Pressure to fill shoes?

It was inevitable . . .

It was inevitable that Bradley McDougald was going to be asked questions about filling Jamal Adams shoes.

“The only thing I can do is show up and be the best Bradley McDougald. Hopefully that wins my coaches, my players and the fans over,” McDougald said today during his first presser as a Jet. “That is who I intend on being while I’m here.”

If you really keep this transition from Adams to McDougald in perspective, you will realize that this “filling shoes” thing isn’t what it seems.

The most important thing to point out in this conversation is that McDougald is better in coverage than Adams. He has 10 career interceptions, while Adams has 2. It’s only fair to point out the McDougald has played seven seasons and Adams just three, however McDougald had 5 picks the last two seasons, and Adams had 2.

So McDougald is the better coverage safety, so that will help the Jets’ pass defense which has been substandard the last three years, even with Adams.

Not totally blaming Adams for the Jets’ leaky pass defense the last few years, but it needs to be pointed out that there were a lot of blown coverages, and he was the leader of that unit.

Remember in November when Adams had that big game against the New York Football Giants, including a 25-yard strip sack for a TD

Well, in that game, Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones through 4 touchdown passes! To allow a rookie QB, learning on the job, to torch you for 4 TD passes, is somewhat embarrassing.

So yes, Adams had a nice game with 9 tackles and 2 sacks, but the Jets’ pass defense in that game was abysmal.

McDougald has a strong reputation for covering tight ends.

No question Adams is a better run defender and blitzer than McDougald, but Kansas graduate is better in coverage.

So McDougald doesn’t have pressure to fill Adams’ shoes as a pass defender. In fact, Adams might struggle filling McDougald’s shoes in pass coverage in Seattle.

Now you can understand why Pete Carroll made the trade, even though he probably overpaid – the Seahawks run defense was a big problem last year, and Adams will help that. He will also help their pass rush, which was good, not great last year, as a blitzer.

Another overrated aspect of this McDougald “shoes” angle is how the new Jet safety will be accepted by his new teammates.

I think they will love him. He’s a humble, hard-working, intelligent player.

And one thing people don’t get it that Adams wasn’t necessarily “Mr. Popularity” in the Jets’ locker room.

Some players tired of his histrionics and bombastic nature.

One Jets player was asked recently by a friend of mine in Morris County, who is friends with the player, what the team should do with Adams, and the player said they should trade him.

Adams is a really good player, but some of this teammates grew tired of his act.

So with all things considered, this “filling shoes” thing is a little overblown.

July 31, 2020

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