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As you know, the Jets acquired right tackle Jeff Otah today from the Carolina Panthers.
Why?
Otah played in four games in the last two years due to knee issues.
The Panthers just got tired of his inability to stay healthy, so they have moved on.
Mike Tannenbaum and Scott Cohen decided to trade for him, and roll the dice.
Clearly the guy has talent. He was the 19th overall pick in the 2008 draft. When he came out of Pitt, he was one of those 6-6, 330 pound tackles, with the feet of a dancing bear, a great athlete for his size.
But what good is talent if you can’t stay on the field?
We will see what happens with his health in Florham Park.
But the Jets are clearly showing little faith in Wayne Hunter.
They can say whatever they want, but actions speak louder than words. Dave DeGuglielmo can praise Hunter until the cows come home, but he doesn’t make personnel decisions.
This is the third veteran right tackle brought in, in a matter of months, to challenge Hunter – Stephon Heyer, Ray Willis (no longer with the team), and now Otah.
And let’s not forget they signed another player, Austin Howard, last season, to also potentially challenge Hunter this year.
You talk about a string of no-confidence votes.
Over and over, they are sending a negative message to Hunter.
This is a player with shaky confidence to start with. These moves aren’t going to help.
I’m not saying that the Jets need to appease Hunter, and not bring in competition. I’m not saying that at all.
I’m just saying making move after move after move, is really pounding into Hunter’s head, “you’re not the answer, you’re not the answer, you’re not the answer.”
Hunter isn’t a player that exudes confidence with regularity, and I think Tannenbaum is really chipping away at what he has left.
And how is line coach DeGuglielmo going to get all these players reps – right now he has four right tackles.
It’s very hard to assess where Otah is as a prospect. He’s played so little the last few years, it’s almost impossible to know what he is all about at this point. It’s a mystery.
But I do get the sense that Tannenbaum is desperate to win this year, and he’s so sacred that the right tackle spot could hurt his offense, he keeps making moves, in an almost anal fashion.
I hear Tannenbaum and Woody Johnson were in a bad way following last season.
Not only did the season end poorly, but the Giants won the Super Bowl.
This combo really stuck in the craw of Mike and Woody.
Of course every GM and owner want to win every year, but Mike is definitely acting like somebody on the hot seat.
And if the Jets season heads south this year, he might be looking for another job.
There is a really good GM candidate in Baltimore, who Rex knows very well, Eric DaCosta.
To me, the way Mike is handling this right tackle deal, he definitely comes across as a hot-seat GM.
July 23, 2012
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