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A couple issues to get into today with no filter and no agendas – just straight-forward, honest, analysis . . .
On Wednesday, the Dolphins ended the suspension of linebacker Lawrence Timmons after one game.
Timmons went AWOL from the team while they were in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago, prior to a game with the Rams.
And watching the Jets-Dolphins game, you can understand why the Dolphins were so forgiving, so quickly with Timmons. A teams toughness with disciplining a player is usually proportionate to how much the player can help them.
Kiko Alonso is a bad fit for inside linebacker, and the Dolphins need Timmons back.
Alonso struggled at ILB last year, and that is why they moved him outside this off-season. But they had to move him back inside after the Timmons suspension and injuries to Rey Maualuga and rookie Raekwon McMillan.
And the Jets pounded him in the running game.
Essentially he has the same issue as Darron Lee – not enough body armor to consistently stack and shed blockers.
In the middle of the second quarter, Jets center Wesley Johnson pancaked Alonso, and Bilal Powell was off to the races for the Jets’ longest run of the year. It was called back due to an awful holding call on Johnson. It was a great block. Dakota Dozier also pancaked Alonso on a nine-yard Powell run.
So Timmons is back and Alonso will go back outside.
Alonso has the same issue as Lee inside.
It’s not the fault of either guy – they just aren’t big and strong enough to be ideal fits at inside linebacker.
But speaking of Lee, who was coming off bad games his first two weeks entering the Miami game, so how did he fare in Week Three?
It was a non-descript performance. He finished with two tackles, but was implicated in a couple of bad plays – a 15-yard roughing-the-passer call, and the Dolphins last second touchdown was in back of him.
He wasn’t a liability against the run in Week Three, but he didn’t do much either. DeMario Davis was outstanding with 12 tackles. For some reason, not a lot of plays came at Lee.
By no means has he turned the corner. He still has a lot of work to do. And he has a huge challenge this week with a pair of battering rams coming to down – Leonard Fournette and Chris Ivory.
Jets should just play the best player at the ILB spot next to Davis, whoever that might be – Lee, Julian Stanford or Bruce Carter. Draft status should irrelevant. That is my worldview. Odd, isn’t it? . . .
Jets right tackle Brandon Shell is iffy this week.
If he can’t go, the Jets should be okay at right tackle because there really is no drop-off to Brent Qvale or Ben Ijalana who practiced at that spot today. These three players are essentially on the same talent level.
And while Shell did a decent job in the first two games, his performance was a little uneven against Miami, with Cameron Wake giving him fits. There were three negative plays of note for the developing right tackle.
Wake beat Shell for a sack on the Jets’ first series. Late in the first quarter, Wake got by Shell to ruin the pocket, and DE Andre Branch cleaned up the play with a sack. In the third quarter, Wake beat Shell again, Josh McCown ended up fumbling in the scrum and the Jets recovered.
Shell has shown promise, but clearly still has a ways to go in his development . . .
September 27, 2017
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