Underrated Signing

This was a really important Mike “Mac” Maccagnan signing that probably doesn’t get as much attention as it should, with all the notable additions the Jets made.

Cornerback Buster Skrine made news this week with a comment he made to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated.

“I’ve never been on a defense with this much talent,” Skrine said. “Our front seven has all-stars and then in the back end, we have all-stars. I’ve never seen anything like this. Everybody said the Philadelphia Eagles were going to be like the Dream Team, but we have chemistry on this defense already, and you can see it out in practice. I mean, we can match up however you want to match up. We can match up with any offense.”

His reference to a “Dream Team” caused a stir in the childish, gotcha world of Cyberspace. Oh, the humanity, how could he say “Dream Team.”

I feel bad for a lot of these guys. There are only so many Russell Wilson’s and Peyton Manning’s who handle the press with aplomb every time without fail. No real slip-ups.

These are football players – paid to perform on the gridiron. We aren’t interviewing Winston Churchill or Nelson Mandela. And it’s not even an intelligence issue I’m talking about. Most people are going to mess up a word here and there, from time to time.

I’m sure this “Dream Team” quote is going to be thrown in Skrine’s face quite a bit moving forward. That is the world we live in now. All about hits, all about edge, all about making people go to your website.

I digress. Skrine being in the news made me think about what an important signing this is for the Jets. He’s kind of flown under the radar most of this off-season, but this is really a key move for Gang Green.

Skrine was probably the best nickel-back on the open market. In a pass-happy league, teams are generally in their nickel defense 70 percent of the time. The nickel spot has been problematic in recent years for the Jets. The previous nickel back worked hard, tried hard, but was somewhat inconsistent. Skrine should big a major upgrade at the position.

The only concern about Skrine was too many flags last year, but Todd Bowles isn’t too concerned, and he thinks the coaches can get that under control.

One of the reasons Skrine drew a lot of flags is that he’s so aggressive, so tenacious. The word often used to describe him is “feisty.” I like the player. He has world class speed, is tough, and the Jets are getting him in his prime after some good on-the-job training in Cleveland the last few years.

He’s a very good match-up for short, quick, loose-hipped receivers who are often in the slot.

And if Antonio Cromartie has issues opposite Revis, this guy has starting experience, so he can be plugged in there as well.

This signing could turn out to be one of the better ones by the Jets this off-season.

June 19, 2015

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