Jets-Eagles Game Preview (8/29)

We recorded a podcast talking about Jets Eagles Thursday night pre season finale, and then mid afternoon, Teddy Bridgewater was traded. So we're back in studio. And for those who don't know if I'm breaking news to you, well, frankly you should check Twitter more often if you have a Twitter. But if you don't have Twitter and you're I don't know, I probably can get on Instagram too. Write the trade. Yeah, yeah,

I would assume so and so. But if you're not on social media and you you're relying on e A and myself is that Teddy Bridgewater is now a member of the New Orleans Saints. The Jets traded Bridgewater and a six round pick in two thousand nineteen, they got back at two third round pick e A. What do you think about the deal? I'm not shocked that Teddy

Bridgewater was traded. I was a little bit surprised by the destination because the Saints obviously have a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, durable one as well, and they they got a couple of guys behind him right now, I would imagine, and I wrote this just now, that Teddy Bridgewater comes in automatically becomes your backup quarterback. But I know this is the official Jets podcast, is not an NFL podcast, And just looking at the trade is

that why does it happen? Because Sam Donald frankly had a very good spring, and you could make the he

meant that he had a better summer. And while Bridgewater uh played very well for the Jets since signing here in March, and Sam Donald is the future of this organization, I think to get a third round pick for someone that hasn't played football in two years and his only football action has been in preseason, I think that's pretty darn impressive when you consider that a third round pick is what the Browns gave up to get Tyrod Taylor, who lead the Bills of the playoffs last year. So

I think it's very it's a very good deal. And you know, I know there's a lot of speculation that maybe the Jets will use that extra third round pick either before the season, similar to what the Jets did with Jermaine Curse, they acquired more picks and than they used it later on. When later on maybe is the big question because I've seen reports that are maybe they try to get a pass rusher before the season, or maybe you try to use the extra third round pick

in the draft to move up in the draft. I mean, there's gonna be speculation, of course, but I think you have more Ammo. And you have to credit Mike mcagnan again because he went out and signed Bridgewater before Sam Donald was acquired and actually before I believe the st Patrick's day was when the Jets traded with Indianapolis and moved up those three spots and sent their first along with the Trio second round picks to America's heartland to

the Horseshoes. But that was after they had signed Bridgewater. So the events happened like this Bridgewater signs, then the resigning of McCown happens a couple of hours later. Then a few days later mcagnan trades to go up from six to number three. You just think about what mccagnan, Brian Heimerdinger, and the rest of the personnel staff did in this spring. It's really impression. I totally agree with that, and what you just mentioned all happened in the span

of five days. Because the legal tampering period starts two days before free agency, which means it's mark twelve. Free agency officially opened March fourteen, which means you can put pen to paper there, and then three days after that, like you said, he that the Jets trade with the Colts and goes six to three, not knowing who's gonna be there at three, and Sam Donald falls to three

Jets pick them up in April. So when you look at the job like you said that, like the Cagan, Brian Heimerdinger in the front office, if done, I I agree with you, very impressive. Conceivably, I wonder what you could get if you ever shipped the pair of threes. I know what people are thinking out there. They're thinking about the big fish, and that's what a lot of the external media is talking about with that being said, all I would say is Cleil mac is under contract

with the Oakland Raiders. A lot of people anticipate Greens that he will come to the Raiders when the regular season commences next week. Because you only get paid in the regular season, and these scheduled getting more than eleven million dollars this year, which means if you divide that up amongst sixteen regular season weeks, that's a big paycheck. Yeah, it is a big paycheck. He's I mean also Khalil

Mcin Aaron Donalds, who's holding out the Rams. The more you hold out, the more find you get during training camp, So they're actually paying to hold out. I don't think it's just so I would say this, and I don't know this because we're not having these conversations with Mike mcagnor. Uh. The guy's going about his business. Um. But I don't think you make this deal just thinking about one deal specifically. I think you make this deal thinking about short term,

long term, short term. You like the two quarterbacks who have in house, and I think they liked Ted Bridgewater too. But with that being said, at having three good quarterbacks is a luxury, and the Saints said, we see a good quarterback on your rosters five years old. We'd love to have them. But in turn, you've got to give up something so the Jets get the third round value there um. So you know, I think with your the Jets, you can do a lot with the third round pick,

especially when you don't have a second round pick. Yeah, and just for them, for instance, I don't know, I don't have the draft chart in front of me, that old chart that everybody refers to him goes back two threes. It gets you low too. He definitely gets you low too. I mean. The other thing is about the Saints is that you would assume that wherever that pick is is not going to be, it's gonna be closer in the fourth round than it's gonna be towards the front of

the third round. Because you mentioned the Saints and how it's an interesting destination. Maybe the Saints are looking at the successor to Drew Brees potential. And the other thing is that if you're the Saints, a one year deal right to well, I think it's a two year deal or one in an option. But the thing is that someone made this point I thought it was interesting, is if you're the Saints, and you think that you're a legitimate contender, and you saw what happened to the Eagles

last year when Carson Wentz went down. You have to make sure you have an insurance plan just in case. Listen, the Saints are for sure legitimate contender. I told you last year that I thought they would have won Super Bowl. Huh. You know, obviously I don't make that tackle against the Vikings. But if you're a Jets fan, yes you have interest now to root for Teddy Bridgewater. But hopefully the Saints don't do as well. Yeah, no doubt what. We should

put a ball on Bridgewater. Ah. He is a good person. He was well liked inside the locker room. We weren't there in Minnesota when he suffered the devastating in injury, but by all accounts, that was horrific. He has been on an unbelievable climb the past two seasons. What we saw from him in the spring and the summer was more than just a competent quarterback. Was a guy who can and will be a starter in the National Football League. And you just gotta love his approach because when he

got hurt, he never said why me? He said a lot of people had worse off than me, are dealing with far worse problems than me, and a lot of people did not believe in Teddy Bridgewater. He never stopped believing, and he earned a tremendous amount of respect inside this locker room and from this fan base, and me as a guy who had the fortune to go down to Miami with one of our producers, Chris hobbins Um, and see where Teddy's from Miami and how many odds he's

already overcome always be rooting for him. I was gonna say, I think if you interacted with Teddy, you're been around Teddy. I thank you root for Teddy Personally, I'm rooting for Teddy. We'll see how he does in New Orleans or you know, wherever his next stop. Maybe he will miss his media availabilities. But for fans at home, most media availabilities start with oh you like the opening state and possibly a pr assistant saying questions please, does anybody have questions? No one ounced.

Teddy would always come in and give you somemation on what's going on with the team, that what occurred at practice, and it was coach like because he'd hit it to a t. He tells you we got we got into some good red zone work today. We had too many penalties here. We ran some gasters at practice, but it was great conditioning. He was always a guy who embraced every day, each rep, every opportunity. I'm gonna us the dancing on the sideline and yeah, he's big Michael Jackson guy.

But regardless, he won't be there for Jets Eagles, and I think there was multiple times where Michael Jackson was on and he was he was on alright. So Thursday night Jets Eagles preseason finale, Teddy Bridgewater will not be there obviously, which means that the quarterback rotation will be some form of Sam Donald, Josh McCown and John Walford.

We'll see how that plays out. What I want to know is not so much about the quarterbacks c A, but about the other Let me see, there's three seven as some quick math in my head, there the other eighties seven guys on the field. Because Coach Bowles talked about it, there's like five or six spots up for grabs right now, and this is the final time that a lot of these players will be on the field. And e A and I caught up with Dan Brazza last week. He's the pre and postgame voice for the

Jets on ESPN, and we broke down the roster. So we'll we'll toss that the minute here, But I want to talk about now in the present, who you're I know that you have a lot of guys that you have your eyes on, but who are you most excited to see how they performed on Thursday night? And you told me earlier he had a big prediction. It was about twenty five guys. So I can't pinpoint it right. You said, you said if I well, was it if I start swinging, I'm hitting or something like for me?

For me, it's all about positional groups. And you looked down on the roster a number of players and what's gonna end up happening? And I'm like a Trey McBride who was featured in one Jet Strive and his push for the team. Or at the receiver position. Um further, at the receiver position, what are the Jets gonna do a returner? Is Andre Roberts the veteran? Will he be on this roster come Saturay? How about the outside linebacker position?

Beyond the Jordan Jenkins and the Josh Martin's of the world. Frankie Louvill and Brandon Copland have gotten a lot of ps there. But who got his first sac against the guess he did? And then you think about a former draft picks Dolan Donahue, Lorenzo Molden. What do they have to show for themselves coming out here Thursday night? The safety position and we'll get into this with Graza and we did the cornerback position, and I think there's a

great battle down there Derek Bones, Jones and company. Justin Burr's is a former draft pick who uh you know? For him, I think he will have to do a couple of things out here. And even if these guys don't make the roster, you really auditioning for thirty one other teams. Um, you know, offensive line depths comes into

focus and we talk about that all the time. But yeah, big prediction Trent and Cannon Cannon boom, Cannon shot, Henry yards rushing and the preseason final game against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia goes much of those Super Bowl champs won't probably be on the field, but Cannon will have a nice to Oh yeah, I have to bring this up because we said that you said this earlier and when we recorded the pot initially. E A has not added cheese steaks since two thousand two, and he

doesn't put cheese on the cheese steaks. That is correct, blasphemy. So you get onions and peppers in a suck. I'm not a big cheese guy. I like pizza, but I'm not a big cheese guy. So yeah, if I'm gonna get a cheese steak, I'll get it, you know, with the peppers and some onions and just in the butt in the sub. You only eat half of the summer,

you eat the whole sub. Eat it. Well. Some people like some people like to make you know, sandwiches like convertible as they rip off the top half of the bread. So they're not eating the carbs. No, No, I don't do that, like in AFT. A couple of carbs here and there. That's fine. If you're gonna have one of those cheese steaks, you're not gonna have it. I'm sure

you're not gonna have it without cheese. But well you're not gonna go to gym, Yeah, but you can order one at gym's or pats or or or Randy Lang who who's uh one of our esteemed writers on New York Jets dot com. He's his favorite. It's bibles listen, which I am trying tomorrow for the record, I wonder if they let you do that down there is the order one without a bun. I bet you they wouldn't. You can have No, I didn't meet without a bun. I meant like, you only eat like half of the breadth. No, No,

I neat the whole thing. But I haven't gone. So you're going on early tomorrow on Thursday, so you can get yourself a cheese steak. Apparently that's the deal. Apparently who's who are you going with? The goons? The goonies? Who's that social media for? Yeah? Yeah, they're always looking for their next meal, aren't they? Yeah? Thanks? So yeah, all right, well you gave a big prediction. I'll give my big prediction, fearless prediction. Chad Hansen one bill over

a bill receiving yards. Yeah, and before we get to garage, I want to tell you. I want to ask you a question. I want to see if you've been reading my articles in New York Just dot com, who is leading the New York Jets in tackles this preseason in tackles. Well, uh, that's correct. Yeah, that is Hewett. And watch forty six because he's all over the field. He'll get some snaps if I enjoyed watching him and read about him in New York just dot com. Because I didn't know this,

I didn't know. I knew Miami played a four three, but I didn't know he was an outside linebacker and at four three, But that makes sense, he's a transition to three or four inside linebacker. I like him twenty five years old. I think he'd provide some nice step I like them too. I'm pretty sure he's a thundering hurt. What do you think about that? Yeah? You know who else? Was it? Thunder? That's right, friend of the pot, All right? Before we tossed to Dan rather here, I just want

to say that echo what you said. If I had to focus on one position for me, would be the receivers because I met Enhanson, you mentioned McBride. Are Darius Stewart, the third round pick from last year. He's suspended the first two games, so this is your last taste of him before potentially making the team Week three. If you don't know. When the Jets go from ninety fifty three,

suspended players do not count towards that fifty three. So we're looking at our Darius Stewart, Um, Richard Robinson, Kevin Pierre Lewis I believe are the three guys. So those guys will not count in KPL. Very quiet summer in practice at all, I am playing. So what happened? But regardless Jets Eagles seven PM preseason finale. But for now, breakdown with Dan Graza. Alright, Dan, now comes the fun part this roster. Later this week, it's gonna go from

ninety players to fifty three. There's no seventy five anymore. It used to be seventy five, seventy five to fifty three. Now it's straight nine fifty three, which means almost half of this team will not be in green and white come September two. All right, let's start with the qubs here, specifically in Sam Donald. Did you expect so much from

this guy this early? I gotta be honest. I mean, look, you're optimistic, and clearly when you trade up like they did too three, whichever guy you were going to select, you got high expectations from gonna be a talented quarterback, but not even so much the physical. I think what's impressed me and maybe exceeded the expectations that I had for him going in is what you've already understood about him from a mental side of things. Jeremy Bates. You

mentioned he's spoken glowingly about everything we've thrown at. This guy. He's absorbed and it's beyond impressive. Right. He missed the first three days of training camp because of the contract. Told that he came in here and what did he do? He was already spitting out plays that they worked on during the mini camp, So that recall that memory. That's important because you guys know this. You're a quarterback as opposed to just being a wide receiver and knowing what

your route is supposed to be. You're a quarterback. You have to know what every guy in your offense on the field is supposed to be doing in each and every play. And if that isn't too much for him at this stage of his career, then you know what, it's only gonna get better moving forward. We're gonna go

to the running backs now. Isaiah Crow, Allen balal Pal both solid camps now, do you carry another back outside of Trenton Cannon because Eli McGuire's out there, or do you think that the numbers elsewhere are a little too heavy. I think it's gonna be more contingent upon some of those other positions and what you do, uh to make it a numbers game necessarily. You know, Thomas Rawls is a guy. The opportunity to talk to him for our pregame show for the Giant game and it was a

great guy. You know, great guy. And remember this is a guy who had some moments with the Seattle Seahawks, remember the playoff game against the Lions a couple of years ago. I mean, he he was outstanding. So this is a quality, capable NFL back. And I think as you said that, you know, with Eli mc wired down, that presents an opportunity for somebody else to get some place. You know Cannon, everybody's excited by what he can do and he brings a dimension to the game. Does he

become your third down guy? Like is he your change the pace type back or are you gonna keep Rolls in there? Maybe who's not as shifty, but he's a guy you could still give the rock to and have him grind out some tough yards for you. So I think it's gonna be more dependent on what they decided to do with some of these other positions, like something we hit on last week with the tight ends. You've got a lot of guys there. How many are you

gonna keep? It's gonna be linked to special teams too, because are you comfortable with Trenton Cannon handling your kickoff returns which is something he did at Virginia State and did it very well. And punt returns He put a couple on the ground in that first preseason game. If you are comfortable with that, obviously takes away a rosters or freaks up a roster spot, excuse me, somewhere else. So that's gonna be the interesting part of the mix.

The other thing I would say about the backs is at fullback, a lot of people were ta talking about Dmitri Flowers from Oklahoma. He signed on restricted free agent. I think Lawrence Thomas has had a nice camp guy. He's big, he's a powerful blocker, and he's got good hands for being a former defensive alignment himself used to block for Levan Bell at Michigan State. I think LT has had a nice camp and it's went under the radar. I agree with that. And lt for being his size,

he has some hands and he has some shifting. This to him for being almost three hundred pounds Stump Mitchell said that Lawrence Thomas played at three hundred pounds last season and he and they were fine with that. But I'm glad you mentioned cannon and the puns because if you're not comfortable with Canada returning puns, he would almost assume that Andre Roberts might be that guy. And throughout the preseason, throughout training camp, he's been the number one

punk returner, which leads to the receivers. Now that's a crowded room. That's a room that has a suspension in our Darius Stewart to start off the year. All I think that receiver is gonna be a very difficult decision when you factor in the play off, Trey McBride and the fact that Chad Hanson was a fourth round pick last year and a nice camp by the way, Yes, and then you talked about special teams, Well, Andrey Roberts

seems to be the guy at that. Well, Lucky White, I thought they had a lot of pop in the return game. But you're right, Greens, it's a loaded room because you think about up top, you got your main Curse and Robbie Anderson. You can pencil those guys and Quincy and Noona Torrell prior, those guys limited early in camp and then they started to increase their workload as we've gone on here. But you've always thought of Dan, I've always started the receiver position as those four. And

then then where do we start? Well, I think it goes back to what you brought up a couple of minutes ago with special teams and and not even so much in the return game, but in coverage, because if you're gonna keep a wide receiver and even a running back for that matter, if they're not necessarily your return guy, well can they play teams? Are they gonna be on your coverage squad? Because you're not gonna use one of those precious spots for game day to dress a player

at let's say a position like that. If you know who are on the bottom part of that depth chart, if they're not going to play teams as well, because you want to have them to be able to, you know, serve a multifaceted role. There. So that's gonna be interesting, whether it's you know, the fullbacks you mentioned, you know one of those, you know, the third string running back if you will, and then that that maybe fifth receiver. If they could play special teams, that's only gonna enhance

their chances of suiting up on Sundays. And we always forget to talk about Ron Peak. He a touchdown catch, that's the Redskins, and he is also a valuable special teams performer. Peak doesn't make the roster here. He's gonna be playing for somebody Week one in the National Football League. Peak was on I R for the majority of last season, his sophomore season. And now, Dan, we gotta turn to your favorite position. You alluded to it last week in

the tight ends. Now we're back with more tight because, like you said, there's a lot of them, and head coach Todd Ball said, this is gonna be the most difficult position to evaluate. I'm excited. Was excited immediately when they drafted Chris Herndon. Okay, he's a guy whose college career, maybe the numbers didn't stack up to what you thought because he was hampered by injury. So you maybe get a diamond in the rough there that you end up with in the mid rounds. Talent wise, if he was healthy,

he probably would have went a little bit sooner. He excites me, Legged, and that to me was one of the disappointments of last year. You know, Legged, I was really as excited as I am about Herndon. I was almost as excited about Legged a year ago. This guy who played him big time games at Clemson, but his rookie season was watched away last year because of injury, and the coaches were high on him all right. So if you could keep those two guys healthy, that's a

heck of a foundation. Then those other wild cards, whether it's Tomlinson and whether it's Sterling Wolford. You know, these are guys who have already been through the wars in the NFL. They have experience. They're not flashy type players, but they play a role for you. And I'm not afraid to get a little dirty there and mix it up there in the trenches, which nowadays you can still use the tight end. I know it's old school, but sometimes those tight ends blocking in there, they still serve

a purpose. A couple of points here, Tomlinson is the best blocker of the bunch you mentioned it before, Herndon has is shown to be explosive out of breaks. The smooth route runner Leg is the guy who you might make in her argument, even though he hasn't had a lot of game action other than a couple of preseason games, that he might have the best hands of them all. He just gotta stay healthy. Clive Walford is really taken off um too. And then Nate sternly underrated athlete in

his own right. He can get down the field. So they liked this group. And finally, Sam Donald like throwing to the tight ends. He uses the tight ends for anybody to watch the practice that you can watch usc you watch practice, it's some of the games. Listen, this guy is gonna throw to the big guys early and off, and he likes those matchups. Tight end is, let's be honest, especially in those short to intermediate routes that could serve

as a great security blanket for a quarterback. And as he said, I mean, Sam Donald, we've already seen it so far here in camping in preseason. He's not afraid to go to them. And I know that the tight end is almost becoming at least the way traditionally the tight end position was. It's almost becoming fossilized in the NFL now. But you know, because these these tight ends are just such freakish athletes. They're like former basketball players, most of them. They can just get up and down

the field, work the scenes and stuff. But I like this group, and I think there's some wild cards. Would it surprise either of you if the Jets kept four tight ends? No, it would me. Four four four to me is a little bit only because I'm not convinced that a couple of those guys that we discussed might be best suited for special teams. And that's something that they would, I think have to do. I mean, if you're keeping four tight ends, they're playing teams at least

a couple of them. All Right, So I guess we'll see what happens come September one. I didn't say it's gonna happen, right, I'm just saying, we'll see what happens. I will tell So now we gotta go to the big Uglies a lie and assuming everything's okay on the health front, Calvin Beacham, James Carpenter, Spencer Long, Brian Winters,

Brandon Shell, those are your five right there. Now, behind those guys, what happens because this is a group where where I don't know about you dead or U E A. But when I watch in a game, I can't really tell you that guy is having a good game, that guy is having a good game because I'm not down there understanding everyone's blocks. Depth is a concern, right, I think the depth is a question. I like Spencer Long. I think that's an upgrade at the center position. That

and one guy especially is center. I mean it's cliche, but that could be the glue to hold the line together. And I think that he'll be invaluable for this team. Case in point, if you are also going with a young quarterback, it's going to be incumbent upon the offensive line to make his life as manageable as possible as

he's still learning the ropes. And I know that a lot of the so called experts want to say, well, you couldn't start Sam Donald week one because you have, you know, an offensive line which isn't considered upper echelon in the NFL. I don't buy that for a second. I actually think this group, this is the big if if they stay healthy, it's gonna be a lot better than people given credit for and better then they've shown maybe thus far in the preseason because they haven't been

together much in the preseason because of various things. And you know, losing Egellana was big just because he served that purposes, that swing tackle. There in the backup. You have a couple of other guys, but I mean, it's so rare that you're gonna go throughout the entire six team games which just the same five guys playing. You're

gonna need that depth. But remember, just because they're not on the roster now to con be on somebody else's roster, and there's gonna be cuts happening thirty one other teams that maybe you find a valuable guy, maybe because a cap reasons he gets cut, boom, maybe they pounced on him. I don't think the Jets is the only team in the National Football League who would like to increase their

death doubt across that offensive line. And to the point here, I think much was made what happened and Washington because Jonathan Harrison, who was in for Brian Winters, got beat on the and then yes, and then got beat on a sack as well, and he was filling in for Calvin Beacham. I think bottom line is those five could be a solid group. Um, they gotta stay together. You

mentioned you're talking about depth. The guy who jumps out at me throughout training camp, who is likely to stay at this point in time, You'd have to say Jonathan Harrison because they were using him as a second team center, and then when Winners did go down during the preseason, they gave him an opportunity to play at right guard. I know he gave the sack, gave up the sack quality. He's a guy who comes into focus for this team right now because, like Dan mentioned, but Gelana is not there.

He was the valuable swing tackle. Now quality, he's probably first up at both left and right tackle. Uh dacoted Osier. I think the duped on the inside. It's probably a little bit better right now where the where the Jets stand. But again, what's gonna happen over the next week, because the Jets are gonna have a final fifty three that isn't final at all, because they're gonna see what else is out there. And I wouldn't be we're talking about surprises,

would not be surprised at all. If they had another one. It's true for all NFL teams. You're fifty three man roster is always subject to change on any given day, any even moment. Something that Bowls talked about is position flex and maybe some of the guys that can play tackle and guard will have a little more value than someone that is just a guard or just a tackle. We'll see what happens. I wonder what's gonna happen with a guy like Travis Swanson because he's been he's been predominantly,

he's been the third team center. Now he's a guy who's got starting experience, whipped the Lions came over in the off season, things like heard much about him. Isn't it funny to think about this was a guy they signed Spencer Long and then they signed Travis Swansons Like, wait a secondy just signed the center. But as you said, this is a guy who's had starting experience before in

the league. And they talked about position flex too. But most of the time when we've been seeing him out there has been but he he has played some guard in his career before. So now let's shift to the defensive side of the ball. Will start up front again, just because we were all line. Now let's go d line. This is a different line that I think Jets fans are used to seeing it down there. However, the big

cat is still down there. Lennon Williams. Steve McClendon really hasn't practiced for the majority of trading camp, but he's the he's one of the guys that's to glue with a lock and he's one of the leaders on this team. So what do you make of this group that got three players on draft Day? Two of them Nate Shepard and fall Arounzo Phadukasi draft picks and then Nate Excuse me, Henry Anderson was a seventh round trade and he's someone that he's got some first team reps out there. Great

story Henry Anderson too. I interviewed him for our pregame show for the Giants, and you know, and I even asked him about it too. But you think about the big story and all the coverage with the team of a guy coming back from a serious injury was Teddy Bridgewater and everything he went through. Henry Anderson, I mean, what he went through with the Colts last year. Let's be honest. None of us are signing up for that. He had a fractured larynx for crying out loud in

his throat. That's that. That's painful. You know, you don't want any part of that. Yeah, just real quick. How did that happen? I don't know, but you think when he got hurt, he was able to tell someone that he was hurt if you injure your throatbox, like you think he just had to like point to his neck and like make a bunch of no, like no, no, no sign. It's not a pleasurable experience, that's for sure. But you know, and so he was able to work

his way back from that. And you know, he was in Indianapolis when they changed coaches there at the end of the season and they went to a four three defense. So he trimmed down a little bit, thinking he have to play a little quicker when you're playing in a four man front. Then he gets traded here and then he's like, what it's like now I'm going into a thirty four where your defensive woman needs to be a little bit bigger, you know, gap integrity, that sort of

thing taken on a couple of blockers. So he put on I think it was like twenty or twenty five pounds. It wasn't you know. We even joked about it when I interviewed him. It wasn't all just like McDonald's and pizza and all that stuff. It was you know, he did it the right way and made sure that that was a priority. So you give him credit there, and you know that's the type of guy that you want to see succeed. I'll also say this, and you guys

may agree with me. If this defense is going to be special this year and if they're gonna rek havioc, I don't think that happens unless Leonard Williams has a very disruptive season on that defensive line. You think I can't put it all on Leo. I'm gonna actually look at the linebackers. There's a little preview for you. When I look at the defensive line, I say, listen, your offensive coordinator, you're looking at the Jets defense line. Who

are you focusing on? To me, what's the development development of ninety seven Nathan Shepard? How early can he contribute six? Like you talked about, Henry Anderson's got some starting experience in the league. What is he going to give you? And then finally, Big Steve McClendon, who was a dependable run stuffer for this team, was out a lot during training camp. Are the Jets going to have to depend on Mike Panel in that position? So, and you mentioned Fatakasi,

I would imagine he becomes part of that rotation. But for Leonard, yes, he's got to do some certain things to take the next step, but he needs some help up there too. And this is a line that is in major transition. I think that has been kind of lost in translation here where we're talking about. Okay, Sheldon Richardson has gone, uh, David snax Harrison has been gone for a couple of years, Mohammed Wokers is now in Green Bay, and things like that. This line, this is

a lot of moving parts right now. I'm not saying there isn't a lot of time, there isn't talent there. There is talent there, but there are moving parts. And when I say disruptive for Leonard, I mean that came out of his mouth too. He even admitted that. You know, he said he wore down last year. That's a great point.

Looked in the mirror, said I gotta, I gotta, I gotta stay law pad level is coming up late in the game, absolutely, and we know I remember right at the beginning of the season last year, I think it was late and can't remember he nicked up his risk week two of the preseason and in the Motor City. In the Motor City, So think about that, Right, you're a defensive linemen. You play with your hands. If your wrist are in a percent, that's gonna give you an

issue there first and foremost. And naturally, when you're playing in the three man front, your guys more often than not aren't going to have those outrageous sack numbers. Is maybe you have when you're playing in the forty three. And I'm not just measuring his success based on those sack totals. Obviously you'd like to see a little bit more than what he ended up with a year ago.

But I do agree with what you said. It is going to be incumbent upon those other guys, because if those other guys are taking up more of the priority from the offensive line, it's gonna allow guys like Leo to make plays some of those linebackers as well. But being disruptive certainly is going to set a nice tone. Great point. Let's talk about the let let's talk about these guys now, the middle linebackers, the outside linebackers. Darrenly said he's the best shape of his life. Todd Bowlds

is expecting big things from this guy. He's now one of the play callers on this defense, a role that he did. He served a little bit last year, but now he's the main guy. Avery Williamson signed in the offseason. Tackling machine, that's what he's been called. What how How are these guys gonna Jael? That's another big question. What do you make of the inside guys? Then we'll get

out to the outside guys and behind them. And one of the stars of the preseason was Nevill Hewittt And with Kevin Pierre Lewis suspended for the first week of the season, could Neville he would be on this team come week one. I think it's fascinating what's gonna happen in the inside linebacker position. He's another guy like Dan was talking about, Hey, listen, Leo has gotta be disruptive. I think a lot of people would say Darren Lee's

gotta be disruptive at the inside linebacker position. The other thing is Tomorrow Davis said a great year last year. Now you would consider him, uh good linebacker, not a great linebacker, but he had a very good year last year. Enter Avery Williamson. What is he going to give you in his first year? And how are those two guys going to work together? Darrenly is working with a new guy for a third consecutive season. It was David Harris

that it was Demario. Now, enter Avery Williams. For the Jets to take the next step defensively, they have to be better against the run. We'll talk about the secondary here in a moment, but for the Jets to be a top half, top ten defense, they gotta be better against the run. They were middle of the pack last year. Well on that note, and jeez, I agree with you

a million percent here. One of the other options that you have defensively too, If you want a zero one on a run defense, you bring another guy into the box, which then, of course, in the past, would leave you vulnerable in past past defense. But you got your main Johnson and got another lockdown back there. Maybe that sorts itself out a little bit. You began asking the question, how will those two inside linebackers, Jail, I'll ask another one when do they jail? How long does it take

them to jail? Because spotlight is on them. You're a thousand percent right, Avery Williamson. Is he gonna be a three down linebacker with this team? That was one of the questions when they signed, right, is this the guy who's gonna be on the field all three downs? Is

he going to be vulnerable in pass coverage? Which we love our guy to Mario, Okay, we loved our guy, David Harris, right, but other teams knew, especially when you have those backs out of the backfield, use zero in on them and try to get him in coverage because there was a little bit of a vulnerability there. Darren Lee. And he's got to have a huge year. We know it. There's a lot on his plate. Now it's year number three,

your first round pick. I still want to see a guy that needs to convince me that his best position is playing on the inside. If you know what I mean. He's a speedy linebacker. You thought that when they drafted him, he would be a guy coming off the outside providing some of that pass rush. Is he gonna kind of get lost among the giants a little bit playing on the inside. That's what I'm looking to see here that that's not gonna change. Todd is always in division and

playing inside, so that's gonna be where he's at. Performance has to step up, then, I think from what you said about when these two guys will jel, I'm not. I'm not sure the answer to that, but I think what helps is the fact that they're close in age and they talked about it. They hang out outside the complex, are very close outside the complex, whereas Darrelly and Dave Harris and Lee and to Mario Davis didn't really hang out home, and those guys were exactly So now let's

we were in the inside, let's go to the outside. Now, last year is Jordan Jenkins and Josh Martin for the majority of the season, assuming those guys are on the roster, who are the guys behind those guys now, because for the majority of camp, Brandon Copeland who was signed in the off season, and Frankie Luvu ran with the second team. So will I think it's very interesting, Well, the Jets put their stock and someone like Frankie Luvu who's an undrafted guy, where as last year David Bass and Obum

watch them too. Other guys on the bubble. We're on this team last year and David Bass had two sacks in the first two weeks here, right, Well, Frankie Louvu, for one thing, you're not gonna see the field a lot if you're gonna make the bone headed mistakes with the penalties like that that coaches won't tolerate that. But unfortunately, fortunately, unfortunately,

however you want to describe it. We're sitting here now almost at the end of the preseason, and it's still kind of the same conversation that we had at the beginning of there's playing time to be had for the outside linebackers, and I don't think we have clarity yet. You know, I don't think that we've sorted anything out because they're still playing time to be earned for whoever goes out there and deserves it. You much as mentioned David Bess, he was second on the team last year

and sex a little bit banged up this summer. Headsn't seemed to get a long look. Maybe that's going to change here. Uh, well, we're at the end of the preseason right now. I have no idea how that's gonna look. When you go to sub packages, who who are you using on the outside. I would say again, pencil in Jordan and Josh Martin again, pencil the man as you started. Yeah, and then what happens from there as far as your sub packages are concerned, I'm not sure. And Loronzo Maldin

is another guy we didn't mention. We didn't mention Della Donna Hue either. And you talked about special teams, Well, Brandon Copeland was a special team's ace for the Lions when he was there. Della donni Hue, what can he do on special teams this last year? Della donni? He only played four games and then he got her. He was special teams against the Jaguars, which Paul Puzzle wasn't he. So outside linebacker is definitely a spot that I think a lot of jess fans will have their eye on.

But now let's moved back to the secondary here. Similar to what E said about the receivers is do you have the four? Then you go from there? For for me, just talking about the corners, it seems like you have Trumaine Johnson, Morris Claybore, buster screen and then where do you go from there? Because someone like Perry Nicker said he flashed early on in camp that he had the hammy tweak, he missed a couple of weeks. What's gonna

happen with him? What's gonna happen with Derek Bones Jones, who was another flashing camp And then like you said, he it might just come down to special teams because someone like Darryl Roberts and Justin Burns, they were the gunners last year on this Jets team. Ferry Nickerson showed enough to me earlier that's he's a pencil guy. Yeah, I wouldn't Yeah, I wouldn't even mess with throwing him on the practice squad. Yeah he's here, He's gonna last

on your practice practice. Yeah he should enough. He looks like he could. He really could be something down the line for this team, and hopefully, you know, he gets back in the mix. Now is the you know, on the side of caution. I guess with Nickerson because at the hamstring injury. But yeah, it's gonna be interesting. Caught In Bones Jones has made a nice um case for himself, and you mentioned Justin Burrs. He's a former fourth round

pick I believe out on c State. And you know, Darryl Roberts the guy who's running with the once not too long ago. So yeah, it's gonna be interesting how that all shakes out. I can't remember a time when the secondary from top to bottom was this talent. Didn't had this much depth for this team, right, because in the past you had you know, everybody thinks back to the Rex days. Okay, when they went to the two championship games. You had Rieves and Crow there's your corners,

high caliber players. Of course, you know, you go back even earlier in the two thousand's there when you have that Aaron Glenn Marcus Coleman tandem and they were really good for a little bit there, right, Kings is a

nickelbag who was outstanding, you know what I mean. So, but then when you factor in the safeties, and that's what really I mean, if you weren't excited ready by the corners, you talk about these safeties and when you talk about Leonard Williams, we talked about Darren Lee, guys who now you want to see them that next year? What they do I mean, my goodness to me, at the top of the list of these two safeties, okay, the leap that they could potentially take from your and

year one wasn't bad. Year one to year two, we might be talking about a couple of Pro Bowlers or All pros. I mean, they have that kind of potential, and that could set a tone big time, not just for the secondary, but for the rest of that defense and cover up maybe some deficiencies you have up there in the front seven. The one thing about the safeties that I will say is that I'm very interested to see how Marcus may how much he plays in the preseason,

because he really hasn't practiced a whole lot. I mean, he has practiced, but he hasn't ran with the first team for the entirety of training camp. This is a guy that got hurt in the season finale. You hate those seasons. He didn't do a whole lot in the spring, but he said that he still worked out with the team. So I want to know, is there any kind of we talked about Darren Lee and Avery Williams and Jelly.

I know those guys are closed, but do they have to do it on the fields but for a couple of games before they can really start making those leaps and bounds that you hope to see. I'd be more concerned if this was the rookie year as opposed to ye or two. You know, they gained valuable experience. List they basically played the whole season. It's the same defense. I'm not worried about those guys. I really think, and I know him like bouncing out of my seat here

the high chair. By the way, sky is the limit for these two, it really is. The sky is the limit. That's a good point. As I said before here about Jamal is he's kind of the next factor because you can move him around and play him different positions. He's labeled as a safety, but a lot of times you'll be looking at him in the box and you can

consider him that extra linebacker. But I think he's gonna take steps as far as coverage is concerned, and that goes back to his eyes and diagnosing and knowing what's coming at him. I anticipate he's gonna play faster. He's in better shape this year, trimmed down. I don't think. I don't. I don't want to say Jamal was bolted up last year, but it's his body looks better in terms of body, and he looks little bit quicker. Well, he said that he he now is a personal chef

who's helped him all with him. You don't person, No, no, no, it doesn't. And at this I'll tell you what And I, like Dan said, you gotta like the depths the safety spot too. You have Doug Middleton get valuable reps throughout the spring when May was out. J J. Wilcox is a guy who started a lot of ballgames in the National Football League. Ron Tess will start the season, but if he comes back, he's one of your special teams

core players. I like to say you're missing t Brooks because last year he was a guy that was a special team's ace. Yeah, he so got value. You know, that's another question. How many safeties here keeping? I think you're going for you are going for. I think you're going forward because last year you had three on the field that multiple time. Ultimately, if you go for it probably comes down to J. J. Wilcox or Terence Brooks, right, because Dogy Middleton was getting those getting one. I would

lean towards Terrence Brooks. I'm not asking to make a prediction. I'm just asking if you think that's what it's gonna come down to. I do think it's come down to Yeah, and I think I mean, maybe I'm wrong here. This is looking down, looking down the tunnel a little bit. But Brandon Bryant, I think maybe that's a potential peace Squad guy, So you no doubt, I think, But I

think it does come down to those two guys. You know, we forgot we forgot the calculator, like we need the fancy to tally up fifty three here because I'm not at the positions and I'm like, wait a second, we're probably up to putting like sixty guys on the team here.

It's it's tough, and when you get to those I mean, it's cliche, but when you get to those last couple of spots of the roster, those are the toughest decisions, right, And there's gonna be movement that bottom three four, not just with the Jets, but with the thirty one other teams. And that's when you check out the waiver wire and who's available and who you shift into the practice squad. And that's why Mike mccagnet and his staff, I don't want that job. At the end of the week, I

don't want that job. Finalizing this roster will be a few surprises. There always are, you know, and a lot goes into that as far as getting some other guys reps, financial considerations, and what is out there on waivers. All right, pretty much a wrap here. You have any any last point? Said you trying to get out there? No, I just wish the Thursday night game in Philadelphia was maybe Wednesday or something. It's college football has a season take off.

There's a couple of games. Is there a great Thursday night I like to I like to Purdue Northwestern game. He is a big boiler America. Yeah, and I like the Northwestern won ten games last year. That's a nice matchup. Nothing else the NFL. I love my job and I'll be in Philly pumped to be there. Maybe I wouldn't mind moving it up to Wednesday next year. Maybe we'll put it in a request to put the Jets game on one screen North QUESTERNT another could make that happen.

When you have like the apt it, whatever channel the game is, I need to watch everything on. That's all right. That's all we got. That was the roster breakdown. E A Dan Browser and E G.