After research, last year he was placed on injury reserve in mid Nov due to a nagging knee injury. He was resigned to a one year deal last year. He is now cleared and good to practice. To be worried is always prudent for us. But if he can play, he is better than Fant at this point.,
Fant is hurt, clearly. How quick can we get Remmers up to speed? McDermott needs to not be on this roster.
I’ll keep saying I’m so frustrated that three years into JDs tenure our OL is STILL a huge weakness, despite all the talk about the trenches being priority. The DL is also not good, and even though we have a ton of DL players, we don’t have a single great DL still….not a single one who can create havoc and has to be game planned against. still, the OL is worse. I think JD wasted time in his first year or two by signing middle of the pack hold the fort type free agents like Lewis and GVR…he used a high draft pick on Becton which at the time was OK…I know some here questioned it even then but he was very good when on the field. To me the real issue was JD doubling down on Becton after he missed last year and didn’t show up to voluntary workouts and was out of shape…just too many signs there to ignore, and we doubled down instead, so no surprise that came back to bite us. And so here we are, we will need to use a first round pick on at OT, a DE, and maybe even a QB if Zach doesn’t improve….I know many here are sure he will (though many here are also skeptical), and I’m more in the skeptical camp than the optimistic camp. Maybe a better way to say it is I won’t believe it until I see him perform on the field. but for the OL to be this big of a mess at this point is just a huge black mark for me…this was supposed to be priority number one. So why are we here?
Make no mistake though, a big reason this OL is in the shape that it's in right now is because we're probably going to have to trot out our 4th and 5th string OTs on Sunday. No team in the NFL is that deep at OT. Most teams struggle when they get to their first backup, we're now on our backup's backup's backup and our backup's backup's backup's backup. McGovern is what he's always been, a solid C. Guy's never gonna be top 10 at the position but he's fine. AVT is playing at an All-Pro level so far in this season, looking like a franchise cornerstone so far for the IOL. Mitchell is playing very well right now for a 4th round rookie who got thrust into a starter role due to injuries. Jury is obviously still out on him but I'm impressed with how he's played so far. Hopefully he can continue to improve. He's getting invaluable reps against some very good DLs too, which should increase his maturation. The left side of our line is in shambles right now. Fant has looked terrible so far this season as has Tomlinson. Whether it be due to injuries (Fant) or adjusting to a new team/scheme (Tomlinson), I'm hopeful they can rebound and improve but I don't have much confidence in either one right now.
Nice assessment. To me Fant proved he is not the long term solution at LT anyhow, irrespective of injuries. When healthy he can hold his own, and could make a nice back up swing tackle but that is it. .Fact remains we need to get and develops a rookie stud OT next year along with Becton. OL problems are all over the NFL right now. Watched the Giants yesterday and they are awful in that area. I heard that over the last decade, the Giants drafted 8 OL with premium picks, not one of them was extended past the original contract. On the other side, the Cowboys, year after year, seem to find not good but outstanding OL in the draft and it shows. Their OL is tops. We need to steal a page from those Cowboys in that area.
Good to know good offensive tackles grow on trees and can be easily picked. You think good/great ones come on the free market? Teams dont let them go. You need to draft one. They thought they did in becton. Injuries killed that for the time being. Would folks prefer not to have gardner, wilson or hall for one of the high drafted tackles last year. Not me. Douglas has grabbed every replacement he could find, what more could he do? Injuries destroy the best of plans. So many silly posts by so many would be GM's. Granted, its a fan forum and everyone can post their opinions, and i would like to read some well thought out ones for a change
What can we draw from these moves?. To me, is that both Fant and Brown injuries are more extensive than the feedback we are getting. Which, consistent will all the previous prognostics by the Jets does not surprise me one bit. i'm of the opinion that ever since the NFL started tailored practices to protect players from injury during pre season has had more of a negative effect on the injuries sustained during the season. Glad JD is proactive on this matter, contrary to what appears to be the public opinion. To say that the OL picks by JD have been ineffective due to injury is fair, but to say he disregarded the OL, after 2 first round picks and 2 4th rounders in 3 years plus significant free agency acquisitions IMO is far from accurate.
You look at that chart and it is hard to see how taking a tackle at 4 would have made us better. For the first 3 games we have have had the better drafted tackle plus Sauce. That will likely change in with a bigger sample ofgames but there is a chance that Mitchell could be our RT of the future. That would be a major draft coup. If Mitchell becomes our long term RT that leaves only finding someone to compete with Becton next year at LT whether it is Brown, Fant or whomever plus another back-up tackle. Although McGovern's contract is up too. Looking at the roster there are very few holes for next year. OT, C, LB and safety and that's it. It has been a long time since we have had such a short list.
Large chunks of the pressures has been week 1. He has been ascending ever since. Hopefully this continues.