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It’s no secret the Jets need to get a dynamic edge pass rusher. It goes without saying one will be added in the draft.
But it’s interesting what is happening with the free agent market for pass rushers.
It’s expanding by the day, and the Jets need to clear some extra cap space to go out and get one.
Yesterday, Charles Johnson was released by the Carolina Panthers. He has 41 sacks over the last four years.
He has to pique their interest.
The Buffalo Bills released Mario Williams earlier this week. The Jets should stay away from him for the same reason Buffalo moved on – he’s not a good fit for the 3-4 defense. He’s a pure 4-3 end.
On February 19, the Rams released Chris Long. Last year he was banged up and missed 10 games, but the previous three seasons he had 33 sacks.
Long said he wants to play for a Super Bowl contender.
Depending how they handle the off-season, the Jets could be a contender. They need to bring back Mo Wilkerson and Ryan Fitzpatrick, which they likely will do.
They also need to improve their secondary, which was wildly inconsistent last year, and get an edge pass rusher as mentioned above.
Other free agent pass rushers include Seattle’s Bruce Irvin who had 22 sacks over four years in Seattle, Kansas City’s Tamba Hali who has 86 career sacks. Washington’s Junior Gallette had 22 sacks in in 2013-14. He missed last year with an Achilles injury. Both Hali and Gallette are from Bergen County, New Jersey, so one of them might want to come home, if the money is right.
Because honestly, most draft pick pass rushers don’t have much of an impact as rookies.
Some buck the trend, but most rookie pass rushers are lost.
If Noah Spence is available at 20, the Jets need to think long and hard about him, if their security chief Robert “Bobby” Mastroddi checks off on him. Mastroddi, a 20-year NYPD officer, and ex-security chief for New York Governor George Pataki, does background checks on players. If he determines Spence’s past Ecstacy use doesn’t pose a current threat, the Jets should grab him. He’s clearly the best edge pass-rusher in this draft.
But the Jets also need to go out and get somebody who is a proven, bona fide, professional pass rusher.
They can’t just rely on a rookie, perhaps a first-rounder, to come in and be the panacea for their pass rush in 2016.
That sort of plan often doesn’t work out. College pass rushing is so much easier than NFL pass rushing. You saw that with guys like Aaron Maybin and Vernon Gholston. There is so much you need to learn from a technique standpoint when making the leap.
So getting a guy who knows all the tricks of the trade is important.
We don’t know yet if Freddie Bishop, who the Jets signed from the CFL, can get to the quarterback in the NFL where the offensive tackles are much better than up north.
March 4, 2016
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