A look at what’s going on around the New York Jets:
1. Fragile investments: The Jets have invested heavily in their future by acquiring 2021 and 2022 first-round picks in safety trade Jamal Adams from the Seattle Seahawks, but those gold tickets have lost their potential value with news that the Big Ten conferences. and Pac-12 have canceled their fall seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic. If the other three power conferences follow suit, it will have a major effect on the 2021 NFL Draft and the entire scouting process.
“Next year’s picks won’t be as valuable if we don’t play college football,” former NFL manager and current ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum said on Get Up.
The reason is that many of the top prospects will lose a development season, assuming they retire from their final college season. Some have already retired, and the numbers will multiply in the coming months – yes, even though their conferences have a spring schedule. Professional-caliber players are not at risk of injury. All-Star Games and Boy Scouting will gain in importance, but the Boy Scout community will not have as many Playgroups to review.
The Jets have already assessed draft-eligible prospects for 2021, based on their 2019 roster, but there’s a huge gap from 2019 to 2021. Any scout will tell you, the more information there is about a player. , the better the chances of an accurate assessment. . Imagine if rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton didn’t have the 2019 season at Louisville; he would not have been drafted in the first round after a poor 2018 and he would not be ready for the NFL.
Questions surrounding college football have reportedly taken into account Seattle’s willingness to part ways with two first-round picks for Adams. Jets general manager Joe Douglas is betting on himself and his team of scouts to overcome obstacles.
“You raise an important point, there is a lot of uncertainty in sport in general and we don’t have a crystal ball as to exactly what the varsity season will look like this year,” Douglas said in late July after the Commerce from Adams. “What trusts me is the group of guys we have on our varsity screening team.… There was a lot of excitement. [with the trade] because, hey look, it behooves us to hit those picks in the future. Obviously there will be challenges this year, but we have the right group of guys to overcome those challenges. “
But it was before the Big Ten and the Pac-12 withdrew from the fall.
Tannenbaum raised an interesting point, wondering if Douglas might consider trading one of those 2021 first-round picks for a proven player like Baltimore Ravens linebacker Matthew Judon or Jacksonville Jaguars passing defenseman Yannick Ngakoue. Judon has signed his franchise offer ($ 16.8 million) but still has no long-term deal. Disgruntled Ngakoue, who is looking to get out of Jacksonville, has still not signed his offer ($ 17.9 million).
I understand the Jets have no interest in Ngakoue, but Judon is a better all-around player and would fit well into the Jets 3-4 front. We all know they need a boost. Douglas had already left the Ravens when Judon was drafted in 2016, but his director of player personnel, Chad Alexander, was on the Baltimore staff at the time.
I can tell you this: Douglas sees the four first-round picks in 2021 and 2022 (his own two, plus both from Seattle) as vital resources in rebuilding the Jets, so it would have to be a good deal to come up with. separate from one of theirs. Then again, you wonder if the changing landscape might change his way of thinking.
2. Battles everywhere: On Monday, the Jets will train for the first time on pads – the real start training camp. Handicap key positional battles:
WR3: Vyncint Smith wins by default. Rookie Denzel Mims is the preferred pick, but the second-round pick sits with a hamstring injury. For beginners, each lost rep is amplified in an abbreviated training camp. I still think Douglas adds a veteran at some point in the camp, this year’s version of Demaryius Thomas. Who knows? It might be Thomas, still a free agent.
LT / RT: Becton wins on the left tackle (barely a shock), George Fant beating Chuma Edoga on the right side. Fant-Edoga is a cinch, but it would be difficult to keep Fant’s $ 9 million salary on the bench.
MLB / WLB: Avery Williamson comes back and gets a job. There is a lot of competition for the other place, but the hunch is that Neville Hewitt will win. He and Williamson can play both inside positions.
CB2: It’s wide open between Blessuan Austin, Quincy Wilson, Arthur Maulet and Nate Hairston, who could sleep. I will choose Austin, who has the most advantages in the group.
3. Last two standing: Without Brian Winters, Bilal Powell and Quincy Enunwa on the roster, linebacker Jordan Jenkins and nose tackle Steve McLendon are the longest-serving players on the team. Please note, they only exist since 2016.
“It’s crazy that I’m one of the oldest guys here,” Jordan said.
4. Johnson & Johnson: In recent days, reporters have asked players such as Jenkins and running back Le’Veon Bell for comment on Woody Johnson’s situation. It is a difficult task for the players as Johnson has not been with the squad since 2016. In 2017 he accepted the post of US Ambassador to the UK. In their eyes, the daily boss of the Jets is CEO Christopher Johnson.
Gut feeling: Christopher will remain in this role even after his older brother, the owner, returns to the United States. In my opinion, it would be difficult for Woody Johnson to function effectively in a visible role in light of all that has surfaced. Although most of the players don’t know him personally, they have learned that he allegedly made racist remarks. I’m curious to see if the league takes action against him. So far they have given – a bad look.
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Field Yates doesn’t consider Le’Veon Bell to be a top 10 fantasy, while Matthew Berry believes Bell will have a chance to have a fantastic season in the top 10 due to volume and an improved offensive line.
5. Dig deep: How much in-depth work have the Jets done on Ashtyn Davis safety? Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said he watched Davis’ tape from Santa Cruz High School in California.
Williams doesn’t like Davis; He loves it. Don’t be surprised if he gets an early role.
6. “Three” is (not) a company: I think it’s safe to say that Williams isn’t a fan of the Cover 3 defense. Not only did he push the Seahawks, ESPN research shows he played Cover 3 for 16%. defensive shots of the Jets last season, 25th in the league.
7. Sleeping jets? When a team ends a season winning six of eight but doesn’t make it to the playoffs, they often become a fashionable choice for the following season. Experts like to invoke the “springboard” theory. Funny, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Jets, who have no love whatsoever in the league power rankings and preseason predictions.
Could this be a good thing?
“If people want to sleep on us, they can sleep on us. We’re fine,” Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said. “We are worried about what we need to do here.”
Of course, the disrespect could be due to the fact that three of the Jets’ best players have left – Adams, linebacker CJ Mosley (excluded) and wide receiver Robby Anderson (Carolina Panthers).
8. Maye Day: Without Adams, Marcus Maye has a tremendous opportunity to show his worth. And that just happens to be a contract year, so now is the time. Maybe he can expand his game as well.
In 2019, Maye played 816 out of 1,024 snaps in free safety, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. He was often deployed in the center, sometimes 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. He can’t wait to show he can mix it up in traffic near the line of scrimmage.
“Playing in the box or playing in deep space, I feel like I can do both tasks pretty well,” Maye said. “I feel like I have no limits on this.”
9. The last word: “Honestly when I got here the Jets didn’t really have a winning history, and it really sucks the last four years we haven’t been able to do that. But me being back here, four out of five years, I’m tired of losing. So we have to step up and try to get things done. ”- Jordan Jenkins, who lost 43 of 64 games as a member of the Jets.
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