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It’s not hyperbole to say the Jets did a great job with their first two picks.
They got two huge men with the feet of dancing bears.
These kind of guys are hard to find. They really are.
And Rex Ryan, aside from being a very good head coach and defensive coordinator, he’s a defensive line coach at heart, and is very hands-on with the position at practice.
Mark Carrier is a solid position coach, but Rex also works extensively with the big fellas up front.
These two kids have a great chance realizing their potential under Rex.
Wilkerson and J.J. Watt (Wisconsin and Houston Texans) were the two best five-techique (3-4 end) players in this draft.
Remember, Wilkerson played under Al Groh deciple Al Golden at Temple, so there were a lot of 3-4 concepts in the Owl’s defense. Golden did such a good job at Temple, he was recently hired as HC by Miami of Florida.
The 6-4 Wilkerson carries 315 pounds naturally, and moves like a much smaller man. He was a very good basketball player in high school, and you can see basketball athleticism in his play.
But he has a lot of work to do. Wilkerson needs to get stronger and needs a lot of work on his technique. But he’s a terrific young man with a great work ethic, and he will do what it takes to get better.
Also, let’s not forget, he was dominating offensive linemen frrom schools like Akron and SUNY-Buffalo in the MAC conference. He could just throw guys around like rag dolls in this Low Division I conference, and wreck havoc in the backfield. That won’t be the case in the NFL. So he needs to improve his hand-technique and footwork a great deal.
But, I’d be shocked if this pick doesn’t work out very well.
And when you think of Kenrick Ellis, don’t think him as a I-AA player out of Hampton Institute, think of him as a Steve Spurrier-recruit at South Carolina.
Kinda like Shaun Ellis (as a recruit – different type of player)
Ellis was a big-time recruit out of Greenacres, Florida (by West Palm Beach) for the Gamecocks. A lot of major programs wanted him.
He was on the fast track to being a standout player in the SEC, but then had some issues with marijuana, and was tossed off the team.
I’m not condoning pot use (though it’s being legalized in more and more states across this country). I don’t smoke pot, but let’s be honest – Mary Jane (I’m dating myself with that reference) use is rampant across college campuses.
I know a kid who recently graduated from Fordham, and has a good job now. He said 95 percent of his friends in school smoked pot.
And let’s not forget, Shaun Ellis got caught with pot a few years ago when pulled over for speeding, and Santonio Holmes was traded by the Steelers because of his issues with the substance.
Kenrick has to stop using it, and he knows it, but let’s not make him into Charles Manson because he smoked pot while at South Carolina.
As for the assault charges he’s facing in the Tidewater area, what would you do if somebody was about to hit you with a baseball bat?
If Ellis was drafted by the Bengals, I wouldn’t feel as good about his potential.
“He needs to land in a scructured environment,” said Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly.
And that he did.
The Jets really have a terrific support staff in Florham Park to help players with issues, led by Dave Szott.
Just look at Wayne Hunter. He had a major anger management problem in Seattle and Jacksonville, and the Jets did a wonderful job helping him get his act together, thanks to Szott, Bill Callahan and some doctors with specialize in his problem.
As for this South Carolina recruit (that is how you have to look at him), he needs a lot of work. Smaller schools like Hampton don’t have the best weight rooms or large coaching staffs, so players don’t develop as much as prospects from big-time programs.
So he needs a ton of work on conditioning and technique.
But he’s so physically gifted, if he stays on the straight-and-narrow, and works hard, he could turn into a special talent on the next level.
