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The Jets are doing something very smart with their extensive cap space.
And I’m not talking about signing players for good money like Trumaine Johnson, Avery Williamson and Josh McCown.
I’m talking about taking advantage of the space to add quality depth.
The NFL has so many injuries, so you need good depth, and the Jets seem to be compiling quality depth in free agency at a lot of different positions.
On Monday, they signed center Travis Swanson, a former Detroit Lion. This was after signing centers Spencer Long and Jonotthan Harrison.
The Jets now have a quality three-deep at center.
But also keep in mind, that all these players can also play guard, so if the Jets decide that one of their incumbent guards – James Carpenter or Brian Winters – isn’t a good fit for their new blocking scheme (mostly zone), one of these three players could be an option at a guard spot.
Right after the Lions picked Swanson in the third round of the 2014 draft out of Arkansas, NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said, “He’s a perfect fit for a zone blocking scheme.”
Bingo! That explains why the Jets signed him. He’s a perfect scheme-fit and was cheap.
And football is weird. Just when you say that a team has too many players at a position, they end up getting a lot of injuries, and the stockpiling at the position ends up looking really smart.
Look what they have done at running back this off-season. They signed two of the best backs on the street – Isaiah Crowell (Cleveland) and Thomas Rawls (Seattle). Two powerful runners who can be featured. They both have had issues in the past, but the Jets don’t get too caught up in that stuff. These are two terrific backs who pound defenders.
Reading an old scouting report on Rawls when he came out of Central Michigan – “Can plant and go with immediate burst downhill or bounce to perimeter in search of new opportunities.”
People, that is what zone running is all about, so he fits what they are installing.
They also added two solid veteran receivers to their depth chart in Terrelle Pryor and Andre Roberts (who will likely be their returner as well).
The Jets added two quality backup inside linebackers with starting ability in Kevin Pierre-Louis (Kansas City) and Neville Hewitt (Miami). So they have quality behind starter Avery Williamson and Darron Lee. Perhaps Lee’s spot should be opened-up for Pierre-Louis and Hewitt to compete for the spot, but that probably isn’t going to happen. Lee seems to be in the same category as cornerback Buster Skrine as a player beyond reproach. But that is another story for another day. It makes no sense to me, but I don’t run the Jets. I just write about them.
But overall, what the Jets are doing is very smart, using their myriad cap space not just on starters, but to have a quality depth chart in case of injuries.
And none of their depth moves cost them a ton of money.
April 3, 2018
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