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A few things to get into tonight . . .
Before I get into another item, let me finish up analyzing the ERFA the Jets tendered on Thursday. I had five more to get to.
Defensive lineman Bronson Kaufusi was a 2016 third-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens out of BYU. In a 3-4 defense, he’s a tweener, and that was a problem for him in Baltimore. At 6-6, 275, he’s not big enough to be a two-gapping 3-4 defensive end, but he’s also not a quick twitch edge-rusher. So where do you play him? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s a bad player, but Gregg Williams just has to figure out where to put him. He’s flashed a little late last year in limited action stunting at getting to the QB a couple of times.
Luvu is a diamond-in-the-rough who Williams is going to love because he plays with a great motor and toughness. One thing I noticed last season was Luvu had issues setting the edge against the run at times. I think one of the issues was strength. He’s in dire need of an off-season NFL workout program, and this year he will get one.
Wint is an instinctive thumper at inside linebacker. We talk a lot about how of Darron Lee doesn’t have the ideal body armor to stack-and-shed massive offensive linemen. Wint does. He’s build like a tank, muscles on top of muscles. In a fair competition, he could give Lee a run for his money at the ILB spot next to Avery Williamson.
Jeremy Clark is an enigma. This is his make-or-break year. He was basically red-shirted as a rookie in 2017 since he was coming off a knee injury at Michigan. Then last year, he spent most of the year on the practice squad. The Jets listed him as a cornerback on the roster, but he was moved to safety last season. Safety is the better spot for him at 6-3, 220 with limited transitional quickness to deal with shifty receivers. He could give the Jets a player who can match-up with tight ends.
The story with Middleton is simple – the Jets like him, but he tore pectoral muscles each of the last two years. It’s not his fault. But one more season-ending injury, and that could be all she wrote. Middleton is a smart, instinctive, tough-as-nails safety who does a nice job of lining up the defense . . .
The Athletic’s Connor Hughes announced the Jets are very interested in Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr, who will be a free agent when the league year starts. This info likely came from the agent.
This interest makes a lot of sense.
Some people will tell you that Barr was good, not great after coming into the league was a ninth-pick overall in the 2014 draft. He did make the Pro Bowl four straight years (2015-18), but there was something missing.
I will tell you what was missing. He was playing in a 4-3 defense as an outside linebacker, so he wasn’t play playing on the edge a lot.
He played his best football at UCLA as an edge-rusher, so if the Jets add him, he could be a steal in free agency, if they put him back on the edge as a 3-4 OLB. He wasn’t used this way in Minnesota where they had Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter as pass rushers. Brian Robison was also in the mix during Barr’s first four years.
March 8, 2019
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