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A newspaper/website conglomerate put together two lists coming out of Jets minicamp. Surely Willie Colon can’t be too happy with it. Let’s take a look . . .
NJ.com, which is affiliated with the Newark Star-Ledger, came up with these two lists coming out of Jets minicamp.
Studs:
• WR Stephen Hill
• OL Oday Aboushi
• CB Dexter McDougle
• WR David Nelson
• S Calvin Pryor
Duds:
• QB Michael Vick
• OL Willie Colon
• QB Matt Simms
First of all, let me say I wouldn’t do this, because these minicamps are about teaching, learning, installation, conditioning and so forth.
If these coaches had their druthers, there would be no media at these spring practices, but the NFL mandates a certain number of dates be open to the press.
Think about it. If you are studying for the SAT’s or the Bar Exam, do you want the press giving you style points during your prep work?
Now, I understand websites like NJ.com are in the business of getting hits, and rankings and slideshows get hits.
And the writer who wrote the “Studs and Duds” column came over from “Deadspin,” a sports website that gets a lot of hits. He was brought in to get hits.
If you had to list some people that did well or didn’t do well in a spring camp, I guess you could focus on the people who throw and catch.
You still need to be accurate, and you still need to catch the ball, regardless of the rules (there is no hitting in the spring camps, per the CBA).
Hill and Nelson caught the ball well.
As for Aboushi, I have no opinion either way on him based on the spring. We will have to see him in real contact in the summer, to discern how he’s doing at guard.
I think the reason Aboushi made the writer’s “stud” list was because Rex was telling us how well he was doing. Whether you want to buy into Rex’s high praise of Aboushi in the spring, that is up to you. I will wait until the summer.
Calvin Pryor and Dex McDougle did some good things in coverage. The pick McDougle had on Thursday was impressive. He read the quarterback like a savvy veteran. I was standing on the sideline right by where he picked the ball off. I was like, “wow, the Jets have something here” . . .
To call Willie Colon a “dud,” is unfair. He was rehabbing a knee scope during the camp. He wasn’t practicing. To call him a “dud” is a little mean, don’t you think?
Michael Vick wasn’t a “dud” in mini-camp. He was up-and-down no doubt, but he’s getting so few reps, he just doesn’t have much chemistry with a lot of these receivers and tight ends, so you often saw passes go awry, where the target ran one way, and the pass went another. Spring growing pains.
He also had a lot of terrific plays.
If Vick was “dud,” so was Geno. I don’t think either one was. They both had their ups and downs, and I thought Vick did a better job going through his progressions.
As for Simms, he’s a heck of a guy, a terrific young man, but I just don’t see it.
June 20, 2014
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