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You get the sense that 2021 could
be a red-shirt year for Jets 2021 sixth-round pick, defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall.
Aside frosm being very raw, he’s been working the rehab area for most of the spring. Not sure what exactly is wrong with him (teams don’t need to report injuries this time of year), but he’s a guy who needed practice time in the spring to work on technique, and he’s not getting it.
I’m not saying he’s at risk of not making the team, but 2021 is probably going to be season where he’s inactive for a while, or is moved to the practice squad.
Marshall is a player with a lot of raw athletic ability, but needs a ton of work, so 2021 could a year the Jets focus on developing him for 2022 . . .
Seeing new Jets defensive lineman Ronald Blair working in the rehab area a lot.
This isn’t to say he’s injured, but the Jets are clearly taking it slow with him, coming off a torn ACL in 2019, that suffered a setback in 2020. So they are having him work on his conditioning with the trainers, as opposed to putting him out there in practice.
This is a smart approach. First of all, he knows the defense after playing for Robert Saleh in San Francisco. The guy has proven what he can do in the league, and considering what he’s been through the last couple of years with his knee, it’s smart to take things slow at this point.
If healthy, this guy could be a real boon to the Jets’ defense . . .
Some people might wonder why the Jets are going so hard after free agent right tackle Morgan Moses when they seem to have plenty of offensive tackles – Mekhi Becton, George Fant, Conor McDermott, Chuma Edoga and some rookies as well.
Well, because they have the cap space to do it, so why not? With the cap going down to $182.5 million due to the NFL and teams taking a big hit financially last year due to COVID-19 issues (very few or no fans in stadiums), so many teams are right up against the cap. However, the Jets still have decent space, so even if they can’t guarantee Moses a starting job right now, they can probably pay him more than anyone else.
So Moses could take the Jets’ offer, and bet on himself winning a starting job.
Joe Douglas is a big offensive line guy, and he knows you need a lot of depth upfront, because the big guys often get nicked and miss games. Look at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl disaster last season, essentially without their two starting offensive tackles (Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher), and also two key guards (Lawrence Tardif and Keleche Osimele). Their line issues probably lost them the game.
Last year, Jets had their share of injuries, with Becton and Fant both missing time, along with guards Greg Van Roten and Alex Lewis. Yes, Lewis missed time due to getting suspended by Adam Gase after an argument, but he also missed time with a shoulder injury.
And now this spring, Becton is hurt again, as is Edoga, who went down in a recent practice with what looked like a knee injury.
So Douglas is smart to try to get Morgan.
You can never have enough offensive line depth.
Aside from the Jets having the cap space to pay Morgan which could be enticing to the former starter for the Washington Football Team, the UVA graduate is also a Richmond guy, like Douglas, so that connection is probably helping the recruitment of the player.
June 11, 2020
Photo courtesy of the New York Jets.
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