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New Jersey – It’s time for a heaping helping of “Behind the Jets,” with notes on Fred Davis and Geno Smith. Let’s get things under way . . .
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Jets are interested in free agent tight end Fred Davis. The USC-product spent the last five years with the Washington Redskins, after being picked by the team in the second round of the 2008 draft.
This interest doesn’t make a lot of sense.
First off all, he has failed several drug tests, and this led to a four-game suspension in 2011.
He also has a pending civil suit for a incident with a woman at a Washington D.C. nightclub. He’s accused of pouring a drink over her head.
On top of all that, he blew out his Achilles tendon last year. As we all know, that is a brutal rehab, and it remains to be seen how he comes back from it.
So why go there?
The Jets already have a player with multiple strikes in the NFL substance program for marijuana (Santonio Holmes), so why would they want to add another?
I don’t know how interested the Jets.
Sometimes agents embellish the interest in a client to scare other suitors and drive up the price.
But when you have a new GM who is trying to bring back a program, adding a player like this is very risky.
There is no question he’s very talented, but why go there? . . .
Rich Cimini’s story about Geno Smith and the Jets is big on NFL.com right now – it’s mentioned in two different spots on that website.
The story is the Jets came away very impressed from a recent interview with West Virginia QB Geno Smith.
The two people who met with Smith, according to Cimini, were offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and personnel executive Terry Bradway.
Well, you know what, if they came away impressed with the interview, they should go back and look at more game film.
Smith will impress you in meetings – he’s a great kid – very engaging – terrific character.
But if the Jets have an interest in picking him in the first round, they are probably making a huge mistake.
This guy has all the tools – rocket arm, great speed, superb athlete.
But there is so more to the position than that. Obviously Terry and Marty know that.
In the eyes of some personnel evaluators, this guy isn’t a first-round player.
His pocket presence isn’t great, he is very indecisive and often holds the ball too long, and his numbers were pumped up by a gimmicky college system (keep in mind, most college secondaries are terrible). He’s also a little skinny (I saw him up close at the combine), so you have to worry about his durability on the next level.
Look, I’m not looking to beat-up the kid. He’s a quality young man.
But to me, this is a developmental quarterback, who you pick in the second or third round, and let sit for a few years, and down the road you might have something.
Right now he’s a major project with a lot of question marks, and a team that picks him in the first round, and expects him to be “the man” immediately, is probably making a huge mistake.
