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New Jersey – Some good stuff today on Mark Schlereth, Eric Decker, a Oakland Raiders weakness to exploit, Dee Milliner and more. Check it out . . .
ESPN’s Mark Schlereth had some unkind things to say about Eric Decker.
Some of it was bull, but one thing he said, I do agree with.
“What did he have, like 87-90 catches something like that last year? Schlereth said. “You’ll see him in the 40 range. Forty-50 range.”
Based on what I saw all spring and summer in practice, I agree with that assessment.
I think Decker will be a solid player here, but not prolific.
First of all, with a young quarterback who the Jets want to manage the game, this team is going to run the ball a ton.
Not only are they going to run the ball a ton, but they are going to throw the ball to the backs a great deal. It was “Check Down City” all spring and summer.
I’m telling you, watching every practice throughout the spring and summer, Decker just wasn’t thrown to as much as you would think.
There were stretches where I was thinking to myself, “Where is Decker?”
One factor to consider – Decker doesn’t have great speed, and Geno likes to throw to guys that flash open in his wheelhouse.
Like I said, I think Decker will help the Jets, but the 40-50 catch prediction by Schlereth doesn’t sound that off the mark to me.
As for this comment this comment from Schlereth –
“New York will go crazy watching him be covered one-on-one and incomplete passes, throwing his arms up, begging for flags,” Schlereth said. “I’m telling you New York, get ready, begging for flags like, ‘I was interfered with. That’s the only reason I couldn’t catch that ball’ every play and then tripping over his own feet. Going for a big play and all of a sudden the turf monster gets him. Bam. Sniper. Down. It will drive you crazy. It will absolutely drive you crazy.”
This is low-rent nonsense. First all, half the receivers in the league, throw their arms up, begging for flags on incompletions. That is very, very common, so if you are going to pin that on Decker, he has a lot of company.
Secondly, Decker caught 24 touchdowns the last two years, so the “Turf Monster” obviously didn’t do a good job.
This was just Schlereth being a Denver homer, trashing a player who left the building . . .
With so much focus on what the Jets’ Front Seven can do to a rookie quarterback, Derek Carr, who isn’t ready to start, something not brought up, is there is another rookie the Jets can exploit – nickel back T.J. Carrie.
The Raiders have a couple of injuries are corner, so Carrie, out of Ohio University, is forced to start (I say start, because team’s in their nickel package so much these days).
Jeremy Kerley could do some real damage against this guy. While Carrie is a nice prospect, his hips are a little stiff, and he doesn’t transition that well, so the super-quick Kerley, who can cut on a dime, could be a bad match-up for the kid. Plus he’s a rookie out of the MAC conference, forced into action quickly. Look for the Jets to after Carrie . . .
There was this story-line throughout the week that Dee Milliner had a chance to play this week. This was a false-narrative. He was never going to play this week. The guy didn’t even have his jersey on during practice. He worked with trainers on the side in workout clothes. This was just John Idzik, not wanting to let anyone know what was going on, until the team had to list player’s injury status on Friday. Idzik is very close to the vest, which isn’t a bad thing . . .
September 5, 2014
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