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My job is to call balls and strikes – not to have double standards based on how the echo chamber views certain players, refusing to lay a glove on them because they are seemingly beyond reproach, due to contract numbers or Pro Bowl berths.
I’ve been hard on Michael Clemons for some rough games, but most of his struggles are not his fault, in my opinion.
He has athletic stiffness and limited speed/quickness that are not of his own doing. And also, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh picked a player who flat-out doesn’t fit the former coach’s run-and-hit scheme which calls for linemen to run sideline to sideline. To this day, I don’t get the pick. Clemon is a 3-4 end.
But you know what, it was a fourth-round pick. Teams roll the dice in the middle to late rounds all the time. It’s a crapshoot round.
So I’m not going to go overboard criticizing the pick. The bigger issue is related to defiant loyalty, where they rolled with him come hell or high water the last couple of years no matter what the film said. That is going to have to change with the no regime. The film doesn’t lie.
But the Jets’ inconsistency upfront goes beyond Clemons
There was a headline on the Jets website today that read – “How Did Quinnen Williams Grow During the 2024 Season?”
He didn’t.
Sorry if that candor offends some people but it’s the reality of the situation.
He had a pedestrian season. There is no way around it.
He finished with six sacks and 25 tackles in 16 games.
The six sacks aren’t an issue. Defensive tackles generally don’t put up the sack numbers of defensive ends. Like Tennessee’s Jeffrey Simmons, one of the game’s best defensive tackles, had five sacks this past year. Baltimore’s Nnamdi “Justin” Madubuiki had 6.5 sacks.
So that isn’t the issue. The issue is related to run defense, and it’s not a new issue.
He’s not a huge defensive tackle and can get engulfed by blockers against the run, leading to some big runs up the middle. The Jets have a couple of other guys who had the same issue.
And a lot of times it’s not against double teams. You hear a lot that he faces many double teams, but it’s not as many as you would think. A lot of big runs were on single blocks by guards or centers.
And since he’s not taking up as many double teams as you have been led to believe, often offensive linemen get to the second level, and latch on to linebackers like Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood, leading to additional issues against the run. Those guys are at their best when they are kept clean and can flow to the ball.
Look, Quinnen Williams is a good player, but $24 million a year was perhaps a little over-the-top. The former regime was guilty of some largesse with this contract.
Whoever the Jets hire as GM and head coach, they are going to have to fix the team’s issues upfront. A scheme adjustment is in order
Even if the Jets’ impressive win over Miami in Week 18, Dolphins running back Devon Achane gained 121 yards.
January 10, 2025
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