Comings and goings

Some more thoughts on the additions:

The Jets signed safety Sheldrick Redwine.

At first, I was confused on why he was a signing, not a waiver claim.

Based on his pedigree coming out of Miami in 2019, and the fact that he went in the fourth round to Cleveland, and his 4.44 speed, and only being 24 – why wasn’t he claimed?

He picked off two legendary quarterbacks last year – Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.

I’m going to try to talk to some people about this. Why did he clear waivers? Maybe I’m making too big of a deal about this, and he just fell through the cracks for some reason.

But on paper, he’s the kind of safety that Robert Saleh loves, like Jimmy Ward in San Francisco, a safety with cornerback speed who can handle the slot . . .

The Jets claimed linebacker Quincy Williams off waivers from Jacksonville.

He is Quinnen’s brother.

But more important than that, he’s a perfect system-fit for the Jets.

This is an example of taking advantage of another team getting rid of a good player, in this case, due to a system change.

Quincy Williams was picked to play in the Jaguars’ old defense, which is the same as the Jets new one. This year, the Jaguars are putting in the Baltimore defense, a 3-4, which calls for bigger linebackers.

Quincy Williams is 5-11, 225 with 4.59 speed, and huge wingspan for his size, which is very helpful.

He’s the kind of run-and-hit linebacker who Saleh loves, kind of like the two college safeties he’s making into linebackers.

And Quincy should be very good on special teams.

This move makes a lot of sense.

They also landed defensive end Tim Ward on waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Once again, I’m jaded when it comes to pass rushers that teams let out of their building. Everyone is looking for game-changing pass rushers, so if they have one, you hold on to him with white knuckles.

Ward had just 14 sacks during his time at Old Dominion. You probably want to see more than that, especially at the low level of Division 1 ODU, in a conference with UNC-Charlotte, Western Kentucky and UAB.

Look, he might surprise, but it’s probably a long shot.

Once again, teams don’t let really good pass rushers out of the building.

Speaking of pass rushers, the Jets release of Jabari Zuniga should not come as a surprise. He could not stay healthy, and when he did play for the Jets, like at the end of last year, his tape was average. The last time we saw him on the practice field, he had a knee brace on, so clearly the last malady was knee related.

So while the Jets intended on bringing him back to their practice squad if he cleared waivers (which he did, if he didn’t, they weren’t going to lose any sleep over it.

Once again, I don’t blame guys for injuries, but remember, not only was he consistently hurt with the Jets, but as a senior at Florida, he had a high-ankle sprain. Some guys just have bad luck on the injury front. 

But Joe Douglas gets a little credit for not having “confirmation bias” here and keeping a third-round pick around to stand on ceremony. Douglas cut him, just like he cut another mid-round pick from 2020, fourth-round QB James Morgan, who signed with Carolina’s practice squad, which could present a problem in Week One, since the Jets play the Panthers. Morgan is extremely bright, so the intel he will share with Matt Rhule, isn’t ideal for the Jets. However, with that being said, the release of Morgan was understandable, since Mike White clearly beat him out for the #2 job.

September 2, 2021

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