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Joe Douglas has a pretty good history when it comes to undrafted free agents, including the likes of Bryce Huff.
Researching this year’s Jets class of 17 undrafted free agents, it looks like there could be some potential gems.
Especially when you consider how crazy the last few years have been in college football, with COVID game cancellations (and some season cancellations), and the transfer portal taking off and guys changing schools like we have never seen before.
So with all the craziness, there are chances of more players falling through the cracks, and being better than they were projected is more possible than ever.
Here are some random thoughts on the Jets UDFA class:
Two speedy receivers the Jets added, Tyler Harrell and Marcus Riley, have similar resumes. They were both recruits out of Florida who signed with Louisville, and both transferred twice, with Harrell finishing up with his hometown Miami Hurricanes, and Riley, going closer to his Tallahassee home, and wrapping up his college career at Florida A&M.
All the transfers might have hurt these guys in the draft, but both are talented, and have great wheels.
Harrell had a great over-the-shoulder catch on a deep ball in the rookie minicamp.
How talented is Harrell?
Well, Nick Saban signed him for Alabama in the transfer portal in 2022, and had big plans for the speedster, but he could not stay healthy in Tuscaloosa, so his one season with the Crimson Tide was a washout. But considering one of the greatest coaches of all time went after him to come over from Louisville, tells you something about the guy’s talent.
Speaking of guys from talent-rich South Florida, for those unfamiliar with high school recruiting rankings, the highest ranking is five-star, and it’s very hard to get into that rarefied air.
One player in the Jets 2024 undrafted free agent class attained that lofty status – Leonard Taylor, a five-star defensive lineman coming out of Miami’s Palmetto High School.
He signed with the hometown Hurricanes, and for some reason, he didn’t achieve the heights expected of a player with his high school ranking.
Coming out of high school, one of the top football recruiting websites, 24/7 Sports, rated Taylor, as a player who had a chance to become a first-round pick in the NFL, and compared him as a prospect to Sheldon Richardson, a defensive tackle the Jets picked first in the 2013 draft.
Maybe Jets D-Line coach Aaron Whitecotton can mold this talented piece of clay.
Speaking of linemen, the Jets signed an offensive lineman, Wilie Tyler, who played at five different colleges – Â Iowa Western CC, Texas, Louisiana-Monroe, Rutgers and Louisville.
There are two ways of looking at the journey of the 6-6, 330-pound Wisconsin native. Playing under five different offensive line coaches, either he benefitted from learning different things from all five, or his mind is swimming a little bit from all the different tweaks made to his game by coaches with different worldviews.
On the other end of the spectrum in the transfer portal world, is rookie defensive lineman Braiden McGregor out of Michigan. A major recruit out of Port Huron, he didn’t become a starter until his last year for the Wolverines. He would have been in major demand in the transfer portal, but took an old-school approach, kept working and his diligence paid off as a senior.
May 8, 2024
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