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Since the coach is focused on this team, here is one thing you need to beat that team.
I’m talking about Adam Gase focusing on the New England Patriots.
“He’s going for that one team that’s been winning every single year in the division,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said of his head coach. “He said that’s one of the main reasons he came here. We all believe that. And the new additions to the team… we’re pretty much here for the same reason.”
Two things you need for sure to beat the Patriots – a franchise QB and an interior pass rush.
As for a franchise QB, the Jets hope they have, but it’s too early to tell. Social media can’t will it into existence.
As for an interior pass rush, that brings me to Ed Oliver.
I wrote the other day I was surprised that he wasn’t being mentioned higher in the draft. Before the season, he likely would have been the first pick overall.
Well, it turns out he is being mentioned, if you buy into a report by former NFL scout Greg Gabriel, who now writes for Pro Football Weekly, that the Jets are interested at three.
“The hot name at number 3 to the Jets right now if they can’t trade down is Ed Oliver,” Gabriel tweeted on Friday.
He continued, “Been told that’s the guy Gregg Williams wants on the D-Line.”
I’m not going to get into whether that is the way to go, but I want to get into why it might make sense.
The best way to disrupt Brady is getting him off his spot, and the best way to do that is inside pressure, not edge pressure.
“Brady usually deals with edge pressure well by getting rid of the ball quickly or stepping up in the pocket,” said a former Patriots executive.
The best way to disrupt Brady is inside pressure.
Remember that key fumble at the end of the Patriots loss to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl? That occurred due to lickety-split inside pressure from Eagles defensive lineman Brandon Graham who beat Patriots guard Shaq Mason. Graham got into Brady’s face so fast on the interior, even the super-instinctive Brady, could not react fast enough, and fumbled after getting hit by Graham. Game over!
Oliver is a freakishly quick interior rusher with the feet of a dancing bear. As is Alabama’s Quinnen Williams, another player often attached to the Jets in the rumor mill.
So if you want to cut the deficit with Brady and the Patriots, aside from having a franchise QB in the building (so you aren’t taking a knife to a gun fight), you need astounding interior pressure. Honestly, Brady didn’t have a great Super Bowl against the Rams. He did enough to win, but only scored 13 points, and the Rams outstanding interior pressure led by Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh had a lot to do with Brady’s pedestrian play.
So from that standpoint, Oliver (or Williams makes sense).
But it should be pointed out that Gabriel, who used to scout for the Giants and Bears, also tweeted that the Jets picking Oliver at three would be “a mistake.”
If the Jets are indeed interested in Oliver, two things need to be clear as day at One Jets Drive.
Jets security chief Robert Mastroddi must clear him from a character standpoint.
And Mr. Coffee, Gregg Williams and company need to be convinced he can play at 10-15 pounds heavier than the 275 – his weight at Houston.
While he’s quickness is impressive, playing DT at 275 probably isn’t big enough in the NFL. He will get engulfed too often at that size. You can only beat offensive lineman into gaps every so often.
April 22, 2019
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