Sherrod Martin would be that kind of signing. He's a ball hawking cover safety not too physical with a injury riddled history.
The Jets & Kerry Rhodes need eachother. Whether they want to admit it or not. Rhodes is the rangy center fielder Rex's D has lacked. Rhodes seemed to thrive in the NY market. He's not the long term answer but he's still an explosive athlete. A 2 year deal for them to put their differences aside would be smart.
Every team has divas..what exactly makes Rhodes soft? If he can upgrade the safety position cheaply(he can) who cares if he is past his prime?
Safety position hasn't been the same since Sherry left ... I hated how he went all Hollywood with us celebrating instead of recovering a fumble, but I guess time could heal all especially when your job is on the line
I'm having trouble thinking of another diva at Safety. He's soft as he doesn't like to tackle, or do any of the physical dirty work required of the position. He also is more concerned with celebration and looking pretty on the field, rather than finishing off plays. And who appoints themselves as a team leader? He is the embodiment of style over substance, with not enough of either to make him worth it even when he was in his prime. Why do you think Ryan and company jettisoned him out of here first chance they got?
LOL at "what makes Kerry Rhodes soft?" How about his entire career defending the run? You would think that some people didn't watch him play for the years he was a Jet. The guy compiles gaudy stats against bad quarterbacks. One of the most overrated players in the league. He had a ton of promise in his first couple of years and has never come close to living up to it.
I never said he was perfect. He's below average against the run..so i guess you could say he is soft in that sense. But he's more of a coverage safety.Very rangy w/ size to boot. Even if he is just a 3rd down safety, he is worth it to have as the center fielder in long range passing situations at the vet minimum. So he isn't the model Rex Ryan defender. He doesn't have to be. He'd fill a huge void till the Jets find their long term answer at free safety.
Imagine if we would have taken Kenny Vaccaro at 13 instead of Richardson. Wow. We could have had a serious secondary.
I always preferred to see Kerry getting run over to whatever the fuck it was that Eric Smith pretended to do against the pass. At least when you have a weak run stopper they can put some contact on the play to slow the guy down and get help to finish more often than not. When you have guys that can't do anything about playing the pass it's a touchdown waiting to happen every single play, not to mention all of the other weaknesses it creates in protection all over the field. Leonhard was the consummate pro for someone with 0 athletic ability but I thought Rhodes was still more effective than him in a lot of situations. I think he was underutilized when he was here and cutting ties with Rhodes to showcase the Eric Smith shitshow has to be seen as one of the major failings of the Tannenbaum era. Not to say that Rhodes was such an amazing player because he wasn't but the move should've been keeping Rhodes and looking for more people to come in to keep Smith off the field rather than the complete opposite. TE was the biggest weakness and now I would say safety is next up after signing Winslow. Rhodes is whatever he is but he would still have to be an upgrade situationally at the least. Whether it's him or someone else, I hope to see a safety added to the roster.
Vaccaro would've been a great pick. That said I don't think he'd solve the Jets centerfielder woes.He's more of a ball hawking strong safety type. Love Richardsons ability to penetrate. Wish he had better pass rush #'s & was better against the run.
I am really excited to see that front 7 and I think it is going to be an elite defensive line, but I think they could have held their own without Richardson. I'm just worried that the safeties are constantly going to get beat this year. That is by far the weakest link of our defense.
