Without defensive end Haason Reddick (holdout) and John Franklin-Myers (trade), how does Jets GM Joe Douglas feel about the team’s defensive end situation right now?
“I think when you have a guy like Micheal Clemons, and we have a really deep room with a lot of good players, so there have been a lot of great reps and opportunities for Jermaine (Johnson) and Will (McDonald IV). Takk (McKinley) has been unbelievable,” Douglas said last Thursday. “We’ve got big Mike (Micheal Clemons). He’s such a great teammate and he plays with great strain, effort, and violence.”
With Reddick out all summer in a contract dispute, Clemons seemed to be the de facto starter at the end spot opposite Johnson.
While Douglas loves his “strain, effort and violence” he’s a totally different player than Reddick. Clemons is more of a 3-4 end-type who is good at taking up blocks and clogging rushing lanes, and Reddick is a pure edge-rusher, who excels at beating tackles with speed and quickness and dipping under their blocks.
In his two years in the NFL, Clemons has had three sacks. With the Philadelphia Eagles the last two seasons, Reddick had 27 sacks.
So if you are going to replace what Reddick does, from a skill set standpoint, McDonald is more like Reddick than Clemons, but a little unproven right now. McKinley is another candidate.
But Reddick and Clemons are like apples and oranges.
Totally different players.
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