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With Jets training camp now complete, here are some takeaways from Jets Confidential publisher Dan Leberfeld . . .
Josh McCown has won the Jets’ starting QB job in a landslide.
Why?
He displayed the edge in several key areas of NFL quarterbacking over his competition – he made quicker, more decisive decisions with the football, he’s more accurate and he’s the best leader.
If the Jets don’t pick McCown to start Week One, then the tank is truly in.
I don’t mean to be disrespectful to either one of the youngster quarterbacks who are working very hard, but neither one is ready to start Week One, as you saw in the last seven quarters when the team scored a total of six points against backup defenses. They both need a ton more seasoning. They both need to speed up their internal clocks and improve their accuracy . . .
I haven’t talked about the Jets’ edge rush in a while. The edge rush from the outside linebackers is huge in a 3-4 defense.
Lorenzo Mauldin has been hurt the last couple of weeks with a back injury, so we will leave him out of the conversation right now. He hasn’t practiced in a while. I want to talk about what I’ve seen in practice.
I’m really impressed with the maturation process of former CFL standout Freddie Bishop.
I think the transition from CFL DE to NFL 3-4 OLB was a little overwhelming for him last summer. Putting him on the practice squad for most of last season was a smart move. He needed that. And when he got a chance to play a lot in the Jets win over Buffalo in Week 17, he looked excellent.
And he’s continued to look good this summer. He’s never going to blow by offensive tackles with edge speed, but he’s a good bull rusher with great strength, who has added some moves to his bag of tricks since last year.
It looks like the lightbulb has come on with journeman Corey Lemonier. The former Auburn star, who ran a 4.6 forty at the combine, has had an impressive summer in camp and in the Jets last preseason game in Detroit. I think he realizes he’s running out of lifelines. Also, I think the Jets superb new OLB coach Kevin Greene has really gotten through to him. Not only is Greene great at teaching pass rush technique, but he’s a tremendous “motor” coach. Greene is a firebrand on the practice field and meetings, and really gets his guys to breathe fire. I think he’s upped Lemonier’s intensity, and the results have been impressive.
Dylan Donahue belongs on the practice squad, and if he makes the regular roster, it’s pure draft pick politics. He needs a redshirt year. He’s as raw as molasses dripping off a tree coming from Division II West Georgia, and his short arms have made it tough to shed the vine like arms of NFL caliber offensive tackles.
Jordan Jenkins is a very good run defender, but still a work-in-progress as a pass rusher . . .
One other thought coming out of camp. We all know Robby Anderson had a great camp, and is clearly the Jets #1 receiver, but don’t sleep on Charone Peake, the Clemson product has earned a starting job.
I have a lot of respect for this guy. He’s a quiet kid who just works his tail off, and coming from a pressure-packed, national program like Clemson, none of this is too big for him.
He’s got a great size-speed ratio – 6-3, 207 with 4.37 speed, and a large catching radius. He’s also really tough which shows up in his blocking. He went in the seventh round, but to me, watching up close, he’s more of a second-third round talent.
So while people are going nuts about how bad the Jets receivers are, I actually think the pair of Anderson and Peake is better than advertised.
August 23, 2017
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