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These two guys really stood out this summer
This was the last day of Jets camp.
I want to bring up two guys, who aren’t discussed that much, who I thought had terrific summers – DE/OLB Frankie Luvu and TE Trevon Wesco. They both seemed poised for big seasons.
Luvu was the Jets’ best defensive player on the field this summer, and I’m not embellishing – strong in all three phases – pass rush, run defense and pass coverage.
He had a pick in the end zone today.
He looks so comfortable out there now, and will be a swiss army knife for Gregg Williams, playing inside linebacker, outside linebacker and defensive end.
This guy needs to play a lot.
Wesco is a very underrated player who made plays all camp. He had another one-handed catch today. It wasn’t his first in camp. We know he’s an excellent blocker, but he’s also a really good receiver.
When he arrived, many thought he was just a blocking tight end, but that’s far from the truth. He might not have the speed to take the top off the defense, but he is a legit threat in the short- and mid-range passing game, and he rarely drops a pass . . .
Sam Darnold had two beautiful throws to WR Josh Malone in the final practice of training camp.
The first one was on a deep cross, and it was perfectly placed over an underneath linebacker and in front of a deep safety.
The second pass was a picture perfect throw to the right corner of the end zone, in pretty tight coverage, but Malone could not hold on. His vision might have been blocked, but he should have had it.
We have brought up on a few occasions that Darnold needs to work on throwing with more anticipation, and that’s exactly what he did on these two plays.
Two absolutely perfect throws, thrown on time.
By the way, after not being able to hold on to that corner route from Darnold, Malone caught a TD from Darnold a couple of plays later.
Malone is an intriguing player. He’s 6-3, 205, runs 4.4, and had 11 TD catches in 2016 for Tennessee, in the nation’s best college football conference, the SEC, loaded with good defensive backs. He was a fourth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2017, so he was pretty highly-regarded in the draft process. I’m telling you, the Jets could do a lot worse . . .
Speaking of tight ends, Darnold seems very happy to have Ryan Griffin back. Not that he said it, but I’m sure he would, but you could see in practice, he loves throwing to him. At 6-6, 260, Griffin’s an easy target to see . . .
While it’s possible they will keep both of them, you get the sense that Josh Andrews might be slightly ahead of Jon Harrison for the backup interior swing position. Jets assistant GM Rex Hogan has a lot of influence, and Hogan worked with Andrews in Indianapolis. This stuff can be very political.
I would keep both. Both Jets guards are already hurt – Greg Van Roten (oblique) and Alex Lewis (shoulder). Van Roten is back, and Lewis missed the last two days. They should probably put rookie guard Cameron Clark on injured reserve and give him a redshirt year. Clark missed the first few weeks of camp with a shoulder injury, and his return didn’t last long because now he’s out with a knee. And let’s not forget he’s moving from college offensive tackle to NFL guard, so he needed a lot of field work this summer, and didn’t get it . . .
Jehu Chesson flashed again in practice. Darnold hit Chesson deep down the left side and the receiver made a one-handed-catch. The Michigan-product also had a nice block on CB Quincy Wilson on a run by tailback Josh Adams off right tackle . . .
September 3, 2020
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