Quick Hits: Roster Rundown on Offense
Some quick thoughts of how the roster fell out in the past few days, starting with the offense:
Quarterbacks — Two nights ago, in a serene farmhouse B&B on Canada’s bucolic Prince Edward Island, I dreamt that Erik Ainge was working with Tom Brady to learn the Patriots offense. That was enough to wake me up in a cold sweat. To outsiders and insiders alike, the fact that the team kept four Quarterbacks is mind-boggling, even more so when you consider the roster contains Brett Favre, a guy who hasn’t missed a game in I can’t remember how long. But with Favre’s presence comes the Damocles Sword of not knowing when he’s going to actually retire. To that end, it’s clear that the team is still trying to figure out what the future holds for Favre’s successor, and doesn’t want to give up on anyone else just yet and face a Derek Anderson type situation. Once the season is underway though, that extra roster spot is going to become very tempting.
Wide Receivers — Seven receivers? Seriously? The top two have been a lock with Coles and Cotch, but beyond those two, it’s been a hard-fought battle for the rest of the spots. Wallace Wright seemed like a grim part of doing business, but his special teams play can’t be over-emphasized. David Clowney might have been kept to clear the waivers process and depending on how the next few weeks of his recovery go, could be a IR casualty, mostly depending on overall health of the team and how well guys like Smith and Stuckey play early on in the season.
Tight Ends — Jason Pociask is a loss two plus years in the making. For all the gushing Mangini did in the preseason, and Pociask’s catches in garbage time, it wasn’t enough to save him. The two guys that were early reaches and I was most dubious about in the 2006 draft are now gone ending the Schegel / Pociask era Jets. Ironically, the Patriots have picked up Poz, who will likely be a casualty in a few weeks, once they’ve squeezed whatever information they can get out of him. With Franks cap number, along with a versatile Chris Baker and the speedy Dustin Keller, the team has the unit is should have had all along, that is, before Chris Baker decided to go off the reservation.
Running Back — It’s hard to know if Thomas plodding preseason is cause for real concern yet, but the Jets don’t even have the option of throwing a similar style back into the mix with Jesse Chatman until at least Week 5, with Chathman’s drug suspension announced two days ago. The Jets weren’t unaware of Chatman’s status, which makes me think that they see him as a quality backup to Thomas Jones who knows the offense, but nothing more.
Fullbacks — Tony Richardson, who is a durable player, will have to shoulder the load alone, at least for now. Jehuu Caulcrick … my man … made the practice squad, but with 11 players on the team between QB and WR, there just wasn’t room to protect Caulcrick. I’d expect Caulcrick to be called up at some point before the season ends, as long as no one signs him away first.
Offensive Line — Depth has been a worry of mine from this unit, and that both Nate Garner and Jacob Bender — draft picks from the last two seasons — were cut and subsequenty picked up by the first two teams that the Jets face was disappointing. On the bright side, maybe it’s a sign of good things from Wayne Hunter, Will Montgomery and Robert Turner. The Jets need versatile players who can fill in at a pinch now, across all slots on the line, but more importantly, the team needs to find eventual replacements (2-3 years) to the high-priced free agents the team signed this offseason.
16 Responses to Quick Hits: Roster Rundown on Offense
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Reprocity says:
Leon should start. Build your lead then grind the clock not the other way around! Leon then Jones! I hope we can draft some linemen next year and I dont mean in the 7th!
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Ferraro41 says:
Interesting stuff. I did have 2 questions for Brian or anyone that might know regarding the practice squad…
First, if a player is selected off a team’s practice squad, does the losing team have the option of making him part of the active roster instead of losing him? Sort of like the way revocable waivers works in baseball?
Second, and regardless of the answer to my first question, does a player *HAVE* to accept the assignment? That is, can he refuse to go to the new team and opt to remain on his current team’s practice squad? Not saying anyone would or should, just wondering if they have that option?
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kc says:
think we’re keeping FOUR quaterbacks because FAVRE most likely will RETIRE after THIS year!(hopefully not)
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JustAGreenGuy says:
We need a replacement for Woody by midseason. He isn’t a tackle!
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vinnywasthebest says:
Those guys behind Favre suck. They arent fit to take over after this season. If we go 11-5 (most likely) do we want to hand the team over to Ratliff, Clemens or (yikes) Ainge? I hope not.
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Bent says: “a player under contract to a club as a Practice Squad player is completely free to sign a contract with another NFL club during the season in order to be on the second club’s Active/Inactive (i.e., 53 man) list. A practice squad player may not sign an NFL Player Contract with his Club’s next opponent later than 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the sixth day preceding the game (except in bye weeks, when the prohibition commences on the tenth day preceding the game).If another club signs a Practice Squad player to its 53 man roster it does not have to provide any sort of compensation to the player’s former club but it generally must keep the player on the 53 man roster for at least 3 weeks, thereby mandating that he earns in 2007 the minimum first year salary for said 3 week period ($285,000 prorated weekly). ”
In other word’s the player will only be picked up if they agree to sign for the other team. Once they have signed, it is too late for the other team to do anything about it, but I would imagine the agent would weigh up offers from both parties before signing.
Example: Say the Bills were to approach Jehuu Caulcrick tomorrow and offer him a minimum salary contract to join their active roster, the Jets could say “turn that down and we will definitely put you on the active roster next year for at least $450K”, but JC would be taking that risk.
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ramble914 says:
Wayne Gandy is available, he is old at 37, but he can still play, and would be a viable backup in case anyone got hurt or struggled.
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billvv says:
They don’t suck. The Jets kept four QBs because, if they released them, other teams would have fought to pick them up! They may be traded later, but they do have value.
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Someone should tackle Erik Ainge and get him on IR immediatly. There is no reason to have 4 QB’s and 2 RB’s. I dont want to hear about B Smith playing running back. TJ is okay and Leon is not an everydown back. I do not want to wait until week 6 to get another back in there
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Bent says:
Perhaps not immediately (because then he would still be exposed to waivers), but after the first week this could happen in theory. We don’t know Clowney’s exact status yet either.
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dakar says:
we should place clowny on IR and activate j.caulcrick…as a FB/RB…why not…
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just in case TJ or TR get hurt…
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pat d says:
If we can’t trade KC we should cut him and activate J Calcrick
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Harlan Lachman says:
Bent are you sure we cannot now put someone who was on our 53 man roster on IR now, before the first game? If we cannot, when can we (during first game, after first game, after x games)?
Harlan
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Bent says:
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dakar wrote:
we should place clowny on IR and activate j.caulcrick…as a FB/RB…why not…>>>>>>>
Sure, but see below. Also, if they do put Clowney on IR he cannot play this year and if he’s gonna be fit after the bye week, he might contribute.
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Harlan Lachman wrote:
Bent are you sure we cannot now put someone who was on our 53 man roster on IR now, before the first game? If we cannot, when can we (during first game, after first game, after x games)?
>>>>>
We can, but they will have to clear waivers. Once the first game is out of the way then they can do it without having to have them clear waivers, but the price you pay is that their whole salary for the year has become guaranteed. (So, dakar’s idea is smart – if Clowney is not expected to contribute – but they need to wait until after week 1).
Remember Chatman will be back in week six too (someone will have to be cut or put on IR to make room), so the RB depth will only be a problem for four weeks. Considering the third RB would probably not be active (they didn’t use three active RBs last year or most of 2006, although Askew/Smith/Tutt were emergency candidates) then if Leon and TJ were both hurt the same day then the situation would be no different to if Caulcrick (or Chatman) were on the 53 but not active. If that should happen, they can make a move that week.
Jones will be good coming off the bench in the fourth quarter late in the season when his main purpose will be to run into the line to run out the clock — By the Bengals game following the bye week, however, Washington will start — Washington takes advantage of the space created by the opposing defenses respecting Favre’s ability to throw the ball downfield — Jones does not –