Kelechi Osemele to Sam Darnold: I’m Your New Bodyguard

[docdhc]

1 hour ago, Warfish said:

To be clear, I like the player and trade for him just fine.  He should be a major upgrade should he return to form, to a position I've been screaming about needing to fix for years now.

My issue here is specifically one of "oh, this guy said a thing, he must be a "great friggin human being" and because he said a thing he must be an amazing player!".  The reason this happens every year is silly fans do this every year.

What pro athletes say is mostly irrelevant, no matter what the twitter obsessed millennial crowd thinks.  It has no bearing on his play.  It's nice if he says the right things (and he DID say the right things) but it's fluff, it'll always be fluff, and no amount of homer objection will change it.  PLAY ON THE FIELD IS WHAT MATTERS.  

Second, no one here knows this player personally, and we sure as hell don't know he is a "great friggin human being".  How many Bill Cosby's does our society need to have before people finally stop projecting onto famous people and athletes?  Seriously, none of us know him, what he said doesn't make him a "great friggin human being" lol, nor is that what he was hired to be.  He was hired to block and protect Darnold and Bell.  That's what I want him to do and what I care about.  Words don't block pass rushers.

Look, it's not about trying to kill excitement, we all should be excited when our team tries to get better, and so far our team has on paper gotten much better.  But for crying out loud, the hyperbole is just ridiculous.  Half of you people really do deserve Fatcessa and the NEw Yawk media market, because you're JUST LIKE HIM.  Everything is taken to a massive over the top extreme and you're wrong 99% of the time when you do it.  Reel it in man, that's all I'm saying, stop being caricatures ffs and taking everything to the nth degree over a few fluff words in a first interview.

 

Certainly play on the field is what matters.  I disagree, though, that interviews are completely meaningless.  You can tell something from what they say about how intelligent, motivated, or into winning they might be.  He sounds smart, doesn't seem like a me first type of guy, and seems really motivated to make the team and Darnold better.  It may not be worth that much, but since there aren't any games being played now anyway, I'll take it as a positive.

[LIJetsFan]

3 minutes ago, docdhc said:

Certainly play on the field is what matters.  I disagree, though, that interviews are completely meaningless.  You can tell something from what they say about how intelligent, motivated, or into winning they might be.  He sounds smart, doesn't seem like a me first type of guy, and seems really motivated to make the team and Darnold better.  It may not be worth that much, but since there aren't any games being played now anyway, I'll take it as a positive.

THIS......not hard to grasp is it haters? 

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, GREENBEAN said:

I don't get it. You're on a fan message board.  We come here to hang out and chat with other people who have taken a sports team way too seriously.  This is our little place to bug out on something that most other people don't care about do the degree we do. We root for a name and a color. It doesn't matter who the players are. We could switch out 100% of the guys for new guys every year. The group that wins more games will be our favorite. That's about it.  That's the whole deal here. 

What's really funny is when someone comes on a fan message board and gets bothered by people being fans of the team that the board is there to talk about.  Coming on a message board every day to discuss which millionaires will be paid to put on our team name is bad enough. lol Finding daily flaws, and being bothered by the other people's excitement about the team they are here to discuss, then berating those people for their excitement is borderline sad. 

Coming on a message board with the specific goal to piss in people's cornflakes is just mean spirited and I don't understand that mentality. 

Some people come to have honest and objective discussions and exchange opinions.

Some people come to be homers and tell others who aren't homers to sod off.

That's how I see it.  JN leans pretty hard to the homer and the community IMO doesn't really accept people who aren't, that's fine.  

Since this is the only good Jets forum, it is what it is.  As I've always said, people who don't like how or what I think are always free to ignore me.  No harm, no foul.  If what you want is positivity only with no debate or discussion, by all means, have at it.

What amazes me, if I'm being honest, is that I'm the only one apparently who finds describing this new player as a "great friggin human being" to be laughably over the top based on one interview.  I honestly don't know how to even start discussion with people who can't see why that is so silly.

The guy is a talent, he said the right things in an interview, and we all hope he's going to return to form and play like he did early in his career.  This interview says nothing about that, it's PR, good PR as I said originally, but clearly saying it was good isn't enough here.  It's your way or fifty posts giving me sh*t.  BE assured, this reaction is as tiresome to me as I clearly am to some of you.

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, docdhc said:

Certainly play on the field is what matters.

Nice to hear.

1 hour ago, docdhc said:

I disagree, though, that interviews are completely meaningless.  You can tell something from what they say about how intelligent, motivated, or into winning they might be.

Or how well coached they are by their agent or the Jets PR Dept.  But I agree, you can learn something in general.    

1 hour ago, docdhc said:

He sounds smart, doesn't seem like a me first type of guy, and seems really motivated to make the team and Darnold better.

I agree.  Like I said originally, it's fluff, but GOOD fluff.  Had it been Jeff George-levels of bad fluff, this thread would have gone a different way.

Respectfully, not sounding like JEff George in your first interview and saying a few platitudes that sound good is very low bar, isn't it?  My point is, we;ll see what he is come camp, and what matters is how how he blocks, not how he talks in interviews.  I just didn't think that view would rise to such objection tbqh.

1 hour ago, docdhc said:

  It may not be worth that much, but since there aren't any games being played now anyway, I'll take it as a positive.

Nothing wrong with that.  But if you call him a Saint Amongst Men, that might be over the top.  You see my point here?    

[Savage69]

4 minutes ago, Warfish said:

 

The guy is a talent, he said the right things in an interview, and we all hope he's going to return to form and play like he did early in his career.  This interview says nothing about that, it's PR, good PR as I said originally, but clearly saying it was good isn't enough here.  It's your way or fifty posts giving me sh*t.  BE assured, this reaction is as tiresome to me as I clearly am to some of you.

No doubt your a good contrarian fan and you have every right to be.. I could imagine if you won a 500 million dollar lottery complaining about all the Tax you would have to pay..LOL If you were a homer you just wouldn't be the Warfish..

[Warfish]

1 minute ago, Savage69 said:

No doubt your a good contrarian fan and you have every right to be.. I could imagine if you won a 500 million dollar lottery complaining about all the Tax you would have to pay..LOL If you were a homer you just wouldn't be the Warfish..

Lol, glad some of my old friends are still round Sav.  

And seriously, do you KNOW how much tax they take our of lottery winnings, it's obscene.......(lol).

[Jethead]

4 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Nice to hear.

Or how well coached they are by their agent or the Jets PR Dept.  But I agree, you can learn something in general.    

I agree.  Like I said originally, it's fluff, but GOOD fluff.  Had it been Jeff George-levels of bad fluff, this thread would have gone a different way.

Respectfully, not sounding like JEff George in your first interview and saying a few platitudes that sound good is very low bar, isn't it?  My point is, we;ll see what he is come camp, and what matters is how how he blocks, not how he talks in interviews.  I just didn't think that view would rise to such objection tbqh.

Nothing wrong with that.  But if you call him a Saint Amongst Men, that might be over the top.  You see my point here?    

It may be a low bar but he cleared it with ease. Great first impression!

Non-sequitur but did anybody see David Njoku on NFL Network. Now there's a sharp guy! 

[jack48]

20 hours ago, stugotz81 said:

Oh yeaa!

 

https://www.newyorkjets.com/news/jets-lg-kelechi-osemele-to-sam-darnold-i-m-your-new-bodyguard

Jets LG Kelechi Osemele to Sam Darnold: I’m Your New Bodyguard

When the Jets traded for left guard Kelechi Osemele, Sam Darnold was one of the first people who reached out to the two-time Pro Bowler.

“He was really excited on Instagram,” Osemele said of his new quarterback. “I hit him up and told him I’m his new bodyguard here. I’m really excited about that.”

Osemele, who spent the last three seasons with the Raiders, said he had just wrapped up at church when he received the phone call that he was going cross country to trade silver and black for green and white. Shock quickly became excitement and he turned to Twitter to say his goodbyes and hellos. Now, he’s eager to bring leadership and experience to the Jets, but most of all, physicality.

“That’s what I pride myself in and what I enjoy doing,” he said. “I have fun with it and I’ve heard Mr. Winters is going to be a guy I’m going to like a lot, so I really can’t wait to play with that guy. I feel like I have a certain presence. I think I bring that, a certain professionalism for the younger guys to look up to and I keep my nose clean, I stay out of trouble, so that’s good. I think there’s a few qualities that I bring to the team.”

While Osemele hasn’t met right guard Brian Winters yet, he’s familiar with his neighbor up front in left tackle Kelvin Beachum, who was in the same workout group as Osemele at the 2012 Combine.

“We actually have a few similar friends. He comes down the Bay Area every now and then,” said Osemele, who’s in the best shape of his life. “I’ve heard a lot of really good things about him. I’m excited to learn from him on and off the field and likewise for [Beachum], so that’ll be a good experience.”

Another familiar face to the former Super Bowl champion is both former and current teammate C.J. Mosley, who Osemele likened to the defensive version of new Jets running back Le’Veon Bell.

“He’s a ballplayer. He’s a ballhawk,” Osemele said of Mosley. “He’s like literally Le’Veon but in a linebacker’s body. He’s sideline to sideline, just as good ball instincts as any wide receiver out there, has a high football IQ. He has a swagger and a presence about him. He’s just a ballplayer.”

When asked if he’s excited to block for Bell, the 6’5” mauler smiled and said, “Hell, yeah. How could you not be excited? He’s a baller, man. He always finds a way when it looks like there’s no holes there. Obviously we’re going to do our jobs and open up big holes for him and he’s going to make us look good as well. I’m really excited about that. He’s a playmaker and I think he’s going to be a game changer for us.”

 

Guy is HUUUGE

[Warfish]

Just now, Jethead said:

It may be a low bar but he cleared it with ease. Great first impression!

He did indeed.  Said all the right things.

[Jet_Engine1]

7 hours ago, The Crusher said:

Fluff ^

But bad fluff.?

[Jetsplayer21]

On 3/15/2019 at 4:07 PM, joenamathwouldn'tcry said:

Life is good.  This trade is an under the radar stroke of genius by the front office.  We will see. Rapidly.  Can't wait. Part of the "new order" around here. Long time coming.  Victims no more.  Timid no more.  Let's go Jets.

“ stroke of a genius by the front office “ ???Get off your knees Mac fan boy ? the raiders were going to release  him, if they had no takers. He is a upgrade for such a weak line we have. The raiders got something, while Mac could have most likely waited for his release and sign him.. but we gave up practically nothing so better to force him to come here instead of allowing him to decide on the open Market who to play for.. 

[joenamathwouldn'tcry]

5 hours ago, Warfish said:

Some people come to have honest and objective discussions and exchange opinions.

Some people come to be homers and tell others who aren't homers to sod off.

That's how I see it.  JN leans pretty hard to the homer and the community IMO doesn't really accept people who aren't, that's fine.  

Since this is the only good Jets forum, it is what it is.  As I've always said, people who don't like how or what I think are always free to ignore me.  No harm, no foul.  If what you want is positivity only with no debate or discussion, by all means, have at it.

What amazes me, if I'm being honest, is that I'm the only one apparently who finds describing this new player as a "great friggin human being" to be laughably over the top based on one interview.  I honestly don't know how to even start discussion with people who can't see why that is so silly.

The guy is a talent, he said the right things in an interview, and we all hope he's going to return to form and play like he did early in his career.  This interview says nothing about that, it's PR, good PR as I said originally, but clearly saying it was good isn't enough here.  It's your way or fifty posts giving me sh*t.  BE assured, this reaction is as tiresome to me as I clearly am to some of you.

Didn't want to get involved in this, but just a few points..  I agree with what @Dcat was saying.  I also respect your views and have noticed a change in your comments lately.  No, it doesn't bother me.  I thought the comment by @GREENBEAN was a good natured jibe, and was pretty funny.  Where it went from there was strange.  I don't consider you a contrarian, and you have a right to say whatever you want.

It's a funny thing about perception.  You seem to think that the site leans towards "homers".  I feel the opposite is true.  Some of us get regularly attacked for supporting any positive move that this team makes, especially as it relates to the GM.  There is a thread about the one who will remain nameless that has gone on for months. It's seemingly thousands of pages long.  Who cares?  But, when a thread is opened about recognizing some good off season moves that were made, all hell breaks loose.  Predictably.  It gets so bad that you think twice about posting something positive, knowing that you are going to have to fight off 5-10 of the same posters who have seemed to make a career of calling people "fanboys" or worse.  Threads that have nothing to do with the front office are littered with aspersions and snide remarks attesting to the failures and inadequacies of the aforementioned brain trust.  You are not one of them.

Like I said, I respect your opinion and hope you don't take the comments personally.  I don't think anyone in this thread does either.  We just want to be able to say positive things with the same freedom, that the negative posters have to express their views.  Regards.  Case in point.  The above post by the idiot @Jetsplayer21  that should illustrate the point.  Nice emoji's by the way, girlfriend.

[GREENBEAN]

6 hours ago, Warfish said:

Some people come to have honest and objective discussions and exchange opinions.

Some people come to be homers and tell others who aren't homers to sod off.

That's how I see it.  JN leans pretty hard to the homer and the community IMO doesn't really accept people who aren't, that's fine.  

Since this is the only good Jets forum, it is what it is.  As I've always said, people who don't like how or what I think are always free to ignore me.  No harm, no foul.  If what you want is positivity only with no debate or discussion, by all means, have at it.

What amazes me, if I'm being honest, is that I'm the only one apparently who finds describing this new player as a "great friggin human being" to be laughably over the top based on one interview.  I honestly don't know how to even start discussion with people who can't see why that is so silly.

The guy is a talent, he said the right things in an interview, and we all hope he's going to return to form and play like he did early in his career.  This interview says nothing about that, it's PR, good PR as I said originally, but clearly saying it was good isn't enough here.  It's your way or fifty posts giving me sh*t.  BE assured, this reaction is as tiresome to me as I clearly am to some of you.

What's really interesting is I deleted this post about one min after I sent it. I just rethought getting into it with you.  

But as the universe would see fit, here we are I suppose. I don't have that strong of thoughts about it all really, but I'll make a few points in mu long winded way. 

The thing with you is that you seem to stand on a perch. Sure you think that you're being constructive and that the positive types are homers and all that, but it's not really the case.   I looked through the thread and only saw one that said he was a great human being (I may have missed more). And it looked more humorous than anything else.  If you watch KO's tape, he is the most aggressive OL player that we've had since Mawae and O'dwyer before that. It's fun to think about grabbing a guy who brings a mean streak to the team. It's fun. You even agree with both the tape AND the words the guy said in the interview. Yet here we are. Sit back and think about that for a moment and ask why it is that you have to argue whether or not someone is a "good person" or whatever it was, even when you agree with everything else being said.  How is that being constructive and talking football in anyway? Who cares that someone wrote that in a moment of excitement? Why grab the insignificant detail and make a day of it?  I only chimed in because It looked to me that you were just attacking for the sake of attacking. It was early and I wrote what I wrote.  I certainly don't want to have some life long spat with you about it. I don't even mind you most of the time. 

The point I'll close with is that I have many many disagreements with guys on here. I'm a Macc supporter for Pete's sake!!  Outside of a few simple misunderstandings here or there, I never seem to be at war with anyone. You, on the other hand seem to be in some sort of heated argument most times I come across your posts (some of which I actually agree with). So I'll ask you what you think the problem is. You can come back and say you don't care and all that, which is fine, but I'll ask you to think about it. Maybe you'll be nicer at the end of it. Who knows? 

There is a saying that gets thrown around in my world often. It goes like this.  "If you see 3 a$$holes in one day...you're the 4th"   That's about as well as I can say it. 

 

 

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, GREENBEAN said:

What's really interesting is I deleted this post about one min after I sent it. I just rethought getting into it with you.

People often do, lol. 

Quote

But as the universe would see fit, here we are I suppose. I don't have that strong of thoughts about it all really, but I'll make a few points in mu long winded way.

No worries, I love long-winded, obviously.

Quote

The thing with you is that you seem to stand on a perch. Sure you think that you're being constructive and that the positive types are homers and all that, but it's not really the case.

We can agree to disagree.

Quote

I looked through the thread and only saw one that said he was a great human being (I may have missed more). And it looked more humorous than anything else.  If you watch KO's tape, he is the most aggressive OL player that we've had since Mawae and O'dwyer before that. It's fun to think about grabbing a guy who brings a mean streak to the team. It's fun. You even agree with both the tape AND the words the guy said in the interview. Yet here we are. Sit back and think about that for a moment and ask why it is that you have to argue whether or not someone is a "good person" or whatever it was, even when you agree with everything else being said.  How is that being constructive and talking football in anyway? Who cares that someone wrote that in a moment of excitement? Why grab the insignificant detail and make a day of it?  I only chimed in because It looked to me that you were just attacking for the sake of attacking. It was early and I wrote what I wrote.  I certainly don't want to have some life long spat with you about it.

No spat. 

My original post still stands as my view on the issue.  Talk is 100% meaningless unless they screw it up.  He didn't, so while it's fluff, it's good fluff.

Quote

I don't even mind you most of the time. 

Awww, thanks man.

Quote

The point I'll close with is that I have many many disagreements with guys on here. I'm a Macc supporter for Pete's sake!!

I'm so sorry for you.

Quote

Outside of a few simple misunderstandings here or there, I never seem to be at war with anyone. You, on the other hand seem to be in some sort of heated argument most times I come across your posts (some of which I actually agree with). So I'll ask you what you think the problem is. You can come back and say you don't care and all that, which is fine, but I'll ask you to think about it. Maybe you'll be nicer at the end of it. Who knows?

I don't think it's a problem!  I think it's great.  Spirited passionate discussion enlivens the soul, forces people to see other viewpoints, and question their own beliefs and thinking.  

If we all just posted "+1, I agree" the world would be a horrible boring empty place.

Quote

There is a saying that gets thrown around in my world often. It goes like this.  "If you see 3 a$$holes in one day...you're the 4th"   That's about as well as I can say it. 

I do love me some old time sayings.  

Even good men have bad days.  Maybe my posting radar was off today, who knows.  I appreciate I can be arrogant (extremely) and abrasive at times, and I freely admit, deeply dedicated cynic when it comes to the Jets.  

I didn't pick this avatar on accident, like Quint, perhaps I can be a dick too often.  It's certainly possible.

[Larz]

BTW, who has ever said quotes matter more than play on the field? 

This place is bizarre sometimes lol

[HelenOfTroy]

5 minutes ago, Larz said:

BTW, who has ever said quotes matter more than play on the field? 

This place is bizarre sometimes lol

Talk about making every damn thing hard.  ?

[nico002]

Warfish is an insufferable troll- ignore him.

[flgreen]

Scouting Jets guard Kelechi Osemele

33

By Bent  Mar 17, 2019, 10:00am EDT

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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

With the new league year underway, we’re going to break down each of the Jets’ new additions in detail. We start today with former Ravens and Raiders offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele.

The 29-year old Osemele is listed at 6’5” and 330 pounds and was a second round pick out of Iowa State back in 2012. He’s a two-time pro bowler and has started 93 games in his NFL career. Osemele was acquired from the Oakland Raiders for an exchange of day three picks and will be under contract for this year and next year.

Background

Osemele, whose parents come from Nigeria, was born in Houston and attended college at Iowa State, where he would go on to make 44 consecutive starts. In his senior year, he was named as an All-American and an All-Big 12 first-teamer.

Osemele was a projected first round pick, but lasted until the late second round before being selected by the Ravens. He began his career with them at right tackle, giving up seven sacks in his rookie season. However, he moved to left guard for the postseason and started all four games in the Ravens’ run to their second Super Bowl championship.

In his second season, Osemele moved to left guard permanently but got injured in week seven and ended up on injured reserve. However, he returned to start 14 games in the following season. In 2015 he was again the starter at left guard, but moved out to left tackle for the final four games.

Having signed a big money deal with the Raiders, Osemele moved back to left guard and helped Oakland to a 12-4 record. He earned an arguably overdue first pro bowl appearance at the end of that year and then went to the pro bowl again after the 2017 season.

2018 saw Osemele struggling with some injuries, a change in system and a unit-wide talent deficiency. He missed five starts and was probably less than 100 percent for most of the rest.

2019 gives Osemele a chance for a fresh start with the Jets, after they traded a fifth-round pick for him, while also receiving back a sixth-rounder in the deal. If he can bounce back to his pro bowl form that will be a massive upgrade over James Carpenter and will provide a big boost to the offensive line unit as a whole.

Now let’s take a look at what Osemele brings to the table, divided into categories.

Measurables/Athleticism

Although Osemele is listed at 330, he has been endeavoring to get into better shape following the struggles of last year and a recent social media post indicated he was now down to less than 300 pounds. Before his senior year at ISU, Osemele was actually listed at 347.

Osemele possesses a powerful frame and long arms and, although most of his combine numbers were below average, he did showcase the strength and explosiveness you can see on film with a good broad jump and 32 bench press reps.

Usage

As noted above, most of Osemele’s appearances at the NFL level have been at left guard, although he started out as a right tackle and held up surprisingly well in 2015 when asked to play left tackle down the stretch. He’s also played some snaps at right guard.

The plan will be for him to replace Carpenter as the starting left guard, but that experience elsewhere could be valuable in case the Jets need to shuffle the pack due to a gameday injury on the line.

Pass Protection

Osemele has posted outstanding pass protection numbers throughout his career, typically giving up less than two pressures per game on average. Since moving inside, he’s been particularly effective. He gave up three sacks last year, but that was the first time since his rookie season he’s given up more than two and one of those was when he was moved out to left tackle:

He had given up seven sacks when playing right tackle as a rookie, but his sack numbers have always been low when playing guard. To his credit, he didn’t give up a sack when he started the four games at left tackle in 2015 though.

When working inside, Osemele is able to move his feet well and uses his length effectively. He can anchor well against a bull rush and keeps battling through the whistle.

Run Blocking

Osemele is a powerful run blocker who will lock onto a block and drive his man forwards. He does an excellent job of staying on his block at the point of attack and will often create a surge and peel off to the second level.

At the second level, he can be very effective although he won’t always be able to lock onto his target in space:

The Raiders mostly operated out of a zone blocking system in Osemele’s first two seasons with them, but Jon Gruden installed a power running scheme last season, so Osemele was required to pull at times:

Short Yardage

Osemele is very effective in short yardage situations as his ability to fire off the line and get a drive on his man can open up some solid running lanes:

Screen Blocking

Osemele flashes the athleticism to get out in front of screen passes and is patient in terms of setting himself up with an angle to block his target out of the play:

On this play, Osemele sells the run action and then spins off his block to get to the outside. The safety isn’t fooled and is able to get out ahead of Osemele so he can’t seal him to the inside. However, he quickly reacts and turns his attention to the defensive end, who he takes out to prevent him from chasing the play down when the runner cuts back:

Footwork/Technique

Osemele was regarded as raw when he first entered the league, but his footwork is excellent and he is able to recover quickly when losing a leverage advantage by adjusting his hand placement and battling to stay in control.

In pass protection, you can see he moves his feet well and is ready to repel the interior rusher’s first move:

One of the things that makes Osemele so effective as a run blocker is how he sets up his blocks. He really has a strong understanding of angles and you’ll see him square himself up perfectly before he initiates contact in the trenches.

Once he’s got his hands on his opponent, Osemele can overwhelm him. Look how he keeps his feet driving on this play, but without allowing Darron Lee to leverage his way off the block:

All-pro defensive lineman Gerald McCoy talked in depth about Osemele’s technical skill in a 2017 article for the Player’s Tribune.

The best thing you can do against Kelechi is to get him moving his feet. Because if you don’t, and you let him get leverage on you … man, he’s gonna punish you. I mean, he’s 6′ 5″, maybe 6′ 6″, and like 330 pounds. He’s a space eater. But he’s also athletic. He’s super strong and he has huge hands.

Seriously … you don’t wanna lock up with him. But if you do, you better hope your hands are inside. Because if he gets his hands inside, it’s gonna be a long day for you.

See, what he does is, when he gets his hands inside, he waits for you to try and shed the block — to spin or twist off him — and then he uses your weight against you to put you on the ground. That’s his counter. He won’t grab you and swing you, like a hip toss, which would be a penalty. He just uses your momentum against you and straight slams you — just runs you into the ground. That’s legal, and he’s perfected it.

Aggressiveness/Physicality

In the same article, McCoy describes Osemele as “nasty” and “flat-out mean” and it’s easy to see evidence of that when watching Osemele’s film.

He’ll often bury his man, as McCoy describes above, keeps blocking or looking for someone else to block until the whistle and will lay the lumber when helping out in pass protection:

Simply put, he’s a finisher. He doesn’t just block his guy for two seconds and then the pass is thrown and his job is done. He’ll stay on that man and drive him back and throw him to the ground if he can, but without being so over-aggressive that players can exploit this and get past him. It’s the kind of thing that can fire up and inspire teammates, coaches and the fanbase.

Penalties

 

Penalties haven’t been a major issue for Osemele in his career. He’s averaged six per season with a high of eight, but has had just four in each of the last two seasons and only had one after week two last year.

Just under half of his penalties have been for holding, but that’s still less than three holding penalties per year on average.

Despite the fact he doles out punishment, battles hard and is often still scrapping with his man after the whistle has blown, Osemele has only been called for three 15-yard penalties in his career, one of which was a face mask penalty.

Special Teams

Osemele has only ever contributed as a blocker on the placekicking unit at the pro level and wouldn’t be counted on for many special teams contributions with the Jets.

Instincts/Intelligence

In college, Osemele was on the academic honor roll three times, so he’s obviously smart and he displays this on the field, especially in pass protection where he is often the spare man and identifies who to give help to.

He’s also excellent at anticipating and dealing with stunts, although he was a step late in giving help on this play from last season:

As a run blocker, Osemele again exhibits good awareness as he will adjust his leverage accordingly when runs are bounced outside or in cutback situations. He also shows good instincts in terms of finding someone to block and anticipating where he needs to be to cut them off in space.

Osemele doesn’t seem to make many mental errors, but he has been called for 13 false starts and three illegal formation penalties. He’s only been called for one of these since 2016 though.

Attitude

As already noted, Osemele consistently displays aggressiveness, hustle and effort from the snap to (after) the whistle. His on-field demeanor is excitable and infectious, but he’s not a dirty player and, while things can get chippy, he doesn’t seem to take things too far in terms of trash talk or fighting.

Off the field Osemele is a popular teammate who is a good leader and has been a team captain. He has dispelled the work ethic concerns some draft experts had when he entered the league and doesn’t have any off-field issues.

Injuries

Osemele did start the season opener last year, but he had been missing practice time in the lead-up to it with a back issue. Later in the year, he missed time with a knee problem and then at the end of the year he was dealing with a toe issue.

While none of these were serious, they caused him to miss five starts and probably affected his performance in the other games. The Raiders were also fined for filing an incorrect injury report on him, so may have been trying to mask the severity and getting him to play through some things.

Osemele also had a back issue in 2013. This required him to go on injured reserve and miss the last nine games as he required surgery.

In college, he played through some ankle issues in his senior year, but didn’t miss any starts.

Scheme Fit

The Jets’ system under Adam Gase, with Frank Pollack as the offensive line coach, should be a better fit for Osemele. They’re expected to lean mostly on zone blocking schemes rather than the power schemes introduced by Jon Gruden last year.

With Le’Veon Bell now on board, the Jets desperately need offensive linemen who can sustain and stay on their blocks in order to set up Bell’s patient style. Osemele is excellent at this, so the two could be crucial to one another’s success.

Conclusions

Osemele is obvious an impressive physical specimen with natural ability who has put together a great career. The only concern would be whether he’s on the downside of that career now, especially after he was less effective than in the past with the 2018 Raiders.

However, there were some obvious reasons behind that. In a better-suited system and with the extra efforts he’s made to ensure he’s in great shape, hopefully Osemele will have eradicated those issues and can go back to being dominant in 2019.

Even from watching his 2018 film, he still looks the part, still brings that nastiness and still has moments where he single-handedly sets up a successful play or prevents a disaster. The unit as a whole struggled due to all the changes and the rookies who were thrown to the lions, so that brought everyone’s performance down, but Osemele still played convincingly enough to show that he still has what it takes to be dominant.

If it doesn’t work out, the Jets are not necessarily on the hook for the second year of his contract, so it’s a low-risk move. They’ll be hoping his presence elevates the unit and gives this new-look Jets offense pride in their new identity.

[Thai Jet]

On 3/15/2019 at 3:04 PM, ChuckkieB said:

I like this guy!

Sounds like he's doing things right so far.

[flgreen]

 

Thought this was one of the better moves the Jets made so far.   Article said he's under 300 # now.  Not sure if I like that.

Sam's out training with Jordan Palmer, Maybe we should send K O out to train with Dr. @Crusher 

[Awesumtenor]

On 3/16/2019 at 7:25 AM, rldev said:

Love them too, but not so much live as they are a bit robotic.

I read that they never intended to be a touring band but their popularity kinda forced it. Left to their own devices they’d have just been a studio band...

[NoBowles]

On 3/16/2019 at 11:00 AM, Warfish said:

Some people come to have honest and objective discussions and exchange opinions.

Some people come to be homers and tell others who aren't homers to sod off.

That's how I see it.  JN leans pretty hard to the homer and the community IMO doesn't really accept people who aren't, that's fine.  

Since this is the only good Jets forum, it is what it is.  As I've always said, people who don't like how or what I think are always free to ignore me.  No harm, no foul.  If what you want is positivity only with no debate or discussion, by all means, have at it.

What amazes me, if I'm being honest, is that I'm the only one apparently who finds describing this new player as a "great friggin human being" to be laughably over the top based on one interview.  I honestly don't know how to even start discussion with people who can't see why that is so silly.

The guy is a talent, he said the right things in an interview, and we all hope he's going to return to form and play like he did early in his career.  This interview says nothing about that, it's PR, good PR as I said originally, but clearly saying it was good isn't enough here.  It's your way or fifty posts giving me sh*t.  BE assured, this reaction is as tiresome to me as I clearly am to some of you.

Its funny, I think JN leads much more towards the agenda community. A lot of the posters take a negative stance on a GM, coach or player, and then once they take that stance, they will go above and beyond to prove their stance is correct, and never ever give credit for anything positive. Everyone comes here for their own reasons, and its all good, I just have a very different perception than you do.

[HelenOfTroy]

Some people never evolved from the Romans and Gladiator sport mentality...all they care about is being entertained, winning and not caring how it’s done or by the character of those that win on the field.  

They dehumanize athletes by not caring or bothering to learn about the player as a man.  Fluff.