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Let’s take a look at the other two early signings.
Yesterday, we took a look at linebacker Jarran Davis, who should help the Jets coverage of tight ends and running backs.
Today, we will look at defensive end Carl Lawson and wide receiver Corey Davis.
Like I said yesterday, these are typical Joe Douglas contracts. The player gets nice money, but the deals aren’t over-the-top, profligate contracts that you sometimes saw from past regimes, like the Trumaine Johnson, C.J, Mosley and Darrelle Revis (the 2015 deal) contracts. Those deals were somewhat reckless.
Lawson got a a 3-year deal for $45 million with $30 million guaranteed, so it’s essentially a two-year deal for $30 million, which isn’t a crazy money for a good pass rusher.
Compare that to Mosley who got $51 million guaranteed and Johnson who got $45 million guaranteed.
The Jets desperately needed a pass rusher, and Lawson was one of the better ones on the market.
Is he Von Miller or Chandler Jones? No.
He’s not going to consistently take the corner on offensive tackles, by bending the edge with great flexibility and a tremendous burst to the QB.
That isn’t him.
He had just 5.5 sacks last year, and 20 career sacks in four seasons. Those aren’t gaudy numbers.
He’s a little stiff athletically which isn’t ideal for a pass rusher.
But what he does is play with a non-stop motor and with a high-level of ferocity and toughness. He’s like the Tazmanian Devil on the football field, a whirling dervish. It’s hard to play a lot harder than Carl Lawson.
So while he doesn’t have eye-popping sack numbers, he consistently gets a lot of QB pressures, which coaches will tell you is are underrated stat. He consistently disrupts quarterbacks and gets them off their spots. Now he’s not great at closing the deal because he struggles changing directions due to hip stiffness, but he consistently impacts games with his high-revving motor and hell bent approach to the sport of football.
As for Davis, this is what I wrote in the current issue of Jets Confidential, the free agent preview edition:
“He played only one full season in four due to injuries. The Titans didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. Davis is coming off his best season with 65 catches and five touchdowns and was a nice compliment to emerging star WR A.J. Brown. He’s probably not a #1 receiver, but is a solid #2.”
So he could be a really nice compliment to Denzel Mims.
Davis got a three-year deal for $37.5 million with $27 million guaranteed, so it’s essentially a two-year deal for $27 million.
It’s probably smart for the Jets to go two years with Davis, because he’s had some injury issues, as was mentioned in the scouting report. The injury issues were part of the reason his former team, the Titans, didn’t pick up his fifth-year option.
He’s got good size (6-3, 209) and will go up and get he rock. As far as speed, he’s not a burner, but has good functional football speed.
And like Jarran Davis, Lawson and Corey Davis, both have good character, and tremendous work ethics, so they both fit the template Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh are looking for in their players.
March 16, 2021
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