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These three things needed to be fixed very, very badly . . .
So you could argue these three players are the most important additions for the Jets this off-season.
I’m talking about C.J Mosley, Brian Poole and Jaichai Polite.
Aside from Mosley, this might seem like an odd top three to pick from the Jets’ off-season haul.
Why didn’t I put Le’Veon Bell or Jamison Crowder on that list?
Simple. While they are both excellent players, I’m a big believer in the NFL being a QB-driven league, and weapons can only do so much to make a QB better.
Of course it’s important to have good weapons, but they don’t make a QB read defenses better, go through progressive scans efficiently, doesn’t help look off the safety and so forth.
I have seen plenty of teams load up on weapons to help a young QB, or an older struggling older one, and it made very little difference.
Look, I think Sam Darnold is an excellent QB prospect with tremendous potential, but unlike some social media cats, I’m not going to put him in Canton just yet. He has a lot to prove and improve. He had 15 picks in 13 starts as a rookie, and 20 interceptions over last 20 games at USC. So cutting down on picks is an example of something he needs to work on.
So I’m not going to get too crazy about the offensive additions around Darnold until I see him take the next step as a QB, which he very well might. He has tremendous potential.
But the reason I listed Mosley, Poole and Polite as the three most important additions are how much the positions they play needed to be improved this off-season.
Look, I’m tired of attacking Darron Lee, but his run defense really hurt the Jets the last two years, and if you can’t stop the run in the NFL, that is obviously a huge problem. Not just because of the rushing yards you yield, but because of the play-action opportunities it sets up for opposing passing attacks.
Mosley is going to help the Jets in many ways, but his ability to help the Jets’ run defense up the middle can’t be minimized.
The Poole signing his HUGE! The Jets nickel back spot has been a problem the last four years, even though you didn’t read this in many places. I’m not saying Poole is great, but he’s better than the guy he’s replacing who many people covered for.
As for Polite, I understand he’s a third-round pick who didn’t have a great Combine, but if you are going to play a 3-4 defense on a high level, you need a game-wrecking outside linebacker coming off the edge. The guy had 11 sacks last year in the college football’s best conference, the SEC. That isn’t easy to do. He also had 19.5 tackles for losses.
I realize Polite has a lot to learn, and must mature, but he might already be the most gifted edge-rusher at One Jets Drive. And man, do they need a guy who has this kind of first-step quickness and athletic flexibility to emerge at OLB.
May 2, 2019
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