I'm high on him because of his highlight reels, too. Seems like he runs like a maniac in open space, I saw him make a number of catches with his hands instead of his body, and he holds the ball reasonably well when running with it. But I'd rather see if be can be carried in one of the TE slots than waste a FB slot when the depth of this team is so questionable. A 53 man roster is a sticky numbers game when depth isn't great and carrying a FB slot has proven over the years to be more of a luxury than a necessity, as the game has shifted to pass first. He had a couple of good blocks in the reel you posted, but can he seal an edge like a TE? He seemed high on his blocks, and he won't get away with that against an NFL edge rusher or even a lot of in the box safeties. Something to think about.
Too funny..kid looks really good! But WAIT ....he must be one of those "wide open receivers that made Mayfield look good and inflated his stats" !!!
