Jets could start two rookies at safety ... you hear that, Calvin Pryor?

[Gas2No99]

Jets could start two rookies at safety ... you hear that, Calvin Pryor?

 

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets unveiled their two new safeties Friday at rookie minicamp -- Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye, who told reporters before practice, "I feel like they tried to get the best two safeties in the draft, and they did that."

Which raises questions about the old safeties. One of them, Marcus Gilchrist, was released Thursday. Former first-round pick Calvin Pryor remains on the roster -- for now.

Things change quickly in the NFL. Three years ago, Pryor was the new kid with the bright future, but his roster spot is endangered because of inconsistent play. If he's not happy about the decision to draft players at his position ... well, coach Todd Bowles sent a message to Pryor -- and everybody else on the team, for that matter.

"If you're afraid of competition," said Bowles, responding to a question about Pryor, "you don't need to be here."

 

Jamal Adams (33) and Marcus Maye should complement each other well because Adams is a strong safety and Maye is a free safety. Noah K. Murray/USA TODAY Sports

And there you have it, one of Bowles' themes to the season. When you tear apart the roster after a 5-11 season, it should be all about the competition. Nobody is on scholarship. Be good or be gone.

Bowles has talked about utilizing three-safety packages with Pryor, Adams and Maye, something he did with the Arizona Cardinals. They could go in that direction or they could decide to part ways with Pryor at some point. Some of that decision could be based on how quickly Adams and Maye develop. Bowles said he's not opposed to starting two rookies.

"It's feasible, yeah, if they're good football players," he said. "If they earn it, they could start at safety. I've seen it happen before."

Adams and Maye should complement each other well because Adams is a strong safety, Maye a free safety, although Bowles was quick to point out the two positions are interchangeable in his system. They didn't get a chance to practice together Friday, as Maye sat out team drills as a precaution. He finished the college season with a broken left arm, and the Jets don't want to rush him back. He'll be fine by training camp.

They almost became teammates at the University of Florida, but Adams changed his mind and decided to attend LSU. They became friendly during the recruiting process and kept in touch over the years, playing in the SEC. When Maye was drafted in the second round, one of his first congratulatory texts came from Adams, the Jets' No. 1 pick.

 

"I love it," Adams said. "Me and Marcus have always been close. We always wanted to play with each other. ... I think Marcus is a great fit. He can do everything on the back end. He can cover the slot, he can cover the tight end. He's also aggressive, which I love. He's the complete package back there. He's going to be outstanding."

Maye said of Adams, "He's a great player. He's a playmaker, very energetic. ... You see him flying around the field. He's always going to be around the ball."

When he saw the Jets pick Adams in the first round, Maye figured there was no chance he'd end up in green and white. But, for the first time in team history, they picked defensive backs in the first two rounds.

"I really didn't think they were going to call," Maye said. "When they did, I realized what they were trying to do -- to get the both of us. When that happened, me and Jamal, we were pretty excited about it."

[Sarge4Tide]

Maybe Pryor will respond positively to the new DB coach and the challenge from the 2 rookies and have a good season?  

[Gas2No99]

2 minutes ago, Sarge4Tide said:

Maybe Pryor will respond positively to the new DB coach and the challenge from the 2 rookies and have a good season?  

Whatever leads to him signing a decent new deal elsewhere and netting us a comp pick. 

[Jetdawgg]

Pryor lacks the speed necessary too often

[Joe W. Namath]

Could start?  Both these guys are day 1 starters barring injury.

[T0mShane]

If I'm a young veteran on this team, I'd be clawing at the walls for my release. I'm no fan of Pryor, but it's clear that Bowles and Rodgers have no idea what they're doing on defense, especially in the secondary, and Pryor was asked to do a lot of downfield coverage when it's clearly not his strength. Add to this the fact that they surrounded him with a paycheck-stealing Cromartie and an embittered Revis, and that might explain why Pryor developed some bad habits professionally. 

[Dcat]

9 hours ago, Sarge4Tide said:

Maybe Pryor will respond positively to the new DB coach and the challenge from the 2 rookies and have a good season?  

I hope he plays sort of well and this fools another team into giving him a contract way more than his worth.  

[section314]

7 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

If I'm a young veteran on this team, I'd be clawing at the walls for my release. I'm no fan of Pryor, but it's clear that Bowles and Rodgers have no idea what they're doing on defense, especially in the secondary, and Pryor was asked to do a lot of downfield coverage when it's clearly not his strength. Add to this the fact that they surrounded him with a paycheck-stealing Cromartie and an embittered Revis, and that might explain why Pryor developed some bad habits professionally. 

Don't disagree. I'll go one step further...I would keep Pryor and get rid of Decker instead. I think Pryor can still be an asset to this team. Decker has no value to this team anymore.

[T0mShane]

15 minutes ago, section314 said:

Don't disagree. I'll go one step further...I would keep Pryor and get rid of Decker instead. I think Pryor can still be an asset to this team. Decker has no value to this team anymore.

i don't think there's any way they keep Pryor. In addition to his ad play, it sounds like he also didn't buy into Bowles' style of hands-off coaching. Granted, there were 53 guys who didn't buy into Bowles's hands-off, comatose style of coaching, but Pryor is the easiest to dump. Then Sheldon, then Mo, then Darron Lee. If Bowles is here long enough, it'll be a team of guys who, they don't believe need any discipline or motivation.

[Dunnie]

Don't disagree. I'll go one step further...I would keep Pryor and get rid of Decker instead. I think Pryor can still be an asset to this team. Decker has no value to this team anymore.

what are you smoking ? Decker is our best receiver when healthy ... and it's not close.


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[Dunnie]

i don't think there's any way they keep Pryor. In addition to his ad play, it sounds like he also didn't buy into Bowles' style of hands-off coaching. Granted, there were 53 guys who didn't buy into Bowles's hands-off, comatose style of coaching, but Pryor is the easiest to dump. Then Sheldon, then Mo, then Darron Lee. If Bowles is here long enough, it'll be a team of guys who, they don't believe need any discipline or motivation.

50% right:

Mo was coming off an injury ... when healthy in the top 5 on our team.

Darron Lee is going to be a beast for us ... you probably forgot he was a rookie.

Pryor : I agree
Sheldon : Couldn't agree more



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[section314]

25 minutes ago, Dunnie said:

 

what are you smoking ? Decker is our best receiver when healthy ... and it's not close.


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Tell me, what does Decker do for this team right now that Enuwa can't do?

[Dunnie]

Tell me, what does Decker do for this team right now that Enuwa can't do?

 

Catch every ball thrown his direction.

 

Don't get me wrong .. i love enunwa ... but Decker is better.

 

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[Beerfish]

If there was ever a thread that need an O'rly?! meme it is this one.  If the Jets do not start two rookies after using two high picks on these guys it will be yet another epic fail.

 

By far the worst part of that article is this:

although Bowles was quick to point out the two positions are interchangeable in his

This guy is such an utter bonehead.  By nature the things you ask safeties to do require different skillets. Box safety  that provides run support and covers bigger slower offensive players.  Free safeties that need to cover faster players and provide viable over the top support to corners.  But ohhhh no we can trick the other team!  This play we will ask marcus gilchrist to play in the box and have pryor help cover deep!

Nice to know that the Todd Bowels, kacy roger system of brilliance and discipline trumps all and will always out players in positions which suit them the best for their skills.

We;;, we don;t really  have Dlineman and linebackers, we mix and match!

Worst coach this team has had since I began following them in the early Herm era.

 

[Bugg]

3 hours ago, T0mShane said:

i don't think there's any way they keep Pryor. In addition to his ad play, it sounds like he also didn't buy into Bowles' style of hands-off coaching. Granted, there were 53 guys who didn't buy into Bowles's hands-off, comatose style of coaching, but Pryor is the easiest to dump. Then Sheldon, then Mo, then Darron Lee. If Bowles is here long enough, it'll be a team of guys who, they don't believe need any discipline or motivation.

If Pryor is on this team on the opening day roster, the Jets will likely be paying 3 safeties probably in their top 10 of 2017 cap numbers. May be Seattle and 1 or 2 other teams have 2 safeties in their top 10 salaries, but would wager NOBODY ELSE has 3.In fact that might be unprecedented. Speaks of a complete lack of understanding how the cap numbers should be allocated. If you want to defend the first round pick, fine(but again safeties along with guards and kickers are nonpremium slots; in college safeties are corners who are too slow to cover or LBs who are too small to play the run effectively, the Jets like that for some reason based on Darron Lee, but I digress).  But couldn't  the Jets have drafted a decent OL or RB or dare I say, a QB, in the 2nd round? As I have said repeatedly, based on talent this is going to be far and away the worst offense in the NFL. For all of you who babble on about this stupidity being wonderful, you have forfeited any right to complain about the 3 and out sh*thouse offense we about to see here. 

[T0mShane]

37 minutes ago, Bugg said:

If Pryor is on this team on the opening day roster, the Jets will likely be paying 3 safeties probably in their top 10 of 2017 cap numbers. May be Seattle and 1 or 2 other teams have 2 safeties in their top 10 salaries, but would wager NOBODY ELSE has 3.In fact that might be unprecedented. Speaks of a complete lack of understanding how the cap numbers should be allocated. If you want to defend the first round pick, fine(but again safeties along with guards and kickers are nonpremium slots; in college safeties are corners who are too slow to cover or LBs who are too small to play the run effectively, the Jets like that for some reason based on Darron Lee, but I digress).  But couldn't  the Jets have drafted a decent OL or RB or dare I say, a QB, in the 2nd round? As I have said repeatedly, based on talent this is going to be far and away the worst offense in the NFL. For all of you who babble on about this stupidity being wonderful, you have forfeited any right to complain about the 3 and out sh*thouse offense we about to see here. 

Yeah, my concern is--if this is really a rebuild--then where are the foundational pieces that are supposed to gain experience during a rebuild year? ILB and SS are plug and play positions, while QB and WR are developmental positions. Unless their plan centers around Hackenberg and ArDarius Stewart to be the faces of the franchise, they're screwed deep into the future.

[RutgersJetFan]

Man, they sure showed him.

[long suffering jets fan]

20 hours ago, section314 said:

Tell me, what does Decker do for this team right now that Enuwa can't do?

He's also the best route runner on this team and in general is a very polished player.  If Enunwa comes even close to being as good as Decker has been in his career, we have a real find, but he has a long way to go.  There's a reason why Decker is the second highest paid player on this team and frankly when healthy he's probably our best player.