Florham Park, NJ- Every year I get asked the same questions once OTAs begin, how did so and so look? How about this other guy? Did anyone standout at this position or that position?

I’m not complaining, I fully understand why these questions are asked the problem is most of the time there’s no answer for me to give. Since these same questions are raised every year I figured I’d write a detailed explanation about OTAs and why you hear so much about the quarterbacks, cornerbacks, wide receivers, offensive and defensive lines and so little about the other positions.

Obviously the quarterbacks are always going to be among the most discussed groups, especially considering the Jets quarterback situation these past two years, but it’s not just because they’re quarterbacks and the position is so important, it’s also because it’s the easiest position to judge in OTAs. How did the throw look? Was it complete, incomplete or picked off? Of course it’s never actually that simple, but it’s usually reported as if it was.

Charting passes in camp is a fundamentally flawed practice, drops or mistakes from receivers aren’t put in the equation neither is the situation (second and seven or third and 15 makes a big difference), yet people obsess over numbers with little context. Making matters worse is, since there’s no tackling, plays continue even after there would’ve been a sack, how does that fit into the charting process? Still while charting passes in camp doesn’t tell the whole story it’s easier to see judge how a quarterback threw the ball than it is to breakdown how a safety handled his coverage on a specific play or how a running back looked when no real contact is allowed. (more…)

Mike Goodson was signed to a free agent contract earlier this offseason, but after being arrested early this morning Goodson may never get a chance to play a snap for the Jets.

New Jets RB Mike Goodson's tenure with the Jets may be very short after being arrested this morning for drug and weapons possession.

According to News 12 New Jersey, Goodson was in a car with his friend who had stopped his vehicle on route 80 in Denville. Goodson’s friend, Garant Evans, was driving, but Goodson was apparently so intoxicated he was sent to the hospital for further evaluation and was found to be in possession of marijuana after being searched.

Upon searching the vehicle police found a, “45-caliber handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets.” According to a report on NFL.com neither Goodson or Evans admitted to owning the gun.

Goodson was expected to compete for a starting role as the Jets running back, or at least earn a healthy share of carries, but with a new GM in charge Goodson could very well be in his last days as a member of the Jets. It’s entirely possible Evans takes the wrap for the gun and hollow point bullets, leaving the courts to drop the weapons charges against Goodson but since the marijuana was found on his person Goodson is most likely going to have to eat that charge.

Would possession of under 50 grams of marijuana be enough to get him released from the team? Maybe, maybe not but having his name associated with weapons charges (whether the charges stick or not) surely isn’t going to help his case.

The Jets have said they are aware of the arrest and are in the process of gathering all the available information. We will provide further details as they come in.

Florham Park, NJ - With the recent additions of running backs Mike Goodson and Chris Ivory there has been a lot of speculation about Joe McKnight’s future with the team. If you’re of the opinion that McKnight will be the odd man out and lose his roster spot, McKnight has a message for you and any other doubters.

“Like I said, I don’t care who they bring in,” Said an adamant McKnight, “They’re going to have to kill me to take my spot. So, whoever they bring in, I don’t care.”According to McKnight a reporter had implied that he wouldn’t be with the team for long and that didn’t sit very well with the running back/kick returner.

“No, I’m not angry, I’m not angry at all. I’m just tired of people just running their mouth, just talking about I’m not going to be here.” Said McKnight. “So I’m just going to make a point to prove I’m going to be here.” (more…)

The Internet has completely revolutionized the way we enjoy sports and redefined the concept of social interactions. Through different Internet innovations people now have the ability to interact socially with people from their computers and cell phones, we’ve been blessed with the gift of Twitter and cursed by the fact that Facebook makes you question why you were ever “friends” with some of these people.

But as popular as Twitter and Facebook are the innovations haven’t stopped, whether it’s Instagram, Vine or any one of hundreds of different games, there are new and exciting changes developing in the social media world on a seemingly daily basis. One of these new apps, designed to give fans their own voice and allow them to connect with others in a different and unique way, is called uSTADIUM. (more…)

It’s been written about over and over, especially on this site, but it bears repeating again; the biggest difference between the first two years of the Rex Ryan era, that included two straight AFC Championship appearances, and the past two years of missing the playoffs was the quality and depth along the offensive line.

Mark Sanchez struggles are well documented, but it was the deterioration of the line that derailed Sanchez into constant train wreck performances.

Under Mike Tannenbaum’s watch the Jets went from having the best offensive line in football to relying on the likes of Wayne Hunter, Vladimir Ducasse and even had to resort to starting an undrafted rookie named Nick Baxter at center when Nick Mangold got injured. It was a minor miracle Sanchez was able to walk out of the stadium in Baltimore that Sunday night, but it’s clear he has never quite recovered as he’s played shellshocked ever since. Of course Sanchez had his issues even when the line was great, but once the line stopped being amazing Sanchez’s limitations became much more damning.

“I think certainly when you look at it out there as I’m sure all of us have seen, it looks way better than it has the last couple of years when like you said, you don’t want your kid playing quarterback the second half of a preseason game. With some of that group we had out there a lot of the times, there might (have been) one or two good ones, but as a unit, this clearly looks a lot different.” Ryan said, “Even from the center we have, Dalton (Freeman) from Clemson was a First-Team All-American. He looks good. Obviously the draft picks, all three of the draft picks (look good). It’s a good-looking group, there’s no doubt. And there are some players in that group, so when you line up there and that’s your second offensive line, that looks pretty impressive to me.” (more…)

Florham Park, NJ- Every year undrafted free-agents face an uphill battle. 32 teams passed on them through seven different rounds, they get only a few months, at most, to learn the play-book and make enough of an impression on the coaching staff to prove they are deserving of one of those last precious roster spots.

62 players participated in the Jets rookie camp and by the time training camp is over at least 50 of those players will either be on another team or out of the NFL completely. The Jets have already made in investment in seven of these players by drafting them and even if the undrafted rookie survives the first-round of final cuts they also have to prove to the coaching staff that they are a better option than all the players that’ll get cut from other teams.

It’s not an easy road and the odds are stacked against them, but every year more and more undrafted rookies are finding their ways onto rosters and safety Rontez Miles, California (PA), plans to be one of this year’s undrafted rookie success stories.

“I definitely feel like I have a good shot (at making the roster), the biggest thing is just getting the plays down and getting comfortable. It’s hard to just go out there and be yourself when you’re still learning so I feel like if I get comfortable and learn the plays and everything starts clicking my true talents will show. At this point I’m going to try my best to be a special teams player, learn the plays and do whatever I can to help the team win.” (more…)

When John Idzik took over the Jets everyone knew he had a lot of work to do to turn this team around. When free agency started Idzik made a few under the radar/affordable signings (Goodson, Barnes, Garay, Colon), but it was the amount of players he let walk (not even really attempting to re-sign) that grab the media’s attention. Then came the Revis trade and the draft and even though most people in the business were praising Idzik for his hefty draft haul (netting himself four likely week one starters Milliner, Richardson, Winters and trading for the Saints Chris Ivory as well as drafting a possible future starting quarterback tends to earn any GM good marks) there were still some gapping holes left on the roster.

Idzik addressed improving the offensive line in the draft and in free agency, added top-end talent and depth to the defensive line and cornerback positions, shored up the running back rotation and still managed to nab the quarterback most believe to be the best in the class. The offensive line, running backs and quarterback all desperately needed to be upgraded and Idzik deserves credit for doing just that, but with the amount of holes this roster had after Idzik purged the team of multiple overpriced players there was no way anyone could have expected him to fill all the holes on the team by now.

Fortunately for Idzik and the Jets, there’s still plenty of time before the season starts and there’s still some free agents available that could have a positive impact on the Jets 2013 season and of course there will be training camp cuts for Idzik to pounce on as well. (more…)

Florham Park, NJ-  Last night a Jets fan tweeted defensive line coach Karl Dunbar asking him if the Jets were switching to a 4-3 (base) defense, Dunbar (@Kcoach99) responded “Nah we are staying 3-4 just moved QC to Rush.”

Immediately afterwards the debate broke out on Twitter about whether this was a smart move or if this was being overblown because they will probably have him play all over. After all, this really shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, Rex Ryan talked about this in the press conference immediately after they drafted Coples.

Ryan worked him out and worked him hard at the outside linebacker position, he wanted to see if he could make the transition. Reading between the lines, Ryan wouldn’t have drafted him if he didn’t think he could make the switch and, oh yeah, he also played quite a bit of outside linebacker in the last few weeks of the season last year, they’ve been prepping him for this role since the pre-draft workouts.

Add in the selection of Sheldon Richardson and all of a sudden the Jets defensive line is stacked and there’s still a need for an outside edge rusher, which is obviously where Coples comes in. (more…)

The Tim Tebow-New York Jet, experiment is officially over.

Once the Jets selected Geno Smith with the 39th overall pick in the draft many had assumed it was the end for Mark Sanchez and his time with the Jets, but as it turns out it’s Tebow who is left without a job.

Now the question becomes, can he find another job in this league?

The Jets have been shopping Tebow around the league, hoping to get at least a seventh-round draft pick in return, but when the only teams that called asked if he’d be open to a position switch, Tebow and his agent said no.

Leaving the Jets to consider keeping him on the roster, then Smith fell further than the Jets ever expected and suddenly there were too many quarterbacks on the roster. Tebow had to go. (more…)

Jets fans may have thought they had stepped into an alternate universe when the Jets went all defense in round, but John Idzik made sure to bring it back around and go all offense to round out the draft.

Yesterday they drafted quarterback Geno Smith, guard Brian Winters and traded a fourth round pick to the Saints for running back Chris Ivory, today it was two offensive lineman and a fullback/H-back.

The Jets had to be patient today as they had to sit through the entire fourth round and into the fifth before they could select a player and when it was their turn in the fifth round they drafted Oday Aboushi (grew up in Brooklyn) from the University of Virginia.

“I don’t think I can put it into words, how excited I am to be a New York Jet, to be with my hometown team.” Aboushi said, “Just to have the opportunity to play with such a great team in New York and kind of just try to add what I can bring to the team.”

Aboushi played right tackle in college, but projects to be a better fit inside at guard where he will join Willie Colon, Winters and sixth round pick Will Campbell in competition for the two guard spots (yes technically Vlad Ducasse is still in the mix but he’s likely to lose such a competition).

“I really don’t know (what position he’ll play) yet. I’m going to play any position, wherever I’m needed to play, whatever is going to help the team be better and help the line come together as a group.” Aboushi said, “I know Coach (Mike) Devlin has some ideas for me and I’m willing to work with what he’s got.”

Campbell played defensive tackle at the University of Michigan but the Jets drafted him to convert to an offensive lineman. The Jets are obviously set at left tackle and center and they feel good about Austin Howard at right tackle, but clearly John Idzik is going to make sure whoever wins the guards spots earned it through competition.

On a conference call with reporters today Campbell said he hasn’t played guard since, “the second half of my sophomore season,” but believes he can make the switch to the other side of the line.

“I feel it is (a transition he can make).” Campbell said. “Defensive guys can come over and play guard because I played both ways in high school and the transition was from one series to the next, so I feel like it will be a good transition with help from coaches.”

With their seventh round, and final, pick the Jets drafted fullback/H-back Tommy Bohanon from Wake Forest. The most impressive stat on Bohanon has to be his 36 bench-reps at the NFL combine (that’s the best I can do for you right now, admittedly I didn’t do any scouting on fullbacks or Wake Forest for that matter).

While the Jets may have used their last pick in this year’s draft, their work today is far from done as they are expected to be active shoppers in the undrafted rookie free agent pool. Which is good news for fans that were hoping for every hole to be magically filled because there’s an awful lot of talent still out there just waiting to get scooped up.