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Time for Part II of what we were getting into on Monday.
You win in the NFL with difference-makers. Yesterday, we got into three guys I view as difference-makers on the Jets’ defense. Those are Trumaine Johnson, Jamal Adams and Leonard Williams.
Today, let’s turn to the offense.
I think Sam Darnold will be a difference-maker in time, but not right now. He needs a lot of seasoning. Like I’ve said many times, when you have an elongated throwing motion, with a big windup, it gives defenders an extra split-second to jump routes. This can lead to a lot of picks. Hey, Darnold had 20 interceptions over last 20 games at USC, so you can see picks were a little bit of a problem on the college level. NFL defensive backs are the best of the best, and they are even more of a threat to jump routes than college defenders.
So my position on this is simple: Darnold needs to be totally comfortable with the Jets offense and all his reads/progressive scans before he starts. Because if you have a guy with a long, windy throwing motion, and you combine it with being raw and having embryonic reads, you are asking for trouble.
So Darnold needs to redshirt all or part of this year.
So I’m not going to put him on “difference-maker” list just yet, though I think he will get there.
Robby Anderson is the Jets’ clear difference-maker on offense. He has world-class speed to take the top off the defense on any given play. And his speed, and the double-teams he garners, opens up favorable matchups (one-on-one coverage) for the other players. Opposing defenders are so scared of Anderson’s speed, they often play very far off him, and he (and Josh McCown) do a nice job of taking advantage of underneath routes. He also has very good hands and has improved immensely as a route-runner under the watchful eyes of Jets WR coach Karl Dorrell. If he can stay out of trouble moving forward, and stay healthy, he has star potential.
After Anderson, it’s hard to name any other true difference-makers on offense.
Look, they have plenty of good players, but a difference-maker is somebody an opponent needs to specifically game-plan for, and is there anybody else like that right now?
Here are some guys with the potential to be difference-makers for the 2018 Jets:
Center Spencer Long – he was playing on a very high-level in Washington before hurting his knee last year ending his season. When healthy, he can possibly get the Jets back to a Nick Mangold-level at center. I overrated Wesley Johnson last year. Mentally he’s fine, and he gives you everything he’s got, but he just doesn’t have enough “mass in the ass” as scouts say, and this led him to get pushed around by some massive nose tackles. Long is a thick, powerful guy who should give the Jets more push up the middle.
Jermaine Kearse – He is a clutch, sure-handed, cerebral wideout who should be even better this year for the Jets with a full off-season and training camp, something he didn’t have last year with Gang Green (the Jets acquired him on September 1). He could have a huge year, especially with all the favorable matchups he will get opposite Anderson.
Terrelle Pryor – If his ankle is healthy, he could be a huge weapon for the Jets. He’s a freak athlete at 6-4, 230 with 4.4 speed who is now comfortable in his WR skin. He was a college QB.
Isaiah Crowell/Thomas Rawls – I’m a huge fan of both running backs the Jets signed in free agency. Crowell is a big-time talent (five-star recruit out of high school), who quietly did some good things in Cleveland on a bad team. He has a nice combo of size/speed and power. Rawls might be one of the most underrated backs in the NFL. He’s one of the most violent runners in the league. When he played in Seattle, he made a lot happen. Good comparison for Rawls – think Chris Ivory.
July 24, 2018
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