Audible: The Defensive Line for 2008
The defensive line was again disappointing in 2007, but what does the future hold?
Did the Defensive Line make some strides towards the end of the season? What does the future hold for Shaun Ellis and Dewayne Robertson? Is Sione Pouha someone who can anchor this team at the nose? Can this team start to bring pressure on QBs and start corralling runners? Should the Jets front office be active in free agency and then the Draft?
Senior Bowl review coming later today … for now, let’s talk about the d-line.
39 Responses to Audible: The Defensive Line for 2008
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Harlan Lachman says:
The situation with our DL is the same as our OL. We need an overhaul.
Assuming we will go with a 3-4 with Mangini variations for the next few years, it is clear Kimo and Kenyon were overpaid less-than-JAGs. Both were consistently pushed back off the LOS allowing RBs to put up HOF statistics against us and creating far too many short yardage passing downs.
Worse, Ellis seemed to wear down or give up during the last half of 2007 and the only guy on the DL who was not pushed back was DRob. Other teams doubled him, sealing him off from the play while the DE was pushed back and he took heat for them not making plays.
IOW, DRobb is not as big a problem as Kenyon and Ellis.
The solution is not an underachieving S Rodgers (unless he is cut and wants an incentive laden contract to motivate his fat a__ — unlikely). It is not trading DRobb (or Vilma) although trading him(s) may enable us to fix another need.
It is once again admitting a Tangini mistake – yet again trying to get an inexpensive unknown to step up and play solid; iow, getting rid of Kenyon and beginning to address the DL like we should have in their first year.
Yes we have other D needs. A safety opposite Kerry, a CB opposite Revis and an OLB who actually has to be game planned are all needed before we compete with the big boys.
But it pays to start fixing the front 7 before worrying about DBs. As the Jints have and will show, except against the big boys, an aggressive DL can fix a lot of ills.
Harlan
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will says:
Draft DL very high: first or second round. The draftee doesnt have to immediately slot into NT but a guy who is big and who may eventually fill into the NT role while starting as a rotational DE would be a big step forward. It certainly wouldnt hurt to get Chris Long in the first round but I see him as a linebacker in Mangini’s 3-4 scheme. I’m thinking of Dre Moore or Red Bryant, but there are others who might work.
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I thought Kenyon played pretty well for his first year here. He had a ton of tackles and looked much more stout vs the run in the second half of the season.
Ellis had a rough season, esp considering expectations for a player of his reputation and salary. If we can get a replacement for him in the draft, I’m all for it.
D-Rob: obviously 2-gap tackle isn’t the best spot for him. I’m curious what he could do spending more time at DE. (Of course that depends on how much we like Sione at NT.) I like D-Rob’s energy, and I respect that he’s done exactly what Mangini has asked of him, even if it doesn’t suit him.
The biggest problem for our front 7 isn’t the d-line; it’s the lack of an explosive hybrid pass-rusher. You have to have that in a 3-4. Look at what Suggs does for BAL, or Ware for DAL, or both Merriman and Philips in SD. The offense has to key on them every play. A year ago, everyone talked about how our d-line couldn’t keep blockers off of Vilma at the second level. After watching Harris’ dominant play down the stretch, I’m thinking that had at least as much to do with Vilma as with the d-line. Don’t get me wrong – I’d certainly like our line to be upgraded. But a pass rusher would make everyone in the front 7 look a lot better.
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Bernie says:
I said before LAST YEAR’S draft that we needed to do a Mangold/Ferguson on the d-line. We didn’t, and the results speak for themselves. The free agents we brought in were a joke as well. Coleman is a backup, and we gave him a $20 million contract. Andre Wadsworth, Michael Haynes, et al, were a huge waste of time. We are not winning anything as long as we continue to run the 3-4 with the current crop of mediocrity.
D-Rob is not a Nose tackle, and Ellis and Coleman provide no pass rush at all. So why are these guys on the team? That is not even to speak of Bryan Thomas, who is supposed to be our pass-rushing hybrid LB/DE. But he’s terrible.
So, for the second straight year, I’m calling for 2 D-linemen in the first 3 rounds, and then grab another one in the later rounds. I don’t want to hear about WRs, TEs, RBs or anything else, until we can watch a Jet game where the opposing QB isn’t sitting in the pocket for 10 seconds at a time. How many more years of that will it take?
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Bernie, agree that we should have traded Vilma and D-Rob last year if we were heading towards a 3-4 defense. We could have gotten some picks and turned them into younger players on our defense. And yes, Ellis seemed to wear down as the season did go on—he may need to be replaced soon. And pound4pound, I do respect D-Rob’s tenacity, but that still doesn’t mean he can be effective in a 3-4. And while I agree a dominant Merriman type pass-rusher would help a lot, we still could use a Casey Hampton type to be stout against the run.
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P-cat, I definitely agree that getting a Hampton-type NT would be great. Unfortunately, they’re really hard to find. That’s why CLE gave a 39-year-old Ted Washington a ton of money, which proved to be a total waste. We shouldn’t spend big money on someone who’s not going to lock down the position, and there are only 1-2 guys in the draft who seem like viable NT’s, and none of them grade out to first- or second-round talent. I’d like to add more low-cost depth at NT and see who pans out instead of wasting big money on someone mediocre.
A pass rusher, otoh, is much more readily available, and if you can draft them instead of going the FA route, you save a ton of cap room in the future that you can use to plug other gaps.
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We need to get a real NT. I dont think we need to get rid of Robertson but we need to get a very solid rotation of players on the D-Line. This will make the highly mutable schemes that Mangini wants to use more effective and possible.
I think there’s a possibility that either Dorsey or Jake Long falls to the Jets. Google Gholston and you will hear tales and watch video of his amazing feats, but the tag of “taking plays off” is a really bad one for a guy like him, because what everybody wants is a “high motor” player at DE.
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J Roc says:
I’m pretty sure Kenyon led all DEs in tackles this season. That being said, why are you calling for in dismissal? He’s not Peppers or JT but he filled his role well.
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ramble914 says:
Grab Asante Samuel, and Terrell Suggs in FA (both available). Draft Chris Long or Sedric Ellis and that should help stop the bleeding on defense.
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david i says:
First, you can’t just get rid of these guys. It isn’t going to happen. Maybe Vilma gets you something in a trade, but what would you give up for any other JET? Randy Moss for a 4th rounder damaged the trade routes and Tanenbaum waited too long to pull the trigger on Vilma. He should have been gone last year.
Secondly, in a 3-4, it all starts in the middle. The JETS need an anchor. A NT that can plug up the middle and force things to a side, Pouha can roate with him to add depth…D-Rob can move over to a side and rotate with Ellis, Coleman and DeVito or some other kid picked up in the draft that forces either one of them out of the line-up.
I still say trade down and collect picks. There is depth at our positions of need in this draft. After the top 5 are off the board, there is NO big impact player that fills an immediate need. Don’t waste it. We came up short last year on picks 4 out of 7 with 2 on the IR. Granted, those 2 produced, but we need bodies to step in and bodies to add depth. The only way that happens is by collecting picks and using them on interior lineman. If you can stop the run and run the ball, we will improve enough to win and be back in the playoffs. There is a reason we couldn’t hold a lead or come back at the end of the game….DEPTH!
Parcells and Belichek have always come out with more players from a draft than draft picks going in.
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Pound4Pound—you are def. right. Those kind of Jamal Williams/Casey Hampton types are real hard to find. And getting a Gholston would help everyone on that defense by rushing the passer and creating disruption. Still, getting a Soponga or someone in the draft who can help stop the run would be great. In any case, thanks for the discussion.
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seanmac says:
I don’t think nosetackle is a problem, honestly. Robertson isn’t ideal, but he was the best front seven player until Harris came into the lineup. As was pointed out, he gets a lot of heat for things which are actually the fault of the defensive ends- Robertson gets doubled and sealed while the end gets driven up the field. That’s not on D-Rob. He’s the only player on the roster who can pass rush from the interior and he can play effectively in two different positions. Is it possible for the team to trade him? Sure- he would make a lot more money in a 4-3, so his agent may play hardball and force the team’s hand. But I think the Jets want to keep him around. Coleman wasn’t great, but he was a clear upgrade from Kimo and will be part of a rotation this year. The real question mark is Ellis, who was just awful when lined up as a DE. The defense got better against the run when Ellis was asked to play OLB, and while I don’t think he’s going to move there full time a la Greg Ellis, I suspect he’ll get some snaps. To the coaching staff’s credit, they kept mixing and matching combinations and actually got effective play out of the line towards the end of the season. Is that a harbinger of things to come? Difficult to say.
I’m sure the team will take Chris Long if he falls to them. Long would play in an Adalius Thomas role, being able to play snaps at both OLB and DE. If Long is gone, I don’t see the team addressing the defensive line in the first round, as the guys who are available don’t really fit the defense. (Sedrick Ellis was terrific at the Senior Bowl, but would he play end or NT in this scheme? Probably end.)
In an ideal world, the team would add another NT (not necessarily a starter, but a guy for rotation purposes), a rotation DE and a quality pass rushing OLB/DE hybrid. In practice, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to effectively hit all three spots.
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SackDance99 says:
Replace both OLBs and find a good ILB to complement Harris and a lot of the problems attributed to the D-line would go away. The run defense was exponentially better with Harris and situational substitutions, like Pouha coming in on running downs. The 3-4 is a linebacker first defense and upgrading 3 of the 4 LBs is the biggest problem with the front 7. Plus, I don’t think the 3-4 works without a good OLB/DE edge rusher…it’s a bigger need than NT. The NT has 2 ILBs behind him, the edge rusher has to win the 1 on 1 battles with the LT…I saw none of that last season.
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dakar says:
i have a ?…coming out of this years draft…what talent is better and deeper…the o-line or the d-line/lbs?…as this should be a factor in free agency and the draft…dont you think…
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sec108 says:
We need to add both a run stuffing NT and a pass rushing OLB, it is not an either or situation. NT’s typically struggle as rookies so getting one in the draft might not pay off immediately, and as it was pointed out above, they are not easy to find.
I think people are being a little too harsh on Ellis and Coleman, in a 3-4 the ends primary job isn’t pass rushing, most of your sacks are supposed to come from the OLB position, look at Richard Seymour’s numbers, he averages around 6 sacks per year and he’s an All Pro DE in the 3-4.
Dewayne Roberston is obvioouly not suited to this defense, he would be much better off in a 4-3 where he can penetrate and use his speed as opposed to occupying lineman which he is asked to in the 3-4. People can talk about upgrading the ends or lb’s all they want, but the only thing that will really help the run defense is a stud NT up front, imagine how good David Harris would be if he didn’t have to shed guards to make tackles.
As for free agency vs. draft I don’t think it matters, you use whatever means is at your disposal to improve the team, sign as many good free agents as you can, and draft as many good players as you can, our front seven and o line are shallow enough that we should be stockpiling players at these postions this offseason anyway we can.
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Harvlis says:
Right now, we don’t have the players for a 3-4. We have plenty of players that could play 4-3. I think that someone, probably Mangini, is stubborn. Both Ellis and Robertson (our most talented defensive linemen) are better in the 4-3. I say to put Pouha next to Robertson, in the middle, and put Ellis back to his end position (where he excelled). Draft Calais Campbell out of Miami 6’8″ 280lbs runs a 4.8 40 and put him at the other end. Now you have an D-line and it cost you one draft pick. Re-sign Hobson and hope that Vilma gets healthy. Put them on either side of Harris (with Vilma on the weak side) and you have a linebacking crew. Now get a OG in free-agency — Faneca or Lilja will do. Now, draft James Hardy 6’5″ reciever from Indiana who runs a 4.58 40, a right tackle, another guard, and a running back.
If only dreams could come true. Go Jets.
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Zenlaw says:
If I’m wrong about this, please someone correct me. As I recall, Ellis’ only great year just happened to be his contract year.
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I disagree about NT, sec 108. Harris didn’t have to shed all that many guards because D-Rob is double-teamed; it’s just that he’s not all that effective at fighting the double-team off and standing his ground. Harris is great at plugging holes and if he had a better ILB partner, having the backside guard come out to block Harris would be an opportunity for the weak-side ILB to shoot the gap and make the tackle (as an aside, I think I can remember 4-5 times when Barton read this key, shot the gap and just whiffed on the tackle). A stud NT makes the ILBs even more effective, but even an average NT does the job by simply drawing the double-team. That’s why Pouha looked so good when Harris took over after the bye…do you really think Pouha got better? What is much more likely is that a real strong-side ILB made Pouha look better. Pouha/D-Rob in a run/pass rotation and a better weak-side ILB and I’m telling you, nobody would be focusing on the NT/DT position. Also, it’s much easier to find a weak-side ILB than it is to find a 6-4, 350 lb. human being that can bench press 500 lbs, run the 40 near 5.0 and occupy 2 300 lb linemen at the line of scrimmage; but, if the Jets do find someone like that in the draft, I’d start him immediately…I’m not sure a space-eater like that needs much seasoning.
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Harvlis,
The coaches are entitled to play whatever defense they think is the best scheme. You have the option of adapting your scheme to your personnel or finding personnel to fit your scheme. Either approach is valid, and the team is clearly pursuing the second. They’re going into their third offseason and it’s reasonable for them to not have all the parts in place just yet. That said, I don’t think they’re far off for a 3-4 base set- it’s really the same 1-2 personnel moves they would need to effectively run a 4-3 base. (They’re just looking for different types of players.)
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Bent says: It’s easier to have a 3-4 base that can switch to 4-3 looks than vice versa and the 4-3 makes it more expensive to build a decent front seven. For these reasons, the 3-4 is here to stay. I think reverting back would be short sighted and the decision to stick to it is sensible, not stubborn.
Hardy in the second round would be good, but I expect him to go in the first. However, you’ve really identified a guy that could help the Jets, albeit that a lot of people would consider the skill positions to be a bit of a luxury in the early stages.
I agree that NT isn’t the problem everyone makes it out to be and I still don’t think they want a 340 pound space stuffer at the nose. That’s why Ellis (especially if he can play end too) is an interesting possibility, because he’s similarly built to Robertson, only stronger. The ends and outside backers do need to be upgraded, although I am happy with Coleman’s production.
I agree with Sean that they don’t need to get rid of Robertson, but they might not have a choice. Although they have the cap room to meet his high salary number this year, I doubt they would let him play out his contract year and then leave for nothing, so I think they will look to sign him to a more reasonable extension. However, I am not sure he will go along with this. I think his situation will be resolved after the draft.
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Jeff says:
Wasnt there a guy drafted or picked up from FA who was 6-7 and around 360. I forgot his name but he was released by the Saints, heck at least we should have given him a tryout!
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Mike G says:
Chances are Ellis, robertson, and Coleman will all be Jets next season. Robertson has the most potential to be traded and Coleman is definetely staying, Ellis could go either way. As far as the LB’s Harris will obviously be here, Vilma maybe, Hobson definetely not, Barton will stay, Thomas has to stay.
That leaves our front seven the same as last years minus Hobson and possibly Vilma. The Jets can replace, and upgrade from hobson by drafting Chris Long or Vernon Gholsten. If Vilma goes Barton can start inside next to Harris for atleast this tear. The Jets could move Robertson to D-end and roate him, ellis, and coleman. That would work if they added another DT to rotate with Pouha, maybe Shaun rogers, maybe someone fro mthe draft, who knows? But they still need to add another pass rushers whether its another Lb or end.
the secondary is not a problem.
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Bent says:
That was Walter Thomas, Jeff. The guy lasted like 15 minutes in his first day at camp! Makes Monsanto Pope look like an Iron Man Triathlete by comparison.
These novelty acts always emerge, just like how 7’6″ Mongolians turn up in the run up to the NBA draft, get hyped and never make it close to the league.
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Drack says:
I am going to fall on the side that says the Jets greatest need is at linebacker rather than defensive line.
While I take what most talking heads say with a grain of salt, I have a ton of respect for SNY’s/ESPN Radio’s Greg Buttle, and he has been staunch in his support of Robertson (especially) and others on the defensive line. Rather, Buttle has laid the blame for the Jets defensive/run-stopping woes on the linebackers. Buttle, who knows a thing or two about linebacker play, has been openly critical of the Jets linebackers for missing gap assignment and being meek at the point of attack.
Linebackers are the heart of a 3-4 defense. Seymour aside, where are the Pats putting their front seven money? Do names of the Steelers’ front three roll off your tongue? And way back when, the Giants drafted Carl Banks in the first round even with a good corps of linebackers in place. For this defense to get better, the Jets LB play has to get better.
Personally, I don’t think the FO puts a lot of emphasis on the DL. Outside of Coleman, what other big moves have they made to improve the DL? The FA signings have been of the flotsam and jetsam variety (Jason Newsted’s next, just watch), and I count one DL drafted in ’06/’07, and he was taken in the seventh round.
And while I have the microphone…everyone, how about giving Shaun Ellis a break, huh? The guy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his team-first sacrifices Ellis played his natural 4-3 DE position his first year before bulking up and trying to play defensive tackle his second year to fill a need. That was a lost year, and it wasn’t until the next that Ellis slimmed down and returned to form as a solid 4-3 DE, which he was for a number of years.
For the last two years, Ellis has been asked to play the unfamiliar 3-4 end position and has done OK. On top of that, Ellis dabbled as an outside linebacker this year. All of this and not a peep of discontent from Mr. Ellis. Imagine if the Giants did this to Strahan?
Remember this before knocking Ellis. All of us are in agreement that Brad Smith’s development as a WR has been hobbled by all the Slash work. A similar argument could be made for Ellis.
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Ilan says:
I’m in agreement with Drack. The guys we have at LB with the notable exception of Harris are pretty poor players. Either they are slow or do not do a good job at covering their gaps. As for Vilma, its trying to take a guy familiar with going sideline to sidlien and playing off of his speed and asking him to effectively negate his only asset. Based on that fact alone it should be clear that Vilma needs to go. Aside from Suggs and Dansby, there are not very many players who will be available on the defensive side of the ball in FA to help the front seven. Which is the greatest area of need. However, there are offensive guys who could help. I will be surprised if the Jets do not use their top 2 picks on defense. One at LB and the other at DL.
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Bent says:
Looks like Dansby will be franchised too.
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jetsth11 says:
I think its clear that a 3-4 is built upon its linebackers… else why would it incorporate an extra LB over a DT. However, this does not negate the need for an efficient, consistent DL, which is why a Richard Seymour gets so much praise(well-deserved) despite his less than eye-popping stats. Consistency is key. But consistency is tough to achieve when there’s different guys playing different positions all the time.
Without a consistent DL, blitzing LB’s cant get to the QB quickly enough, which makes the secondary look worse than it may actually be, and makes less than extraordinary RB’s look unbelievable because they don’t even get touched until 2-3 yards passed the LOS. LB’s aren’t built to shed blocks from O-linemen on EVERY blitzing or run-stopping play.
To function this defense needs a speed-rushing DE who can make the QB move up in the pocket and a DT who takes up two blockers, not matter how well. Having said this, these needs do not need to be filled by all-star FA’s or 1st Rnd picks, unless the situation is right. In that case, a very talented DE would probably have a much higher impact than a DT, which, consequently, is also very hard to find.
But LB’s are def. an issue. I think a Vilma/Harris ILB corps could work in the right scheme, and this may even allow D-Rob to improve a bit at the DT spot cuz thats a lot of talent to account for on the inside. He doesn’t dominate, but he does serve the function of taking up two blockers. Harris will have to be game-planned for next year, freeing up Vilma to do what he does best, run all over the field instead of trying to shed blockers.
But a speed-rushing DE would still be necessary unless there’s a really good OLB prospect. I’d like to see a rushing OLB to support Coleman’s run-stopping skills and a run stopping OLB/DE who can switch off with Ellis on the opposite side. This would sure up much of the problems on Defense, running and passing.
Terrell Suggs from BAL is an interesting prospect, but who knows what kind of contract he might want. If not, Chris Long and Vernon Gholston are both interesting prospects in the Draft, and could be versatile DE/OLB hybrids which Mangini loves so much. Have to wait till combine and pro days but it looks like both these guys either remained the same or improved their stock so far.
If Long goes, I’d look to trade down for Gholston and pick up a 2nd/3rd Rnd. pick where we might find a decent OL, which should be our 1st pick. But doesnt look like there will be much depth in the early draft.
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Just to correct Drack’s complete mistatement, “Seymour aside, where are the Pats putting their front seven money?
The Pats have invested number 1 draft picks (a 6th, 13th and 21st) on their DL positions.
Compare this to their LBs.
harlan
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Harlan, the Pats have devoted a lot of cap space to the LB corps. Adalious and Rosie Colvin were highly sought after UFAs and they gave generous extensions to Bruschi and Vrabel. They lucked out with Seau, but the Pats have devoted lots of money to the LB corps, as they should for an effective 3-4.
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steviek says:
this is such a cliche, its embarrasing, but its not necessarily d line v. lb’s for a more effective 3-4, it’s about guys making plays.
if you have a big time d line, you can do well with solid and unspectacular lb’s and vice versa. but 2 or 3 guys have to be able to consistently beat single teams to be a good defense, whether we’re talking pats, steelers, chargers or cowboy 3-4. mediocre play gets a mediocre defense.
that said, i really do think mangini fully understands the importance of improving this pass rush. how he goes about it will be interesting.
theres the OL too, but they can get at least 2 guys in the draft who should be able to make an immediate impact, plus cap room. so we’re talking about bringing in around 8 new guys, 4 from the draft, 4 FA’s or so, hopefully 4 or 5 of which will have a real impact. -
guys since there real isn’t any 6’3 340lb NTs in this years draft…we should build our LBing core…since the lbs are vital to the 3-4 deffense…i would draft at least 2-3 de/olbs in this years draft…just my thoughts…
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Besides seriously considering Matty Ice with the 6th pick, I agree with dakar. Shoring up the LB corps and getting quality O-linemen will probably be the easiest things to do in this draft. Add in a tall WR or a pass-catching TE and the Jets will go a long way in improving the team.
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to be honest with you all…i dont see why we cant rework the contracts of players such as d-rob,s.ellis,bryan thomas,L.coles among others to recoup at least 10 mill. or more in salary cap money…gives us room to resign k.rhodes to a longterm contract and we can also be big players in FA by signing 2 high qaulity offensive linemen…once the o-line is taken care of we can dedicate all our energy in drafting qaulity de/lbs and whateverelse we may need…just my thoughts…
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Joe says:
Forgive me for being an ignorant Aussie, but if Mangini has a high quality DT and star MLB that are much more suited to a 4-3 than a 3-4, why not run a 4-3 defence?
There’s less emphasis on the DEs to run block with a four man front, which may squeeze an effective year out of Ellis.
Instead of wondering how the front office can get value for Vilma, or whether to convert D-Rob to a DE or get rid of Ellis, look at drafting a DT in the first or second round and the the front 7 are automatically more effective? Isn’t that much less complicated?
Am I *that* far off base here?
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You have to understand Joe that running a 4-3 costs more than a 4-3. D-linemen are much more expensive. in a 3-4 the LB’s can rush the passer all the D-line has to do is push the pile and stop/contain the run. It gives you alot more options and allows you to have an extra man in coverage.
We should run a 3-3-5 defense! LOL
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Thanks Jeff. So, just to get this straight in my head; a 3-4 is the most effective way to utilise the salary cap, enables more ‘quick’ players (LB vs DT) in the lineup and also gives the DC more playcalling options?
Is this worth the roster contortions that are being proposed just to make the change to 3-4 work?
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Joe,
Jeff has a point that it is partially about cost, but they could make it work if they believed it in philospohically as the best scheme.
the 3-4 allows alot flexibility on the field for different matchups, to matchup with whatever the offense is showing. you can rush 3 and drop 8 into coverage. you can have a LB put his hand down and show a traditional 4-3. you can a variety of blitzes using LBs or the secondary, all without substituting guys. the opposing QB has to account for all this.
d-rob is not useless in a 3-4. b.thomas and ellis also should be effective. thomas had 1 good year, 1 bad. maybe it was the guaranteed money, maybe he was banged up.
if you look at expected production for what their new jobs are, only vilma has really suffered. the defense has been remarkably similar to what it was under herm. remember them being swiss cheese early with ted cottrell as DC and then improving? this is a 4 year pattern of not stopping he run at all, then getting it together in the 2nd half. its not just mangini. -
Smith Sherman says:
WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT HOW IT IS TO FIND A NOSE TACKLE FOR THE 3-4?
IF IT’S SO HARD…AND IF WE ALREADY HAVE EXCELLENT 4-3 PLAYERS….
SHOULDN’T WE PLAY THE 4-3?IF MANGINI DOES ONE THING TO THE DEFENSE THIS OFFSEASON,..
it must be…..
TO RECONCILE THIS SILLY CONFLICT HE HAS PUT THE DEFENSE IN.
EITHER TRADE 1/2 THE PLAYERS OR GO TO 4-3.
As much as I would like it, I just don’t see Robertson as a hold-the-middle NT in the mold of Casey Hampton. Maybe he could work better on the outside, but I think the best we could do for the Jets (as we as Robertson) is to trade him to a traditional 4-3 team and get what we can for him.
http://andaplayertobenamedlater.blogspot.com/