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This is something I wrote two days before Calvin Pryor trade in response to some things Todd Bowles said on Tuesday.
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When it comes to spin. I don’t like it. I’ve never liked it. And I try not to be tricked by it. You don’t need to be a Mensa member to avoid falling into the trap.
Todd Bowles spin today about Calvin Pryor was just that – spin.
Q)How has Pryor responded to the team drafting two safeties?
Bowles: He’s working hard. It’s not much to respond to as a player. We have seven draft picks and there can be seven positions or less that you get a draft pick taken. You just work on doing your job and that takes care of itself. We’re going to draft people every year.
Q)You picked safeties in the first two rounds…
Bowles: We took two. We’re working hard. We took two receivers also.
Let me ask y’all a question – if Pryor was playing on a high-level, would the Jets have picked safeties in the first two rounds? No way. Remember, they didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. The first round picks that are playing well all get their fifth round options picked up. So the fact the Jets passed on Pryor’s option means they aren’t high on him, so they went safety shopping this year.
Now it’s possible the Jets would have picked one safety in the first two rounds even if Pryor turned into an elite safety.
But c’mon man, do you think any of us buying that, “we’re going to draft people ever year” and that is that is all that is at work here. Or “we have seven draft picks and there can be seven positions or less that you get a draft pick taken.”
This is spin.
Pryor’s problem is simple – he is a very good box safety – good in run support, big hitter, pretty good blitzer, but in coverage, he’s inconsistent, sometimes too slow reading his keys, leading to delayed reactions. Bottom line – he needs to improve in coverage. The Jets picked two safeties with excellent coverage instincts. That is it.
True the Jets have a value board, but when you pick safeties in the first two rounds, there is more at work than just a value board.
The Jets were starting the two rookies today at safety – Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye.
Let me segue into discussing the Jets’ secondary overall. This group needs a lot of work.
First of all, I’ve said this before – starting two rookie safeties in Week One is a mistake. It’s nothing to do with the talent of the two youngsters. They both have a lot of talent. But playing NFL safety is really hard, and throw two rookies out there, in Week One, without a veteran safety to lean on back there, is far from ideal.
As for the Jets cornerback situation, Morris Claiborne is clearly their best corner, but I wonder who is going to start on the other side. Buster Skrine is very inconsistent with shaky instincts. He is a see-and-go reactor. Like today, he got beat deep down the right side, but Josh McCown underthrew the pass, and a flailing Skrine was able to knock it away. He was beat, and got saved by a bad pass. To me, Skrine is a sub-package corner, not a starter.
Justin Burris is okay, but he doesn’t have ideal speed, and his hip stiffness hurts him when players cut away from him. He just couldn’t cover Robbie Anderson today.
To me, the Jets need to open up the cornerback competition to more people.
Stop overrated Skrine, and put away the anointing oil with Burris.
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