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Let’s start with one really good personnel decision and one that was a little bit of a head-scratcher . . .
With the injury to Mekhi Becton, Joe Douglas’ decision to sign Morgan Moses turns out to be a stroke of genius.
The Jets got a bit of good news on the Becton front. Ian Rapoport announced that Becton has an MCL injury, and those usually aren’t season-enders.
But now the Moses signing looks like a masterstroke.
It took some convincing since he was a long-time starter in the league, and the Jets had George Fant, but Douglas got Moses locked up, with the Richmond connection probably helping. Both Moses and Douglas are from Virginia’s capital. It also helped that Douglas saved some cap space, and was able to offer Moses more than any other team ($3.6 million plus incentives). Most teams were out of cap space at that point (with the cap coming way down) in late June.
Now the Jets have terrific bookends in place, even with Becton out.
We know the Jets line had some issues today, but I was watching Fant closely at left tackle, and he displayed really good feet and a terrific kick slide. It’s his more natural position.
Good move by Douglas getting Moses in the fold, and and move that looks even better right now.
Now to the move that was a little surprising, and not sure where the blame lies here.
How can you go into the season with Sheldrick Redwine as your third safety? The player was signed on September 1 after he cleared waivers. He has only been with the team for about a week (he didn’t arrive the day he was signed).
He’s not ready to play a prominent roles for this defense just yet. He’s hardly unpacked his bags.
Now it’s understandable if you have a bunch of injuries at a position mid-season, and have to sign a guy off the street to be your third safety – sometimes you don’t have a choice.
But in Week One, you do have choices, and you had J.T. Hassell starting or serving as the third safety all spring and summer, but you cut him and went with Redwine as the #3 in Week One?
Not a good idea, and after LeMarcus Joyner hurt his elbow in the first half, Redwine went in the game, and let Robby Anderson get behind him on a 57-yard TD. Anderson is one of the fastest receivers in the league. The calling card of his game is the deep ball. You can NEVER let him get behind you that easily.
After this play, Redwine was replaced by another new addition, Adrian Colbert, who at least had a history in Saleh’s defense, after spending three seasons in San Francisco.
Look, I have no issue with the Jets taking a flyer on Redwine, but to make him the third safety right out of the gate, one injury away from having to play with the starters, that doesn’t make a ton of sense.
Not sure where the blame lies here, because while Douglas makes the personnel decisions, the head coach decides who plays on game day.
The Jets lost 19-14. That touchdown ended up costing them . . .
We will get into Zach Wilson’s debut more than the next few days, but the biggest thing that stood out to me today was how he keeps his eyes down field no matter how much pressure he’s under. So many guys drop their head under pressure and stop looking downfield. It’s hard to be successful that way. This guy never stops looking down field and this will serve the Jets well moving forward . . .
One other thought from Charlotte:
Many thought the Jets were in a lot of trouble with the loss of Carl Lawson, but that certainly wasn’t the case at Bank of America Stadium today.
Both starting defensive ends, John Franklin-Myers and Bryce Huff, were impressive rushing Sam Darnold today. Myers had a sack, and they each had two QB hits, and made life tough on Darnold on a number of plays. Two really good personnel moves by Douglas – claiming Franklin-Myers on waivers on the final cutdown in 2019, and signing Huff as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 draft.
September 12, 2021
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