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Good to see the one-on-one line drill back at Jets camp – defensive linemen vs. offensive linemen mano-a-mano.
Robert Saleh got rid of it, and now it’s back.
I had no issue with Saleh getting rid of it, but I love covering it. Both can be true at the same time.
The reason I had no issue with Saleh getting rid of it is that it’s a “rigged” drill, clearly favoring the defensive linemen.
“The defensive player has a two-way go (can go right or left), no run support responsibility, and the offensive (lineman) is on his heels at a distinct disadvantage,” said ESPN’s Tom Luginbill a couple of years ago. “The drill is literally rigged. “We read about how a defensive lineman had a dominant performance at a camp. Guess what, he should. No. 1, he’s the better athlete, he’s in a rigged drill and we overinflate it.”
But it’s fun to cover and provides good content.
Like today, watching Armand Membou’s trial-by-fire against Will McDonald.
Membou was a little too grabby of McDonald’s jersey on their two one-on-one encounters, and then on a third rep, he shoved veteran defensive tackle Byron Cowart after the play, not liking something the veteran defensive tackle did during their entanglement.
This was a tough drill for the uber-talented Membou, but it’s late July, and this will benefit him moving forward.
Membou is a fast learner, and all these encounters are helping his maturation process.
Alijah Vera-Tucker looked like a technician in this drill on his reps, easily locking up the defensive tackles he faced.
One other observation from this drill.
It looked like John Simpson got a little dinged when Michael Clemons stunted from his end position and ran into the guard like a runaway freight train.
Clemons bull rushes can really take their toll on you.
He’s a huge powerful man who tends to rush right into linemen instead of beating them with quickness off the edge or into gaps.
Olu Fashanu is probably pretty sore the next morning after practices, having this guy run right into him all the time. It’s got to be tedious facing this kind of rusher – like getting hit with a ton of bricks over and over again.
Clemons rarely beats Fashanu (I’ve never seen him beat him, but I can’t say I’ve seen every single practice matchup), but these constant bull rushes into the center of your frame can be physically taxing compared to guys that try to beat you off the edge . . .
One observation about these practices so far – this hasn’t been “Air Coryell” so far.
And nobody expected it to be.
Not a lot of “wow” plays in the passing game.
Like today, I can’t think of any “wow” passing plays.
I just went through my notes from today just to double check – I have no notes on big passing plays.
Maybe I missed something.
Look, I’m not sounding any kind of alarm here. We know how the Jets plan on playing on offense this year – run the ball with the running backs and QB to set up easy passes on play-action, run-pass options, and bootlegs.
And you could argue the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles had success with this approach last year, with the latter having the ultimate success, winning a Super Bowl.
Just wondering how much bang for their buck the Jets are going to get on the $32 million-a-year they just paid wide receiver Garrett Wilson with this approach.
But you could argue the Wilson contract, and the Sauce Gardner deal, were olive branches to the fans, more than the more pragmatic football decisions at this particular time – time will tell.
The Jets are going to be a formula team this year – run the ball, play great defense and special teams, and manufacture yards in the passing game with throws that don’t require Tom Brady’s field vision . . .
Underrated player in camp so far – tight end Stone Smartt. He looks really solid . . .
Safety Malachi Moore had a couple of really nice plays today.
He did a great job of reading a screen right to Xavier Gipson and stopped him right as he caught the ball. This was a really instinctive play.
He also had a PD on a deep pass to Wilson . . .
Really impressive press conference today with Jets defensive tackle Byron Cowart (pictured above), now on his seventh team.
The former #1 overall high school recruit in the country to NFL journeyman – he owns it and admitted he thought he’d be the next Jadeveon Clowney coming out of high school, but now he has tremendous appreciation for every opportunity he gets. The former Auburn-Maryland player displayed tremendous humility and maturity in his presser. It’s worth the watch – not your typical cliche-laden player press conference.
July 28, 2025
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