Comments on: 2008 Jets State of the Union Part 4: Don’t You Forget About Me

By: GMARZ

GMARZ — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:26:02 +0000

and another thing!!! for the Jets to cover themselves and fix the Defense #1 Free Agent Signings’ a: Tommy Kelly DE/DT Oakland Raiders 6-6,300 lbs. age 27, b: Corey Williams DT/NT Green Bay Packers 6-4,314 lbs. age 27, c:Terrel Suggs DE/OLB Baltimore Ravens 6-3,260 lbs. age 25 d: Marcus Trufant CB Seattle Seahawks 5-11,197 lbs. age 27. There are some others Adalius Thomas getting a little up in the age.Lance Briggs probably looking at big dollars as well as Asante Samuels, here could be a real steal Randall Gay hes’ only 25 and getting better. #2 let go of ,cut,dump whatever a: D-line M.Murrel, M.DeVito,S.Pouha. b: LB’s B.Kassell, M.Chatham, D.Bowens. and Hobson probably is gone as a free agent

By: GMARZ

GMARZ — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:52:00 +0000

Whooaaa lets not get the cart before the horse here,first off redd5 the second paragraph is dead on, and second defenses of nowaday need to be versatile to be a exceptional defense of the NFL lets say top 5-7 you can’t play one style of D you have to be able to play it all 34,43,46,Tampa 2,50 Etc. so keeping Vilma would be beneficial as for Rey Maualuga he’s not declaring for the draft it’s a fact that he is staying in school, personally Quentin Groves is better 6-3 250 run’s in the, 4.46-4.49 range you like apples well how do you like them

By: SackDance99

SackDance99 — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:09:55 +0000

Bent is right, Vilma is just a terrible fit for a 3-4 ILB. Vilma is undersized and his skill set doesn’t match the position. Vilma is not good at shedding blockers and he’s not good at blitzing. He’s excellent at sideline-to-sideline pursuit, but that talent may be a liability at ILB because Vilma had a tendency to over-pursue, making him suceptible to cut-back runs. Also, he is not a fill-the-hole, form-tackling, forced fumble machine, like Harris. As for OLB, he would have to play on the weakside, which is a blitzing position. I just don’t believe Vilma can become a good edge-rusher. As for the strong-side, does anyone think Vilma could shed OT/TE double-teams?

I think that he’s the biggest square-peg in a round hole on the 3-4. It’s more than a technique or size issue, it’s just the way he plays the game. He may be the perfect 4-3 MLB, but he’s lost in the 3-4. You wouldn’t have Jose Reyes bat clean up and you wouldn’t put Vilma in the 3-4.

As for his trade value, I would think that a 3rd-rounder is probably all the Jets could get, and I would gladly take it. Anything better would be gravy, but having Vilma continue to fail in the 3-4 will only further devalue his worth. As for the draft, if he comes out, I would target USC’s Rey Maualuga. In the biggest game of the year for USC, he had a dominant game and he has the size (6-21/2, 251) to be a force. I’ve soured on Laurinaitis. Maualuga and Harris in the middle would plug up the middle and make the Jets hard to run on inside for a decade (and one or both of them will take out a QB on a blitz).

By: Bent

Bent — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:29:46 +0000

Does Dorsey get any credit for the tackle next to him (Ricky Jean-Francois) getting five sacks while Dorsey was being double teamed?

Thanks, Liam. You are probably right, although I think he could play there with Harris and utilise that speed, together with his size to make plays and take on blockers when required. His versatility (and character) do make him an appealing possibility and he bounced back well after a rough start to the year. Plus he could wear number 50 and then I could get my old Bob Crable jersey out of storage.

By: JackK

JackK — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:47:31 +0000

I agree with Ilan. Laurinitis, and to a lesser extent Ghlston, were dominated by LSU. Crable as an OLB would be a possible good addition in the 2nd round. If we can get a 2nd for Vilma, It’s worth a shot to spend it on Crable

By: Liam

Liam — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:44:13 +0000

Bent,

I would add Crable to the list of OLB, not inside. He played outside for almost his entire career at Michigan and is much better suited to play outside in the 3-4 then inside. His greatest attribute is his speed off of the edge. I actually think he might make a lot of sense as a second round pick.

By: Ilan

Ilan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:25:18 +0000

Laurinitis and Gholston were completely ineffective in the game against LSU. As this was probably the best team they faced all year, it makes me skeptical as to there ability to translate well into the NFL, especially as early 1st rounders.

By: Schlichter

Schlichter — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:30:04 +0000

I’m a huge ohio state and jets fan and under no circumstances should the jets draft Laurinitis with the 6th pick. He had a good first half of year but slumped after that. Second round maybe, 6th pick? NO WAY.

By: Bent

Bent — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:22:06 +0000

I am sure Vilma is too small because his weakness is getting off blocks and he would have to face an offensive lineman on every play.

By all means line him up there now and again, but if you did it on every down it would be too easy to run at him or pass over his head.

As for 3-4 guys in the draft, in theory Harris could play either the MIKE or TED spots, so most 4-3 LBs *could* play alongside him (as the MIKE). However, as we have seen with Vilma, this can take time for a guy used to playing in space to adjust to.

Off the top of my head, good fits inside next to Harris could be Laurinitis, Leman, Maualuga, Connor, Moffitt, Crable. There are a bunch of guys with decent size this year, whereas in the past two years, there have been very few and most LBs were 4-3 guys who play well in space, which would be a horrible fit alongside Vilma. With Harris’ emergence, coupled with the guys available this year, there are far more to choose from.

As for outside linebackers (for our scheme) the main guys have been well documented: Harvey, Gholston, Groves. Maybe even Chris Long.

Harris/Vilma could still work though, but are the FO ready to give that another shot?

By: GREENBLOOD

GREENBLOOD — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:19:59 +0000

I agree with Nikolas