LISTEN | Jets Roster Breakdown (9/2)

did you count them? Well? I was thinking there were twenty seven moves made for Waves Slash Release and putting Kyle Phillips on I R, so that's twenty seven. Then you have the thirteen practice Squad edition. Then you had the three the three players that were placed on I R and the three re signings. Then you had the two claimed and the two waved. So I added all that up and I got fifty two. I was quickly

adding that up in my head. I thought I got the fifty, but you're probably right and the two trades, that's right. So Joe Douglas and the staff very busy. I think it's just a busy time of year. Which is it? What is interesting about this point of the calendar is that typically over the years, and you know this, we cover transactions, the flurry of moves right before Labor Day weekend, I mean, on approaching Labor Day, that weekend, approaching Labor Day. But in contrast here this year, you're

doing it in the middle of the week. It's kind of nice, Like from a workflow perspective, it's pretty nice to get it done during the week. Obviously, there's gonna be transactions throughout the course of the season almost every day of the week except for Sundays or game days, really, but I liked it, and there's a lot to get into.

I think we should just dive right in with bless Austin, because I think that's probably one of you know, people say, oh, like there's always surprise cuts every year, and you know, maybe not internally, but if you're looking at the Jets roster, I think people would be surprised to hear that Bless Austin was let go, especially because he's been a starter for this team the past two years and he was the longest tenure Jet in that cornerback round, Robert Salis

said it, this is the toughest part of the business. You hate to say, hey, you know, we're not going to be needing your services anymore. And to bless, Austin has a lot of local ties, right He grew up in New York, played at Rutgers, then was a draft pick here and I think a lot of fans gravitated towards him, and he had an opportunity here early in training camp. But throughout the summer, sala and anybody you talked to said, hey, listen, it's an open competition at

the cornerback position. And this just emphasized that even more that move here. The Jets are undergoing a youth movement. Joe Douglas said it Wednesday here at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center that he believes what of this roster, our first and second year of players, and this just speaks to the Jets want to get a longer look at Brandon Knuckles, who made the team out of Kentucky, a rookie, Isaiah Done and undrafted free agent Oregon State who made

the team. Javelin Guidry, a second year player who we saw most of the time worked inside, but Salom mentioned him uh potentially in that race as well. And then who am I forgetting, of course, another draft pick Pinnocks. So listen you, I don't know the way you felt, but all along I felt like there wasn't a clear pecking order that all those guys were making a run there.

I definitely agree with that. It didn't ever feel like there was two guys were like, those are the two guys, and you know who's gonna make a name for themselves as a reserve. And it felt like throughout camp, a lot of people like at first it was Equals and Done, then Done got hurt. Equals was a little banged up, but he really played through, you know, he was I don't think he ever really missed an extended period of time.

Pinnock had that bruise knee for a little bit, and Equals, you felt like he definitely made plays in practice and then he had to pick against the Packers in the preseason game. And remember against the Giants, he had that past defense when he ran down whoever the receiver was and he batted it away and Salo was praising him for his intellect on that play because that wasn't supposed to be his man, but he saw the play in

real time. You know, I thought that I thought that Equals had an impressive camp and couple that with what Joe Douglas said yesterday, I thought this was very interesting. He said, instead of asking Blessed to take a reduced role, we're giving these guys, the young guys, an opportunity, and out of respect to bless we're giving him an opportunity

to find a larger role with the new team. Yeah, there's no period to end to bless his sentence right now in his professional career, there's a comma and then we'll have to see where his story goes from here. Again, the jetice wanted to get longer looks at other players. They're very young at the cornerback position. We're going to

continue to talk about that throughout the year. Interesting as far as the waiver claims, I think a lot of people probably anticipate that we're gonna go veteran cornerback or yes, definitely veteran cornerback. I know that Jimmy Moreland was the name that was thrown out there, and the Jets didn't end up claiming veteran cornerback. Instead, they claimed two players, both defensive players. One guy Timmy Ward, former Kansas City chief The other one Quincy Williams, who is the older

brother of Jets defensive tackle Quinnin Williams. Yeah, that's a great story, and I think it's fascinating because he's actually older than Quinnin, but a very good athlete, and Sala raved about his length at that position. You know, the Jets love length at the linebacker position, so it's gonna be interesting to see him him come in here. And Ward is a guy who, by all accounts is and athletic freak, and I think the Chiefs wanted him back

as far as putting him on the practice squad. But when you put somebody on waivers, you expose yourself, right, That's part of the gymnastics though, and I saw I think it was rich a meany to you about it that when the Jets let go of Ryan Griffin and Dan Brown and Schrod and Easeman and they brought all those guys back. Those are veterans who aren't um exposed

to the waiver system. So let's say, let's say there was a player that you wanted to bring back to your practice squad for whatever reason, and you you release a player, which means you have more than you have five years or more of experience in the NFL. That means that that player has the right to choose with whatever team he wants to sign with. Yeah, there's a difference between being released and waves because most of the people just put it undo the Dombrala cut. But you

just properly described that. You know, when you get waived, teams are taking on your contract, but when you get released, you're out there. Well, I think to use a Jets example, the Jets on Tuesday let go of both Josh Johnson and James Morgan. Josh Johnson, having multiple seasons under his belt, was straight up released and now consigned anywhere, right, and he resigned with the Jets practice squad. A great point.

So I want to get back to the blessed here in a second, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the quarterback position because everybody's like, well, Jack Wilson, of course, has never taken a snap in the regular season in the National Football League, is being backed up by Mike White, a third year player has never taken a snap in the National Football League. But don't you consider Josh Johnson, a veteran, arm experienced guy who's played in the National Football league on a number of occasions

in the regular season. Yeah, he's not on the active but can call him up at any time. Right, That's the unique part of the practice squad rules. It's the same thing as two thousand twenty where you can elevate or promote a player two players per week from the practice squad to the active roster, and they automatically revert right back to the practice squad following the game. So the game they roster essentially is fifty five for everybody if they take advantage of that rule. And I think

it's a benefit to teams. And there's all these little intricacies with the practice squad and the rules and protecting players, and players can sign to another team's fifty three man roster, but they can't sign to another practice squad. We could have a whole podcast on that. You mentioned the quarterbacks real quick, what do you think of James Morgan going

to Carolina's practice squad? Well, Joe Douglas said, the head conversations with Morrigan following that cut down, and it sounded like the Jets were interested in bringing him back, and Carolina jumped in and is there gamesmanship involved? Yes, to a certain extent. We saw that a couple of years ago with David's Webb right, the Jets is very similar situation. The Jets wave Davis Webb, and of course the Buffalo Bills pick them up. And who is the Jets Week

one opponent the Bills? The one thing I think there's one difference in this scenario, and I think it's kind of important to point out at the point in which the Jets released or wave Davis Webb, because there were four preseason games they might have already started. You know, I have a deeper dive into scouting the Buffalo Bills at that time and creating a game plan. I'm not so sure about this time, because between final cuts and Week one there's almost two weeks involved there. Well, Salo

talked about that the other day. They're gonna turn their focus to Carolina at what Wednesday's practice. I'm getting the days they're all running together right now, but the Jet to work out here Sunday, right, Sunday, Monday day off, Tuesday to take care of all your transactions, and on Wednesday Thursday. So you're right, their focus didn't really shift to Carolina until Wednesday. But James Morgan probably knows a thing or two about verbal cues and audibles. He might

know that. I mean, you might have to change your calls. I think that's life in NFL, right, you know, I'm sure if you're talking to the Jets over beer, and maybe maybe people are rolling their eyes about it a little bit, but hey, listen, Morrigan's taking an opportunity in Carolina. You know. Yeah, anytime we release the player, anytime we wave a player, anything can happen. Yeah, it's a great point. So not only were there releases waiver claims. We talked

about those practice squad a little bit. How about trades. Jets had executed two trades this week. Let's start with Chris Herndon tight end is kind of a weird position this week with all the roster gymnastics. You let go of Ryan Griffin and Dan Brown, you bring you bring them both back, but in that window where they were before they were brought back, Chris Hernan officially gets straight into the Minnesota Vikings for a two thousand, twenty two fourth round pick, and the Jets gave up a two

thousand six round pick. Well, much like bless Austin, you you're gonna wish Chris Herndon. Well, here, both those guys are good dudes, um, young players who have had some level of success in the National Football League. I think with Herndon, he had like thirty nine receptions this rookie season,

over five hundred yards receiving. Second year was really tough hit of suspension and a hamstring injury, and then he comes and plays against the Giants midseason breaks Ribby's out for the year, So that's basically the entire second season as a wash. Then the third season he came on, I thought down the stretch felt quiet early in the season. I think he finished with thirty one receptions lad year. He got an end zone three times. So here you go.

We were wondering, being out there in the practice field every session, whether it was here or in Green Bay, where did Herndon fit on this team? Because it seemed like Tyler Croft and Ryan Griffin when he was healthy, those were your two top tight ends. And if you were going to keep Dan Brown, he would stay in that special team's role. The Jets like his athleticism as well. Um, and then you kept Kenny a Ball on the practice squad. So there's a young development player. So where did Hernon

fit into all of that? So Vikings rash injuries of the position, you send a six to them along with Herndon, and I thought you got great value there in four. I agree, And you think about what kind of capital Joe Douglas now has rounds one through four in two

thousand and twenty two just a rifle through him. Two first round picks their own in Seattle's, two second round picks their own in Carolina's, one third round pick, and two fourth round picks Carolina's and now Minnesota is because the Jets traded away their two thousand fourth round pick to the Seattle Seahawks with Jamal Adam. Yeah, so my great job by Joe d again, because as we sit here today, can you tell me you were a hundred percent convinced that Herndon was making the roster. I'm not

saying he wasn't going to make the roster. I can't. I can't sit here and tell you a hundred percent you would have put him on completely safe. I wouldn't say a hundred percent at all. It was we played the numbers game too right, obviously, like Joe Douglas and his staff and the coaching staff they collaborate. But when we're out at practice every day and we start reading the tea leaves of who who's playing well, who's been kind of quiet, then you think about the tight ends room,

and we didn't even talk about Trayvon Westco. I know he's listed as a tight end, but it's important to notice that we didn't talk about the fullback. He's the fullback. I think it's important though that we distinguished because he's technically a tight end, but he really is the team's fullback.

So I think that with Hernon and that whole room, it was somebody was going to be the odd man out, and for the Jets to get a fourth round pick and return for Chris Hernon and make that decision probably a little easier for Joe Douglas and his staff, I think it was a great move. And you have now more draft capital in two thousand and twenty two, so

I think it was a good move. The other trade was involved a sixth round pick, but the Jets give up a six round pick that they got last year for Jordan Willis actually got traded to San Francisco forty niners where Salo was, and the Jets got back Shack Lawson from the Texans. Lawson former first round pick out of Clemson. Joe Douglas said he brings a junkyard dog mentality that defensive line. Even without Carl Lawson, the Jets still have plenty of confidence in this defensive line. I

think he needed somebody there after loss and went down. Now, Jack laws is a different player than Carl Lawson, um, but Douglas and sal is the same way. They're not gonna feel sorry for themselves because they've lost a potential double digit sack. Guy is absolutely devastating blow, but the train is still going to leave the tracks Week one in Carolina. Loss in is guy who not only can help your rushing the quarterback. He's not as explosive as a Carl Lawson, but he's also gonna help you as

far as his run defense. He's a real good run stopper. And I know that isn't going to win a lot of headlines out there, but unique guys like that. So he's gonna give you some push in the past game. He's gonna be good in the locker room. He's gonna help you against the run, don't you think it. I think the reaction when the Jets traded for Shack Lawson, was like, this is the guy that you're getting for

Carl Awson. I think it's a great point. You can't just replace Carl Lawson one for one unless you were like swinging for the fences. And Bart Scott was sitting here once, you know, a couple of weeks ago, and he was like, look, you just get a you know, a tier A guy you like, you don't make a move unless it's not. But I'm gonna challenge that because

the Jets also lost Vinnie Curry. And I think that when you look at Vinnie curry stats, which is what I'm pulling up right here, past two years, he had eight sacks three and two thousand twenty five and two thousand nineteen, two and a half the year before that. You look at Shack Lawson, he's younger than Vinny Curry.

He's still got years left on his contract because he was traded from the Dolphins to the Texans in the off season after signing with the Dolphins in two thousand twenty and he had four sacks last year and six and a half the year before that, and four before that. So when you look at I'm just using Vinny Curry as an example their sack production in a vacuum. The last three years, Shack Lawson has been a more productive player in that sense. I'm not saying he's a better player.

I'm just saying I think the swap there was. People I think are saying, Shack Lawson and Carl Lawson. You know it's never gonna be one, You're right, But I think the one for one is more along the lines of Lawson and Curry. John Franklin Myers is really gonna be in the spotlight this year where you thought that he could really benefit from Carl Lawson because Loss is gonna be pushing that one edge and then you have those big guys in the middle and uh JF I'm

is gonna get those opportunities. Well jfm um, he's gonna be the guy counted on big time this year. And then let's not forget about Bryce Hoff. Bryce Huff had a very good summer last year. He had a couple of sacks, a couple of sacks again in the preseason. He was buzzing the tower here throughout training camp. He brings an element to explosion, so he'll be part of your sub packages. As well. But I'll tell you what. The guy that I'm really excited about on that defensive line,

who I don't think we talked about enough. I think I know where you're gonna go with this. Yeah, selling Rankins, Man selling Rankins next to Quinnin Williams, watch Out, Watch Out. I think Rankins is ready to do some damage. His body type is very interesting, you know, I don't the Jets have the old school, very large run stuffer defensive tackle full Aronzo Vardakasi, but then you look at Quinnin. You know, it is one of my favorite quotes. I

know it's probably outdated at this point. Jonah Williams, the Alabama tackle, described Quentin Williams as a three hundred pound bar of soap because he's so slippery as a defensive tackle. And you know it's true because you think of Quinn and he's not a towering presence, but he is, well, how did Robert Salad describe him? All mass? Not all gas? All mass? And you look at Sheldon Ranking and he's not. Again, you're prototypical defensive tackle in the sense of like old school,

but he really seems like he packs a punch too. Yeah, And I think He's got a wide arsenal as far as his moves and the way he can use his hands. You know, I didn't play the game at the defensive tackle position in the National Football League, but Les Douzable did, and I love getting his thoughts on what he sees from the defensivelignement going in the trenches and the way they apply techniques and Rankin's goot, he's got a lot of clubs in the back. You know what I find

very impressive in terms of leg during the game. In real time, I'm on Twitter and I'm seeing, you know, people tweet about the Jets the things that he catches as a former player, like it's outstanding to me, and and what he catches is usually very vital to the result of the play, where you know, somebody might say, oh, that's bad coverage and that guy was open, like how do he get so open? And Leger in real time will be like, no, you know that guy got picked

and you know he should have done this. Whatever it's I find it very interesting by the way making his return to one jet strive or you know, I don't want to say one to drive and get it confused with the show not talking about the show. I'm talking about the building. We can't even say the address. We can't, but you know, I just wanted to make sure that there was no confusion here to go a glimpse of

wat's to come. Lejay Douzable making his return here to the Jets three six while he's gonna help us out on the official Deaths podcast. Do you have a great podcast coming up? A game preview podcast that people are gonna be able to tune into and listen to weekly and or listen to weekly. But Douzable also is going to be making an appearance on our Sunday morning show on CBS, which I don't know if we've released the name publicly, so I don't know if I can do

it here just yet. All right, that's fair. Just just just keep gonna be part of our content. So that's definitely a big ad. Because we already got the mad backers, so we got we got all levels of defense. Because you start with dudes and then you go back, you need a linebacker. You got Bart Scott, and then you needed a safety. We got Eric Coleman. We were covered defensively offense. I don't know if we have the same,

the same levels that the defense has defense and championships. Well, we got nick man Goold and there might be another former Jets quarterback coming to Jets programming in two tho one. But I don't know if we don't have we don't have a tailback, right, No, I don't think so. We do have Lee on Washington. He's just all he's just a coach. Yeah, we could bring him upstairs, no doubt. Getting back to what you said about dudes and what he watches and things like that, is that the cornerback position.

We started the show talking about the cornerback position. I think what Salo wants to see is can you win on third down? And the anticipation from everybody is a lot of cover too. We cover three back there and who is going to be the guy? Ethan in Caroline think if we predict right now that Bryce Hall is starting outside, who will be lining up across the way outside the numbers and who's the first nickel up? Because you know that was a great competition throughout the summer.

But Gidri, I guess he's got a chance at the outside and inside, I would say, assuming the roster stays put as it is, and there's no addition. My guess is that Brandon eccles is opposite Bryce Hall and Javelin Gidreys in the middle, unless or unless Gidri wins that job. On the outside that I think Michael Carter is in the nickel live speed at the cornerback position. All those guys you just mentioned could fly. You agree with me? Though?

I asked Solo about Michael Carter's the other day I think it was Sunday, and I loved his answer because I'm a big fan of you have on Giddre. He said, we have two starting Nickels on this team, and we have to find a way to get both of these guys on the field. So you're thinking Giddy on the outside, Oh,

I don't, I don't know. You know that that could mean some dime action with both Carter and get out there, of course, but the Jets won't be lacking for speed on the outside if you have an Equals out there, if you have a Carter out there, if you have a kid Dree. You know those guys, You know those guys can burn. Those are all sub four four guys. Yeah, the Jets much faster in the secondary, for sure. You know what it's um before we wrap up here is

areny you're wrapping up already. We're not talking in any offense. We can how many minutes in are we were not talking about Zack Wilson at all? We're almost dirty. Were you surprised he made the team? No? I thought he

had a good chance of making the team. I loved what Joe Douglas said about another day because we've heard solo all along saying that we love this kid's process right now, that he never makes the same mistake twice, that he can't get enough, that he's going across the room and talking to the defensive staff in terms of

what are they looking at? Um? So you know, he's one of those kids who, uh, Wilson, There's gonna be moments where he's still in the one on one class, but he's certainly trended into three oh one, five oh one, and that's what you want from the quarterback. But Joe Douglas said it the other day, and he didn't have to say this. He's that everything we'd hoped he would be. You know, I've really that's a hell of a compliment.

It is. I actually thought another big time compliment came from Greg Van Rote and when he said Zack Wilson is only a rookie by name, meaning like it's just his first year in the NFL. The rest of what Zack Wilson is on the field in the meeting rooms rookie, not one on one, seems like he's definitely advanced for where a typical rookie would be. Connor McGovern also said he's a gamer, like not taking shots as far as this practice habits, but he kind of turns it off.

But notch. That's what you want from a guy slinging, you definitely do. And we Daniel Jeremiah and everybody says, you know, we got a glimpse of it in Green Bay. You can't do. You can't have a broken play turned explosive play in practice. That's just not how it works. It's scripted. But in a game, we kind of saw it with the Corey Davis twenty seven yard reception. There's a little bit there, and we'll see what happens when the lights really turned on in the regular season. But um,

you know, the Jets aren't done with their roster. That was the point that I wanted to bring this full circle. They're really not done with the roster. We just saw a report today Jets are working out Ruben Foster at linebacker. So this is a continuous effort to improve your raw or whether it's September two like it is today, whether it's April, or whether it's July, it's sixty five days of the year. What are your thoughts as far as

the running back and or wide receiver position is. I think a lot of people were talking about how many UH numbers are you gonna keep at the wide receiver spot and what about the dynamic dynamic they're at running back now with Michael p Ryan a little bit banged up, you got Josh Adams on the practice squb. I'm gonna start with the receivers. I think most people thought the Jets were gonna carry six receivers. I was definitely in that camp. Adding Jeff Smith as the seventh I think

was the surprise. But Jeff Smith really, I thought, played well down the stretch for the Jets as well. And you think about what he did in practice the last week of training camp, and you know throughout he flashed at times, but really I think you saw what Jeff Smith brings in terms of speed and explosiveness. When in the final preseason game, the Jets handed the ball off to him on three end a rounds and he had positive plays and chunk games on each of those plays,

he said he has speed to burn. In terms of the running backs, I'm not surprised by the way it shook out. My question is, are you on game day do you have all four active? Do you have three active? Because if you have all four active, you're really gonna put all four in the game at one point or another. Or is it gonna be one of those things where it depends on matchups and it depends on running how hot that player is heading into the game. I think

that's the thing that fans should keep an eye. Let's just give a shout out to Josh Adams five point four yards to carry last year or five point yards to carry in the preseason. He's a guy who just constantly flies on his radar. I know he's on the practice squad, but the Jets really liked their backs. Final thought here for me would be speed. The need for speed that that's if constantly addressed that throughout the offseason.

Now you see it with the roster. Let's go over all the positions we mentioned equals, We talked about kids. We we talked about um, who else on the outside that why is the name of Michael Carter playing in the nickel position. We talked about the transitions those guys are making down at the rookie linebacker position, from Jamie Sherwood and Homson Nosrel Dene. We go to the offensive side of the ball. You mentioned Jeff Smith, a sub four four guy who's been running a lot with the

ones at the running back position. Ty Johnson a sub four four guy you drafted, Elijah Moore, a sub four four guy. What you're seeing here is the emphasis and not just Solacene play speed, but the combination of him and Joe Douglas coming together and saying there are certain attributes that we have to address here. The Jets are going to be noticeably a lot faster club this year. You know who else is a sub four or four

player who we often don't think. Mims for three eight at the combine and he I feel bad for Denzel because he really, I think was starting to turn a corner, especially in the first preseason game. And Joe Douglas referenced that, I mean the effort he gave on that play where he showed a little strength, toughness, agility, and speed. It's very impressive. He's a long strider too, So Tavin Coleman is another guy who you know ranked last year. Yeah, but he still can get out there in the open field.

So I just think the Jets clearly went into the off season saying we have to be faster on both sides of the ball, and Solom wants these guys to play fast. Um, you're gonna see that out there, and sometimes there's gonna be mistakes because it's such a young roster. And Joe Douglas said he's expecting ups and downs, but I think this team is going to be entertaining to

watch throughout the season. I definitely agree, And we'll see what happens in a couple you know, it's it's really almost right around the corner, but you have this little you know, this nice little weekend, Labor Day weekend, and then we're really ramping up another notch, kind of like Zack Wilson what Connor McGovern said, it's game time. We ramp it up a notch. Next week. In terms of content, we're back with the podcast we got to coming down the pike next week at least, and I think that's

that's pretty much it. And you got any Labor Day plans. I would imagine we'll be here Labor Day, but I met during the weekend college football got a wedding Saturday, and I'm hoping we can sneak out of there at a decent time because, like you mentioned, there's a lot of good college footballs up. I mean. But for us, when we get back here Monday, we're in the regular season. The regular season begins. Remember Pregame Central, we'll bring live uh next Sunday, somebody will be here inside the bet

MGM stood, he'll probably both on us. And then we have Jets over Time. Our first place today praxt Today moves to a new time this year, Thursdays, so check that. Check that out a lot. We got a lot coming down the pike. But that's all we have on this episode of the Official Jets Podcast. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and we'll see you next week.