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Let’s take a closer look at some of the moves . . .
The Jets’ safety play last year was somewhat inconsistent, and that could change in 2022, with the combination of LaMarcus Joyner and Jerome Whitehead.
Joyner signed with the Jets last year, but his season ended on Week One due to an arm injury. While we didn’t see much from him in green, they really missed him last year, because he’s an instinctive safety who reads the QB’s eyes well, and the Jets could have used a player like that. There is a reason he played on the franchise tag one year with the Rams, and then the next year, he signed a large contract with the Raiders. Those two big paydays were for a reason. He’s a very good player.
Here is what we wrote about Whitehead, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer, in our free-agent preview issue – “Darrelle Revis’ cousin, Whitehead has made his own mark with his toughness in the box, making 292 tackles his first four years, to go along with 5 picks and 25 PDs. While he’s a solid player, there is a durability concern here, because he’s a little undersized for box safety, and had myriad injuries last season.”
That last line is the big concern with both Joyner and Whitehead. They aren’t big safeties, and they have had injury issues in recent years. They are both under 200 pounds. The Jets need to keep their fingers crossed they can hold up physically, and if they can, this could be a really good safety combo for Gang Green.
The signing of cornerback D.J. Reed makes sense because he’s a great system fit having played for Robert Saleh in San Francisco, and then for Seattle’s Pete Carroll who plays the same scheme. Reed played some good football for Seattle the last two seasons. Look, they aren’t signing Jalen Ramsey, but he’s very solid and didn’t cost them a fortune. They could still pick a cornerback with one of their two first-round picks.
The signing of guard Laken Tomlinson was a sound football decision. He’s a superb run blocker, and you combine him with Alijah Vera-Tucker at the guard spots, and that should be one of the better guard combos in football. Tomlinson really came into his own in San Francisco after struggling in Detroit, a team that picked him in the first round. A big reason for his ascendency in San Francisco was how well he fit the system, which is the same one the Jets play. He also has tremendous character, which is so important to Douglas-Saleh.
In tight end C.J. Ozumah, the Jets aren’t just getting a really talented tight end, but an alpha dog leader, who was one of the leaders of that Cincinnati team that shocked the football world advancing to the Super Bowl last year. The only concern here could be durability. These kinds of really tall tight ends tend to get dinged a lot because their long legs are such inviting targets for defenders, and it’s hard for them to protect them. He had achilles and knee injuries with the Bengals.
Getting RB Tevin Coleman back on a one-year $1.5 million deal is a steal. He’s the perfect complement to Michael Carter, and fits their zone running scheme tremendously. After all, he played it at Indiana, and with the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers, before joining the Jets last year. He’s a terrific one-cut runner who heads upfield quickly with his world-class speed, and is also a glass-eater who doesn’t go down easy, often breaking arm tackles with his fearless running style.
March 16, 2022
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