Jets Training Camp: 3 Things To Look Out For
The Jets began their training camp yesterday and everyone was ready to get to work under new coach Robert Saleh. Only one thing was missing. Their starting QB. Zach Wilson.
The reason Wilson hasn’t showed up to camp yet is because he still hasn’t signed his contract. The Jets (and this is a pre-Joe Douglas thing) always include some tricky offset language in their contracts. This causes some guys to take longer to sign. We saw it with Sam Darnold in 2018 when he was entering his first season with the Jets too.
I believe Wilson and the Jets will get the contract signed in short time. While that is going on, I wanted to focus on some other key things to look out for this year at The Atlantic Health Training Center:
Who Will Fill Out The TE Role?
One thing that Jets fans should keep their eye on is who will be getting most of the first-team reps at tight end. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur will be running an offense that will heavily rely on having a competent TE in order to open up space for other receivers and rushers.
The Jets ultimately have 4 options here: Chris Herndon, Tyler Kroft, Ryan Griffin, and Kenny Yeboah. Out of these four guys, I think the Jets will likely run with 1. Kroft, 2. Herndon, and 3. Griffin.
Of the three, Kroft had the best overall season in his 2017 season. He had 404 yards and pulled in 7 TDs with the Bengals that year. Griffin had a very solid year in 2019 with the Jets, grabbing 5 TDs and 320 yards. Herndon has shown flashes of being a very good tight end, but has not strung together a consistent season yet to prove his worth.
Saleh Handling The Media
One thing we have seen and hopefully continue to see is coach Robert Saleh and the way he deals with the pressing questions of the Jets Beat.
It has been a breath of fresh air watching Saleh take questions from the media when comparing him to the way former coach Adam Gase would handle them. Gase always seemed to get hostile when asked questions, whereas Saleh seems collected.
Saleh was asked today about Zach Wilson and his contract negotiations. Saleh did not seem too worried about the negotiations and calmly said that he believes that Douglas would figure it all out.
Young Defensive Backs
I don’t think there are many guarantees in the secondary for this young Jets defense. The only players in the secondary that are locks to start are Marcus Maye, Blessuan Austin, and Bryce Hall.
As I previously mentioned, the Jets drafted a bunch of young defensive backs in the late rounds of the 2021 draft. Coach Saleh mentioned that he is looking to use a lot of young guys in his secondary.
He put a lot of attention on his defensive line and wants the young guys to be able to play from the inside out, that is, allowing the D-Line to get to the ball and thus putting less pressure on the secondary.
Look for guys such as Jason Pinnock out of Pitt and Michael Carter II out of Duke to make a push for starting roles in this secondary. This especially being true with the slot corner spot opening up, as Brian Poole recently has signed with the Saints.
Should We Overreact?
Obviously when it comes to training camp, there will always be some drama and some question marks. My opinion is that the first couple weeks of training camp serves as a good way to get the team together and on the same page before the season starts. I do not think we should look too much into who is getting a lot of reps and who is fighting with who for a spot.
-Tom D (@ThomasDiRusso on Twitter)
Feat. image courtesy of Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
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