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It’s time for all reality all the time . . .
Here is Part II of our look at the Jets’ defense as if we were shot with sodium pentothal.
Q)In what area he do you think Darron Lee has made the biggest leap?
Kacy Rodgers: You know the biggest leap for me would be adding some of the play calling role. So, that’s a little bit more preparation and it’s more growth and more experience and more people depending on them to do his job. So that steady growth and leadership.
Q)What you likes about Lee?
Rodgers: Darron has speed, we used him in the blitz game. We like his cover skills and overall athleticism.
Leberfeld: To paraphrase something they once said at NASA, “Florham Park, we have a problem here.”
When you have personnel people and coaches who refuse to 100 percent deal with reality. that costs you games.
There is no way around it.
How does it help a football team win games when they have a worldview on player personnel based on perception and not reality?
Look Bill Belichick is far from perfect, and has made his share of personnel mistakes (like in the Super Bowl), but I love how he keeps it real with his roster decisions.
On March 10, 2017, New England traded a second-round pick to Carolina for DE Kony Ealy and a third-round pick. He didn’t even make it to the final cut. On August 26, 2017, Ealy was waived by the team and claimed by the Jets.
Belichick didn’t like what he was seeing and decided to cut bait before the guy played one game. Belichick doesn’t play games. The Jets claimed Ealy and he had one sack in 15 games. Yes, he tipped nine passes, but to me, that is a sign of a guy not getting to the QB and deciding to just put his hands up.
The Patriots dealt with reality on Ealy – he is a nice guy, but there is clearly something missing.
When Rodgers says, “we like his cover skills” about Lee, what exactly is he talking about? I’m not being flippant. I want to know what he’s talking about. Lee has been with the Jets for two full seasons, and has no interceptions and just six passes defensed. When you pick a LB in the first round of the draft to help your coverage, and he produces the kind of numbers Lee has in two years, what is it that you “like” about his coverage skills?
I have pointed this out before, and I will point it out again. Lee was picked in the first round of the 2016 draft, and Atlanta picked linebacker Deion Jones in the second round of the same draft. Over the last two years, Jones had six interceptions and 21 passes defensed.
Look man, I don’t want to lead the witness, just look at the numbers.
And this spring, Lee looked bad in coverage again. He gave up a number of pass plays, and too often his pass drops (depth) aren’t ideal, and he’s too often a see-and-go reactor, not showing great coverage instincts, leading to him playing catch-up.
What does it accomplish for any football team to play pretend? I really don’t get it.
I agree with Rodgers that Lee is a good blitzer. I also think he has improved against the run.
But to act like he’s good in coverage when he hasn’t been, how does that help you win games?
The Jets signed a couple of good coverage linebackers in free agency Kevin Pierre-Louis and Neville Hewitt.
If I were running the Jets, if this continues with Lee, he needs to have some of his coverage responsibilities taken away, and given to one of these guys.
This Jets regime seems a little too caught up in the PR of benching high draft picks or highly paid players.
I just don’t know how that mindset helps you win games.
What is more important winning games, or worrying about the feelings of replaced players and the media criticism of high-profile benchings?
This is a big problem for the Jets.
How do you win by playing pretend with a player’s attributes?
June 27, 2018
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