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The Jets claimed
offensive tackle Antonio Garcia from New England.
How many of the players they’ve claim from New England have worked out for the Jets?
Do think they are smarter than Bill Belichick? While Belichick obviously makes some mistakes, he’s also pretty darn smart.
The Jets claimed Kony Ealy last summer and got very little from him. Ealy is a nice guy, but there is something missing there. He’s now in his fourth team in a year – Carolina, New England, Jets and Dallas. Jets didn’t wave their magic wand and get him to show more than New England saw. He had one sack for the Jets last year. People make a big deal about his nine tipped passes. Sometimes when guys aren’t making much impact as a pass rusher, and are having trouble shedding blocks, they can put their hands up and tip passes. That is find and dandy, but wouldn’t you rather have sacks and pressures?
Another recent waiver claim from New England, CB Daryl Roberts, has been pedestrian. He has great speed, but he is somewhat inconsistent.
We will see if the are smarter than New England on Garcia, who was a 2017 third round pick.
Garcia was waived by the Patriots with the non-football injury designation after missing last campaign due to blood clots in his lungs. Garcia reportedly lost 40 pounds from his 6-6, 300-pound frame due to the condition. And the weight loss is a problem since this is a player who was a little on the thin side while playing at Troy, constantly dipping below 300 pounds. He entered the NFL needing to get bigger and stronger, so the weight loss is far from ideal.
One thing I respect about Belichick is that he doesn’t care about his draft record. Not many teams release 3rd round picks before their second season. Belichick doesn’t give a rat’s behind about his draft record. Too many GM’s get caught up in “how it looks” cutting picks, especially first or second days guys, early in their young careers.
Belichick had clearly reached the point where he ran out of patience with Garcia.
We will see if the Jets are smarter than Belichick on this one. They weren’t with Ealy and Roberts.
I just think sometimes, there are people in the NFL, who act like they are playing fantasy football.
They are serial claimers.
I’m not necessarily laying this all on Maccagnan. I think there might be somebody else in there, trying to make a name, who gets a little out of hand with the claims.
At some point you gotta say, “we have enough waiver claims.
When you keep bringing in new guys it puts extra stress on the coaches who have keep starting at square one with waiver claims.
I doubt Garcia is going to be able to help them this year.
Maybe they can redshirt him this year, put him on PUP, and look towards 2019 as his coming out party, after getting him bigger and stronger and getting his head right.
May 15, 2018
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