There's been a lot of concern over our FS spot with the signing of all these "in the box" safeties. Raises 3 questions in my head that I'm hoping some brains here can help me work through - How much faith does Rex & Co have in Bush? - Do all these "In the Box" Eric Smith replacements mean Jimmy is gonna be back? - What are the other options? I have to assume Rex wants his guy Jimmy back, and If he is healthy he's really the best option avail unless tanny can work some trade magic. We can't go into the season with E. Smith as our best most veteran coverage safety and the field general. Even if Revis steps up as more of a leader this year, Even if we switch to this "Big Nickel" We still need someone we can trust to play center field. All the veterans we have on roster have proven they lack the range to play the position in the NFL. "Huge strides in rehab the last couple days. Breaking through barriers every day. Thanks for the support." @jimleaonhard
The Jets will sign Leonhard again. Just watch. He's not a great FS by any means but he will be better in centerfield than anybody the Jets currently have on the roster.
I'm fully expecting that the Jets defense is going to be much different looking then the last 3 years. Pace, Scott and Thomas should never be in coverage at this point. I expect to see more 4 down lineman sets and more 3 safety sets. The days of Harris, Scott, Pace, Thomas and 3 down lineman playing 1st and 2nd down are over.
My thinking is that the Jets like their cornerbacks well enough to not feel like they need a true center fielder on the back end, at least not a natural one. Landry has the athleticism to do the job (if he's healthy and his weight is down) but generally speaking I think Rex is more concerned about having playmakers in the middle of the field than having a guy who can line up as a single high safety and still defend the sidelines. Also, I don't understand the conviction on the part of some writers that signing Yeremiah Bell means Leonhard won't be back. Unless Leonhard gets a better offer somewhere else, I can't imagine a reason why the Jets wouldn't bring him in to camp on a cheap deal and see how he fits in with what they've got. Bringing seven safeties to training camp is hardly unthinkable, especially when half of them are rookies and the other half have serious injury concerns. Once these guys get to camp and start showing the coaches what they can and can't do, thats when Ryan and Pettine will start drawing up plans for the 2012 defense.
The Jets won at least one game last season because they had a FS capable of doing the deep centerfield job, that being the Cowboys game at the start of the season. If Jim Leonhard doesn't chase Jason Witten down from behind and put him out of bounds at the 3 yard line the Jets lose that game. Romo subsequently coughed the ball up and that was the difference in the game. Put any of the guys we have currently at FS on that play and the game is over.
This ++ As good as Rex is at designing up pressure, I think he needs that trustworthy guy back there to allow him to confidently call his crazy blitzes. If we get burned a couple times cause our safeties can't cover that ball or chase down a broken play we'll have to go more conservative, and that's not the Rex ball I want to see on defense.
All I know is that FS will be our top priority in the draft for next year if we don't somehow get Dashon Goldson
Also don't forget Poole was critical in helping force the Revis interception that won us the game. I don't think Landry is that bad in coverage, though. I see us using a lot of safety blitzing packages this year. That seems to be the goal. Improve our pass rushing using a bunch of bruiser safeties and youth on the D line. I hope Jimmy returns, but we'll have to see. It seems like our D is much improved even without Leonhard at this point, but it's always easy to guess or go by what's on paper. Anything can happen once that season starts. I trust Rex will know how to use all these safeties efficiently.
I'm 50/50 on whether or not the Jet's defense is improved next year or not. The young guys could easily take a year to fit in, and likely will, the linebackers are still old and slow if Davis is not ready to go, the safety play was poor last year and a disaster after Leonhard got hurt (again). I could easily see the Jets slipping some and winding up with the 11th best defense on the year. The vulnerabilities are there to see, the question is whether the NFL or injuries will expose them.
Bush is officially the best cover safety on this roster. I view Bell as an insurance policy on Landry. if both start it wont last long once teams pick on them. Bush is a ballhawk, something this team hasnt had since Rhodes left. People can hate on him all they want but none of our other safeties could cover a book report since he left. Leonhard had good ball skills but hes just too damn small to take advantage of his coverage.
