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A few observations . . .
The Jets had their first day of OTA’s on Monday. In other words – real football drills on the field, not Zoom meetings. Not tackle football, but plenty of blocking sled action, technique work, throwing and catching, and so forth.
The media was not let in to this, but the team’s website showed some highlights and had a ton of photos.
Here are some things I picked up from looking at the video and photos.
The left side of the line, as expected, was Mekhi Becton at left tackle, rookie Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard and Connor McGovern at center.
Some were speculating the Jets would move McGovern to guard, but I’m not sure why, he’s a good center. If you were to build a center in the lab, he would look like McGovern – a 6-4, 306 pound powerhouse, with really nice weight distribution between his upper body and legs. He struggled a little early last season, like the entire line, getting used to each other after no preseason games, but as the season progressed, he got better and finished strong. He also battled a hamstring injury early in the year.
We know the right tackle is going to be George Fant, but the right guard is a mystery, and the photo I saw of the line cutoff after the shot of Becton, Vera-Tucker and McGovern, so I could not see who the right guard was. Will keep you posted.
Becton looked like he might need to drop a few pounds in the conditioning program. Remember, the Jets are putting in a zone blocking scheme, which requires a lot of mobility from the linemen. No question Becton moves well for his size, but he might move even better down about 15-20 pounds. Remember, he was 380 at the end of last year, so if he plays at 360, he’s still a massive powerhouse, don’t you think?
There were a couple of photos of the linebackers, and in one photo free agent addition Jarran Davis was working next to C.J. Mosley, and in the other photo, he was next to Blake Cashman. Expect Davis to start, and potentially turn into a free agent steal for the Jets. Yes, things didn’t work out for Davis after being picked in the first round by Detroit, but there were a lot of reasons for that, including injuries, and being a bad scheme fit. He’s right out of Central Casting to play in the Jeff Ulbrich/Robert Saleh defense that loves run and hit linebackers like Davis, who run 4.5.
Speaking of Mosley, he looks like he dropped some weight, You can see it in his face. He doesn’t need as much mass playing 4-3 linebacker compared to the body armor he needed playing in the 3-4 defense, which he did his entire NFL career before now. You don’t need to take on as many offensive linemen in this scheme compared to a 3-4, and this weight loss will help his speed, which as we mentioned is important for linebackers in his scheme.
One last observation. They had a video shot of Elijah Moore returning a punt. It will be interesting to see who the Jets’ punt returner will be, because the incumbent, Braxton Berrios, has been solid, but Moore, might be just a little more explosive. In the video shot of him fielding a punt, you could see his amazing burst, catching up the ball, and exploding up field with great suddenness.. His short-area quickness is awfully impressive.
May 25, 2021
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