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Florham Park – While it’s early, I do have a couple of takeaways from observing quarterback Christian Hackenberg and linebacker Darron Lee . . .
Bill Belichick does something interesting in minicamps. He doesn’t have players wear numbers. So when they evaluate, they aren’t impacted by reputation.
The reason I bring this up is due to an experience I went thought today watching the first practice at Jets rookie camp.
A defensive player came up to make stop in run support, and wrestled a little with a running back. You aren’t supposed to tackle players in these practices. They are trying to avoid injuries. So the defensive player’s actions were considered a little overzealous, and Todd Bowles had a little chat with him.
I didn’t know who the linebacker was at first. There were a lot of players out there today, and 22 of them were tryouts.
So I’m thinking to myself, “Who is this guy – he looks really undersized? Must be a tryout player.”
He was wearing #50, but didn’t look like a linebacker. I’m thinking it must be a long shot from a small school. In fact, without knowing who it is, I’m thinking, “That jersey doesn’t look like it fits him.”
So I looked at the roster, and it was Darron Lee.
Before I continue, I want you to know I’m not dissing him, or discounting the draft pick.
I was just shocked to see how small he is.
And this assessment came in a totally unbiased scenario. I didn’t even know it was him at first.
I understand that one reason he’s so fast is because he’s a smaller linebacker (6-1, 232), but looking at him, he clearly needs to get bigger and stronger. He’s only 21, so he should fill out more.
All I gotta say is the Jets better keep him clean to run around and makes plays because stacking and shedding 320-pound linemen could be tough for him this year.
Once again, I’m not being critical of the pick, just pointing an unbiased observation on a player without knowing who he was at first . . .
Christian Hackenberg has a ton of work to do on footwork and mechanics, but he certainly passed the arm-strength test today. He is a rare arm-talent.
He had a flat-out sensational deep throw today down the left sideline to one of the Jets’ better undrafted free agents, WR Quenton Bundrage of Iowa State.
It was raining out, so the practice was held in the Jets’ indoor field house.
When the media watches practices inside, we are placed on the second floor, almost like a balcony in a theater, overlooking the practice field.
This pass was caught right below from where I was standing. I saw the ball in the air up close as it was coming down from the air into Bundrage’s hands.
I don’t want to get too carried away based on one pass, but quite honestly, you couldn’t thrown a fly-route better than this.
It was perfect spiral, just enough air under it. It was textbook.
It was a tremendous throw.
Obviously, there is a lot more to the game then arm strength, and this guy needs a lot of work in so many areas, but man, what an arm.
Hackenberg needs work on his pocket presence and going through his progressions. One thing I noticed today was he would look for his first read and if it wasn’t there, he wasn’t particularly comfortable going to his second or third-read. He often took off running if the first read wasn’t open. I think one reason for this was the awful beating he took at Penn State the last couple of seasons. He clearly doesn’t trust his line to give him time to calmly survey the field. Regaining this trust could take some time.
I think this is a two-year project.
So re-signing Fitzpatrick to a two-year deal, and letting Hackenberg and Bryce Petty develop the next couple of years, could bode well for the Jets in 2018. One or both, with the proper, slow development, could emerge as a quality starter.
But that deep ball to Bundrage was one of the nicest deep throws I’ve seen in Jets practice in quite some time . . .
May 6, 2016
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