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I was away for a few days before camp, and when wide receiver Lucky Whitehead was released by the Dallas Cowboys, I told a friend of mine,
“The Jets are going to claim him.”
I’m sure many of your thought the same thing.
The Jets perhaps need another kick returner. I say “perhaps” because I’m not an elitist, and I think Deshon Foxx and Frankie Hammond are pretty good.
But now that Whitehead is with the Jets, those two guys probably don’t have much of a chance.
Not that he’s that much better than them, but he has more experience, and the Jets are now going on out on a limb by claiming Whitehead, so they are going to make this work.
Aside from maybe having a need at kick returner, Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan have a lot of “Father Flanagan” in them.
They think they can take guys who have had issues elsewhere, aka Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Erin Henderson, and even Marquiss Wilson to a degree (had issues in college and has broken his foot three times), and make it work.
And while Whitehead was cleared of shoplifting charges, he was mixed up on some bizarre deal the week before claiming his dog was kidnapped and he was asked to pay ransom.
The Cowboys claim his release was a culmination of things.
I’m not trying to make this guy into Charles Manson, but he’s certainly not Joel Osteen.
But Bowles-Maccagnan clearly feel they can get through to certain people other teams can’t.
Whitehead is considering legal action about the Cowboys.
“Right now he just wants to play football,” Whitehead’s agent David Rich told ESPN’s Todd Archer. “He had a challenge ahead of him, and he was ready for the challenge. He was tweeting 20 minutes before the first practice how excited he was. It’s been a tough 24 hours. I think it will make him stronger.”
I don’t expect Whitehead to have much of an impact for the Jets at wide receiver. He did have 76 catches and eight touchdowns as a senior at Florida Atlantic, but that was a much more simplistic system than the Jets run under John Morton. Also, Whitehead, a JUCO player, is coming in late.
He does have 4.39 speed, so Morton might dial up some gadget plays for him, like reverses, but don’t expect Whitehead to be a big part of the Jets’ passing attack, especially early in the season.
Morton’s system is all about tempo and precision-routes. Whitehead is so far behind right now, he’s not going to be able to play fast in this system or run precision-routes just yet.
His meal ticket with the Jets will be as a returner.
And he will enter camp as the favorite to win the job.
It’s highly unlikely the Jets will allow Foxx or Hammond to beat out Whitehead.
They might not anyway, but I doubt they will be given a chance.
This isn’t my first rodeo.
There are more politics in these roster decisions than you see in congress.
I will give you an example of what I’m talking about.
The Jets released wide receiver Devin Street to make room for Whitehead.
During his time in the spring with the Jets, he looked better than a number of the Jets young receivers – running good routes and showing terrific hands.
But there is no way he’s going to be kept around ahead of any of the anointed draft picks, undrafted free agents (and K.D. Cannon).
No way.
In my world, you always keep the best players.
But I figured out a long time ago, you have to be an idiot to believe they actually do that.
July 27, 2017
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