Undrafted Free Agent Spotlight: Rontez Miles

This week, John Idzik made it clear that the Jets would look to field roster spots this season through undrafted rookie free agents.  Former California University safety Rontez Miles went undrafted, we’ll take a look at Miles in this post.

rontez-miles

Rontez Miles

Height: 6’0″ Weight: 203 lbs
Hands: 10 1/4″ Arm Length: 32 7/8″
40 Yard Dash: 4.62 3 Cone Drill: 6.97
Vertical Jump: 36.5″ Broad Jump: 123.0″

BIOGRAPHY:  In short, he went to high school with Rob Gronkowski, and Miles was recruited by many big schools out of high-school, but he choose Kent State to play with his step-brother Vondre Griffin. In Miles’ first year, Griffin was dismissed from the program (but was eventually cleared) of the charges, and Miles decided to leave the program with Griffin no longer there. After a year in a warehouse taking classes at a community college, Miles then enrolled at California University of PA. Where he earned PSAC Freshman of the Year, four All PSAC-West selections, back to back Defensive Player Of The Year awards, and two-time Division II All American honors.  This USA Today article gives a great picture.

STRENGTHS: Good size and looks extremely athletic.  Very lean and hard build.  Miles is known as a punishing hitter, and is extremely willing to get physical against the run and he’s a good tackler and wraps up well.  Good diagnosis skills, and decent against the pass.

WEAKNESSES:  He will have get much more technically sound as he moves up to the NFL.  Sometimes can overpursue the play and can take bad angles at times.  He sometimes tries too hard to make a big hit and that might get him in trouble in the NFL.  

CONCLUSION: It’s impossible to look at some of his highlights and not be impressed.  At the same time, it’s maddening because his it is impossible to judge how he’ll fare against a much more talented pool of players.  Miles has all the athletic skill and the physical nature that could make him a menace in the defensive backfield, but he’s going to need to get much more technically sound and not rely on his brute strength and athleticism to make plays in the NFL.  He’s a great prospect for the Jets to give a try, but some dedicated work and roster stowing might pay dividends over time.

Dee Milliner finds new agency

According to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal, Jets top draft pick Dee Milliner has chosen his new representation after firing his agency after what he apparently deemed poor draft results.

Milliner fired Impact Sports back on May 10, though news didn’t reach journalists until late last week. Per Mullen’s report, the former Alabama corner has already signed with Pat Dye & Bill Johnson — and this has happened after waiting the necessary five-business-day waiting period expired.  Dye & Johnson’s agency merged a few years back with Jimmy Sexton’s larger group.  Under that larger banner some other Jets of note represented are Rex Ryan and Calvin Pace.

When Milliner made the switch, he has become the second Jets rookie to fire his representation, after West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith parted ways with Select Sports in late April.

Brian Bassett, theJetsBlog.com

I hazarded a guess that Jay-Z might be sniffing around another New York athlete, but that seems to not be the case.  Good to know that at least this is behind him.  It’s extremely rare that two players drafted by the Jets would both leave their agency after disappointing draft results, but there’s a first time for everything.  It seemed an odd move to fire an agency over four draft spots, but we don’t know the full story there.

A number of Jets players are already signed and now that this is settled we’ll expect that they will all get into camp on time and signed with their new agencies.

Coples Not Hitting Snooze on His Wake Up Call

Quinton Coples got a wake up call a few weeks ago from the Jets coach, but he’s working it through.

Neither player nor coach have talked about the perceived lack of effort with Coples saying it was a “first-time experience for me” and that he has never been called out before. He called it a “wake-up” call.

“I wouldn’t say I got comfortable, it was during a drill, it was videotaped and I could have given better effort,” Coples said. “The next day when we came back here, I gave a better effort to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.”

Brian Bassett, theJetsBlog.com

Coples is so physically talented and it’s good to see that he realized that Rex is watching him closely and his coach expects nothing less than his best.  Coples led the team as a rookie with 5.5 sacks, and if he adjusts to his new role next year and can be more featured because of it, I’d expect him to double that number this year.

Willie Colon believes the team will release Mike Goodson

Mike Goodson remains on the Jets roster, despite being slapped with weapons and drugs charges on Friday, but offensive lineman Willie Colon doesn’t expect that to be the case much longer.

“It’s one of the things where it’s zero-tolerance with stuff like that,” Colon told the Daily News Saturday at the Alliance for Lupus Research walk at MetLife Stadium. “It’s sad. Mike could have been huge for us.”

“He wasn’t around a lot, so I didn’t really get to see him a lot. For the most part, I was kind of anticipating seeing how he was going to do in OTAs,” added Colon.

The lineman, who also signed as a free agent this offseason, said the team hadn’t said anything to the players about Goodson yet and he heard about it through the news. “A lot of guys were upset. They knew the type of ballplayer (he was),” Colon said.

Jordan

This entire situation stinks. I was kind of looking forward to see what Goodson could bring to the Jets. Thank the lord we traded for Ivory. If we didn’t and we didn’t draft a RB, our RB’s would be Powell, Mcknight, and maybe Griffin? There’s a small chance that maybe this whole thing will carry over to the end of the season and he wont miss any playing time. But the chances of that happening are slim to none. If we keep him he’ll most likely be suspended 4-6 games. Let’s see how this plays out.

Free Agency: Rating the Remaining Quarterbacks

Brian Bassett, theJetsBlog.com

A few days ago we mentioned some of the more “viable” options at quarterback should the Jets want to consider bringing in in another veteran to compete with Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith and Greg McElroy. Here’s some more details on those potential veteran options … not named Tim Tebow.

VINCE YOUNG
Career Stats: 60 Games, 74.4 Passer Rating, 57.9% completion, 46:51 TD-INT
Young — who just finished his degree — is tough to evaulate because he’s been away from football since the Bills cut him last summer. Young played sparingly during the Eagles 2011 season, most notably in a game he helped the Eagles beat the Giants 17-10 on Sunday Night Football. Young has all the physical tools, but he’s not been excellent at making his reads and in his accuracy. Young would of course have some familiarity with Morhinweg’s offense from his days in Philly, but Young isn’t an optimal West Coast Offense fit.

CHARLIE BATCH
Career Stats: 80 Games, 77.2 Passer Rating, 56.6% completion, 61:52 TD-INT
Batch has played as a backup role since joining Pittsburgh in 2002. The former Steeler has good size as well as decent arm strength, instincts and vision. He isn’t very mobile but is known as a savvy game-manager who would be a stretch to be a season-long starter, but who can spot-start when necessary. Batch might not be a bad option, but making him the starter would unlikely be able to last for a whole season due either to durability or productivity.

BYRON LEFTWICH
Career Stats: 60 Games, 78.9 Passer Rating, 57.9% completion, 58:42 TD-INT
Leftwich has good size, better than average arm strength but is badly limited in his mobility must operate from inside the pocket and can’t make much happen outside the tackle box when the play breaks down. He has average accuracy but does have good vision and the ability to read a defense.

TYLER THIGPEN
Career Stats: 29 Games, 72.5 Passer Rating, 54.0% completion, 21:18 TD-INT
Average size and arm with solid athleticism, Thigpen tends to force the ball into coverage trying to make a play and during his time with the Bills, he hasn’t shown enough to demonstrate that he could be a front-line starter in the NFL.

TRENT EDWARDS
Career Stats: 38 Games, 75.5 Passer Rating, 60.6% completion, 26:30 TD-INT
A journeyman with smarts, but limited athleticism to move and scramble Edwards can demonstrate accuracy when given time in the pocket to set, or slide and step into his throw. Edwards has been proven to make errant passes when forced to throw off balance or not properly set. Edwards returned to football with the Eagles in 2012 after a year away and he was a good backup who can tutor younger quarterbacks. Edwards is a bad judge of his ability to fit the ball into tight spaces and doesn’t have much more value than as a backup.

JAMARCUS RUSSELL
Career Stats: 31 Games, 65.2 Passer Rating, 52.1% completion, 18:23 TD-INT
Russell hasn’t played football on a team since 2009 and he was a poor player at that time. Weight issues and his work ethic were significant concerns about Russell, but when last we saw him, he did have excellent arm strength and the ability to make all the throws.

Movin’ On …

“You just gotta move forward. You can’t pout about it.  It’s a business. I think my job here is just to make sure, for one, that I’m ready to go out and play and make sure that the younger guys are ready to come out and play. That’s the kind of role I’m trying to take on, and make sure guys are doing what they’re supposed to do.”

– Antonio Cromartie on life after Revis

Jets Respond to Goodson Arrest

Valid point made in this New York Post article about Mike Goodson about the release of Claude Davis and Cliff Harris a few weeks ago.

Three weeks ago, the Jets cut two lesser-known players that they were not as significantly financially invested in — defensive end Claude Davis and cornerback Cliff Harris – after they were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.

The situation also contained a third man who had a handgun and whom had a hollow point.

Last night the Jets spokesperson made a terse statement. “This is a pending legal matter,” the spokesperson said. “There will be no further comment until the legal process has run its course.”

Brian Bassett, theJetsBlog.com

So it would seem we’re to assume that the Jets are going to let the matter play out and as best we can tell, with Goodson still on the roster  I’ll have to assume that he’ll participate in OTAs, minicamps and training camp.  It’s probably going to be a bit before the matter goes to court and then any lawyer could get the matter continued a few times … this might not come to resolution until after the season ends.

recapr: Jets QB carrousel go round and round

SNY.tv recapr takes a look at the reaction of the Jets quarterback competition.

In less than two minutes, recapr compiles the media’s coverage of New York’s sports stories, pulling together multiple angles and viewpoints – from Twitter to text to talk radio – giving you the whole story in one place.