Can Dee Milliner be an Island ? ? ?

[kelly]

Not long after the Jets selected cornerback Dee Milliner with the ninth overall pick in April's NFL draft, Antonio Cromartie decided he had to take a good, hard look at the rookie who was likely to line up across from him this season.

Jets first-round pick Dee Milliner

 

Cromartie had become the Jets' No. 1 cornerback last year after Darrelle Revis tore his left ACL and missed the season's final 13 games. On April 21, unwilling to meet Revis's demands for a new contract, the Jets traded him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Four days later, they drafted Milliner, making it inevitable that the rookie would be compared with the man he was replacing—to a cornerback so highly respected around the NFL that he had earned the audacious nickname Revis Island.Using software called Hudl, Cromartie downloaded video clips from Milliner's career at Alabama to his laptop. What he saw impressed him."He's pressed a lot, and that's what we like: press corners. He's good in the run game, and he's also a guy who can play the ball very well, too," Cromartie said. "We're not asking him to come in and be Darrelle Revis. We're asking him to come in and be Dee Milliner."

 

Now that Milliner has come to terms with the Jets on a four-year contract, ending his weeklong holdout by agreeing to the deal Sunday night, coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman can begin assimilating him into the lineup.The process will take time. Milliner didn't report in time for Monday's practice, and since the Jets are off Tuesday, the earliest he could work out with the team would be Wednesday.

 

"It's football," he said. "I know I'll be fine."

 

Because he has been recovering from right shoulder surgery in March, Milliner didn't take the field for the Jets in any of their off-season minicamps or organized team activities, though he showed an impressive understanding of the team's defensive scheme during meetings with his coaches and teammates."If he's done any studying at all" during his time away from the team, "he should come in and be fairly close to where he needs to be," Thurman said.Once he gets himself into the requisite physical shape to play regularly, Milliner should adapt quickly to the NFL and, more specifically, to the Jets' style of defense, said former Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage, who works as an analyst on Alabama radio broadcasts.

 

Under coach Nick Saban, Alabama has won three national titles in the last four years. It runs a system that is far more complex than that of an average college team, Savage said—a "pattern-reading defense" in which players' assignments change based on every shift or movement an offense makes.For example, Milliner might have lined up across from a wide receiver, on the outside of the formation, on a given play. But he'd keep his eyes inside on the tight end, and he'd react based on what the tight end—not the wide receiver he appeared to be covering—did."The eye control and the zone positioning, he's going to have a very strong handle on that," Savage said. "And the concepts that the Jets utilize will be very similar to what he's accustomed to at Alabama."At 6 feet and 201 pounds, Milliner is virtually the same size that Revis (6 feet, 204 pounds) was when the Jets drafted him in 2007. And Milliner's time of 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine showed that he possesses "big-time, straight-line speed," Savage said.That speed is important, given that Savage identified one potential weakness in Milliner's game. In Alabama's defense, it was rare for him to line up in single coverage and give an opposing receiver a seven- or eight-yard cushion off the line of scrimmage.

 

Usually, Milliner had "boundaries"—the sideline, perhaps, or a safety between the hash marks—that limited the area of the field for which he was responsible. He'll have to get used to covering a receiver in more open space."The one thing that he's got to prove," Savage said, "is that he can play out on an island."

 

> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578636490390875204.html?mod=rss_newyork_main

[Cmartin]

Time will tell with Milliner, but by the end of the season I have a feeling they will be calling that island Cro Island. After the way he performed last season when Revis was out, I think he will be even better this season. The guy finally has his head screwed on right.  

[flgreen]

The Revis Island thing is done. Doubt even Revis will have his own Island this year.

 

  If Miller turns out to be an impact player, he will have to have his own handle.  " Miller Time"?  Who knows.   Actually I like "AlCROtraz"  better

[Gastineau Lives]

I'd be happy if he turned out to be a peninsula.

[The Crusher]

For now I would be happy if he could be a day 1 starter. If he is great he should have a cool nickname like Dee-Liscious. 

[#27TheDominator]

Nice number.

[sourceworx]

Under-bite Island.

[New York Mick]

I'll be happy if he just plays good this year. Chances of him being Revis are slim.

[Patriot Killa]

Cromartie has worked his ass off this offseason.. He will be one of the top corner's in the NFL this year.

Cromartie has also mentored this D backs.. I think our secondary will be fine.

Every time I see Dee make a play.. i'll sip a Milliner Light...

[BurnleyJet]

If I front seven plays any where near what I think they can you wont need an Island, the other Teams Q.B will sink without trace!

[Larz]

if he's good, we can come up with a new nickname

[stugotz81]

Can't even expect him to play like a Revis. He has to be his own unique player ...Revis is an "island" type corner.....im not sure Millner would do well on an island....he's an aggressive type corner and/or a play making type corner 

[bitonti]

He won't be another Revis but he could be another Cro. his hands aren't great but he's got elite physical attributes.

[JoeKlecko]

I'd be happy if he turned out to be a peninsula.

 

I was thinking the same thing. That will be just fine.

[Blackout]

no...he could be a nice castle with a decent sized moat around it though

[pointman]

Under-bite Island.

This is what I came to this thread to say. 

[pointman]

Lets just hope hes better than Wilson. And I don't care what all those graphs in the other thread say.

[flgreen]

I'd be happy if he turned out to be a peninsula.

That's pretty much what ya got in Wilson, and a lot of people are calling him a bust

[JoeKlecko]

That's pretty much what ya got in Wilson, and a lot of people are calling him a bust

 

I think of Wilson more of a swamp or quicksand bog.

[Greenseed4]

Under-bite Island.

dick

[Greenseed4]

This is what I came to this thread to say.

dick

[Bleedin Green]

He won't be another Revis but he could be another Cro. his hands aren't great but he's got elite physical attributes.

 

There would certainly be no reason to be unhappy about that.  Hell, even Revis has yet to show the ability to replicate the season that earned him that nickname to begin with.  It would be kind of ridiculous to set those kind of expectations onto any player, even for the Bucs to do so with Revis himself.

[kelly]

I'd be happy if he turned out to be a peninsula.

 

yup

[BroadwayJoe12]

Sounds more like a brewery than an island.  Very similar physical attributes to Cro and has the pedigree and work-ethic of Nick Saban program; hard to not like the kids' chances of being a good one.

[roscoeword]

We can't expect him to be great in his first year anyway - corners rarely are. Remember Revis' first year, he got beat more than a couple of times. I think it took him  at least 2 years to become an island.

[neckdemon]

For now I would be happy if he could be a day 1 starter. If he is great he should have a cool nickname like Dee-Liscious. 

 

 

how about Deez Nuts

Dee-ssert

Dee-jon Mustard

[The Crusher]

how about Deez Nuts

Dee-ssert

Dee-jon Mustard

 

Dee-mon?

[neckdemon]

Dee-mon?

 

i was trying to keep it food related, lol

[The Crusher]

i was trying to keep it food related, lol

 

"Somebody get the fat guy a cup off coffee please"

[neckdemon]

"Somebody get the fat guy a cup off coffee please"

 

can-dee land

spaghe-dee

[kelly]

Dee-mon?

 

we have a winner ! 

 

[kelly]

the Jets drafted him ninth over all after trading Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Milliner must bear that burden as long as he wears green and white.

 

Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson was taken with the 13th pick of the draft in April.

Geno Smith’s every word and throw have been dissected since the Jets selected him in the second round, starting a quarterback competition with the turnover-prone Mark Sanchez. Even if Smith outduels Sanchez, the scrutiny of him will only intensify.

The circumstances surrounding the arrival of those two celebrated prospects are giving defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, a fellow rookie, the rare luxury of being a first-round draft choice who is breaking in largely unnoticed. He is not complaining.

“Most definitely it is a good thing for me; I like being under the radar,” said Richardson, drafted four spots behind Milliner with the first-round selection obtained from Tampa Bay. “Between Dee and Geno, I’m the one they don’t know about.”

Richardson (6 feet 3 inches, 294 pounds) is not likely to remain in the background much longer. In some respects, he appears to be closer to a sure thing than Milliner or Smith.

Although Milliner was widely regarded as the premier cornerback in the draft, he had five operations during his career at Alabama and was unable to take the field this off-season because of a shoulder procedure. Milliner missed three practices before ending his brief holdout, leaving Coach Rex Ryan unsure whether he will play in Saturday’s scrimmage.

Smith’s much-debated footwork and throwing mechanics might have been behind his drop into the second round despite a record-setting career at West Virginia.

On Thursday, Mike Westhoff, a former Jets special-teams coach, watched his first practice as an ESPN analyst and viewed Smith as a developing talent. Westhoff said Smith initially reminded him of a baseball player who looked more comfortable throwing across his body, making him more effective while working the left side of the field.

“He looked like he could hit from one side of the plate and not the other,” he said. “But there is some improvement.”

In contrast with Milliner, the only concern about Richardson’s health involves his teeth. He missed the last two practices after having one tooth pulled and requiring a root canal. On a scale of 1 to 10, he rated the pain as an 8. That might seem high, given the travails huge linemen are expected to play through. But he asked for understanding.

“It’s just a nerve sitting up there with stitches in it,” he said.

There is little or no debate about the ability of Richardson, a star since he attended Gateway Tech High School in St. Louis, to play defensive line and tight end. He was named an E.A. Sports first-team all-American in 2008, when he had 88 tackles, 19 sacks and 6 defensive touchdowns as a high school senior. Offensively, he made 27 catches for 541 yards with eight scores.

He continued his success while at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif., and then after transferring to Missouri. According to statistics compiled by Missouri, he finished his senior season with 75 tackles, including 10.5 stops for losses totaling 50 yards, and four sacks.

“We don’t want to put him in Canton yet,” Ryan said, referring to the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, “but he looks pretty good.”

“He’s an explosive guy,” Ryan said. “He certainly belongs here. He loves the game. You can tell by the way he plays.”

Richardson prides himself on bringing enthusiasm to every snap without being pushed by coaches or veterans.

“I’m a hardworking, blue-collar guy, doing what is necessary and then some,” he said.

EXTRA POINTS

Coach Rex Ryan may be growing concerned about the condition of Chris Ivory, a running back who continues to miss practice with a sore hamstring. “I thought it would progress a little better than it has,” Ryan said, without offering a timetable for Ivory’s return. Ivory, obtained during the off-season from the Saints, has a history of injuries.

The mobility of Geno Smith paid off with two sharp completions during practice. In one instance, he eluded a rush, stepped up in the pocket and lofted a deep sideline pass that was just within reach of a diving Ryan Spadola, a rookie wideout from Lehigh. On another play, Smith rolled right and whirled left to hit Konrad Reuland, a second-year tight end, for a 9-yard score.

Mike Westhoff, who served as special-teams coach when the Jets reached the A.F.C. championship game during their first two seasons with Mark Sanchez, said of Sanchez’s role: “He was on the bus. I don’t believe he was driving it.”

 

> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/sports/football/root-canal-aside-a-painless-start-for-a-jets-rookie.html?ref=football&_r=0

 

[rillo]

Doubt it but I hope he can stay healthy at least.

[kelly]

Doubt it but I hope he can stay healthy at least.

 

if...IF he stays healthy....he'll be " a keeper "

[kelly]

In the first New York Jets training camp since the departure of Darrelle Revis, it has taken rookie Dee Milliner just a week to win the starting job opposite Antonio Cromartie.

"I feel very comfortable with Dee being out there in regular personnel situations," Jets coach Rex Ryan said Tuesday.

Dee Milliner: 8/6

Jets rookie CB Dee Milliner stops by the show and lets you know how the team's secondary plans to replace Darrelle Revis.

 

Kyle Wilson was the leading candidate for Revis' old job until the moment Milliner signed his contract.

On the first day Milliner put on pads, he was on the field with the first team. Since then he has shown he can compete there, and the Jets' first depth chart had Milliner over Wilson.

Like Revis, Milliner held out during the start of his first NFL training camp. Milliner, the ninth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, ultimately signed a $12.66 million deal on July 28, missing a little more than a week's worth of practices. There was some question as to how ready he'd be ready to play given that he had shoulder surgery during the offseason and the hadn't practiced with the team during the spring.

Cromartie said the 21-year-old Alabama product was "playing great."

Dee Milliner has already earned a starting cornerback spot for the Jets.

"He's getting a lot of pounding on his shoulder and everything," Cromartie said. "So for him it's just getting the reps and getting the physical part down for that shoulder."

Ryan has gone out of his way to say that Milliner is not a replacement for Revis. Now in Tampa, Revis was widely considered one of the top corners in the sport before tearing his ACL last September. Those are some pretty big shoes for Milliner to fill, and he said he's getting used to the new job.

"You know after the first week or so, I was good," Milliner said. "I was caught up with everything. Like I said it's just getting out there and doing more reps now and doing more plays and getting more into it as we go."

Ryan qualified the rapid ascent of the rookie -- from unsigned to starter in just a week -- by saying that he plans to play more than two cornerbacks.

"With Kyle, in this day and age you start three corners and basically it's just who's your corner going to be in regular personnel," Ryan said. "That's almost what it's become. Kyle gives you a lot of flexibility in that in the fact he can play nickel he can play outside he can play inside he can play safety."

The have one true starting safety in Dawan Landry, but have been auditioning Antonio Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett in the other starting slot.

 

> http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/9544253/dee-milliner-wins-starting-cb-job-new-york-jets