The Edge

It’s well-documented the Jets needed to get an accomplished edge pass rusher in this draft. Were they able to? Let’s take a closer look . . .

I’m not saying they needed to reach for need.

That is foolish, and often backfires.

But based on their value board, they needed to get a difference-maker at the 3-4 outside linebacker position.

Darron Lee should help their pass rush, but he’s not going to play at outside linebacker. He’s going to play on the inside.

Now Todd Bowles likes to move people around, so there will be times that Lee lines up at outside linebacker in passing situations. His 4.47 speed and loose hips will cause problems for tall tackles.

But he’s only going to go out there on occasion.

So theoretically, it wasn’t until Round Three that the Jets addressed this dire need with Georgia outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins.

I don’t think they got a game-wrecker here, ala Von Miller, Justin Houston, Elvis Dumervil.

I do think they got a very good football player, but not a guy opponents need to game plan for because he’s such a terror coming off the edge.

His sack production at Georgia was pedestrian. Like as a senior, he had four sacks, but two of them came against a bad opponent – Vanderbilt. When looking at college sacks, you really need to look at who the sacks came against. You will often find with some prospects that big chunks came against lesser opponents.

Now it has been pointed out that Jenkins played with a bad groin his senior season, so perhaps his edge quickness will improve for the Jets this year with that malady healed.

However, the previous three seasons, he registered five sacks in each campaign.

He has 4.82 speed and doesn’t have a ton of quick twitch, so don’t expect him to be a Pro Bowl pass rusher.

Don’t get me wrong, I view this as a good pick. He fits very well in the third round from a value standpoint.

He should be a very solid player for the Jets. He’s smart, instinctive, tough and has tremendous character. His father is a career military man. His parents Phyleshia Lee-Jenkins and Ronald Jenkins did a tremendous job raising him. He was a team captain as a senior at Georgia and was the Bulldogs Defensive MVP in 2015.

But he’s probably like a Calvin Pace-type. He will do a little everything fairly well, but won’t be exceptional in any given department.

He should be solid against the run and provide occasional sacks.

But clearly, the Jets need for a sack-daddy at outside linebacker continues.

At this point, with the draft over, and free agency essentially over, the Jets only hope for a pass rusher who might be able to dominate a game is former CFL standout Freddie Bishop signed early this off-season. It’s hard to discern what to expect from him in his transition from the CFL to the NFL.

But most likely, the Jets search for a freakish outside linebacker will have to continue next off-season.

In their defense, these kind of guys are very hard to find. They don’t grow on trees, to use an awful cliché.

May 3, 2016

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