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It was no surprise . . .
Obviously, we all knew that Chris Herndon was going to get suspended due to a DUI last June. Today he was suspended for four games for the incident by the NFL.
Last June, Herndon was arrested for drunk driving after he crashed his Nissan Armada into a Toyota FJ Cruiser, driven by a 76-year-old man. Herndon blew a 0.14 percent on the breathalyzer. A witness claimed he was going over 100 MPH. It happened on I-80 in Rockaway at 4:45 in the morning.
So how do the Jets replace one of their most talented players for the first month of the season?
Well first of all, and you likely won’t read this anywhere else because it’s not cool to admit, but Daniel Brown is a legitimate candidate to fill in. He looked very good in the spring.
Is there was such thing as a Spring MVP, and obviously there isn’t, Brown would probably win. He was excellent.
The former Chicago Bear and Baltimore Raven ran good routes, consistently got open and showed great hands.
He’s also very mobile and has good wheels for a tight end. And there is a good reason for that – he was a wide receiver at James Madison University.
When he got to the NFL, he was moved to tight end, first with the Ravens, and then in Chicago, and has kept a lot of wide receiver speed, even though he packed on 30 pounds.
Look, I know the spring is the spring, but if that was a true indication of his ability, he certainly could get the Jets through the first month.
As for the #2 tight end spot, which is blocking-centric, the Jets are set there with Eric Tomlinson and Trevon Wesco, two skillful blockers.
Obviously the Jets are going to add another tight end to their roster in light of the Herndon news.
Two guys who could make sense are a pair of former Dolphins who know Gase’s system – A.J. “Kentucky” Derby and Dion Sims. Derby played for the Dolphins the last two years under Gase. He hurt his foot in December landing him on IR, so he would have to pass a physical. Sims played in Miami for Gase in 2016 before leaving for Chicago in free agency.
Other possibilities are Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Lance Kendricks, Ryan Griffin and Jermaine Gresham.
But Brown can certainly hold-the-fort for a month. I have no problem stating that opinion; that is how impressive he was in the spring.
And while you can only take so much from the spring, I think the part of the game you can legitimately take the most from, involves passing.
Remember, spring camps used to be called, “Passing Camps.”
While line play is hard to grade in the spring because there isn’t full throttle contact between the offensive and defensive linemen, you can take some things away from guys in the passing game like wide receivers, tight ends and running backs, along with the guys covering them, cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers. They’re all running full speed, cutting and so forth.
And Brown was consistently a tough cover for the Jets’ defense with his impressive tight end speed and solid route-running.
July 12, 2019
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