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Morris County – A few different things to get in this edition of One Jets Drive. Let’s get into it . . .
Jets center Nick Mangold is out for the year. Tough break for him. He’s had an outstanding Jets career. However, one of the pleasant surprises for the Jets this year, in a season that hasn’t had many pleasant things occur, is the play of backup center Wesley Johnson.
With Mangold’s big cap number this off-season, he could be a salary casualty in the off-season, but the Jets have a rock solid replacement in place.
Johnson, who was an offensive tackle at Vanderbilt, has turned into a very good center – smart, tough, good at line calls and rarely makes mistakes.
One of the few positives for the Jets this year . . .
Another positive, though he hasn’t seen a ton of action, is nose tackle Dion Simon. He’s just what you are looking for in a 3-4 nose tackle – a massive, powerful man who is good against the run and can take up double teams.
An ideal Jets defensive line for 2017 would be Mo Wilkerson and Leonard Williams at end and Simon at nose tackle.
Sheldon Richardson should be tagged and traded this off-season. He’s a terrific player, but he belongs in the 4-3 Tampa Two-type defense (like Dallas or Tampa Bay or Carolina) playing the three-technique tackle position. That is the defense he belongs in. He’s not a great fit for a 3-4.
It’s probably a good time for a change of scenery. There is too much drama around this player . . .
Can Bryce Petty improve over the last four games, or will some of the concerns about the player take another off-season and summer to fix?
There are some concerns about his footwork. Remember, when guys play exclusively in a shotgun spread in college, they often need a lot of work on their footwork when they arrive in the NFL.
He also needs to expand his field vision and learn to manipulate defensive backs with his eyes. An example of not manipulating defensive backs with his eyes was on his deep pick against the Colts. Another lesson he needs to learn from that deep pick is you NEVER throw late over the deep middle in the NFL.
It will be very interesting to see if Petty can progress each of the next four weeks, and learn from his mistakes the previous week, and make incremental progress each week. That is the key.
If he can do that, it will give the Jets hope that he can be a possible answer at quarterback for them next year . . .
Nick Marshall has been taking most of the return reps this week.
It’s about time.
The former Auburn quarterback is electrifying in the open field.
The Jets return game hasn’t been very good this year.
First they were using Jalin Marshall who had ball security issues and danced too much.
And then C.J. Spiller and Jeremy Ross, who are both a little long in the tooth, and both lacked a great burst.
Marshall has very quick feet and has a back ground as a running QB at Auburn.
Let’s see what he can do.
December 8, 2016
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