Lol. SHouldnt you be faster trying to rush the passer ? Donnie edwards, teddi bruschi, James Farrior. Not fast guys by any means.
If Barlow says he felt like he was playing on one leg, than how did he pass our physical? I am not sure I buy the excuse.
I don't want a guy like Banta-Cain brought in. He's like a better version of Chatham, and while I love bringing in role players for the 3-4 I'd much rather draft a passrushing monster in either rounds 1 or 2 then patch a hole with a guy like Banta-Cain.
Speed is more of a necessity at OLB in the 34 then at ILB. Hobson was born to play MLB, he's a beast one-on-one and has the size despite what people say about his height... He's 250+ pounds. Hobson would be a GREAT ILB, I'd actually support switching him and Barton positions. At the same time though, Hobson surprised everyone and played outstanding at OLB this year too. 100 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 FF, a pick and a TD, that's called making plays. Hobson has a place in this defense, and could be effective at both the OLB and ILB positions. I was down on Hobson at the start of the season, he's one of those guys who has flourished within Mangini's system.
Nice article. I'd take Cedric Houston over Kevan Barlow 99% of the time. I hope the staff feels the same way.
Thats good to hear that they like Hobson and are looking to lock him up long term. He had a very good year this year.
I understand where you're coming from with this belief, but I think your underestimating the difficulty of finding this pass-rushing monster. Just to take last year as an example, the top three 3-4 OLB prospects (Wimbley, Carpenter and Lawson) were all gone by pick #22. With more teams playing the 3-4 defense, I have to seriously wonder if this 3-4 monster will be there.
We are all kind of fooled by the Jets this year, 10-6 was amazing espcially since we do nothing but special teams well. We were 10-6 due in large part to who we played. This Jets team needs a lot of help still. Our defense stunk this year, don't let second half stats fool you keep in mind some of the offenses we played... The front 7 need a lot of help they are great for a 4-3 but bad for a 3-4, remember that Raiders RB looking like a 1500 yard rusher against us??? Back on point, players like Hobson aren't as good as some of you think, he is slow, not very talented, D-Rob never panned out, NT is the anchor of a 3-4, without a good one, you get run on, hence the Jets D. Jets have a lot of holes to fill, next year the bar has been raised a tad bit too high. Unless we have a killer draft and sign some great free agents, 8-8, 9-7 season at the most.
I think its great to build through the draft but what bothers me about that is we may end up with player eating up cap space that are not producing for the team. Shlegel and Miller are players that come to mind. At least by adding a free agent player you are adding someone who can produce straight away. Positions like NT just take too long to develop through the draft unless you can have draft a guy in who can come in for spells behind a regular starter.
I agree with you that it is hard to find a pass rushing monster in the draft. BUT, thankfully, this draft is LOADED with pass rushers of both the 4-3 AND 3-4 variety. Here is a quick and definitely not complete list (in a somewhat most-to-least talented order): Gaines Adams, Clemson Quentin Moses, Georgia LaMarr Woodley, Michigan Charles Johnson, Georgia Jarvis Moss, Florida Victor Abiamiri, ND Anthony Spencer, Purdue At least 1 of those guys will be available at 25, and probably 37 as well.
Born to play MLB? Not in the 3-4, hes way to small. We need someone big that is not going to get manhandled by offensive lines.
We only have two picks now. My guess is the Jets trade down a bit on the first day somewhere and pick up an extra pick or two on the second day, it's their MO based on one year's results. The people we got for the two second day picks were Barlow (4th) and Ramsey (6th). All things considered I think the picks were well spent. Chad didn't go down, but there was no way to know that, and getting stuck with no QB for the second year in a row would have been devastating to the Jets. Barlow was worth the pick just for contributing so much to the Jets win in Foxboro in my opinion. Gotta start beating those guys sometime. Depending on what kind of roster bonus he's due I would definitely bring Barlow back next season to see if he can recover some of his form. For a 4th round pick you need to take two looks at the guy unless economic considerations strongly argue against it.
Barton can play inside or outside. Hobson is SLOW and really can't play either place, at least not unless he learns to hit like a truck.
Hobson is 6'0 252 pounds. Vilma is 6'1 231 pounds. Eric Barton is 6'2 245 pounds.... Hobson is heavier than both of our current ILB. You don't need to be fast at 34 ILB. That's why Vilma was so ineffective this year, his sideline-to-sideline dominance was useless.
Pretty sure that we spent the 4th rounder on Leon Washingon and traded a 2007 4th rounder for Barlow.
