O dept. : position battles ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

As we head into the spring, what are some of the big battles the Jets will have on offense in training camp ?

Right Guard

Brian Winters is nominally the incumbent starter, but the Jets have a lot of young potential competitors for this spot. This includes Jarvis Harrison, Brent Qvale, and Wesley Johnson. This spot figures to be wide open.

 

Fullback

Tommy Bohanon will reprise last year's competition against Division II product Julian Howsare, who played on the defensive side of the ball in college. Bohanon figures to have the inside track, but a big improvement out of Howsare could potentially put him in the mix. The loser figures to be out of a roster spot. It would be unorthodox to carry two fullbacks, and it is not like these are two elite level players.

Tight End

The Jets could not have gotten less production out of the tight end position last year. The hope here has to be that the Jets will see big growth out of Jace Amaro. It would be disappointing to not see him beat out the likes of Zach Sudfeld and Kellen Davis. Could Wes Saxton emerge? The South Alabama product has intriguing measurables. Then again, if measurables told the whole story, Sudfeld would be a star.

Third Wide Receiver

Rightly or wrongly, this would probably be Devin Smith's job if he could prove he is healthy. His status is up in the air, though. Despite the big catch he could not make against the Bills, Kenbrell Thompkins showed some signs of life at the end of the season. Asking seventh round pick Charone Peake to step in immediately feels like a lot. He might get a chance, though. Jeremy Ross could also get a look.

>     http://www.ganggreennation.com/2016/5/31/11816460/here-are-some-of-the-big-offensive-position-battles-the-jets-have

[kelly]

~ ~   3. Competition at wide receiver : With Devin Smith still recovering from an ACL injury, Quincy Enunwa and Kenbrell Thompkins are waging a battle for the No. 3 job. Technically, they play different positions, but you get the point. Thompkins is an outside receiver; he made 12 of his 17 receptions last season when lined up wide, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Enunwa is an inside receiver; 14 of his 22 catches came out of the slot, while the other eight occurred from the tight end position. Eric Decker can play the slot in three-receiver packages, which makes Thompkins a better fit from a scheme standpoint. Ultimately, the idea is to put the best 11 on the field.

rest of above article  : 

>  http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/60801/jets-need-to-see-more-from-young-backup-quarterbacks

[Integrity28]

On 6/1/2016 at 1:35 PM, kelly said:

Despite the big catch he could not make against the Bills, Kenbrell Thompkins

Ugh... with all the people blaming Fitz exclusively for that loss, while denying how poorly the pass defense and special teams played, I had forgotten about that non-catch. 

What a grotesque all-around effort by this whole squad and coaching staff. It's like that culture of "beating the Pats in a regular season game is good enough" crept back in for week 17.

 

[CrazyCarl40]

Right Tackle should be up for grabs too. How they keep ignoring that position is beyond me.

[PepPep]

28 minutes ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Right Tackle should be up for grabs too. How they keep ignoring that position is beyond me.

I don't know if 'up for grabs' is the best way to describe it. 

Giacomini wasn't great, but he was the starter all season. And the O-line, as a whole, performed pretty well last year. Lest we forget the career years our QB, WRs and RB had. Nobody was brought in that could outright replace Giacomini. He's still the starter. So, while its possible that Qvale or another backup can outplay him and take the spot away, its not 'up for grabs'. I'm not trying to nit-pick. This is just how it is. Its going to take a lot for Qvale or anyone else to take that RT spot. 

I think the same goes with Winters. That spot is really not 'up for grabs'. It's Winter's job to lose. He actually showed improvement last year. 

Same goes for Bohannon. He's been the starting FB for what, 3 years now. Just b/c the Jets brought in other potential FBs doesn;'t mean his spot is 'up for grabs'. He would really have to look bad in camp for a guy like Howsare to take that spot away from him. Howsare is not a natural FB anyway, he's been moved around from defense in college, to TE to H-back and potentially FB. Its gonna be tough for him to take Bohannons spot. 

I agree about the TE position and the 3rd WR position. Those really are up for grabs. Amaro has the #1 spot right now but will really need to show he can be a more balanced TE and has improved on his concentration drops. The Jets know he has talent, but he has yet to show to this new regime due to injury. I HIGHLY doubt he will be cut, but he will need to step up to show he deserves to hold on to the #1 TE spot.    

 

IMO- the TWO biggest positions that are 'up for grabs' is the #2 CB spot between Williams and Skrine. And the OTHER OLB position between Bishop, Reilley, Jenkins, Carter, Barnes, etc. 

Skrine seems to have the edge in the CB battle. But there is still a ways to go. And, ironically, Williams may end up getting that spot due to poor play in the Nickel. I.E. Williams may be better suited to play outside while Skrine is better suited to play inside. In the end, I think Bowles will end up mixing up the way he uses both players depending on formations and match-ups. 

As far as OLB opposite Mauldin. That spot is TRULY up for grabs. This should be a fun position to watch with both vets and youngsters, as well as Jets from last year and newcomers all vying for the spot. Its also interesting that these players have different strengths and weaknesses at the position- which may impact the direction Bowles wants to go in. 

[PepPep]

2 minutes ago, PepPep said:

I don't know if 'up for grabs' is the best way to describe it. 

Giacomini wasn't great, but he was the starter all season. And the O-line, as a whole, performed pretty well last year. Lest we forget the career years our QB, WRs and RB had. Nobody was brought in that could outright replace Giacomini. He's still the starter. So, while its possible that Qvale or another backup can outplay him and take the spot away, its not 'up for grabs'. I'm not trying to nit-pick. This is just how it is. Its going to take a lot for Qvale or anyone else to take that RT spot. 

I think the same goes with Winters. That spot is really not 'up for grabs'. It's Winter's job to lose. He actually showed improvement last year. 

Same goes for Bohannon. He's been the starting FB for what, 3 years now. Just b/c the Jets brought in other potential FBs doesn;'t mean his spot is 'up for grabs'. He would really have to look bad in camp for a guy like Howsare to take that spot away from him. Howsare is not a natural FB anyway, he's been moved around from defense in college, to TE to H-back and potentially FB. Its gonna be tough for him to take Bohannons spot. 

I agree about the TE position and the 3rd WR position. Those really are up for grabs. Amaro has the #1 spot right now but will really need to show he can be a more balanced TE and has improved on his concentration drops. The Jets know he has talent, but he has yet to show to this new regime due to injury. I HIGHLY doubt he will be cut, but he will need to step up to show he deserves to hold on to the #1 TE spot.    

 

IMO- the TWO biggest positions that are 'up for grabs' is the #2 CB spot between Williams and Skrine. And the OTHER OLB position between Bishop, Reilley, Jenkins, Carter, Barnes, etc. 

Skrine seems to have the edge in the CB battle. But there is still a ways to go. And, ironically, Williams may end up getting that spot due to poor play in the Nickel. I.E. Williams may be better suited to play outside while Skrine is better suited to play inside. In the end, I think Bowles will end up mixing up the way he uses both players depending on formations and match-ups. 

As far as OLB opposite Mauldin. That spot is TRULY up for grabs. This should be a fun position to watch with both vets and youngsters, as well as Jets from last year and newcomers all vying for the spot. Its also interesting that these players have different strengths and weaknesses at the position- which may impact the direction Bowles wants to go in. 

Sorry, just realized that this refers to OFFENSE ONLY. 

[CrazyCarl40]

4 minutes ago, PepPep said:

I don't know if 'up for grabs' is the best way to describe it. 

Giacomini wasn't great, but he was the starter all season. And the O-line, as a whole, performed pretty well last year. Lest we forget the career years our QB, WRs and RB had. Nobody was brought in that could outright replace Giacomini. He's still the starter. So, while its possible that Qvale or another backup can outplay him and take the spot away, its not 'up for grabs'. I'm not trying to nit-pick. This is just how it is. Its going to take a lot for Qvale or anyone else to take that RT spot. 

I think the same goes with Winters. That spot is really not 'up for grabs'. It's Winter's job to lose. He actually showed improvement last year.

He was one of the worst offensive lineman in the league last season. He was below replacement level. I don't know how good or bad Qvale or anyone else could be, but they couldn't be much worse than Breno and they would most assuredly be cheaper.

Winters did show improvement. He went from awful to not terrible, but still not very good. He is completely replaceable.

The offensive line was okay last season. "Performed well" is not how I would characterize it as. The run game got worse as the season went on, and the quick pass and scrambling ability of Fitz made the offensive line look solid, but it really wasn't.

[PepPep]

2 minutes ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

He was one of the worst offensive lineman in the league last season. He was below replacement level. I don't know how good or bad Qvale or anyone else could be, but they couldn't be much worse than Breno and they would most assuredly be cheaper.

Winters did show improvement. He went from awful to not terrible, but still not very good. He is completely replaceable.

The offensive line was okay last season. "Performed well" is not how I would characterize it as. The run game got worse as the season went on, and the quick pass and scrambling ability of Fitz made the offensive line look solid, but it really wasn't.

I mean, that's one way to look at it. I think if you are 'awful' you don't get to start, period. A coach is not going to start a player he believes is 'awful', so you are being harsh on both Winters and Giacomini. 

You have your opinion, and thats fine. Statistically, the o-line performed well. Yes, they looked bad at times, but they also looked dominant at times. Part of the reason the run game slowed down was b/c Ivory was hurt, and played hurt. It was obvious he wasn't the same in the 2nd half of the season. Just like a QB gets credit for a great catch by the WR, the O-line gets credit for Fitz scrambling and getting rid of the ball quick, that's just how it works. 

Our opinions may differ, but I'm telling you right now, if Breno is not cut due to his salary, he will MOST LIKELY go into next season having earned the starting RT spot. I just don;t see any of the backups taking it away from him. But hey, I hope Qvale proves me wrong and shows that he is a legit starter. I'd love for the Jets to have a younger, cheaper starting RT.     

[77DRAFT]

the O line will be put to the test right away and for the entire first half of the season,we will know exactly what we have, and the money we have next year for free agents may go to fill a hole or two at Guard or Tackle, Quale and Shell could be our Tackles of the future, and one of them may be playing left tacke very soon, I think this may end up being Mangolds last season. If need be we can totally overhaul

the O line through next years draft and free agency.  This year kind of seems like an impending disaster with the schedule.