4 games into the season it's clear that the Jets have two huge issues on the defensive side. Dewayne Robertson is unable to play at the level you need out of a Nose Tackle and Justin Miller has terrible fundamental coverage and tackling skills. Robertson has made one or two big plays and has been absolutely nullified the rest of the time. The job of a NT is very simple to understand and very hard to accomplish: tie up the center and a guard on running plays and allow the inside linebackers to get in and make the tackle. Allowing a guard to run free usually results in a bad matchup for the linebacker and an 8 or 9 yard gain. That's what we've been seeing over and over again during the first quarter of the season. Rashad Moore, while no great light, has done a much better fundamental job and the Jet's run D has stiffened a bit when he's in the game. Miller looks like a sandlot football player when he gets in space with a receiver. First there's a huge cushion and then there's a 2 step separation between him and his man and he's gotten burned a lot on third down. Tackling has been a nightmare for him as he has repeatedly missed tackles and let the other team have unacceptable yards after the catch. There's just no evidence at this point that Miller is an NFL CB and the Jets need to address this unless they want to write off the passing defense this year as a learning experience. Miller has looked just terrible. If the Jets decide they want to be contenders this year, and surprisingly they appear to have that choice after the first quarter of the season, they need to promote Moore to starting NT and use David Barrett as their other main corner. Miller and Barrett have been splitting time and it's really hurting the Jet's D at this point. If they want to make Miller the nickel and see if that works better then that's an option also.
I don't know why everyone is being harsh on the secondary. It's tough to focus on receivers when your run d is giving up 5+ yards a carry.
i was just thinking about the Miller situation the other night and how maybe he'd be better suited as the Nickle, mainly because Dyson and Barrett look better right now. i was ridiculously high on Miller (coming out of Clemson) and thought there'd be a learning curve, which there has been. the thing is, he's not showing as much improvement as we hoped, especially when he got siginificant game experience last year. it's so frustrating because he has all the raw talent in the world, yet he looks lost on Defense. i think you're right about switching him if the Jets feel they can make a push. yet, i also think he's still too young and possesses too much potential to write him off. Mangini needs to do something about his recognition skills; i just don't know what. cheers
It's not the secondary, it's Miller. First quarter grades for the secondary would go like this: Dyson, Rhodes get A-/B+ Barrett B E Coleman B- Miller D The roleplayers: D. Coleman B+ D. Strait B/B- That's 6 guys playing acceptably or better and one guy looking confused on every play. All it takes is one guy to make a whole unit look bad.
Good post BS, agree with alot of what you said. Alot of people occasionally see Robertson make a nice play (like the guy below) and automatically assume he's holding his own, but on alot of occasions if you are keying in on him, you'll notice him get absorbed on blocks and taken completely out of the play way too often to make him anything less than a liability out there as a NT. My biggest problem with Robertson (please note I have many gripes with his play) is his pathetic reflexes. He's consistently the last guy off the LOS. I don't know if this is a designed read and react type of deal or he's just terrified of jumping off-sides, either way his unwillingness to play more agressively is a factor in his inconsistent play. Edt- I should have prefaced this last paragraph by saying DeWayne's slow reaction is most glaring in the second half of games, and was especially glaring during the Colts game even though he had plenty of rest which then brings into question his conditioning.
Miller is just one of those guys with amazing physical ability and rocks where his brains should be. History has shown guys like that don't generally make dramatic leaps in play through-out their career. So I'm afraid what you see in Miller now is what you're going to see in him 3 years from now.
good point. however, there are also guys who take longer to grasp the transition. i just can't see someone having the amount of physical ability Miller has being ineffective in the NFL. perhaps that's just homerism speaking, as i'm sure it's occurred with plenty of talented players. i expect Mangini to come up with something this Offseason that will teach Miller the position better. if he's dumb, he'll take longer to learn; but that's not to say he can't be coached. cheers
I was having this conversation in my head a couple of weeks ago that went something like this: "If Miller could just get his hips squared away on the turn and his shoulders squared up on the tackles he'd look a lot like Deion Sanders." Then I realized, as you said, if he could do this he'd already be doing it. Great speed and the ability to drive through a tackle are only valuable if you have the coverage skills and the ability to line up that tackle every time. That's what made Deion Sanders a superstar. Justin Miller doesn't have that and he isn't going to learn it at this late date.
Put Barrett in there every down and we'll be saying the same thing about him in a couple weeks. Barrett excels at covering the deep passes down the field, and seems to position himself well to pick the ball off on bad throws. Of course, anything under 15 yards or so is an absolute free for all for his man.
Huge differences between Barrett and Miller. Barrett plays the run much better than Miller does and covers the screens a lot better. In short coverage Barrett and Miller are fairly similar but Barrett is a much better tackler. On the long plays Miller is a threat to draw a flag or get burned on every play. Barrett will get burned occasionally but he'll also take the ball away and defend his share of passes. I didn't like Barrett as the Jet's #1 corner because he didn't have the speed to cover the great receivers. I think he's just fine as the #2 guy though. Note that Barrett would have been covering Harrison last week and Dyson on Wayne. That would have been a much better set of matchups for the Jets.
It's his 2nd season that Sunday was his 10th career NFL start? Cut the guy SOME slack... And not for nothing...But he held Wayne most of the game, 4 measley receptions...The big play to start the 2nd half Wayne had great position. On the play where Wayne got to the 1 on Indy's final drive was on Miller.... Good tackler....But he does infact have to work on his cover skills. 10 career NFL starts, only his 2nd season and Mangini's specialty is the secondary...I'll be patient.
this is exactly what i tried to say. when we endured that atrocity last year, the one positive thing many of us took away was Miller's play; while it wasn't superior, he stood out, especially as a rookie. take a look at Terrence Newman. he's had bust written all over him since his rookie season. but if you've watched/read about the Cowboys this year, he's made major strides since the past couple of seasons. Parcells is very fond of him, as he's even stepping up as a vocal leader. the point is, some guys take longer than others. let's wait on Miller a bit longer. cheers
I agree that he would be an upgrade at this point, if only because other then his kick return skills Miller hasn't shown any positives at all this season. Barrett has gotten torched on the shorter stuff in the past and I think it would only be a matter of time before teams started picking on him again.
J. Miller is just a late bloomer. Do NOT write him off . He needs to play more before we can judge him. He definitely has speed which is one thing we always bitch about. Be patient grass hoppas
Exactly, This is his 1st year as a Starter! Once he get to a point where he's confortable with the Defense, Knows where he has help and when he can jump a route , he'll be fine. Stop hatin on ma boy ....:wink:
I'd only add that nobody is playing the run well on the defensive line. Ellis and von Olheufen have been as bad as Robertson. Also, Bryan Thomas hasn't made many plays from the LB position.
everybodys secondary sucks these days...youre not allowed to play corner anymore without a flag coming...look at the guys in the New england secondary the last few years.....its all about great d-line and LB play...if you get that you can win the superbowl....our biggest problem is that fatslob d-rob......and some shaky LB play after that....have I mentioned jon vilma 's play enough yet...people hate me yet....hes been awful guys. absolutely awful
