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A lot to get into today from One Jets Drive in Florham Park.
Mekhi Becton was not on the practice field today.
If he doesn’t play this week, there is likely some consideration at 1 Jets Drive to move George Fant to left tackle, his more natural position.
And honestly, it’s what he thought he’d be playing when he signed, but after Becton fell to the Jets with the 11th pick of the first round, all bets were off.
But now with Becton likely out this week, Fant might be there best option at left tackle. Chuma Edoga or Conor McDermott could handle the right tackle spot, a position more natural to both of them than the left side.
And with McDermott filling in for Becton at times the last two weeks, he got beat for late sacks by two of the NFL best pass rushers, Justin Houston and Bradley Chubb. The Houston sack resulted in a safety for Indianapolis and the Chubb sack, on fourth down, iced the Denver win.
Now this week, Chandler Jones comes to town. What a string of pass rushers in a row, Houston, Chubb and now Jones.
As that famous quote from George Santayana goes – “Those who don’t learn form history are doomed to repeat it.
How can the Jets go with McDermott, more of a right tackle, again this week, against another elite pass rusher?
Especially with a QB under center who hasn’t played in an NFL game in a year (Joe Flacco got hurt early last season in Denver and landed on IR).
So don’t be shocked if Fant is the Jets’ left tackle this week if Becton can’t go.
And Fant would love that. It could make him a lot of money in free agency . . .
As you know by now, Flacco will start for Sam Darnold at QB this week. Darnold has a shoulder sprain from a play he held the ball too long, almost five seconds. The general rule is you should get the ball out in 3-4 seconds.
Anybody who thinks this is some kind of downgrade is a false narrative consumer. Flacco might be the backup, but he’s not a downgrade.
Not putting Flacco in Canton, but I can assure you, he’s not going to hold the ball too long. He’s also what scouts call a “sightline thrower.” This means, with his great height (6-6), he can naturally see things on the field, shorter quarterbacks can’t see. Cam Newton is a great sightline thrower.
Once again, I’m not writing off Darnold. He should come back stronger from a short breather that will allow him to healthy physically and mentally.
But anybody who acts like this is a downgrade has a low football IQ.
And Vegas doesn’t view it as downgrade. The line was 7 before the Jets announced at noon today that Flacco would start, and guess what, it’s still at 7 . . .
Denzel Mims was rehabbing on the second practice field today. You’d have to guess he’s a long-shot to come back this week. The fact that he was rehabbing, not practicing, would hurt his ability to be up to speed on Sunday. He’s still a work-in-progress in learning the offense and improving his route-running/route-tree, so if he’s going to play on Sunday, he needs every practice rep he could possible get.
This raw rookie isn’t a player you want playing on Sunday with limited practice time. He has tremendous potential, but is as green as the Jets uniforms.
The potential returning player who could help them even more this week is Vyncint Smith, who played for them most of last year, so he knows the system better. He had sports hernia surgery in the summer . . .
The inability to set the edge has killed their defense this year, and with Kyler Murray coming to town, they better fix it fast, or they could be in trouble with this electrifying runner.
It’s hard to in win the NFL when you can’t set the edge. Every week this has been a problem, including last week against Melvin Gordon.
One issue with the Jets defense maybe “over-rotating” in the Front Seven, so players are having are hard time getting into a groove. There is so much mixing and matching going on, it’s hard for players to develop cohesion.
October 7, 2020
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