() FA Rank 

QB Jim Sorgi

RB Ahmad Bradshaw (#27)

Bradshaw had 1549 total yards and 8 total touchdowns this year, but there are major concerns about his ability to hold onto the football (7 fumbles this year) and about his ability to carry the load and stay healthy.

RB DJ Ware- resigned  

WR Steve Smith (#38) 

He’s got injury problems, but he caught 100 passes in 2009 and he’s only 26 this offseason so he’s worth a good amount of money.

WR Domenik Hixon- resigned

WR Darius Reynaud- resigned

WR Derek Hagan 

TE Kevin Boss

G Kevin Boothe

DT Barry Cofield (#26)

A dominating run stuffer, Cofield had a career sack 4 sacks this year as well. He’s only 27 this offseason and has a fine future ahead of him.

DE Mathias Kiwanuka (#39)

Injury prone, but extremely athletic. I think his potential would be best maximized in a 3-4, but he has 23.5 sacks in 5 years with the Giants, as a former first round pick.

DE Dave Tollefson 

OLB Keith Bulluck

MLB Chase Blackburn

MLB Gerris Wilkinson

S Deon Grant

S Michael Johnson

Offseason moves:

Resigned Domenik Hixon

Resigned DJ Ware

Resigned Darius Reynaud

Draft

Wide Receiver

Clemson

5-9 186

40 time: 4.28

Draft board overall prospect rank: #119

Draft board wide receiver rank: #14

Overall rating: 65*

            3/23/10: When Jacoby Ford ran the fastest 40 time at the Combine this year, 4.28, naturally, everyone took notice. Possibly what’s more impressive is his amazing 10 yard split time, showing how quickly he can get off the line and into his route. However, aside from speed, he doesn’t bring a ton to the table. However, there are players in the NFL right now that don’t bring a ton to the table except speed and still have a role. Ford is not an overly dominant wide receiver. Back to back 50+ catches seasons is decent, but nothing amazing. If he gets drafted in the first 3 rounds, very likely, it will be for what he can do with the ball in his hands, rather than his elite hands or route running. He is an explosive kick returner, as would be expected with his speed, and he has had some success running the football on end arounds. He has amazing agility and quickness for a receiver and can break a play in the open field and gets a lot of YAC. He really lacks size and almost every cornerback in the NFL is going to be able to muscle him around and get above him for the football and when you combine that with his average hands, he is not going to be the most reliable target to throw to when tightly covered. He may struggle with getting out of the jam at the line of scrimmage in the NFL. In the end, Ford should get drafted in the late 3^rd or early 4^th round range, which is very reasonable for him. He’s not going to be an amazing elite receiver, but I could definitely see him as a versatile slot guy who can help in special teams.

NFL Comparison: Deon Butler

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here

I don’t quite know where the Seahawks are going to play Jones. They have two starting caliber defensive tackles and while Jones can be a good nickel rusher inside, 4.5 million (up to 5 million in incentives) over a year seems a little rich for that type of player, especially one coming off a down year playing out of position (61^st ranked defensive end out of 67 on ProFootballFocus). Jones has also never had success outside of the wide nine scheme.

In 2010, Jones had 4 sacks and 34 pressures as a part time defensive tackle, ranking 6^th on ProFootballFocus so that’s his upside, but he probably won’t see the 678 snaps he saw in 2010 in 2012 and he won’t be in a wide nine scheme. For a team like St. Louis, who needed a starting defensive tackle and had a wide nine scheme, he was worth up to 5 million. I don’t think he was for Seattle.

Grade: B

By Kevin Harrison

We all wondered what would happen and how the Jets would respond after getting mauled this past Monday night by the Patriots.  We all hoped the Jets would squish the fish.  The only thing that was squished is the hope of wining the division after losing to the Dolphins at home by a score of 10-6. 

The first loss of the year we had 3 field goals.  The second loss of the year we didn’t score.  The third loss of the year we had 1 field goal.  This fourth loss of the year we had 2 field goals.  That’s not a good pattern and now we will have to figure out how to beat Pittsburgh and the Bears on the road if this team wants to make the Wild Card.  I don’t want to say it but this is eerily starting too look like the collapse of 1986 all over again. That year we started out 10-1 and lost the last 5 games of the season starting with a Monday Night Mauling.  This year we started out 9-2 and were mauled this past Monday 45-3 which is the same score of the mauling 24 years prior.  We are now on a two game losing streak.  Are you all getting as nauseous as I am?  I’m ready to puke as this once promising season where it was looking like we could host two playoff games has now turned into a three game season to try and make it in as the Wild Card.

This was ugly again.  For the first time in 40 years, I was now sitting in the rain as I was spoiled the past 39 years with covered seats.  So, this was a change for me but players play in the rain all of the time and it look as if this was the first time these Jets played in the rain from the sloppiness I was witnessing. 

First of all, we were killed by the Miami Dolphins punter.  Every time this guy punted the ball, it looked like it sailed 60+ yards.  Reading after the game, their punter had the highest punting average in a single game since 1970 with an average punt of 56.4 yards.  So, every time I thought we’d have decent field position, we were backed up much more than I expected.  This guy killed us.

The Dolphins lone touchdown was a gift as the Jets only had nine guys on the field.  Chad Henne threw for just 55 yards with the entire team gaining only 132 yards and we still lost.  So, even though the team had a brain fart on the touchdown, the defense played pretty well all day with Sione Pouha standing out with his best game as a pro.  Ever time there was a tackle, it seemed that it was Pouha. 

With the poor weather conditions, the Jets offense had some better yardage, a total of 286, but a lot of that was because they were playing from behind and had no choice but to throw the ball in this weather.  So, I’m not going to blame weather but the Jets did drop a bunch of balls including a heartbreaking Santonio Holmes drop in the endzone. 

The Jets had two turnovers (one fumble, one interception) but Sanchez was not accurate and probably could have thrown 5 picks if the Dolphins could catch.  It seemed as if a lot of the game that Sanchez and his receivers weren’t on the same page?  What happened to this offense?  We have so many weapons and we just don’t use them.  We run into piles when we need short yardage.  When we need 8 yards, we throw the ball for 5 yards.  To me, that’s coaching and it falls on our offensive coordinator, Brian Schottnheimer, who’s needs to open it up.  I’d love this to be a change for the future.  We also keep on telling teams we are a ground and pound team.  Why tell teams anything?  If they known we are going to run, we need to them mix it up better.  It just seems so predictable this offense and it’s not executed well as we are always playing from behind.  Can we ever have a lead?

Our defense played well forcing three turnovers and couldn’t capitalize on good field position.  I’m just at a loss for words with this team. Something needs to change and I believe it’s the offense.  When this team has moved the ball this season, they are doing it with a more vertical offense.  This offense moves more horizontal to the sides.  To get to the first down marker, you need to move forward and I’m not seeing this happen as we’ve gone now 8 quarters with out a touchdown.  That’s pathetic.

So, we move on to Pittsburgh where the Jets barely win.  And now this becomes a must win game as this bleeding has got to stop.

http://khbirdmantalkingjets.blogspot.com/

Go back to Jets Fan Spot 

Wide Receiver

Pittsburgh

6-4 228

Draft Board Overall Prospect Rank: #18

Draft Board Overall Wide Receiver Rank: #3

Rating: 86 (mid 1^st)

40 time: 4.45

2/28/11: I think he’s shed his “possession receiver only tag.” Baldwin looked like an athletic deep threat today with a 4.45 40 at 6-4 228 and a 42 inch vertical.

2/19/11: Jonathan Baldwin was a heavily ranked prospect by ESPN, coming out of high school as an athletic 6-5/6-6 receiver. I think he lived up to that in his 3 years at Pittsburgh. He struggled statistically as a junior, but you can really blame a lot of that on the quarterback. Pittsburgh receiver only caught 230 passes for 2616 yards and 16 touchdowns on the year. Baldwin had 53 catches for 822 yards and 5 touchdowns. So yes, it was a down year from 2009, when, with a legitimate quarterback in Bill Stull, he caught 57 passes for 1111 yards and 8 touchdowns, despite having Dorin Dickerson, the tight end competing with him for catches.

He’s a physically imposing receiver and his kind of soft hands and agility at his height combine to make him the type of player who doesn’t come around very often. He can be a legitimate #1 receiver in the NFL, and I think worst case scenario he ends up as a nice #2 possession receiver and end zone threat. I have him as my 3^rd rated wide receiver, after Green and Jones. Some people obviously disagree with me, rating Torrey Smith, Titus Young, and even Leonard Hankerson higher. I’ve seen Baldwin drop into the 2^nd round, which could happen, but he’s worth a first round pick.

NFL Comparison: Plaxico Burress

Langford has been a solid starting caliber player at 3-4 defensive end over the past few years for Miami. St. Louis runs a 4-3, which is a change, but Langford projects as a good fit for a wide 9 scheme. Langford didn’t manage a sack last season, but with 25 quarterback pressures, he graded out as the 9^th best pass rusher among 3-4 defensive ends on ProFootballFocus, though he was below average as a run stopper. 4 years, 24 million with 12 million guaranteed seems like a bit of an overpay, especially the guaranteed money, but the Rams really needed help at the position.

Grade: B

Well, that Kevin Kolb deal looks a lot smarter now. They didn’t have a chance to resign Fitz without Kolb, but now they have Fitzgerald under contract for 8 years after giving him an 8 year 120 million dollar extension with 50 million in guarantees. That’s an absolutely huge deal. Given Andre Johnson got 7 years 63 million last offseason, I was expecting max 6 years 78 million for Fitz. The 50 million in guarantees is tied for 2^nd with Sam Bradford’s rookie contract in terms of most guaranteed money ever in a single contract. Peyton Manning’s fully guaranteed 5 year 90 million dollar deal is 1^st in that category.

The total amount, 120 million, is 2^nd behind Michael Vick’s 2005 extension (10 years 130 million) in terms of richest contracts. 15 million per year makes him the 4^th highest paid player in the league behind Brady, Manning (both at 18 million per year) and Michael Vick (16 million dollar franchise tag) and tied with Richard Seymour (15 million). Add in the fact that in order to get Fitz to reign, they had to give 63 million (21 million guaranteed) over 5 years to a largely unknown commodity in Kevin Kolb, as well as give up a 2^nd rounder and a 25-year-old starting cornerback to get Kolb from Philadelphia. Basically, Fitz was expensive. However, is he worth it?

I want to say no. I like to look at comparable players and what they are making. There really is no comparison among wide receivers. Andre Johnson got 7 years 63 million with 48 million guaranteed last offseason. Fitz got almost double that over just 1 more season. DeSean Jackson and Vincent Jackson, the next 2 receivers likely to get long term deals, must be thrilled, as should be Chris Johnson who suddenly has more leverage as he seeks a deal worth 39 million over the first 3 years. Calvin Johnson got 6 years 55.5 million with 27 million guaranteed as the 2^nd overall pick in 2007. Vincent Jackson is actually the highest paid receiver in the league at 11.4 million, but that’s because he’s the only receiver in the league who has been franchise tagged.

To get some perspective on Fitzgerald’s deal, we have to look at the deals of franchise quarterback type players. Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, and Philip Rivers all came out in 2004 with Fitz and all 4 have gotten deals similar to what Fitz got. Ben Roethlisberger got 8 years 102 million with 33.2 million guaranteed. Philip Rivers got 7 years 98 million with 38.2 million guaranteed. Eli Manning got 7 years 107.9 million with 35 million guaranteed. So the question becomes, is Fitz worth as much to his team as those 3 are too their teams? I have to say no. The Cardinals won 5 games last year. I know Fitz had no help, but I couldn’t see the Giants, Steelers or Chargers ever going 5-11 or worse as long their starting quarterback was healthy, no matter how bad their supporting cast was. Given that, the Cardinals overpaid.

However, the Cardinals almost had to do this. Fitzgerald is the team. He might not be a quarterback, but no receiver is worth more to a team than Fitzgerald. He wants to be there. He’s a class act. He’s been underpaid for the past 3 years and even offered to take a pay cut if it meant the Cardinals could keep Anquan Boldin. He caught 90 passes for 1137 yards and 6 touchdowns last season with a steaming pile of crap at quarterback. They did give out a lot of money to Kolb and Fitzgerald, but did they have another choice? Trade for Orton, let Fitz walk, and go 4-12 forever? That was their other option. They overpaid, but it’s worth it.

Grade: B

Spotlight #1: Mississippi State RB Vick Ballard

Spotlight #2: LSU G T-Bob Hebert 

1^st quarter

14:53: First play of the game, Vick Ballard gets stuff in the backfield. Nowhere to go for him because LSU’s defensive line just overpowered Mississippi State’s.

13:58: Hebert gets good push on his first snap. He’s at left guard by the way.

12:41: Hebert gets beaten pretty badly. It would be have a tackle for a loss had the running back not broken the tackle.

11:50: Hebert with a nice cut block in the 2^nd level.

7:17: Hebert beaten early, but able to use his agility to recover. This is a concern however. He’s getting beaten off the snap frequently and not using his hands well immediately.

6:51: Hebert with the pancake block on a short running play.

5:26: Ballard with the powerful 6 yard first down run.

4:07: Ballard solid on a pass block.

2^nd quarter

10:22: Ballard with a big run on a counter against a cornerback blitz. He ran well, but he had a huge hole.

9:03: Ballard gets open and catches a pass on 3^rd and 8 for a 13 yard catch and a first down.

8:45: Ballard almost breaks one, but tripped up at the last second.

8:14: Ballard runs an excellent route out of the backfield and catches it on the run for a first down. Ballard only caught 10 passes last year, but already has 7 in 2 plus games this year. If he keeps this up, he could be a 3 down back at the next level.

6:31: Anthony Johnson, LSU’s freakishly athletic freshman defensive tackle, with an excellent tackle for loss. He’s 315 pounds and runs in the 4.8 He may be only a freshman, but you can be assured he’ll make Al Davis shit his pants at The Combine in a few years. He is someone to watch into the future, but he’s not eligible until 2014.

5:54: Ballard was taken out for a few snaps late on that last drive before the punt so I focused more on Chris Relf. I was originally going to spotlight Relf tonight before Ballard’s strong night last week. He ended last season hot and I pegged him as a potential Cam Newton, someone who comes out of nowhere to win a Heisman. He didn’t prove himself to be that in his first few games and he’s had a shaky night tonight. He’s an excellent athlete (6-4, 245, 4.6), but he’ll probably have to play another position at the next level. He’s had some moments, but he doesn’t look like much of a quarterback tonight. He has poor pocket presence. He’s a run first quarterback. He hasn’t thrown far down field either. He’s a late round project and nothing more.

5:21: Hebert slips on a 2^nd level block and allows his man to get to the ball carrier.

0:42: Ballard dances around in the backfield, finds a hole in the defense and explodes forward for 10 yards on first down. Nice patience and vision.

0:00: Cameron Lawrence, outside linebacker for Misssissippi State, is continuing a strong season. He had a strong first half. He had 14 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, and a sack against Auburn last week after missing the opener against Memphis. He’s just a junior and probably won’t come out this year and he’s undersized at 6-2 230, but he’s someone to keep your eye on in the future.

3^rd quarter

11:31: Morris Claiborne with a phenomenal play for an interception. He looked like a wide receiver there. I’m not spotlight him, but he’s a consensus first round pick.

10:59: Pancake block by Hebert.

7:05: Ballard with an excellent blitz pickup. He’s shown great hands as a blocker and a receiver tonight, keys for a young running back.

4:34: Hebert whiffs on a cut block.

3:28: Hebert gets knocked over.

2:36: Hebert allows a tackle for a loss. He gets completely blown past by a pass rush, barely even able to get a hand on him and he does it way too late.

1:32: Relf only has 4 yards on 14 rushes. I don’t know why they keep running draw plays for him. Ballard is the much better runner and this isn’t allowing him to get into a rhythm. He only has 31 yards on 8 carries as a result, but he’s ran better than that, he just can’t get into a rhythm. He’s also facing a tough LSU run defense.

4^th quarter

12:30: Hebert on a nice 2^nd level block. If there’s one thing he does better than average, it’s blocking on the 2^nd level. He’s also got solid agility.

10:00: Chris Relf appears to have been benched. Maybe Mississippi State realized that their “QB draw, QB draw, incomplete pass” offense doesn’t work against LSU. Relf sucks. Let’s see if Ballard gets any more action now. Relf’s final line (presumably) 11 for 17 for 96 yards, a pick, and 10 rushing yards on 14 carries. He showed poor pocket presence and poor passing ability all night. He’s not a quarterback.

5:04: Morris Claiborne with his 2^nd pick of the night. Maybe Tyler Russell is worse than Chris Relf. Relf would just get stuffed for a loss over and over. Russell actually throws picks. He’s 0-3 with a pick.

0:00: Ballard rushed for 968 yards and 19 touchdowns on 186 carries in 2010 and 301 yards and 4 touchdowns on 31 carries in the first 2 games of 2011, but tonight his line wasn’t as impressive. He rushed for just 38 yards on 10 carries tonight.

However, he was better than that would suggest. Mississippi State’s offense was terrible tonight because of poor play by quarterback Chris Relf and a very confused gameplan that failed to adjust when it wasn’t working. Also, LSU’s defensive line completely dominated Mississippi State’s offensive line. Couple those two things together and Ballard didn’t get a lot of carries, couldn’t get into a rhythm, was running against 8 man fronts, and running against a front 7 that was dominating his offensive line.

Ballard showed himself to be a good blocker and also caught a team leading 3 passes (not kidding) for 32 yards. He now has 8 catches in 3 games this season after just 10 catches last year. He’s a good blocker and an improving pass catcher, two very good things. He’s not the fastest runner, but at 220 pounds, he’s a physical runner and he shows nice explosion. Provided he bounces back in his next game and has a strong rest of the season, he looks like be a solid mid round pick. Running back committees are getting more and more popular in the NFL every year. Ballard looks like he could be a productive part of a committee in the NFL.

As for Hebert, he proved himself to be a good 2^nd level blocker and an agile player at 304 pounds. However, he was extremely inconsistent, failed to get a consistent push, and he made several mistakes. He only allowed one tackle for a loss and no sacks, but it could have been a lot worse. Whiffs on blocks were way too common. Also was too common was Hebert falling down. He’s got off the field issues as well. I don’t think this borderline prospect is draftable.

This is a 3 year, 21 million dollar deal. I think 7 million per year is a little rich for Matt Hasselbeck, considering he’s so injury prone, and I don’t like that this is a three year deal. Hasselbeck is 36 in September and he’s had so many injury problems, not to mention that he was never an elite quarterback, so I don’t think he can do the Brett Favre thing and play well late into his 30s. Plus, they have Jake Locker. They just spent the 8^th overall pick on him. How much development does he need? However, they needed to sign a veteran quarterback. Locker will benefit from some time on the bench as most quarterbacks normally do. They overpaid, but they might not have had a choice.

Grade: C

Offensive Guard/Offensive Tackle 

Alabama

6-6 312

40 time: 5.37

Draft board overall prospect rank: #51

Draft board overall offensive guard rank: #2

Overall rating: 78*

1/19/10: He probably wouldn’t be a top 10 tackle without his ability to play guard, but he’s an amazing run blocker. He blocked for Glen Coffee in 2008 and Mark Ingram in 2009. He’s not a big mauling run blocker, but his technique is amazing and he should be drafted in the 2^nd or maybe 3^rd round as a right tackle or right guard.

            10/2/09: Mike Johnson is a mauling offensive lineman who has experience playing guard and both tackle positions for Alabama’s strong offensive front. He projects best as a guard in the NFL, which limits his stock some, but I wouldn’t count out Johnson as a future right tackle in the NFL. Even as a guard, he’s the best pure guard in the draft class and that could get him drafted in the 2^nd round. He was a huge part of the reason why Alabama ran so well last year in 2008, the other part being Andre Smith, who was drafted 6^th overall by the Bengals. Even this year, without top running back Glen Coffee and top offensive lineman Andre Smith, Alabama runs extremely well against tough SEC opponents and Johnson is a huge part of that. He is the leader of the offensive line and plays very smart, reacting well to blitzes. He has the size to handle some of the big defensive tackles in the NFL. He plays a lot bigger than the 310 pounds he’s listed at and is in great shape. His hand placement and his footwork are both excellent and he’s extremely explosive in his initial push. He’s an excellent run blocker, but his pass protection needs some work. His doesn’t move his feet well to pick rushers coming from the outside and can get blown past by speed rushers. He’s not athletic and quick enough to play in a zone blocking scheme that requires a lot of moving around, even by guards. He certainly can’t play tackle in a zone blocking scheme and would not be best utilized as a guard in a zone blocking scheme because he doesn’t move well, though he could play guard in a zone scheme if he had it. He’s best fit in a man blocking scheme where he can use his amazing upper body strength and giant hands to push back defensive linemen. He’s very smart and takes good angles on secondary blocks down field. He’ll probably be the first guard taken in the 2010 NFL draft, both because he’s the best guard and also because he can play some tackle and that puts him somewhere around the 2^nd or 3^rd round based on history.

NFL Comparison: Justin Smiley 

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here