Link: Familiar Faces Return
Not sure how many of you noticed this when you first looked at the schedule, but there’s a few former Jets in Gang Green’s path this season.
There’s John Abraham down in Atlanta — the Falcons will be coming to the Meadowlands on Dec. 20. Two weeks later, Laveranues Coles and the Bengals come to North Jersey to finish up the regular season at Coles’ former home office. The Jets may get to meet Justin Miller, who wasn’t a Raider when they played at Oakland last year but may be this year when the Jets return to Oaktown on Oct. 25. Chris Baker, now a Patriot, will play his former team twice.
Chad Pennington will return too, looking to torment the Jets’ secondary twice more, but Vilma is the real interesting one to me. Pennington went through this last year and outside of him, I think it’s safe to say that Vilma was the closest thing to a “Face of the Franchise” when he was here. Vilma says though that he holds no grudges about the trade that sent him to N’awlins.
“I enjoyed my years up in New York. I still keep in touch with Kerry Rhodes, with Eric Barton even though he left. I keep in touch with a lot of guys. I had fun, good times,” he said.
“But it’s still a business. That’s why I never got too high with the highs or too low with the lows. Any minute can change things in just the blink of an eye. That’s what happened when I got injured and the Jets felt I wasn’t a fit for the 3-4 and they wanted to make changes. That was fine with me. I was going to go somewhere and play well. It never really bothered me.”
Vilma goes on to talk about what it would have been like to play for King Rex and whether he’ll feel any added emotion come October 4th.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about Rex,” he said. “Ed Reed told me I would’ve loved to play under him, and Ray Lewis said the same thing. Kerry told me he’s a real good guy and so did Shaun Ellis. Timing was everything.
…
By the time the season gets here, there probably will be some extra emotion. Now, well, I left with good thoughts. The fans were good to me. I really can’t complain.”
Do you guys miss Vilma’s athleticism in the back 7? Do you think he would have been able to succeed in Ryan’s D?
Filed under: Links
He was my favorite player not too long ago. Still got his signed jersey in my basement.
No doubt about it definitely miss J Vil and we did not get fairly compensated for him
I think it remains to be seen if Chad, John, and Justin are healthy by the time they meet with the Jets.
I liked all of these guys when they were healthy. But It’s tough when your top performers are hindered by nagging injuries.
It looks like Abraham gets injured for more than half a season every three years, and this is the the third year after two healthy years.
I do miss Vilma’s awesome athleticism, and I think he would fit in Rex’s D. I still think he would’ve been fine in Mangini’s defense too, with David Harris blitzing/picking up tackles in the middle and Vilma dropping back in coverage/tackling runners who bounce outside. The only reason Vilma didn’t work out as well was because we had an atrocious D-line when he was around. No one could play well consistently with Dewayne Robertson as their nose tackle. Oh well, at least we got the overpaid but still awesome Bart Scott.
I always liked Vilma, but he’s not by any means a great MLB. Sure, he can run and he’s athletic, but he doesn’t make many big impact plays like sacks, ints, or fumbles. More importantly, he can be blocked and taken out of the play easily. Also, he isn’t physical enough as ball carriers frequently carry him for a yard or two. Everytime Vilma makes a tackle he’s falls on his stomach or his side because he’s not strong enough to make a stick and punish the ball carrier. This is opposed to somone like Harris, who usually punishes the ball carrier on immediate impact.
Switch him out side linebacker or safety and he would dominate in Ryans D
I always considered Vilma too small for MLB, and always wondered why we never used him as a Strong Safety. I believe he was fast enough and was plenty bid enough for that position. He would have been like Steve Atwater, who I remember as being 6-2 and 225lbs. Vilma would have had to drop a few pounds, but that would have helped his speed.
i LOVED VILMA!! i was hoping for him when we drafted him his rookie season and was so excited for his future and was surprised it came to an end so quickly for us but i htink with his talent he would of been great in rex ryans system…
“I always considered Vilma too small for MLB, and always wondered why we never used him as a Strong Safety.”
They kind of did, in 2006, but just didn’t tell anyone. Rhodes would come to the line of scrimmage and Vilma would drop into coverage. That was the perfect way of masking JV’s ineffectiveness in the 3-4. Teams saw it coming in 2007 though and just picked on him in coverage until he hurt his knee, which might be why he was never switched to SS full time, because his coverage skills, although decent for a LB were obviously slightly substandard for a DB.
But, (sorry Garrett), he’s still about 40 pounds too light to play OLB in Rex’s scheme (or any other scheme with a 3-man front.
Vilma was such a high quality player that he can succeed in any defense, regardless of formation. The whole “he can’t play in the 3-4″ was garbage. The real reason he was getting owned as an ILB in the 3-4 was because we had no nose tackle to protect him. Vilma was fast, had great instincts for the play and the ball, and should never have been traded unless we got a 1st or 2nd round pick in return. What a joke.
I posted this in a thread way back in March.
I was lucky enough to hang out with Jon Vilma at Tao nightclub in Las Vegas. By chance, my table was directly next to his. My buddies knowing that I am a huge Jets fan pointed him out and I proceeded to introduce myself to him. He was an absolute class act. Great great guy – actually helped me close a girl that night. Hah!
He had nothing but good things to say about NY Jet fans. Said he missed playing here. He did have a negative opinion on Mangini. Shocking! I wrapped up the night with an awesome picture of me and him.
He was and still is one of my favorite Jets. Still have his U jersey in my closet.
He’s a very good player but for our defense i prefer Harris