With the Jets being incredibly thin at not only tight end, but also at receiver the team was desperate to add a play-maker to help the quarterbacks and if Winslow can stay healthy this offense just improved as Winslow would be the odds on favorite to win the starting tight end job.

“I see exactly what you see.” Rex Ryan said before Wednesday’s practice. “I see that athleticism and his ability to catch the football jumps out.”

Winslow will enter training camp as the heavy favorite to win the starting role, with Jeff Cumberland, Konrad Reuland and Hayden Smith competiting to make the roster and be the next man up should Winslow’s body let him down.

Winslow shut himself down last season, saying he knew he couldn’t contribute at the level he has been accustomed to. So, he decided to sit out the year and hope for another chance this year, turns out it was a smart decision because he’s found that chance here with the Jets.

Winslow told reporters he still has, “years left,” in him and still expects to be a, “dynamic play-maker,” that’s what he’s been his entire career so he doesn’t expect that to change.

Winslow might not be able to dominate physically as often as he once did, but he gives the Jets a potential offensive weapon the team lacked before bringing him in. If he can stay healthy he could certainly be a huge help to whoever is quarterbacking this team during the season.

“What wasn’t outstanding was I think the way we caught the football yesterday (Tuesday) and it’s always funny because you have these press conferences after the fact, a day late, you guys saw what I saw. We dropped a ton of balls. It wasn’t just one player, it was several.” Ryan said before yesterday’s practice, “Obviously we will be looking for improvement in that area today.”

Surely Ryan’s frustration level continued to grow yesterday as the drops became even more commonplace, on Tuesday it seemed like everyone had at least a drop, but yesterday it was Stephen Hill and Jeremy Kerley leading the way with one drop after another. Kerley had a bad day, but it’s easy to dismiss considering he doesn’t usually have issues catching the ball. Hill, still recovering from some minor swelling in his knee, has definitely improved his route running, as he is running much crisper routes, but he’s still struggling with the basics of being a wide receiver like catching the ball.

“I think the biggest thing if you are a receiver, the number one thing you do is catch the football. So, I think we better learn. We got to get that figured out. You catch the football. Whether it’s focus, whether it’s just having your hands in the right spot. The old thing we used to learn around the clock and all that stuff.” Ryan said, “Catch the football, you’re paid to catch the football. We expect it caught. When the ball is there, catch the ball. You know for us, you should be surprised if anybody ever drops a ball, yesterday (Tuesday) I was surprised when we caught it. It was like, ‘Wow, how many of those things are we going to drop today?’”

Drops continue to plague the Jets receiving core, with Stephen Hill being one of the biggest offenders and Rex Ryan is none to happy about it. (JetsInsider.com Photo)

The drops shouldn’t be all that surprising considering this young ragtag receiving group and the fact that they are installing a new offense, but that’s no excuse for not doing something as simple as catching the ball and Ryan simply won’t allow for such excuses.

“I think you’re dead on but we don’t want to give them the excuse. Ok, I want to say absolutely, I think that’s part of it.” Ryan said, “We have a lot of different routes that we’re running running right now. I can see, if you put that little number 10 (Eagles WR DeSean Jackson) in there, I can see him running that route for Philadelphia. Now it’s like we have our guys doing it, some different combinations and things. But again, the number one thing, (when) you get there, now catch the ball.”

Part of the problem is that the Jets are still without their best receiver, their own little number 10 Santonio Holmes. Holmes is still recovering from the Lisfranc injury that ended his season last year and refused to put a timetable on his return. Holmes said the injury was so severe he had to learn to walk all over again and while the team has been hoping he could return for the start of training camp that seems unlikely after Holmes told reporters yesterday he hasn’t even started running at full speed yet.

“Learned how to walk again. It’s been that hard to just get the feeling of your body to move in any everyday motion that you’ve been accustomed to for so many years.” Holmes said. “And to have something like this happen, it kind of puts a damper on your whole physical ability to do anything. So just learning how to walk again has been the biggest issue with me.”

Holmes said he’s, “taking it day by day,” and has been spending, ” a lot of time in my hyperbaric chamber at home,” but he’s still not sure when he’ll be able to fully participate in practice, but with the underwhelming performance of the receivers so far this offseason Ryan is certainly hoping it’ll be sooner than later.

“We need Santonio Holmes.” Ryan said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

With Santonio Holmes likely out until some point during training camp, Stephen Hill still working through some minor knee complications, as he tries to make a full recovery on his surgically repaired knee, and Jeremy Kerley as the biggest household name of the remaining receivers the Jets very much needed to upgrade their receiving core. On this team Sims-Walker gives the Jets a veteran presence (only four years, but that’s something on this team) and a solid receiver to add to the mix to give them some depth and flexibility. Rookies Zach Rogers and Joseph Collins have had solid camps, but Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith could certainly use a veteran receiver like Sims-Walker since Kerley has been the only receiver with experience to fully participate during these OTAs.

There’s been a ton of focus on the quarterback battle, obviously, but it’s not easy to judge quarterbacks when they’re working with an entire core of unknown receivers. The Jets hope Sims-Walker can change that, at least a little bit, and finds a way to stick with the team and become a solid target for whichever quarterback wins the starting gig. The receiving unit looks bad right now, but two of the top receivers haven’t been able to fully participate in team drills and while the Jets need a veteran receiver like Sims-Walker for depth purposes and as injury insurance it’s an entirely different situation with the Winslow signing and tight end group.

If there was a game tomorrow Rex Ryan said Jeff Cumberland would be the starting tight end, but the Jets are hoping Kellen Winslow can change that and provide the play-making ability this tight end unit lacks. (JetsInsider.com Photo)

“With Jeff Cumberland, obviously he’s the starter right now. If we were going to have a game tomorrow, he would be our starter. Then you have Konrad (Reuland) and Hayden (Smith), guys with experience.” Rex Ryan said, “Then you have the (Boston College) kid (Chris Pantale) and the coach (Mike) Shanahan, (who) are working their way out there. And we’ll see about Winslow. I’m excited about seeing Kellen.”

Cumberland is a converted wide receiver who has shown gradual improvement during his time here, but if Winslow can stay healthy he offers play-making ability that the other tight ends on the roster simply don’t have.

“Yeah, my job is just to make plays and however it works out, that’s how it works out.” Winslow said, “I’m a playmaker and my job is just to make plays. I’m just trying to make the team.”

Winslow said he’s completely healthy and is happy to be back playing football since being out of football was extremely hard on him. “It was hard, very hard. It’s a situation I’ve never gone through and very hard, probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through.” Winslow said, “You don’t know what your future holds, you know this was my dream and when it’s taken away like that, it’s hard.”

Winslow was out with his family on Saturday and after he returned home he got the call offering him a tryout here and, “boom, I hopped on a plane on Monday and now I’m here.” Winslow said his focus right now is on learning the playbook and trying to make the team, but with his familiarity of the west coast offense he doesn’t expect it to take him too long to get comfortable and while he still has a lot of the offense to learn he certainly looked comfortable in practice today. Winslow made a number of catches, a few impressive eye-popping snags and certainly looked to be healthy and have plenty of speed and play-making ability left in the tank.

The Australian rugby convert, Hayden Smith, has made huge strides in his development from last year but considering just how far away he was last year the Jets were obviously looking for a more reliable tight end option to add to this unit. Reuland, Pantale and Shanahan are all more blocking tight ends than receivers and combine this unit with the underwhelming receiving unit and it’s no wonder they went out and took a shot on Winslow. If Winslow can build off of today’s performance and stay healthy he will almost certainly be the starting tight end once the season begins.

Sims-Walker didn’t have nearly as impressive of a day, but he also didn’t get nearly as much burn as Winslow did which should be expected since there’s a lot more for Sims-Walker to learn as an outside receiver. Sims-Walker said he knows he has a lot of catching up to do, but he feels good about what he’s seen so far and likes the amount and type of downfield throws he has seen Marty Mornhinweg call so far.

“I’m not new to this, you know it’s a different environment but football is football so I’m not going to make it harder than it is.” Sims-Walker said. “They’re just telling me to be myself, don’t try to do nothing outside of what I’ve been doing.”

“I hope both of them are like they used to be, because that’d be good. They’ll be trying out for a few days and signing here. But we’ll see.” Ryan said, “It’s a good opportunity to evaluate some guys. Obviously Kellen Winslow was a tremendous player in this league for a long time. One of the premier receiving tight ends in the game. So we’ll see how he responds. Obviously it’s going to be recovery more than anything else, how healthy is he. Because clearly the skill set that he has, the young man was a tremendous player.”

Winslow seems to have the right perspective and mind frame about the state of his career and the business side of the NFL, but he stressed he has plenty left in the tank and isn’t looking for this to be his last season in the league.

“Well I have years left. My last year was 2011, I caught 75 balls.” Winslow said, “I’ve been productive. It’s just the NFL – that’s how it goes sometimes. You know you get cut, you get traded and you can’t do anything about it. It’s out of my control, you know.”

Winslow also talked about his familiarity and appreciation of his new head coach, “Yeah Rex and I used to go at it when he was with the Ravens. He’s an awesome coach, man. One of the best defensive coaches in the league. He’s awesome. He’s a good guy.”

Idzik hasn’t been shy about dipping into the bargain bin and hoping to strike gold on a few low-risk signings and obviously isn’t going to let David Garrard’s knee injury or Mike Goodson’s arrest stop him from continuing this trend if they identify someone who they think could be a potential help. The needs are glaring at receiver and tight end, but those aren’t the only positions that could still see reinforcements called in.

“I think with any position, we’ll see. I know we work extremely hard up top in the pro personnel department trying to (see) if there’s somebody out there who can potentially help our football team.” Ryan said, “We’re open for anything, whether it be a tight end, a receiver, a tackle (or) a whoever, a defensive tackle, we’ll certainly look at all possibilities.”

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The receiving core continues to be ravaged by injuries as the top three receivers, Santonio Holmes, Stephen Hill and Jeremy Kerley all had to sit out of team drills. Kerley and Hill both participated in position drills, but were both held out of team drills with minor injuries as a precaution. Both quarterbacks competing for the starting role continued to show their teammates and coaching staff signs of improvements and third-year cornerback Darrin Walls emerged from today’s practice as the standout player of the day.

“Stephen (Hill) should be back, him and (Clyde) Gates will probably be back next week. Stephen actually had some swelling in his knee so it’s kind of a precaution that we (held him out). You know he dove for a ball, sometimes we talk about taking care of each other, you got to take care of yourself too, no sense doing that.” Rex Ryan said, “So he had some swelling in the knee, we’ll bring him back, and then Clyde Gates had a little hamstring (and) tried to come back, but we’ll bring him along and hopefully get him out there next week and as far as Jeremy (Kerley), Jeremy hasn’t missed anything (but) today he had a little bit of a heel issues so we ended up backing him down. Of course Santonio (Holmes), he’s doing a decent job, but we’ll see how he’s doing for training camp, there’s a possibility maybe he starts out on PUP, I’m not sure but he seems to be doing well here.”

Stephen Hill re-injured his knee diving to make a catch forcing him to sit out of team drills with minor swelling in his knee. Hill would be able to play if there was a game this week, but the current state of the receiving core is far from ideal. (JetsInsider.com Photo)

For the receivers who were able to fully participate in practice, it was a long day filled with lots of screaming from their wide-receiver coach, Sanjay Lal. Thomas Mayo and Vidal Hazelton were the two receivers who heard the brunt of Lal’s barking, Mayo had a few footwork issues in drills, but it was Hazelton who really drew the ire of his coach both in positional drills and during seven-on-seven drills, including allowing Geno Smith to throw an interception when Walls was able to easily jump his route and make a play on the ball.

At the running back position health isn’t an issue, right now anyway, but Mike Goodson missed practice with an excused absence. Ryan said he fully expects him to be able to take part in next week’s mini-camp and he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from Goodson so far and is looking forward to seeing more.

“Well he’s actually done a good job, mentally with some things and we’ve seen when he’s out here the explosiveness that he has, which everybody knows about it’s no surprise he averaged over six yards a carry, so I think we anticipate that, we see the great speed and all that.” Ryan said, “Obviously today he had something that I was aware of, so he wasn’t out there today, but again we’ll see how it is, but the guy does have the physical talent that really impresses you.”

As for the quarterback competition those of you who are looking for a quick decision, as well as those who just want Sanchez gone, are going to have to develop some patience because if Ryan is leaning toward one guy or the other he certainly did a great job of hiding it today. When asked about a report from a few weeks ago that the team was hoping to come to a decision sooner rather than later on the starter, Ryan strongly debunked the notion that they’re close to making a decision.

“I don’t believe that’s the case, I don’t think we’re close to that right now and obviously the process is you don’t have to make that move, but until we feel 100 percent comfortable with that decision then we’ll just leave it to competition.” Ryan said, “It’s way too early to say. Some days this guy looks good, some days this guy looks good.

“For me to make the decision to say that the competition is over, it’s going to have to be 100 percent clear to me and if it’s not we’re going to keep competing all the way until whenever.”

Ultimately it will be Ryan’s call on who will be named the starter and when they’ll name him, but he said he’ll certainly lean on his offensive coaches and hopes the decision will be fairly unanimous, but if there’s a split he will be the tie-breaker.

“Yeah that’ll be my call.” Ryan said, “I’m sure it won’t be just me saying, ‘no it’s this,’ and that’s it. It won’t just be my evaluation but at the end of the day I guess it will be if there’s a split camp or whatever then I will make that decision.”

Neither quarterback looked as good as they did last week, but they definitely both looked much better than two weeks ago and Ryan said he’s been pleased with the progress of both quarterbacks and has been encouraged by what he has seen from them both lately.

With Sanchez Ryan pointed out the strides he has made in protecting the ball and throwing it away instead of trying to force things and with Smith Ryan has been incredibly impressed just by the way the rookie has carried himself and everything he has been able to absorb in such a short amount of time, and oh yeah he also clearly enjoys watching Smith spin it and really it’s hard to imagine that anyone wouldn’t.

“I saw it even today in the red zone and that’s why I said, ‘hey look it’s not there (and) you made a good move by not trying to force the issue,’ and I think he did that a few times. So that is encouraging to me, an incompletion is not the worst thing that can happen to you, as we know, we have to eliminate those mistakes down there in the red zone, those turnovers and that’s clear, to not just me, but to everybody.” Ryan said of Sanchez limiting his turnovers, “So I was encouraged by some of those things, the defense did a great job on some coverages that they did so get rid of it, don’t make it a horrendous down.

“Geno I think, first off, sometimes you want to see when a young quarterback comes in, is it too big for him? I don’t think it’s too big for him, because there’s a lot on your plate. You come in, you learn 50 plays, or something like that, almost immediately, you learn different protections and I think he’s doing a great job, he’s on top of that. And I think the way he throws the ball, obviously you notice his physical skills, I mean he can throw it with anybody, so that’s been impressive as well.”

For all three OTA practices the media was allowed to watch Matt Simms has been the third string quarterback and Greg McElroy has been the fourth, but Ryan said that McElroy and Simms have been rotating as the third and fourth string quarterbacks just as Sanchez and Smith have been rotating days as the first and second string quarterbacks.

As is normally the case this time of year the defense continues to stand out above the offense, but Ryan said it hasn’t been total domination throughout these past three weeks. Ryan said there’s been some ups-and-downs and times when the offense has gotten the best of the defense, but he admits the defense has been winning most of the battles and that’s okay by him because he seems to be falling in love with this defense.

“The defense, I think, you can see the speed of the defense, I think it’s pretty obvious. The talent, the improvement, some of the young guys have really made some strides. I know the busts, the draft busts, I read all those things about Demario Davis, we’ll see if he’s a bust. We’ll see if Coples is too, because I have a funny feeling they’re not. I have a funny feeling they’re exactly what I said they were and I think we’re starting to see it.” Ryan said, “I think we’re seeing double A, Antonio Allen, come around, so a lot of these young guys are stepping up a little bit. (Darrin) Walls, was eighth on the depth chart, now he’s running with the first group of the sub team. So I think there are some guys who are really making some strides, obviously you’re going to know a lot more about your team when the pads come on, but to this day there are some guys who have really done some nice things out there for us.”

After last year’s brutal season members of the media thought Ryan looked like a beaten down man at times and had a look and sound of defeat about him during the unraveling of the season and even during the offseason, but all that appears to have flown out the window as Ryan is back to his old boisterous self.

“I just feel great.” Ryan said, “I do feel great about this team, I feel great about getting back and doing what I know to do and obviously it’s not just (that) I have a lot of faith in the coaches, I always have, but for me I think it’s better that I do what I do and that’s coach and teach everyday, same thing in the meetings and I think I feel good about, maybe the guys aren’t learning as much (joking), but I feel good about it.”

Ryan attributes the change to his optimism for this year’s team and for his decision to be more hands on in directly coaching the defensive players and this change isn’t lost on the players as they are gaining a new and improved appreciation of their head coach.

A reporter hit Ryan with a follow up question about the change in his demeanor, saying that a defensive player said that since Ryan has been so involved with the defense that he now sees what he called Ryan’s genius.

“That dude is starting.” Ryan joked. “I don’t care who it is, he’s starting.”

When told the player was Aaron Berry Ryan said, “There it is, Aaron Berry, so Aaron’s starting (joking, sort of).”

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ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini reported that Mike Goodson re-joined the team in practice today, this doesn’t necessarily mean Goodson is completely safe from being released, the final outcome of his charges will eventually determine that, but it does appear the Jets think/hope the charges will be minor and plan to try and keep him. Either that or they’re just keeping him around until they can find a way to void his contract, but for the basis of this article we’ll take a leap and assume Goodson stays.

If Goodson stays the running back group going into training camp will consist of Goodson, Chris Ivory, Joe McKnight, Bilal Powell and John Griffin. The four favorites Goodson, Ivory, McKnight and Powell all bring different skill sets that could be maximized by playing to their specific skills in certain situations. Powell and Ivory share some similar traits as does Goodson and McKnight, but they all possess a unique (in this group) skill that is required for this team.

Four running backs on the active roster may sound like one too many, but if you scratch the surface a strong argument could be made that three isn't enough (JetsInsider.com photo)

Being a bit presumptuous and projecting the most logical rotation here, but play along.

Ivory would serve as the lead back, a strong, physical and violent runner who is also remarkably quick and agile. There are three knocks of Ivory’s game though (four if you count some worry about him running without the threat of Drew Brees passing behind him), injuries, pass protection and receiving. Ivory has stressed to New York reporters that he’ll prove to everyone he can catch, he just never got enough chances to prove he could with the Saints. Maybe he can, but for now the Jets can’t count on an unknown and neither should we.

Goodson lacks the power/strength and inside running ability of Ivory, but has the speed and agility to beat defenses on the outside and is an excellent receiving option out of the backfield, he can also handle kick return duties. However he’s also not a strong pass protecter and has had his share of injury history as well (and of course the legal issues, even if they keep him he could face a suspension).

You may be thinking that brief description of Goodson (legal issue aside) sounds an awful lot like McKnight and you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that, but there’s two distinctions to be made between the backs. While Goodson is solid as a kick returner, McKnight has been much more successful in that role (fumbles have been a problem for both), however you could certainly argue McKnight had a better special team system around him. But the best argument for keeping McKnight on the roster is his versatility and the fact that the Jets are rather thin at wide receiver. This isn’t to suggest they’ll line McKnight up on the outside, but they can certainly make use of him as a receiver out of the backfield or in the slot.

If everyone’s healthy they can line up with Hill and Holmes on the outside, Kerley in the slot then motion McKnight out to the other slot or just line him up there from the start with Ivory/Goodson/Powell in the backfield. McKnight has said new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg has specific packages for all four of the backs and McKnight’s package includes him motioning out of the backfield and lining up in the slot.

McKnight has electric play-making ability, he just needs space to work with and he could serve as a change of pace back and a slot receiver to help shore up the depth issues at receiver as well as share the kick returning duties. As with the others McKnight isn’t the sturdiest of backs, he hasn’t missed a lot of games but he derailed some positive momentum when he hurt his ankle last season, and he holds no value as a pass protector.

There are two trends that you should see developing here, three running backs with semi-concerning injury histories (well, now make that four with Powell though most of his injuries were in college) and three backs who can’t pass protect and just like last year that’s what gives Powell the edge for the third-down role.

Powell is more similar to Ivory than he is Goodson and McKnight, but Ivory does everything Powell does better with the exception of pass blocking. If one of the other three backs step up their game in this area Powell suddenly becomes expendable and the only reason to keep four backs is for depth purposes to protect against injuries, but unless one of them does Powell has to make the roster because in today’s NFL it’s pretty important to have a running back who can pass block.

There is the outside chance that Griffin can find a way to crack the roster (or at least maybe if they decided to only keep three for the active roster they can stash Griffin on the practice squad), Griffin showed flashes in mini-camp last year before suffering an unfortunately timed injury in training camp, but his best shot at making the active roster would be to show he can handle the pass protecting duties as well as fill in when needed carrying the ball.

All of this will sort itself out in camp and preseason and it’s certainly possible that the Jets only keep three backs, but when watching the running back competition unfold it’s worth keeping all these differences and injury concerns in mind when trying to assess the best possible 53-man roster. Four running backs may sound excessive, but with the way this offense is currently constructed and the injury concerns it makes perfect sense.

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.

Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions in today's OTAs, but he still appeared to have a better grasp of the offense than Geno Smith. (JetsInsider.com Photo)

If you just look at the fact that Mark Sanchez threw three picks today you’re probably thinking he looked terrible all day and Geno Smith will certainly beat him out for the starting gig, but again it’s not that simple. Sanchez actually looked really sharp for most of the day, but he did go full Sanchez on us and had three inexplicable mistakes that simply can’t be tolerated. Problem is even with those three picks Sanchez still seemed to have a much better feel for the offense than Smith does right now.

There’s absolutely no question Smith throws a better pass and has more physical talent, but Sanchez seems to have a better grasp on the offense right now. If Smith can learn the playbook inside and out and execute the plays on the field he should win the job, but right now he has a ways to go to catch up to Sanchez. Of course if Sanchez continues the brain farts Smith could get the job by default because there’s no way Rex Ryan is going to put up with multiple turnovers a game this season. It’s important to remember today was just the third day of full roster practices, and they are implementing a new offense, so mistakes are to be expected at this juncture (especially for Smith who made his share of mistakes as well), but obviously it feels different with Sanchez.

The issues with Sanchez isn’t with how he practices, he tends to look good in practices, it’s with the self-destructive play during games. It’d be easy to write off today’s three picks as simple mistakes adjusting to a new offense if only we hadn’t watched Sanchez his entire career. The Jets would like to name a stater sooner than later (they’d prefer to give the starter most of the training camp reps) and it certainly feels like Sanchez is in the lead right now, but if he continues to have multiple turnovers per day he may just lose the job more than Smith would win it. It’s easy to say the Jets should start Smith because we have seen enough of Sanchez but this battle can only be won in practice and Sanchez has the advantage there, but once the games start Sanchez could throw that advantage away with a handful of turnovers.

“Yes, it is, absolutely (disappointing). It’s a good thing the defense made some plays, but no I’d rather (have) him not turn the ball over once, obviously.” Rex Ryan said, “It’s funny because you can look at the practice, and you guys were out there and you saw it, he did a lot of great things, and then those negatives things, but at the end of the day, that’s what gets you beat. We have to do a better job of eliminating those turnovers. The quarterbacks, as I’ve said before, whether it be a running back, whoever, we have to protect the football.”

There’s no tackling allowed in OTAs and no real contact for most of the players but there are two position groups on each side of the ball to which these rules do not apply, the offensive line and receivers on offense and defensive line and corners on defense. The lines physically battle it out during positional drills and 7-on-7’s and if a defender is disruptive or an offensive lineman looks particularly unmovable it tends to get noticed by everyone.

On the outside, receivers and corners get extremely competitive and even when the drill is supposed to be run only around half-speed it usually escalates quickly, so when a corner constantly shuts down receivers or a receiver consistently beats a corner it tends to receive quite a bit of attention. The corners won’t tackle the receivers if the pass is completed, but they’ll definitely compete full steam to stop the pass from being complete in the first place and the receiver wants to win just as bad. It’s a one-on-one battle on the outside and the coaches can tell them to let up all they like, it’s not happening because neither one wants to lose.

These positions are easy for reporters to judge by observing from the sidelines, but judging linebackers who aren’t allowed to tackle is much trickier. It’s tough to tell how a linebacker or safety looked, especially since we have no clue what their called coverage is and if they’re actually in the right spot or not, a safety could make what looks like an excellent pick but for all we know he was out of position and the quarterback or receiver made a mistake and true, that’s always the case but it’s easier to judge in games when you can see the whole play develop from above and you can use deductive reasoning to figure out who made the mistake.

Tight ends and slot receivers don’t get jammed at the line and the coverage over the middle isn’t nearly as fierce competitively as on the outside since there’s not as much of a one-on-one battle type feel to it. In OTAs slot receivers and tight ends often get free releases and don’t face the threat of getting crushed by a defender as they try to make the catch so it’s hard to say Jeremy Kerley looked great for catching a few five-to-seven yard slants and running past defenders playing two-hand touch (because it doesn’t matter if they get two hands on him or not, either way he’s running into the end zone).

Last year Stephen Hill and Quinton Coples stood out almost every day in practice. Hill would line up on the outside against either Cromartie or Revis and he would find ways to beat the All-Pro corners and make a bunch of outstanding catches. Coples made his impression from the inside, every time he lined up inside or made a move inside he would use his powerful frame to create leverage and explode into the backfield. This all happened at full speed and with players physically battling each other, the contact makes the results more transferable to game day than the positions avoiding contact.

So when you hear about Sheldon Richardson looking insanely quick and agile as he beats the offensive line into the backfield it should mean more than when you hear about how good running back John Griffin has looked during mini-camps (Griffin impressed me last year and even some this year, I just don’t know if it means anything because there’s no tackling).

Richardson was extremely disruptive in rookie camp, but today he flashed his disruptive quickness against the first team offense. The Richardson pick was questioned by most at first, but it seems people are beginning to understand the logic behind it. With the power of Coples (who spent most of his day lined up on the line with his hand in the dirt despite the reports of him moving to 3-4 OLB) and Wilkerson, Richardson is a perfect compliment. On a few different occasions Richardson made one quick twitch move and found himself in the  quarterbacks face within a split-second of the ball being snapped and he was doing this against Nick Mangold and company.

Occasionally you’ll hear about a safety or a linebacker looking good in OTAs, but that’s usually more of a right place at the right time thing, basically it’s a mirage. Players at these positions can only look so good, the can however look really bad as is the case with David Harris. It’s no secret Harris’ production has slipped the past couple of years and today he looked like he picked up right where he left off last year, a step slow and out of position.

On one play running back Chris Ivory caught a pass from Smith in the flat and hit Harris with a hard cut-back that just about broke the linebacker in half as he feel to the ground and Ivory scooted past him. It was an excellent move by Ivory and it was good to see him catch the ball, but the story of that play was about Harris looking bad not Ivory looking great.

For many of the positions that’s the best the players can do, look good up to a point but mainly avoid looking bad, for other positions it’s much easier for us to judge, even if we aren’t judging correctly. Once the practices pick up to full-speed all-around and tackling is allowed you can start to accurately evaluate the safeties, linebackers, running backs, etc., but in OTAs it’s all about the lines, corners, receivers and quarterbacks.

Other News and Updates:

Rex Ryan offered no further comment on Mike Goodson’s status with the courts or the team saying he’s going to let the statement the team already released stand as his comment for now. However Goodson did appear in a Morris County courtroom today and entered a not-guilty plea.

Ryan also declined to comment on David Garrard’s situation saying he wants to wait until all the paperwork has been officially filed for his retirement before commenting. Garrard has said the Jets offered him a coaching job with the team with the hopes of him sticking around as a coach/mentor for Smith. Garrard wasn’t sure if he would accept the job, but today Smith told reporters Garrard gave him his phone number before leaving and told him to call him anytime he needs anything.

Stephen Hill had some swelling in his knee and was held out of practice. Santonio Holmes was in attendance but was also held out of practice as he is still recovering from the Lisfranc injury he suffered last year. Ryan said he doesn’t expect Holmes to be ready to practice until sometime during training camp. Holmes didn’t talk today, but he did look noticeably bigger. His arms, chest and shoulders looked like he bulked up, we’ll see if it impacts his speed/quickness but it’s not like he pulled a David Boston on us, he should be fine.

Jordan White and Clyde Gates also missed practice with minor injuries.

Sanchez and Smith certainly got the lion’s share of reps at quarterback today but in a bit of a surprise Matt Simms definitely got more reps than Greg McElroy, for whatever that’s worth.

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.

“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.”

Joe McKnight takes offense to questions about his spot on the roster, says, "They're going to have to kill me to take my spot." (JetsInsider.com Photo)

If McKnight does indeed stay with the Jets it’s likely he’ll be one of four backs along with Goodson, Ivory and Bilal Powell. Four running backs might seem to be one too many, but all four backs have had injury issues in the past so it might make sense to keep them all. If they do keep all four, McKnight said new offensive coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg, has different packages drawn up for all four backs.

“I mean, all four (of us) is going to have their own package, so whatever package we’re going to be in, sometimes we might be on the field together, so you just never know. But we know we’re going to have our own packages.”

Last year many people expected to see McKnight used in an expanded role, maybe line him up in the slot or as a receiver out of the backfield, anything to get him in space, but for whatever reason Tony Sparano never tried anything of the sort. This year it appears Mornhinweg is building player specific packages to take advantage of each player’s strengths and McKnight couldn’t be happier about it.

“Yeah (I like it) a lot, he’s (Mornhinweg) got me motioning out to the slot and motioning me out to wide receiver. We got a lot of mismatches and misdirection runs.”

McKnight has proven to be an electric play-maker in the return game (with the exception of a few fumbles), but this year he plans to prove, not just that he’ll still be on the team, that he can be a game-changer as a part of the offense as well.

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.

Muhammad Wilkers, Quinton Coples and Demario Davis were all in attendance for uSTADIUM's NFL Draft Party (sponsored by Samuel Adams). The uSTADIUM app is designed to revolutionize the social sports media world.

From the uSTADIUM’s website, “uSTADIUM is the next generation of mobile/social sports interaction. uSTADIUM turns any fan’s mobile device into sports broadcasting equipment and his living room, car, or sidewalk into his studio.”

The app allows you to record and share video of your thoughts with thousands of other fans as well as watch videos shared by others, but unlike the limitations of Twitter (140 characters) and Vine (six second videos) it’s up to you how long you want to make your recording to then send off for the world to see. As fans you’ve most assuredly gotten annoyed by a specific announcer or two, or think you know more than the talking heads who regurgitate the same narrative over and over again (and in many cases you probably do), well now is your chance to prove it.

Now you get to share your views/opinions and forward thinking plans with the world and find out if others recognize your genius.

uSTADIUM is not only about the new form of social interactions where everything happens over the Internet, they also reach out to connect fans in the more traditional sense of people meeting up in person. The uSTADIUM team hosted a NFL Draft party in Manhattan (sponsored by Samuel Adams) for the first-round of the draft and invited hundreds of fans to come out for drinks, food, watch the draft, check out the app and meet members of the New York Jets.

Muhammad Wilkerson, Quinton Coples, Demario Davis were all in attendance as was ex-Jet Damien Woody and the Giants Prince Amukamara. As the draft was taking place the players mingled with the fans, answering questions and posing for pictures (Davis and Coples told one fan to remove his Buccaneers jersey in order to get a picture) giving fans a chance to interact with players they normally would never get.

USTADIUM’s next event, a Flag Football Event with Santonio Holmes’ ‘III & Long Foundation,’ will be in late June/early July. Anyone who is interested can sign up for a team, go to the website or follow on Twitter for more information.

uSTADIUM is expected to have it’s Beta launch in late spring and set to release in early-July for download in the app store (just for iPhone users at first) go to their website uSTADIUM.com or follow them on Twitter @uSTADIUM for updates.

Frank Vittorini, CEO of uSTADIUM, said, “uSTADIUM is the next generation of fan interaction that gets YOU into the game.”

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.”

Under Mike Tannenbaum the Jets offensive line went from the strength of the team to the biggest weakness, new GM John Idzik has decided to make correcting this error the first step to rebuilding the offense. (JetsInsider.com Photo)

While it may be too late to save Sanchez, with Tannenbaum gone the new GM, John Idzik, is looking to correct Tannebaum’s mistake of ignoring the offensive line deficiencies. Whether it’s Sanchez, David Garrard or Geno Smith taking the snaps, Idzik clearly realized they needed to shore up the talent and depth along the offensive line if any of them are going to have a chance to succeed.

So far Idzik has signed guards Willie Colon and Stephen Peterman as free-agents and drafted a guard described as, “possibly the nastiest player in the draft,” (Brian Winters), a swing tackle (Oday Aboushi) and a defensive tackle transitioning to guard in William Campbell as well as signing an undrafted rookie center from Clemson, Dalton Freeman.

If Freeman can make the team they’ll have their first true center as an available option if Mangold were get hurt and Winters, Colon, Peterman and even Campbell will all battle it out for the two available starting guard spots, may the best two players win and the others serve as competent backups.

Aboushi could also eventually make the transition to guard but it sounds like the plan is to hopefully use him as a backup right and left tackle and possibly as the sixth offensive lineman in jumbo sets.

“The Campbell kid is the one (who) really intrigues me when you look at him because you know what you’re going to get with the big Kent State kid (Winters), you know what you’re getting there.” Ryan said, “This is going to be a solid guy that’s going to look a lot better when we put the pads on and he’s able to throw people down than right now. But he’s an impressive guy.

“I think Oday looks pretty good. He’s going to be a swing tackle, left tackle (and) right tackle. We’re working with him on the left side in this camp, but with Campbell, here’s a guy with that defensive background and yet we’re moving him to offense, projecting him as a guard. Mike Devlin is an outstanding coach, but I’m surprised (Campbell) is not making mistakes. He seems like he’s been doing it his whole life, so I think that’s been impressive to me. I’ve been really impressed with him. I see that 65, hopefully he can have half the success that Brandon Moore had at that position. I think we’d all sign up for that.”

Since Idzik arrival he has continued to preach his desire to build through the draft and competition, maybe only a couple of these players work out, but the competition will decide who the best options are and while it’s Idzik’s job to try and find the right players to bring in, it’s Mornhinweg’s and offensive line coach Mike Devlin’s job to bring the best out of each of them and see who rises to the top.

“I liked the way the offensive line, with (Coach Mike) Devlin coaching that offensive line, he’s talking about finishing and things and I looked down and as the guy’s running down the field as guys will do, they keep running and they’ve been touched about 10 times and they keep running. He’s yelling, ‘Finish.’ And I look down and say, ‘My goodness,’ the offensive line’s about 50 yards downfield. I’m like, ‘I think they’re getting the point.’ So that was good and Dev (said), ‘Yeah, I’ll get them back.’”

Ryan obviously likes the potential he sees in this rookie camp offensive line group, but only one of them is likely to crack the starting lineup, that’d be Winters with Colon most likely earning the other guard spot and if those two can be equal to or better than Moore and Slauson (definitely an achievable goal) the Jets offensive line could once again become one of the better units in football.

Build from the inside out, use both the defensive and offensive lines as foundations and as you see the changes made to the offensive line imagine the same types of improvements eventually working it’s way through to the rest of the roster because this is only step one of Idzik’s game plan to overhaul the offense.

“I think as a football team, you want to get more athletic and obviously (want) more speed. We’re putting in some more perimeter runs, which has been Marty’s (Mornhinweg) thing, get some speed out there, and we have some backs, certainly, that can do that.” Ryan said, “But we were working a lot today, especially in the individual part, we’re pulling those guys and I think we are much more athletic, especially at that guard spot.”