Saleh has Gase wide eyes open at a safety to LB conversion with tools

[hmhertz]

Tariq Carpenter, Georgia Tech

Tariq Carpenter is all over draft boards at several positions since draft meetings ended last week. He’s also an interesting study. The former safety from Georgia Tech came to the Senior Bowl and played outside linebacker. Carpenter was not invited to the Combine but turned in outstanding numbers during pro day workouts. At 6’3″ and 230 pounds, Carpenter timed 4.47 seconds in the 40, touched 41 inches in the vertical jump, and reached 11’4″ in the broad jump.

He’s had official 30 visits with the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. Some teams have Carpenter on their safety board. Meanwhile, others have him listed as a linebacker, including the New York Jets.

[Beerfish]

About the size and a better athlete than Kyle Hamilton and yet people want to shoe horn Hamilton to the jets in this draft

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

16 hours ago, hmhertz said:

Tariq Carpenter, Georgia Tech

Tariq Carpenter is all over draft boards at several positions since draft meetings ended last week. He’s also an interesting study. The former safety from Georgia Tech came to the Senior Bowl and played outside linebacker. Carpenter was not invited to the Combine but turned in outstanding numbers during pro day workouts. At 6’3″ and 230 pounds, Carpenter timed 4.47 seconds in the 40, touched 41 inches in the vertical jump, and reached 11’4″ in the broad jump.

He’s had official 30 visits with the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. Some teams have Carpenter on their safety board. Meanwhile, others have him listed as a linebacker, including the New York Jets.

It’s such a relevant topic too since our weakest position group on the team is LBs, yet you barely hear anything about it here or elsewhere.

We were near the bottom in run defense and gave up 4.5 yards per carry, couldn’t cover TEs or stop the screen game.  
 

[redlichtie]

10 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

It’s such a relevant topic too since our weakest position group on the team is LBs, yet you barely hear anything about it here or elsewhere.

We were near the bottom in run defense and gave up 4.5 yards per carry, couldn’t cover TEs or stop the screen game.  
 

So true, makes you wonder whether a guy like Devin Lloyd is in play….personally not sure if he’s worthy of top 10 (can you imagine this place if that happened?) but if a trade back does happen it would be interesting and certainly fill a need with an outstanding prospect….his production is phenomenal . 

I’d sooner we went Lloyd than another OT at 4 or 10…Muma is another guy to consider maybe on day 2(if he lasts that far)

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

5 minutes ago, redlichtie said:

So true, makes you wonder whether a guy like Devin Lloyd is in play….personally not sure if he’s worthy of top 10 (can you imagine this place if that happened?) but if a trade back does happen it would be interesting and certainly fill a need with an outstanding prospect….his production is phenomenal . 

I’d sooner we went Lloyd than another OT at 4 or 10…Muma is another guy to consider maybe on day 2(if he lasts that far)

Amen.  I’d love another OT, C, RB and other positions but unless they are so far above everyone else as best player available, I don’t see how we can ignore LB in the first 2 rounds— especially when you consider we need a replacement for Mosley who carries an $18M+ cap hit next year if retained.

[peekskill68]

I'm still not sure I buy into this smurfs LB model.  Even a FB outweighs them and they're injured too much. 

[IntoTheGreen]

Sterling Weatherford, S (Miami-OH) is another kid who looks enticing for our D. I havent watched any film, but 6'4 225 and seemingly good athletic numbers.

[CanadaSteve]

Every time we start talking about drafting undersized LB's, I can't help but picture this guy in my head:

[Larz]

We already solved that with Sherwood 

[PepPep]

1 hour ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

It’s such a relevant topic too since our weakest position group on the team is LBs, yet you barely hear anything about it here or elsewhere.

We were near the bottom in run defense and gave up 4.5 yards per carry, couldn’t cover TEs or stop the screen game.  
 

Yup. I agree. Three reasons why I think you haven't heard much. 

1. Of course, JD is tight lipped about things that ACTUALLY matter to the Jets. You will hear the same stuff of 'we build through the draft' and 'we want to take care of the trenches' and 'we think X player is great'. But that's as much as you will get from him. 

2. I think the Jets still really do like Nas and Sherwood. These guys were drafted as developmental LBs and both got hurt in their rookie season. I think Saleh believes one of them will be able to take over that Will spot. Personally, Sherwood has the edge on that, even though I believe Nas is the more talented player. I just think Nas is more of a pure safety in a LBs body, despite Saleh trying to convert him. 

3. The emergence of Quincy last year. Plain and simple. Quincy Williams was a bit of a revelation last year. He still has room to grow but I think the Jets like him enough to give him a legit opportunity to start at the SAM.  

So the Jets probably feel like they are not in the WORST shape at LB. Yes, we will see them draft someone- I'm sure of it. Yes, we will probably see a low level FA added to compete or for depth. But I don't think the Jets are feeling desperate for LB help- like they are for a top tier WR or impact Edge rusher to complement Lawson- whos a question mark coming off injury. 

[Hex]

[PepPep]

2 hours ago, redlichtie said:

So true, makes you wonder whether a guy like Devin Lloyd is in play….personally not sure if he’s worthy of top 10 (can you imagine this place if that happened?) but if a trade back does happen it would be interesting and certainly fill a need with an outstanding prospect….his production is phenomenal . 

I’d sooner we went Lloyd than another OT at 4 or 10…Muma is another guy to consider maybe on day 2(if he lasts that far)

To me, Lloyd is a game-changer and easily the most complete, NFL ready LB in this draft. He may not be the most athletic or talented but he is talented enough to be dominant at the next level. I get Darius Leonard/Fred Warner vibes from him. His coombine numbers and measurables are very similar. His instincts are fantastic. Probably the most important trait in an ILB. His production is elite. He will most likely go in the top 15. I have no issue taking him at 10 if the Jets like him and want to go in that direction. I've been posting about him ad nauseum lately but a scenario of Thib at 4, Lloyd at 10 and a trade up for Olave would be a fantastic draft for me. Jets seem to really like Burks so maybe Burks would be the target when moving up.     

[Biggs]

1 hour ago, peekskill68 said:

I'm still not sure I buy into this smurfs LB model.  Even a FB outweighs them and they're injured too much. 

The Cardinals drafted Deone Bucannon late in the first round of the 2014 draft.  Hit like a mack truck in the running game.  The moved him to linebacker and when he was healthy he was very good.  He had 1 16 game season at LB and was out of the league 4 years later after 1 full season at LB.  He was nicked up and hurt every year.  

The Pats kill teams with smurf linebackers and Allen abuses them.  

[peekskill68]

34 minutes ago, PepPep said:

So the Jets probably feel like they are not in the WORST shape at LB. Yes, we will see them draft someone- I'm sure of it. Yes, we will probably see a low level FA added to compete or for depth. But I don't think the Jets are feeling desperate for LB help- like they are for a top tier WR or impact Edge rusher to complement Lawson- whos a question mark coming off injury. 

Good post but I question this last comment.  There is a strong bias on this site to max out on offense to help assess Wilson and to overcompensate for the Gore Era.  Asking your 2nd year QB to go toe-to-toe against opponents dropping 40 a week on your defense is tough.  It would not surprise me to see a LB taken pretty early...

[PepPep]

6 minutes ago, peekskill68 said:

Good post but I question this last comment.  There is a strong bias on this site to max out on offense to help assess Wilson and to overcompensate for the Gore Era.  Asking your 2nd year QB to go toe-to-toe against opponents dropping 40 a week on your defense is tough.  It would not surprise me to see a LB taken pretty early...

Sure, and hey, I'm the one on here screaming for Lloyd in Rd. 1. 

But what is early? The Jets have x2 first rounders. Odds are they will go Edge and WR with those picks. So those are the two positions they are more desperate for. They also have x2 second rounders. If they don't trade up, its very possible they draft a LB in Rd. 2. Again, as I said, I want them to trade up for Lloyd or take him at 10. But I would also not be surprised AT ALL if the Jets take a different route and wait to draft a LB until Rd. 3 or 4. Is that late? It's not early but I wouldn't call it late in the draft. 

For example. Here's a very Jetsy scenario I mentioned before that I could see happening. Sauce at 4, Walker at 10, trade up from Rd. 2 to snag Burks somewhere in the early twenties of Rd. 1. I think JD will NOT give up both second rounders for this but instead move a 2023 pick and one of our 4ths or something like that. So we still have Seattles 2nd round pick and the Jets take an OT or someone like Lewis Cine- a safety/CB but a player they have high on their board. That would make a ton of sense to me and would push back LB to Rd. 3 or 4 or maybe even 5. It's a very plausible scenario. Not what I prefer. But plausible. And in this scenario there is PLENTY of help added for the defense. If anything, you're hoping JD starts to add more offense.     

[slats]

3 hours ago, peekskill68 said:

I'm still not sure I buy into this smurfs LB model.  Even a FB outweighs them and they're injured too much. 

They’re going for pass defense first. Looking for LBs who can cover. We ran a 3-4 forever, which needs bigger LBs behind the DL, but Saleh’s looking for speedy guys in pass and run support. Problem is when you’re facing an offense that plans to run the ball down your throat. 
 
While I agree that LB is a need, I don’t see it as a huge one. In reality, their base defense will be 4-2-5. How many LBs do you need? Easy to argue that the ‘tweeners make a lot of sense for what they’ll be asked to do here. Basically, a lot of running, lol. Having a couple guys who can play that moneybacker role is also smart in this day and age. And really, how many NFL teams even have a FB on the roster anymore? 

[Marshmello]