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It’s not going to be easy . . .
Barring injuries, the odds are certainly stacked against defensive ends Bryce Huff, Jabari Zuniga, Tim Ward, Hamilcar Rashed and Bradley Anae.
This is because, it’s unlikely the Jets will keep more than six defensive ends, and the first six spots are likely going to Carl Lawson, Jermaine Johnson, Jacob Martin, Vinny Curry, Michael Clemons and John Franklin-Myers (on rushing downs).
Obviously there are a lot of injuries in the NFL, so that is why I offered that caveat, “barring injuries.”
And ends tend to get dinged a lot because of all the running and hitting at the position – all the collisions.
Not predicting injuries to some of the ends, because that is obnoxious, but just saying it’s always a possibility in NFL football.
However, if they stay healthy at the position, Huff, Zuniga, Ward, Rashed and Anae are probably vying for a practice squad spot or two.
Huff has a good motor, and flashes at times as a pass rusher, but he’s a little undersized in that 6-2, 255 range, so that creates challenges for him sometimes against huge offensive tackles.
Zuniga was a 2020 third-round pick of the Jets out of the University of Florida. He’s got a nice size/speed ratio and certainly looks the part at a chiseled 6-3, 264 pounds, but has failed to make much of an impact in Florham Park. While he’s athletic and tough, his instincts could be a little better. This summer might be the final straw for him at One Jets Drive. He needs a big camp to hang around, even on the practice squad.
Ward was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Browns at the end of training camp in 2021. He’s one of those ends who’s kind of like an athletic college basketball forward at 6-6, 255. He moves well, but like Zuniga, needs to improve his instincts, and be less of a “see-and-go reactor.”
Rashed was a very good player at Oregon State, and was priority free-agent addition for the Jets after going undrafted in the 2021 draft. He plays very hard, but he’s not that athletically twitchy, so sometimes that hurts him a little.
Anae was a fifth-round pick of Dallas in the 2020 draft out of Utah. He’s a kind of a tweener. He’s built like an outside linebacker, but doesn’t run that well (4.93), so he had a hard time with the Cowboys finding an ideal position. When he signed with the Jets after the 2021-22 season, he probably figured it was a good spot for him because they were thin at end at the time, but that has certainly changed since he signed on the dotted line in January. He certainly has talent, finishing his senior year for the Utes with 13 sacks, and that doesn’t happen by accident.
The bottom line with this group of five ends is if they want to hang around, in some capacity, they need to play so well this summer in camp and the preseason, they make it impossible for the Jets to cut them.
That is why players always says, “You can only worry about what you can control.”
So these guys can’t worry about the depth chart being stacked against them, and just need to go out there and make plays, and “Let the chips fall where they may,” as that old saying goes.
May 17, 2022
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