One hot topic at the moment concerning the Jets seems to be the news that Quinton Coples has been permanently moved to outside linebacker. As BGA readers will know, this has been a proposition I’ve been intrigued by since the tail end of last season.
After the Jets drafted defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson last week, I wrote briefly about the option of using him there in certain packages here. However, now that they’ve announced this is happening, I’m going to look in more detail at what evidence there is that could indicate Coples will be productive in this role. I’ll also delve into what the news that he’s moving permanently actually means in practical terms.
After the jump, I’ll lay out my thoughts, but before then, I’d recommend you read this recent study from ProFootballFocus into where pressure comes from and the effects that it has. My research also makes use of exclusive statistics provided by PFF which are not available to subscribers. To read more of this story, click here
BGA Nano – Quinton Coples: Rush Linebacker?
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Following Thursday’s selection of Defensive Tackle Sheldon Richardson in the first round, I thought it would be useful to briefly re-visit something I’ve discussed before several times in BGA; the use of Quinton Coples as a Rush Linebacker.
The first thing to note is that, despite the name of the position, a Rush Linebacker will often play with his hand in the dirt. As the name suggests, he would primarily rush the quarterback and even when he did drop into coverage, it would usually merely require a drop-off into a zone or passing lane, not man-to-man coverage techniques. If the Rush Linebacker puts his hand on the ground, this effectively creates a four-man front, although everybody else’s role doesn’t usually change. Therefore, the player in that role can usually line up however he feels comfortable.
Should Coples start to contribute in this role, that means fewer reps are available for outside linebackers, therefore suggesting that the outside linebacker position was perhaps less of a need than first thought. Moving Coples to the outside would, however, make it necessary to add depth on the interior, which could be part of the reasoning behind the Richardson pick.
Towards the end of last year, the Jets started to experiment with Coples in that role. He even played 27 snaps standing up and – while the majority of these came in “Amoeba” style formations where linemen were milling around pre-snap on a passing down, there were some where he was employed as a conventional weakside outside linebacker.
Just as an indication of what he is capable of – and perhaps the sort of thing the Jets see in Coples that may have made them feel comfortable enough about his versatility to make the Richardson move, let’s look at an example.
The Jets this week signed another veteran player when they signed safety Dawan Landry to a two-year, $3m deal.
The 30-year old, 6-1 220-pounder figures to fill one of the Jets’ vacant starting safety roles, one of which resulted from the departure of his younger brother LaRon. The younger Landry started all 16 games for the Jets last year and went to the Pro Bowl, but signed with the Indianapolis Colts last month.
After the jump, I look in detail at footage from last season, to review what he can bring to the Jets, focusing in particular on any differences and/or similarities between him and his brother. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Jaiquawn Jarrett
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Since the Jets haven’t signed a free agent for me to scout in almost two weeks, I’ve been watching footage of some of the bottom-of-the-roster guys to try and get an insight into what kind of potential they have and whether any of them could realistically be expected to step into an important role in 2013.
In an under-the-radar move, the Jets signed safety Jaiquawn Jarrett to a futures contract, a move actually announced on the same day as Mike Tannenbaum’s firing. What’s exciting about Jarrett is that he was a second round draft pick in 2011. However, the fact that the Eagles gave up on him early in his second season is worrying. As Bassett wrote in January, the Jets have tried a number of these reclamation projects in the past (guys like Aaron Maybin, Jason Smith and Ricky Sapp) with mixed results. However, is there any chance that Jarrett could compete for a significant role in the Jets defense?
After the jump, I look in detail at footage from Jarrett’s first two seasons in the league to evaluate some of his strengths and weaknesses. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Darrin Walls
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Since the Jets haven’t signed a free agent for me to scout in almost two weeks, I’ve been watching footage of some of the bottom-of-the-roster guys to try and get an insight into what kind of potential they have and whether any of them could realistically be expected to step into an important role in 2013.
Darrin Walls, a 6-0 190 pound 24-year old, is a guy Jets fans already got a brief look at last season. Added to the active roster on 22 November 2012, Walls played in six games, including three where he saw action on defense at the end of the season. However, we haven’t extensively scouted him for BGA yet, since he kind of slipped through the net by virtue of being added to the roster at a stage of the season where there was a lot going on. Walls is one of several young defensive backs with good potential on the Jets roster so he has his work cut out in terms of standing out in a crowd.
After the jump, I look in detail at footage from Darrin’s first two seasons in the league to evaluate some of his strengths and weaknesses. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Willie Colon
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Free agency is underway and the Jets have already signed a few guys that Jets fans might not know too much about. Over the next week or so (and throughout the free agent signing window), I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the new signings and trying to assess what they can bring to the table for the Jets in 2013.
In case you missed it, I looked at Antonio Garay three days ago, Antwan Barnes two days ago and Mike Goodson yesterday. Today we move on to offensive lineman Willie Colon.
The 29-year old Colon is 6-3 and 315 pounds and has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers since they drafted him in the fourth round in 2006. He developed into a solid right tackle, but has been struggling with injuries over the past few years. In 2012, he moved inside to left guard and started 12 games. He looks set to compete for a starting role at one of the guard positions, with neither of last year’s starters Matt Slauson or Brandon Moore expected to return.
After the jump, I’ll be reviewing his career so far and looking in detail at how well he performed last season, before considering what he could provide the Jets with this year and going forward. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Mike Goodson
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Free agency is underway and the Jets have already signed a few guys that Jets fans might not know too much about. Over the next week or so (and throughout the free agent signing window), I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the new signings and trying to assess what they can bring to the table for the Jets in 2013.
In case you missed it, I looked at Antonio Garay two days ago and Antwan Barnes yesterday. Today we move on to RB Mike Goodson.
Goodson is only 25 and stands 6-0 tall, weighing in at 212 pounds. He was a fourth round draft pick out of Texas A&M and established himself as a solid third-down back with Carolina before moving on to the Raiders last season. He’s been backed up some good players in his first four seasons, so this might be his best chance to make a name for himself with Shonn Greene’s departure leaving a void in the Jets running back rotation. Goodson signed a three-year deal worth a possible $6.9m but only about half of that money is guaranteed and his cap hit this year is just $1.4m.
After the jump, I’ll be reviewing his career so far and looking in detail at how well he performed last season, before considering what he could provide the Jets with this year and going forward. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Antwan Barnes
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Free agency is underway and the Jets have already signed a few guys that Jets fans might not know too much about. Over the next week or so (and throughout the free agent signing window), I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the new signings and trying to assess what they can bring to the table for the Jets in 2013.
In case you missed it, I looked at Antonio Garay yesterday. Today we move on to DE/OLB Antwan Barnes.
The 28-year old is 6-1 and 250-pounds and, like Antonio Garay, has been with the Chargers since 2009. He signed a three-year contract worth a possible $6m and looks set to compete for playing time on the outside following the departure of Bryan Thomas and Calvin Pace.
Drafted in the fourth round out of Florida International, Barnes played two years with Rex Ryan’s Baltimore Ravens before joining the Philadelphia Eagles and moving on to the Chargers.
After the jump, I’ll be reviewing his career so far and looking in detail at how well he performed last season, before considering what he could provide the Jets with this year and going forward. To read more of this story, click here
BGA: Scouting Antonio Garay
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Free agency is underway and the Jets have already signed a few guys that Jets fans might not know too much about. Over the next week or so (and throughout the free agent signing window), I’ll be taking a closer look at each of the new signings and trying to assess what they can bring to the table for the Jets in 2013.
First up, I take a look at 6-3, 310-pound defensive tackle Antonio Garay. The 33-year old signed a one-year, minimum salary contract to join the Jets last week and looks set to help fill the void left by the departure of veterans Sione Po’uha and Mike DeVito on the defensive line.
Garay was a sixth round pick out of Boston College in 2003, but injuries slowed down his progress early in his career. However, by 2010, he was a key member of the San Diego Chargers organization.
After the jump, I’ll be reviewing his career so far and looking in detail at how well he performed last season, before considering what he could provide the Jets with this year and going forward. To read more of this story, click here
BGA Weekly: How to Beat the 2012 Jets
Bent , TheJetsBlog.com
Now that the season is over, I’ll be writing analysis articles each week until the beginning of the league year and also during the period between the draft and training camp. I’ll be breaking down some of the data from the 2012 season and revisiting some of the things I wrote about over the last two offseasons to see if any patterns identified at the time have continued or if any new patterns have developed.
In this week’s BGA, I’m going to do something I promised to do once the season was over. You may recall me writing this after the loss to the Seahawks:
[The Jets are] an easy team to beat right now. I’m just an amateur, but I could give any team a list of things to do against this Jets team that will be successful most of the time and will probably net you enough big plays to be the difference in the game. I’d also note that this was not the case over the past few years, where it was different things every week that would let the Jets down. While I’m not going to list those things here, because I don’t feel comfortable with putting up a blueprint of how to beat the Jets, it probably doesn’t matter because every team the Jets seem to face has done its preparation and identified these things for themselves. This enables them to exploit some very obvious weaknesses in the Jets line-up [...] Needless to say, when the Jets do the same things to their opponents, they never have quite the same level of success.
Now that the season is over and I would imagine the Jets would be addressing these weaknesses, I feel comfortable laying out my blueprint for how to beat the 2012 Jets. Obviously no gameplan is 100% certain to give you a win, but I’ll be suggesting things that usually worked and outlining the reasons why. Any team that did these things had a good chance of making some game changing plays happen and, generally speaking, every team that beat the Jets did some damage by doing some of these things.
After the jump, I’ll be looking at some specific areas where the Jets were consistently vulnerable and providing examples of situations where teams exploited this. To read more of this story, click here
