Saw this on PFT, from Manish: “From what I’m hearing, Woody will likely be back at a reduced rate,” Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News told Florio on Tuesday’s PFT Live. “And I think part of that is driven by the fact that Ducasse hasn’t been able to work with the coaching staff.”
If he can still play well and he's cheap, sure, but you only have a limited number of spots and you do have to balance veteran leadership with developing younger players.
I know with the possibility of Brad Smith leaving, we're gonna have a hole back there on kickoffs, but Woody?I dunno thats a stretch, oh well Westhoff has never let us down, I trust in his judgment....
I'm in favor of this as a backup strategy. They can trust Woody to fill in if they think Ducasse needs some more time with the CS before he is ready.
I think this is a no brainer. Woody is one of the best RTs in the game when he's healthy. This team is on the cusp of a championship, you can't risk having Ducasse as your main option when he's still young and raw. Keep Woody as the starter and begin to work Ducasse into the rotation as he gets more experience and coaching. If Woody stays healthy I have no problem grooming Ducasse for one more year behind him. If anyone is curious how good Woody still is, take a look at this article. http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/05/28/kareem-mckenzie-what-more-do-you-want/ It's about McKenzie, but you'll see that Woody is near the top of all the RT statistics. I look at this as much more than a backup strategy. I think this is something the Jets need to do if they want their offensive line to be steady and elite again this year.
YESSSSS Damien Woody is HUGE for this team. the dude has been one of the best RT's in the league over the past 2 years and brings swagger, leadership and a superbowl ring to this team. he's a fatass roadgrater and his pass protecting isn't the prettiest but it gets the job done 9 out of 10 times and its entertaining as hell to watch SIGN THIS BEAST!!!
The Jets could actually be one of the teams to benefit from this lockout. We have the whole coaching staff in place with a quarterback who knows how to lead, as evidenced by the whole Jets West thing. Teams with new coaching staffs, or even a new coordinator, are really playing catch up. As are teams with uncertainty at the quarterback position, which is like 1/3 of the league. We don't really have many young players who are inexperienced and need this valuable time with the coaching staff expected to step in and play major roles (even Ducasse won't be relied upon if Woody is back). Our main rookies this year are going to be backup defensive linemen, and last year's top rookie is working out with the best corner in the NFL. Then if they end up playing by last year's rules, it will mean Cromartie, Holmes and Smith will all be near locks to return due to the free agent restrictions. It will also be easier to bring back mid-level guys like Pool, Ellis. And now about Woody, the longer this lockout lasts the less likely it is he will be signed by another team to be the starting RT. His best option will be to return to the Jets who would love to have him back as a valuable insurance policy on the line.
Woody may come back at a reduced rate, but he probably won't be starting for more than 8 games. It's all well and good to say 's when healthy', but that is just the problem. Linemen his age and weight tend to be unhealthy. That's not to say that I wouldn't welcome him back in a limited fashion, but sometimes you take a step back to leap forward. They did it with Slauson.
The Jets probably have the widest range of possible outcomes from the lockout of any team. If there is football, a very short training camp/pre-season, the 2010 free agency rules are in effect, and there's no salary cap and (perhaps more importantly) no salary floor so teams like Tampa Bay and Kansas City are able to be cheap rather than being forced to go out and bid on players like Pool and Coleman and Eric Smith, the Jets would come out smelling like roses-they get Smith/Holmes/Cromartie as restricted free agents, they can probably re-sign Holmes and some of the other restricted free agent like Ellis and roll out essentially the same team as last year and kick some a**. On the other hand if there's a pretty high salary cap (and a high salary floor) and players with four year's time are unrestricted, (and especially if there's no franchise tag) free agency could be devastating; you could lose 10+ good players from last years' team and you don't have time to replace them. It's just too earlier to predict one way or another.
I'm not crazy about him coming back, especially if it means not resigning Hunter. You could argue the one spot we really don't need veteran leadership is the offensive line - Brick and Mangold have plenty of that. It is kinda odd that through all the mock draft talk, right tackle was the one "need" that nobody seemed too concerned about, including the front office apparently.
Well from a fan/draftnik's perspective you've got to think that Ducasse is a pretty good Plan A at RT-a second year second round pick with the requisite size should be a good option there, particularly when the team has shown confidence in him by dumping the veteran at that position and saying Ducasse is the next RT.
I don't know that dumping Woody was much of a vote of confidence for Vlad. He was the most obvious cap number casualty and is coming off a serious injury. Vlad or no Vlad that salary wasn't sticking around. As for Vlad, I think he is the RT of the future - it's his natural position. Problem is making him the RT of the PRESENT becomes infinitely more difficult with no off-season with Callahan. Let's face it it's not like running routes with your QB in a park all off-season. Without a full team meeting there's not a whole hell of a lot a tackle is gonna get done technique wise to get better against thin air.
Woody posted on Twitter something like "My decision.." with a link to a video. The video was just him saying "I think I should keep my talents right here in New York, what'chall think?" Here's a link to the post: http://twitter.com/#!/damienwoody/status/76125174738583553 Nick Mangold replied to him and said "I think you should decide to put a shirt on", which I found pretty funny..
