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They are compiling more and more of them . . .
Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh have made it clear they’re looking to load up on players, who are obviously talented, but also have great character and love football.
You hear this from a lot of teams, but sometimes it’s lip service – not the talented player part, but the character part.
But with Douglas and Saleh, it seems legit.
They have really stockpiled a lot of really good guys, who really seem to have their acts together – guys who are wired right.
You talk to many of these draft picks and free agents additions from over the last couple of years, and you can’t help but walk away impressed with the people.
And as we talked about on Friday, it’s not as easy these days to find guys who check all the boxes. Times have changed.
But Douglas and Saleh seem to have a very good feel for how players are wired. They do a nice job vetting people together.
I’m not going to go up and down the roster, but cornerback Sauce Gardner is a perfect example. He’s not just a really good player, but is very humble and driven. Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell did a heck of a job of developing the player, on and off the field. Obviously Gardner deserves a ton of credit as well. He’s a very talented player, but not a prima donna.
Look, they have a ton of the right kind of guys, obviously there are a couple of question marks in terms of certain guys and how they’re wired, but for the most part, it’s a pretty good group.
However, with all this being said, they need to become a much smarter, more disciplined team than last year.
Some of the guys who get high marks for character and toughness, need to read their keys better and be in the right place at the right time, more often. Look, you can be the greatest guy in the world, work your tail off, and do everything right off the field, but between the white lines on game day, your instincts are a little off. Hard work and toughness don’t always equal instincts.
The 2022-23 Jets need to be loaded with not just talented players, but guys with A-plus instincts.
Last year, effort was never the issue. Anybody who talked about quitting in certain games was off the mark.
Yes, there were some blowout losses, but it wasn’t a quitting issue. It was too many mental errors. Mental errors and effort aren’t always mutually exclusive.
There were certain guys giving you everything they’ve got, but just lacked sophisticated eyes, and made too many errors.
And against teams like Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots and Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills, this just isn’t going to cut it, and obviously those teams are on the schedule four times a season.
So hat-tip to the Jets for loading up on guys with the right approach and wiring.
But now it’s about making sure they have 22 starters with great instincts and an outstanding feel for the game.
May 30, 2022
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