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It’s kind of interesting thing to do . . .
Not sure I would do it if I were them, but maybe I’m wrong.
I’m talking about the Jets writing glowing stories on their website, or extolling their play on twitter, of their players who entering free agency.
For instance, there’s been constant praise for the work of Robby Anderson.
There was a story on the Jets’ website this week praising Jordan Jenkins for how he played this past season. They called his work in 2019, “a career year.”
Some might wonder if it’s good for business to praise guys you have to negotiate with? Can’t this story of praise be used against you at the bargaining table?
If your Jenkins’ agent, perhaps you bring up at the negotiating table: “Your own website said Jordan had ‘a career year’ – isn’t that worth a little more than you’re offering?”
Some GM’s or contract negotiators might tell their website to chill with this stuff. Some might not care at all.
Personally, I would shut down the hype of in-house free agents at this point. During the season fine. Right after the regular season ended (season recap stories), perhaps, but now, it’s time to stay away from that stuff.
Aside from helping their bargaining position, let’s say they don’t come back, this could hurt the team from a PR standpoint, by hyping up in-house free agents and then letting them slip away.
The free agent case of Jenkins is a fascinating one to me.
Should they re-sign him?
As Brett Favre used to say, “Maybe yes, maybe no.”
Jenkins gives you everything he’s got and is incredibly tough, but isn’t blessed with ideal speed and quickness for the spot he plays. He’s a little heavy-legged, which isn’t his fault. It’s how he’s built.
Jenkins gets very favorable coverage from the local media because he’s such a good guy and very cooperative with interview requests. Most of the beat writers report that it’s a slam-dunk that he should be re-signed.
But the Jets need to get faster in their front seven, and that includes at the defensive end spots. Too often opposing running back “took the edge” on the Jets’ defense. What this means if they got by Jets edge-setters on outside runs. This is hurtful to a defense. You usually want to set a hard edge, and funnel the runners back inside, where there is a ton of help.
Jenkins lack of ideal speed too often led to runners taking the edge on him. His lack of speed isn’t his fault.
And while he did finish with eight sacks, that is a little misleading. It wasn’t like he was out there beating top-shelf tackles off the edge. How often did he do that? For instance, two of the sacks came against Giants backup left tackle Eric Smith, who was thrust into action after Nate Solder got hurt in the Jets-Giants game.
As a pass rusher, too often Jenkins was velcro’d to offensive tackles, having trouble shedding.
Jenkins is a great person and has a terrific motor, and the Jets should offer him a job in their front office or in coaching when his playing days are over, but this “career-year” stuff is a little misleading.
And the Jets’ website might want to be careful with this sort of thing which could hurt them at the negotiating table.
February 6, 2020
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