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Jets Fans Willing to Ignore “Key” Character Flaws Come Draft Day


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Even with a boatload of salary cap room and three draft choices in the top 50, there’s no guarantee that Mike Maccagnan and the New York Jets will be able to fill their biggest needs with elite talent which would clearly be the team’s goal.

One spot where the Jets might be able to get a top-15 talent well beyond that spot in the draft is in the case of edge rusher Arden Key out of LSU who has been plagued by multiple off-field issues.  Based on a JetNation twitter poll, 71% of Jets fans say they would be on board with snapping up Key with their first pick in the second round.

Key’s mysterious troubles off the field have been well publicized, leading some to predict a free-fall on draft day with Matt Miller of Bleacher Report mocking him to the Denver Broncos with the 40th overall pick while WalterFootball has key going 47th to the Arizona Cardinals.

It seems given the chance, Jets fans wouldn’t want key to fall that far as they would be on the clock before either of those teams with the first of their two second-round picks at 37.

Key was an essential member of the LSU Tigers’ defense before taking an unexplained leave of absence from the team that his father would later describe as follows:

“He lost himself. He had so much success early. All the pressures of being a student-athlete. We forget he’s still a kid trying to balance life out. It was all coming down on him. Let the past be the past. All those rumors are going to surface through his career. As a family, we had challenges and we worked through them, and we’re still working through them.”

In addition to his leave of absence, Key reportedly put on a considerable amount of weight, ballooning up to 270 lbs, despite being listed at 238, prompting one scout to say, “Any time you see a player balloon up like Arden Key has, it’s a big concern. Whether you are dealing with injuries or not, there are certain conditioning and nutrition standards you need to be following.” according to NFL.com.

Off-field issues, weight gain and a shoulder injury which isn’t expected to linger isn’t enough to scare Jets fans off from a player who piled up 20 sacks and 24 tackles for loss in just 31 collegiate contests.  Will Mike Maccagn feel the same?

 

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What exactly are the "off field issues".  This is what I'm getting at with Key when I say he's being undervalued.  Nobody knows what was going on, he wasnt in legal trouble, he wasnt doing drugs or beating women...so why are their "off field issues" because he took a break during spring ball?

The pinky and shoulder are not an issue.  

The weight gain.  Sure.  But we've seen this before and its meant nothing. 

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Combine is more important for him than most other prospects.  

Has he been taking care of himself?  Does he test positive during any drug screening?  What explanation does he have for his behavior during interviews?  Is he a freakish athlete?  

We’ll see.  I’ll reserve judgment until we hear the answers to those questions.  

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18 hours ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

Combine is more important for him than most other prospects.  

Has he been taking care of himself?  Does he test positive during any drug screening?  What explanation does he have for his behavior during interviews?  Is he a freakish athlete?  

We’ll see.  I’ll reserve judgment until we hear the answers to those questions.  

He lost 20lbs in season after leaving the program for undisclosed reasons and having surgery.  Lots of players come back over weight after surgery.  Fournette showed up over weight to the biggest interview of his life. 

Has he ever had any ties to drug issues?  No.

What behavior are you referring to?

Yes he is a freakish athlete.

Perfect example of how nobody really has a clue about Key.

I bet he blows the combine out of the water and his SPARQ's rivals the best scores we've seen over the years. 

 

 

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20 hours ago, JiF said:

What exactly are the "off field issues".  This is what I'm getting at with Key when I say he's being undervalued.  Nobody knows what was going on, he wasnt in legal trouble, he wasnt doing drugs or beating women...so why are their "off field issues" because he took a break during spring ball?

The pinky and shoulder are not an issue.  

The weight gain.  Sure.  But we've seen this before and its meant nothing. 

Yea this is how I feel. We don't know why he took time away from football which is probably why his grade is all over the map. If he's there at 37 I'd pull the trigger, assuming it's not something totally out of left field that will land him in jail. I'd be ecstatic if he dropped that far, I think he is one of the best players in this class. Heck if we land Cousins and everything checks out fine with Key I think he'd be in contention at #6 along with Davenport.

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22 hours ago, JetNation said:

In addition to his leave of absence, Key reportedly put on a considerable amount of weight, ballooning up to 270 lbs, despite being listed at 238, prompting one scout to say, “Any time you see a player balloon up like Arden Key has, it’s a big concern. Whether you are dealing with injuries or not, there are certain conditioning and nutrition standards you need to be following.” according to NFL.com.

 

2 minutes ago, JiF said:

 

He lost 20lbs in season after leaving the program for undisclosed reasons and having surgery.  Lots of players come back over weight after surgery.  Fournette showed up over weight to the biggest interview of his life. 

Has he ever had any ties to drug issues?  No.

What behavior are you referring to?

Yes he is a freakish athlete.

Perfect example of how nobody really has a clue about Key.

I bet he blows the combine out of the water and his SPARQ's rivals the best scores we've seen over the years. 

 

 

Jetnation, citing NFL.com, says be ballooned up to 270 lbs.  You say he lost 20 lbs, from his playing weight of 240ish I assume?

Why does someone leave the program?  Why does someone's weight fluctuate that much?  What explains that behavior?

I don't have a clue, which is why I said I want to see his combine: see about his drug tests (a possible explanation of great weight fluctuation and a leave of absence), hear about interviews and see about his athleticism.

I want to see Holton Hill's combine too for similar reasons - I've yet to read why he was suspended, and I want to hear about his interviews/drug tests and see about his athleticism. 

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18 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

 

Jetnation, citing NFL.com, says be ballooned up to 270 lbs.  You say he lost 20 lbs, from his playing weight of 240ish I assume?

Why does someone leave the program?  Why does someone's weight fluctuate that much?  What explains that behavior?

I don't have a clue, which is why I said I want to see his combine: see about his drug tests (a possible explanation of great weight fluctuation and a leave of absence), hear about interviews and see about his athleticism.

I want to see Holton Hill's combine too for similar reasons - I've yet to read why he was suspended, and I want to hear about his interviews/drug tests and see about his athleticism. 

No, he lost 20lbs from 270.  So he was playing at around 250lbs ish, which is around his playing weight from his sophomore season.

Why he left the program is undisclosed.  His father said they were having family problems and he was stressed out from the life of a collegiate athlete.  He wanted to get away from Football and the spotlight to focus on his family and his stress levels.  Who knows if true but that's what pops said.  During that time, he had surgery on his shoulder - hence his weight gain.  He wasnt able to condition to get to playing weight prior to rejoining the team.  I dont really see this as a red flag from a behavior standpoint.  More so just a kid finding his way.  Malik Hooker tried to quit Football while at OSU and had to be convinced to stay in the program.  Malik was a top 15 pick.

They drug test in college and Key never failed a drug test.  He's never had ties to drugs.  He gained weight because he had surgery. 

I truly see Key blowing his SPARQ scores out the water.  He is a freakish athlete.   He reminds me of Vic Beasley.  He's load to handle if he's pinning his ears and going for the QB but doesnt really have a desire to play the run.  I remember the Bama game, he was all over the place and was consistently pushing Hurts out of the pocket and had couple of tackles for loss...almost a safety too. 

 

 

 

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