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When the Jets face the Dallas Cowboys on the opening Sunday of the season, Gang Green could have a really big advantage in one area of the game . . .
The Dallas Cowboys will like start two rookies on their offensive line when they face the Jets in the season opener.
It looks like seventh round guard Bill Nagy and first round offensive tackle Tyron Smith will both get the nod.
Rex Ryan should be able to take advantage of that with all his exotic blitz packages. Rex’s schemes are hard for a lot of veteran linemen to deal with, imagine being a rookie in your first start?
I can’t add in a hostile environment because the New Meadowlands Stadium really can’t be described that way yet. Last year Aaron Rogers said he had no noise problems at all when the Green Bay Packers visited, and defeated the Jets.
On top of that fact that it’s not a tough road venue, expect a lot of Dallas Cowboys fans in the stadium. They travel well, and also they have a lot of fans in the New York-New Jersey area. So there should be a mixed din in the crowd.
Getting back to Nagy. He’s a very good athlete who had an amazing vertical leap at his pro day for a guard. The University of Wisconsin consistently produces terrific NFL line prospects, and he’s yet another one. He, like a lot of Wisconsin products, arrives in the NFL already with good technique.
Aside from his great leaping ability (not that a guard has to leap a lot), he also is very mobile, and does a nice job of pulling.
But the problem Nagy could have as a rookie is he lacks ideal size. He is right around 300 pounds, and one of the reasons he slipped in the draft was as scouts like to say, “he doesn’t have a lot of mass in the ass.” The Jets might be able to push him around. Look for the Jets to target him with middle blitzes.
As for Smith, he’s an outstanding athlete, but he also is a little undersized. He played at between 280-285 pounds as a junior last year at USC (he came out early). He bulked up to around 300 pounds for the pre-draft process, but it remains to be seen if he can keep the weight on. He’s only 21, so he might have a battle with his metabolism when it comes maintaining a heavier weight. Remember when D’Brickashaw Ferguson was a rookie, he struggled keeping weight on.
And aside from his size, Smith could have another problem in the Jets game.
“He can be short-circuited to complex blitz packages,” according to Pro Football Weekly draft guru Nolan Nawrocki. “He is often late off the ball.”
While in time these two young guys could be very good, the Jets should be able to really take advantage of them in the opener.
There will be no premium story on Sunday. We will be back with you on Monday night after the game.