Ryno the Jet Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Damien Woody: Hunter should be right tackle http://www.metro.us/newyork/sports/article/1150255--damien-woody-hunter-should-be-right-tackle KRISTIAN DYER 20 August 2012 01:44 CHRIS CHAMBERS/GETTY IMAGES Wayne Hunter. In Week 15 of the 2010 NFL season, Wayne Hunter stepped into the starting lineup for the Jets to replace injured right tackle Damien Woody. It was a seamless transition at the time for Hunter, who had only two other starts in his seven-year career. His performance to close out the season and in the playoffs earned him a long-term contract last summer. It has been all downhill since then. Hunter was the weakest link of the offensive line last year, getting constantly beaten and targeted by the opposing pass rush. For Woody, the man whom Hunter replaced, it is a confidence issue that translated to Hunter giving up three sacks in Saturday night’s preseason loss to the Giants. “A lot of times what happens -- you have a bad play and it’s a snowball effect. It’s like ‘Oh man.’ Offensive line is almost like a cornerback,” Woody told Metro. “When you have a bad play as a cornerback, you have to put it behind you. There’s nothing you can do about it, you have to move on. It’s something you definitely have to do.” Performances like the dud against the Giants in preseason game No. 2 aren’t supposed to happen anymore with Hunter. The Jets spoke all offseason about his improvement and how he would benefit from being involved in team activities unlike last year when the labor negotiations cut into time that would have been vital for Hunter to learn his role as a starter. Woody, now an analyst at ESPN, knows that the player who filled in so admirably for him in 2010 can emerge in 2012 as a consistent part of the unit. “He’s one of the most athletic guys I’ve ever been around. He’s one of the most athletic linemen in the league. I’ve seen it myself when I was playing with the Jets. The one thing I always told Wayne was to trust his athletic ability. He’s a big, tall, strong guy with great feet -- trust it. Sometimes he has a hard time trusting his athletic ability because he’s so athletic,” Woody said. “When I watch him sometimes it is as if he doesn’t want to make a mistake. You can’t play that way. You have to go out there and trust your athletic ability and that’s how you win your battles. That’s the bottom line. Are you going to get beat sometimes? Yeah. The best of the best get beat.” Having missed portions of training camp due to back stiffness, Hunter did not play against the Bengals in the first game of preseason and then was thrown into the fire against the likes of Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul, two of the best pass rushers in the league. A player struggling with confidence after becoming the target of Jets fans much of last season couldn’t have asked for a worse opponent to go up against for his first game action since last season. While Hunter said after the game that his back “was OK” he was still clearly rusty and the Giants exposed him. “Wayne wishes he could have done better; there’s no question about it. I tend to hold back because it’s still preseason and guys are working out the kinks. A lot of this comes from last year and Wayne was a big figure as far as -- well, fans are still angry about his performance from last year,” Woody said. “His performance last night, people see the same old stuff happening right now. It’s still the preseason and I’m not going too caught up in it and other people shouldn’t.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Wow. Thats a pretty nice endorsement and Woody has been critical of the Jets before so its not like he's protecting the team. If Hunter could just find the player he was in 2010 when he was a back up filling in for Woody, we'd only have to worry about the QB position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaJetsFan Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Wow. Thats a pretty nice endorsement and Woody has been critical of the Jets before so its not like he's protecting the team. If Hunter could just find the player he was in 2010 when he was a back up filling in for Woody, we'd only have to worry about the QB position. Agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryno the Jet Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Wow. Thats a pretty nice endorsement and Woody has been critical of the Jets before so its not like he's protecting the team. If Hunter could just find the player he was in 2010 when he was a back up filling in for Woody, we'd only have to worry about the QB position. I too was intrigued by this. He didn't have to say anything really, but it is nice to know that Woody feels this way. Doesn't mean he's correct, but he should know as well as anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE ILK Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 He's doing the reverse Tikki/Toomer, it's a TRAP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 wut ? are they golfing buddies or something ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrellegivesmeaboner#24 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 The two of them are likely close from their time practicing together. There is little the Jets can do at RT at the moment, and Woody realizes this. His allegiance still lies with us. I will go by what I have personally seen the past two years over this statement in my evaluation of Wayne Hunter as a football player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 The two of them are likely close from their time practicing together. There is little the Jets can do at RT at the moment, and Woody realizes this. His allegiance still lies with us. I will go by what I have personally seen the past two years over this statement in my evaluation of Wayne Hunter as a football player Either that or he figures the longer Hunter is out there the longer people will still talk about Damien Woody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knix Tix Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Damien Woody: Hunter should be right tackle? More like Hunter should tackle right! I'm not buying any of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDKostempski Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 If the Jets had a blocking TE (or maybe a just a TE who could block occasionally), he would be playing just outside of Hunter and would be a big help on the right side of the line. Part of Hunter's problem may very well be that the guard next to him (Moore) isn't playing as well as he needs to be, which impacts how much success the tackle appears to have (or NOT have). Some of those apparent "whiffs" by Hunter may really be on Moore. The offensive blocking scheme may NOT be suitable for the talent the Jets have. Hunter simply isn't good enough to be left "out on an island" at RT. He really does need help from the RG as well as from the TE and RBs, especially when facing premier DEs like JPP or Mario Williams. An alternative is to create an offensive game plan that's friendlier to the beleaguered OL. Chan Gailey used three step drops, quick developing routes, and getting the ball out of the QB's hands quickly to compensate for the Bills' weak OT play. The Jets probably couldn't use that kind of offense because Sanchez can't make pre-snap reads or quick decisions, but there are other things OCs can do to make it easier for the OL. Seriously, converting a OT to a blocking TE might at least help the run game. Somehow getting Sanchez to get the ball out faster would help immensely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knix Tix Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 According to T&Rex, Hunter's problems are fundamentals of all things??? He had all of last season to work on fundamentals. The guy is just not any good. The Giants front aren't the only ones that took this big jerk to school...everybody does it, week in and week out. He reminds me of Baby Huey, the gigantic naive duckling! Sad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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