Link: Standing Pat With Wideouts?
Tonight is a great opportunity for the Jets to prove just what they have at wideout to themselves, their fans and the league at large. With Sanchez likely to play three quartes, it’s time to see what he can do with that matter settled. Still how the reps will work out for the receivers is a whole other matter, according to Rod Boone.
Scottenheimer has been hit with the “Are you confident with the group of receivers?” question constantly throughout the spring and through training camp. That query came again yesterday.
“I think we can win with these guys,” he said. “Everybody is going to look at our wide receivers and say that we don’t have a big name. I still think and feel that Jerricho [Cotchery] is a big name. But I think we are going to have a really solid group and we’re pretty deep. We are going to ask these guys to do things that they do very well. David Clowney is extremely fast. But if you turn on film and you watch it, he’s done a hell of a job in the running game, blocking.”
“He’s aggressive and physical. [Chansi] Stuckey has a chance to run with the ones. He’s made some plays. He’s obviously very good in the slot, extremely bright. And there is Brad Smith. So, people can say we don’t have these big name players but I feel like we have stable receivers. Without question, we can move the football, score points and do what we need to do to win.”
That includes giving Clowney some more burn with the first-string offense in tomorrow night’s game against the Giants at the Meadowlands. Clowney has had a strong preseason, ranking fifth in the NFL in receiving yards with 135 through the first two weeks of the preseason. He also has five receptions and two touchdowns.
“We are going to play him more with the ones,” Schottenheimer said. “He obviously deserves the opportunity to do that. Every time he has been in there, he has obviously made the big plays, but also shown a great willingness and effort to block. We are going to give him a chance and I don’t think he’ll disappoint. We actually put in a personnel package the other day specifically for him. We except him to do good things for us.”
Cotchery’s efficiency dropped last year with Sir Picksalot running the show, but we stand by our assessment that Cotchey is the better (younger and cheaper) of he and Coles, and he is a number one receiver .. now no one is going to mistake him for Andre Johnson, but he’s good enough to get it done right for now.
All last year we said this team had a logjam at wide receiver behind Coles and Cotchery. We’ve been over and over who’s skilled where (Stuckey at slot, Clowney flanking, Smith in space in the flat or on reverses) and how Keller will be the team’s true second receiving option. Schottenheimer runs enough WR bunch formations that he can shake players free for his QB, so tonight is a perfect chance for Schottenheimer to see how all the pieces fit and work together, and whether or not they can create mismatches for their young QB to find and exploit … that’s the key.
Just no double reverses with Stuckey under the shadow of their own goal post, please.
…that double reverse was also in a torrential downpour at nighttime. Memories like these really make me question Schotty all over again.
If there is a questionmark, it is not on our wideouts, it is on Schottenheimer. He hasn’t gotten the ball to Cotchery, all pre-season. He forgot about Keller for most of last season and against Baltimore, last week. I can go on and on.
His play calling is hurting. The first play, last week, he had Hunter go in motion and then crack-back for a nice gain by TJ. That was the end of the intelligent play calling, for the rest of the game. Similar to last year. We would get one good drive, with creative play calling and that would be all.
We need Callahan to run the Offense. Send Schottenheimer to Cleveland.
We won’t really see what we have in Schottenheimer until we see him calling the shots on offense, if he doesn’t seem like the OC we want him to be, we always have Callahan to take over as our new OC.
We’ve seen Schotty on offense, and the play calling was poor even before Sir picks a lot put on his pathetic late season show…
Why doesnt coach Ryan call the offense? he might be the defensive wizard, but i’m sure he can also call the best offensive plays based on the defensive package on the field.
What a joke. WHere have I heard this before? O yeah, last off season.
Chris – He’s talking about the call last week, not the one with Cotchery against Denver (another horrible call by Schott and an even worse one by the officials). That said, it would have been a 50 yard gain if Brad didn’t screw up the pitch.
Let’s face it, Cotchery’s performance declined last year because Cotchery is at best a #3 receiver. Let’ not blame Farve for Cotchery’s poor performance. The only one to blame is Cotchery.
Ed, good point but I’d challenge you in one place,
Actually Cotchery’s a great #2 reciever. That’s his perfect role. Picture him as a poor man’s Anquan Bolddin. One of the problems has been that LC is also a perfect #2 reciever. Stuckey’s a good slot guy. And everybody left is right now at best a 4. So why are we sitting around acting like this is really going to work out.
Igs,
The team is “sitting around” because it’s extremely late to move any pieces. Training camp is over, there’s only one more preseason game and the season opener starts in a week. This is a problem that has been many years in the making and may not be rectified until next year (at earliest). The Jets haven’t taken a WR earlier than the 4th round since 2001 with the selection of Santana Moss.
I think a good parallel for this team is the 2006 Chicago Bears, a team that won with a dominating defense, a special teams ace (Hester for them, Washington for us), a solid running game (led by Thomas on both teams) and a reliable possession receiver (Cotchery and Berrian are comparable). If the ‘Chez can be more consistent than Grossman was, we may see similar success.