Live report from the Green- white scrimmage on saturday

[Kentucky Jet]

Live report from the Green- White scrimmage

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I was there on saturday. It was a tough weather day! Rain and lightening. It stopped the practice for 20 minutes. However, I was there long before the scrimmage started and watched individual matchups and various drills.

The team is in great physical shape. Sal Alosi has this team standing tall.

Pre-game drills:

Bubba Franks was very imposing and physical. He did drop a few though. Dwight Lowery does not look very rookish. He plays like a vet. Is a tad bit slow but seems to alwways be around the ball. DREW COLEMAN is fast but short! he is pretty good, IMO. Kris Jenkins is a giant among men. WOW! He is a relentless, tough guy. GHOLSTON is quick but reading and then reacting. He does not yet look explosive. KELLER is everything that they write about him. He is a very excellent draft pick. Pace looks like the real deal and BT was training very hard. IMO Bender ought to find a new occupation. CLOWNEY & STUCKEY are really battling for a position. Brad Smith looks like a receiver these days. WALLACE WRIGHT is also very impressive. great anticipation and excellent speeed & toughness. NEON LEON is just THAT! The guy stands out! TJ is tough and quicker then I thought. CODY SPENCER deserves playing time. Robert Turner( OG) is a tough guy that goes until the whistle blows. Oldenburg is a comer too at RT. #71 Nate garner is a willing blocker but needs much work. I think he can do the job but Damien WOODY has the job for now! Ellis is very quick these days. BRANDON MOORE looks MUCH stronger and bigger these days. he practices hard.

The QUARTERBACKS- Pennington looks very polished in the pocket. His arm is what it has been. When he keeps his feet set he gets some mustard on the ball. I failed to see him hit a receiver in stride though. Most times when he is forced out of the pocket or to move around, his arm strength is not there nor is his accuracy. In a pre-game drill I saw RATLIFF & CHAD throw at the same time a 15 yard out pass. Ratliff's receiver caught the ball and was truning to run while Cotchery was just gewtting the ball from Chad. There was no pop on the pass at all. Yet, in the game CHAD threw a pass of beauty against MILLER ( poor coverage) for a TD.

Kellen- has a very good arm and is very elusive in the pocket. He rifles the ball well on the move. IMO he does look a wee bit short. I was standing behind the end zone and could see the trouble he was having seeing over the onrushing lineman. Yet he did get the ball down the field. In the game Kellen threw a rocket to Keller for a TD.

Ratliff- looked to have a great arm and much patience in the pocket. His accuracy was way off though. He has a very quick release and it makes CHAD's look even slower. in practice it was CHAD and BRETT working together. Ainge worked with Kellen.

Ainge- has a nice release AT TIMES and has some arm strength. He does not seem to release the ball well when under pressure. This plagues young QBs in general. He is tall and also moves fairly well. He had a tendency tpo jump up to throw a few times and was inaccurate. IMO he is a few years away, if ever. But I'd like to see us develop him and Ratliff too.

RHODES practices as he plays- all out! This is an all-pro in the making. JUSTIN MILLER can play CB and REVIS is also an ALL-PRO type!

Faneca is the OL leader without a doubt. It will open holes for the run game without a doubt. BRICK looks quick, strong and a bit bigger. He ate GHOLSTONS lunch in practice. Give GHOLSTON time say by game 6. It will be a different story.

Cotchery looks great! #2 Paul Raymond is very , very fast! He could be a PS candidate at WR. POUHA looks small next to Jenkins! Tony Richardson can really block at the FB position.

The SCRIMMAGE- was a typical Jet game from last year. BORING! BORING! BORING!

I'd love to say that the DEFENSE was great and limited ALL our QBs but that would be lying. I will say that the weather caused many, many dropped passes especially from Clemens and Ratliff. Ainge threw into the ground many times. Bender could have got CLEMENS killed by KAREEM BROWN. ( This player looks excellent)

The WHITE team looked outcoached and overall the whole white team was quiet. The GREEN team was coached by MANGINI and looked alive. LEON WASHINGTON dropped three passes and hurt the QB. KELLER, at the end of the game , was going for a bomb from Kellen and was stepped on by the CB. He came up limping. After the game he said that it was not bad and did not expect to lose any time. The JETS NEED this player! MARQUES MURELL, LB was very quick in this scrimmage and looked like he belongs!

The score ended up being 10 to 7. shades of last season gut turning performances. Yet, I feel this team will open it up in the regular season!

Who will be our QB? From what I saw on Saturday, CHAD & KELLEN are in a tie. CHAD looks more professional while Kellen looks like a much better athlete. He brings the ability to buy time with his feet and has the arm to get it to a receiver on the run. He is far from polished and in need of playing time. If he starts the season, by game 5 or 6 he will be a pretty good QB still with a ways to go but capable of winning 9 games.

If they go with CHAD, they can expect leadership, professionalism and 9 wins..

I like Kellen's upside and if I was thinking about the long run, I'd go with him as a starter. Yet, CHAD gets too much money to be a #2. I am gald ERIC has to make the decision.

I loved watching KELLER and KELLEN weork together. That could be potent and hazardous to other NFL teams! The guy creates so many matchup problems and you know his speed is unquestioned. CLOWNEY adds that to the equation too. BUBBA is a big guy but drops many passes.

I loved the talent I saw at HOFSTRA Saturday. This team is up and coming. We should pick a QB by pre-season game #2 and go with him, regardless of who is picked.

I read where someone said that MARTY LYONS said that KELLEN won the battle on Saturday. I will add that if his passes that were dropped , weren't dropped by Leon washington, his stats would have been great. Yet Chad had some dropped too. Chad did have the benefit of the better team though. I saw a tie between the two. Each brigns something different to the table. IMO if it ends in a tie in camp, the young guy brings a bit more athleticism to the table. Play him and hope he continues to learn. I think if CHAD can accept being second to Kellen, he will be the best backup in the NFL. That will makle our team much stronger and that is what really matters. WE ARE ON OUR WAY. THIS is A TALENTED TEAM AND IS GETTING set TO ROAR like a JET engine!

[Sperm Edwards]

Excellent report, KJ. Thanks!