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Premium – We keep hearing some people rave about the Jets’ draft class because five players are starting. Does that make the class praiseworthy?
Aside from Sheldon Richardson, who has been outstanding, the struggles of the Jets’ rookie class continue.
Remember the pass in the first quarter that defensive end Mario Williams tipped to end a series?
On that play, defensive tackle Kyle Williams blew by Brian Winters forcing Geno to throw a poor pass.
Also, on Chris Ivory’s first carry of the game that went for just two yards, Williams shed Winters, and stopped Ivory before he could get going.
Fullback Tommy Bohanon continues to struggle with blocking recognition. Not effort, but recognition.
Such a big part of being a blocking fullback is diagnosing who to block. He’s still a work-in-progress in this area.
In the first quarter, on a Josh Cribbs Wildcat run that gained only two yards, Bohanon was leading Cribbs into the hole, and instead of picking up the free man in the area, cornerback Leodis McKelvin, he went to block linebacker Kiko Alonso, who was already being blocked by Jeff Cumberland. This left McKelvin free to make the tackle.
Also, he’s still struggling in the kickoff wedge. He had been off of it, but due to Konrad Reuland’s knee injury, which landed him on IR today, they had to put him back on it, and on a second quarter kickoff return by Cribbs, he didn’t sustain his block long enough on LB Nigel Bradham, who stopped the returner on the 19.
Rex Ryan said something after the game that surprised a lot of people in regards to Dee Milliner’s performance.
“I thought Dee played extremely well, not withstanding the deep ball, obviously, when the ball was underthrown,” Ryan said.
On the Jets post-game show, Ray Lucas ripped Ryan for this comment, wondering what game he was watching.
T.J. Graham beat Milliner for a 34-yard touchdown, and also a 40-yard completion, so it’s not clear which deep ball Ryan was referring to.
But how about in the first quarter, on a wide receiver screen to Marquise Goodwin, when Milliner missed a tackle attempt early in the play? Also in the first quarter, on a third-and-three, Milliner was a mile off Goodwin, who easily caught a seven-yard pass for a first down. I understand you need to be concerned with Goodwin’s 4.3 speed, but you have to be cognizant of down and distance. This was too easy.
And then you have rookie Geno Smith who struggled as well.
People could taking about how terrific the draft was because five picks are starting.
True five picks are starting, but they aren’t all playing well, so it’s too early to put in a feather in the cap of the personnel department for these picks.
Time will tell, but right now, four of the five starting draft picks are wildly inconsistent and hurting and taking turns hurting the Jets.
It just begs the question about John Idzik’s mindset about the 2013 Jets – if you starting five draft picks, a few who aren’t ready to start, and letting them learn on the job, why would you sign Ed Reed? Why wouldn’t you just let Antonio Allen and Josh Bush continue to learn and develop on the job, just like those other five players?
Don’t get me wrong, this could turn into a great draft class in time, but it’s way too early to praise it.
Time will tell, but right now it’s clear some have been rushed into action before they were ready.
November 19, 2013
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