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A flurry of activity over the weekend. Let’s take a look.
I’m not a huge fan of serial claiming at the final cut down?
Never have been.
Why?
Because you train players for months in the off-season, get them up to speed on the the playbook and your modus operendi, and then you replace a bunch of them with people who don’t know your system and are starting from square one, with the season opener a few days away. It puts extra pressure on the coaches to have to teach guys, and also, if any of these guys are forced into action early in the season, you are in a lot of trouble. Also, players have been building up chemistry on the field and in the locker room since March, and these new guys don’t have any with the roster.
For instance, the Jets added two safeties in the last week – one last week (Mattias Farley), and then Bennett Jackson on the final cutdown.
Neither knows their playbook. They got rid of Doug Middleton, a solid, smart player who knows the system. Not sure either one of these guys was an upgrade, so what is the point?
And the Jets third safety now is Rontez Miles, who is heck of box safety, but is so-so in coverage due to hip stiffness and pedestrian speed. So if something happens to a starter earlier in the year, with the two new guys not ready, you could be putting Miles into a ton of coverage stuff and asking for issues.
I have nothing against Farley or Jackson, but they are undrafted journeymen who akin to Middleton, so why bounce Middleton, who is well-versed on what you are doing, and force the coaches to train these guys from square one?
Not a fan of this.
What I am a fan of, is taking advantage of other teams reluctantly bouncing guys to get down to 53. Most of the final cuts are made easily, but the last few, especially from really well run teams, can be guys who deserve to make it, but the team has no choice but to cut them to get to the limit.
Two examples of this receiver/punt returner Braxton Berrios and defensive linemen John Franklin-Myers. Both these guys should help the Jets.
When Greg Dortch muffed that one punt against Philly in the fourth preseason game, I turned to the guy next to me in the press box, and said, “He’s not going to be the punt returner.” Long-shots need to walk on water in the summer. They can’t make mistakes like that. A little unfair, but the reality of the situation, so now Berrios takes over the job.
As for the release of Jachai Polite, no surprise once Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio announced that he had been fined over $100,000 for breaking team rules, like being late. When you combine that with being average in practice/presason games, with not being Joe Douglas pick, with the team not playing much 3-4 defense anymore, this really wasn’t a big surprise . . .
Some notes from today . . .
Saw Berrios today around the locker room. The former Miami Hurrican and New England Patriot is a “muscle hamster,” to borrow that old nickname for running back Doug Martin. He is 5-8.5 and 190 pounds with muscles on top of muscles – a powerful man. This is good for the slot and punt returner because it gives you the body armor you need in those two roles to take a pounding . . .
While linebacker Jamey Mosley made the practice squad, he’s still rehabbing a left knee injured in the preseason. He has a bulky brace on his left left . . .
Davis Webb was clearly signed to the Buffalo Bills practice squad as a spy.
“You can definitely get info from them and the defense will get an excellent look from Davis Webb,” former Bills center Eric Wood tweeted.
The Bills could have signed a better QB to their practice squad if they were looking for a developmental QB prospect. This is clearly a move made to gather Jets intelligence . . .
August 2, 2019
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