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A few things to get into tonight . . .
I spoke yesterday about how ridiculous it was for some people to act like the Jets’ returner situation wasn’t good entering the season. That was absurd. Andre Roberts is terrific. They just weren’t paying attention in the spring and sumemr, too obsessed with the quarterbacks.
Another situation that falls into this category is the Jets’ starting running back situation.
I heard this over and over how they weren’t strong here.
I said it before, and I will say it again, Isaiah Crowell is a really good football player.
Don’t view him through the prism of undrafted free agent out of I-AA Alabama State. View him as five-star high school recruit out of Columbus, Georgia, who was considered the #1 running back in the country as a senior, who signed with Georgia, perhaps the best running back school in the country.
Then he started as a freshman, right out of the gate, on September 10, 2011, he rushed 16 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns against South Carolina.
Against Auburn he rushed 24 times for 132 yards.
Against Ole Miss he rushed 30 times for 147 yards
You get the idea.
But in June of 2012, he got thrown off the team after being charged with possession of a weapon in a school zone.
He ended up at Alabama State.
I’m not saying he’s an angel, but I look at this guy as yet another stud Georgia running back, like the two guys who went high in the last draft, Sony Michel (New England) and Nick Chubb (Cleveland). If Crowell had behaved himself, and stayed at Georgia for his whole college career, we are probably looking at a first or second-round QB, who is talked about like Michel and Chubb.
And you saw his talent on display in Detroit, running over people and running away from people.
He is a special talent with a great size-speed ratio.
If he stays healthy, the Jets are in good hands at running back . . .
Good strategy by Jets offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates out of hte gate. With all the attention and double-teams that Robby Anderson was drawing, the Jets dialed up a heavy-dose of plays designed for Quincy Enunwa, who was drawing a lot of favorable coverages. And then after a heavy-dose of passes to Enunwa drawing attention to him, they throw deep to Anderson . . .
Dolphins VP Mike Tannenbaum has not just one, but two “spies” to help his Dolphins this week. They have former Jets centers Travis Swanson AND Wesley Johnson.
Johnson was with the Jets Todd Bowles first three years, and lined up against his defense many times in practices, so he should help the Dolphins’ offense prepare for the different looks Bowles and Kacy Rodgers like to use.
Swanson was with the Jets in the off-season and summer, and can also give insights on Bowles/Rodgers defense which he faced for several months in practice.
Swanson can also give the Dolphins something that Johnson can’t – he can provide insight on the Jets’ new offense under Jeremy Bates, and new offensive line schemes/calls under Rick Dennison. Johnson was in Detroit this off-season and summer so he wasn’t there for Bates’ installation.
It’s also intriguing that they both spent time in Detroit, the Jets’ first opponent, so both Swanson/Winters have a feel for how the Jets’ defensively shutdown Jim Bob Cooter’s offense, and how the Dolphins can avoid falling into the same traps. While Matt Patricia is a new coach in Detroit, he retained Cooter, the offensive coordinator under Jim Caldwell.
This intel stuff isn’t overrated. Teams sign players with the purpose of picking their brains all the time. It’s interesting that the Dolphins actually have two “double-agents” working for them, not just one . . .
Word continues to come out of Detroit, through player-agents and their surrogates in the media, that veteran players in Detroit aren’t thrilled with Matt Patricia’s approach.
You could tell that a little bit in the game. They didn’t have much pep in their step on Monday night, like they would run through a brick wall for this coach.
September 11, 2018
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