News: Eric Smith to Start Against Bills
Any questions about how the starter at Safety will play out were answered yesterday by Rex Ryan, who played politic on the subject.
Eric Smith is the starting safety, but Kerry Rhodes has earned more playing time for Thursday’s game against the Bills in Toronto after responding to his benching with two interceptions Sunday against the Jaguars. “Kerry’s going to start in more packages, you might not notice how much, but he’s going to play a ton,” Rex Ryan said Monday. “I probably will start Eric in what you call the base package.”
Rhodes, did not speak to reporters Monday, and Smith was limited in practice with a sore back.
So more time for Kerry, but Smith is still the “base package” player .. AKA the starter. This is the right call. Play the hot hand, but you have to reward Kerry for what he did on the field.
The right move here….
If Rex would have put Kerry back in the starter role it would have shown the team that he was using Smith to make a point to Rhodes. He had to start Smith to keep any “respect” in the locker room
Smith played well and Rhodes did what he was supposed to do. Continue starting E Smith until he proves he dosent belong there….. :Let Kerry work his ass off to get it back
Yes I agree with this. If it worked on Sunday, ride the hot hand right now. Go with what gets us wins.
Just going to toss in my “I agree with this.” The right move, the only move.
Obvious move. Let Eric play the run, Kerry the pass. Now if only we could combine Eric and Kerry into one player…
Yep. Agreed.
Smith plays the run better than Rhodes, he was all over the place on Sunday. Rhodes is better suited in nickel and dime packages where he can play deep and roam.
Bent,
Do you know the specifics of Darrelle Revis’ contract? I know he is still under his rookie deal and that the Jets have options going into the 6th year of his deal, but do you know any specifics? When are the Jets going to re-sign him? I know that they are probably waiting to see if 2010 is uncapped, but this issue should be taken care of ASAP.
Both play one aspect better than the other, but Rex mixes it up so they’re not on the field exclusively on those downs. If anyone can utilize these two guys as one position, it’ll be Rex. This was the right move to make.
JR – Revis signed a 6 year deal but the final 2 years were voided based on him exceeding minimum playing time threshholds.
Mr T is most certainly going to lock Mr. Shutdown down to a long term deal this offseason
But Brian,
Why would Revis sign a deal now? And why would Tannenbaum negotiate now since 2010 may be uncapped? Revis will want to be the highest paid corner in NFL history, and the Jets have leverage here to play the card to their liking. So this could turn out very interesting.
i agree that it is a fine line to walk. i would think that both sides would want to sign a long term deal. look at what just happened to leon. and Mr T has less leverage here – it is clear that the jets absolutely need revis. every “we put more responsibility on this guy than is put on any player in the league” statement from rex affirms this. even leon, the electric playmaker he is, is somewhat expendable with TJ, greene and woodhead. but taking revis away from the D is simply not an option
and remember the jets extended rhodes after his 3rd season so the precident is already there
Actually, I understand the Jets have the option to “buy back” the last two years of his contract (2011 and 2012) at pretty reasonable rates (compared with what he will earn in his next contract) but they can’t franchise him.
Why would the Jets extend him to a $15m a year contract now, when they have him locked up for significantly less than that for the next few years? (And also have significant other salary burdens). Unless he starts to create problems, I’d imagine they would not renegotiate until after the 2010 season at the earliest. I don’t think the uncapped year is a factor, unless they intend to extend everybody and frontload deals as much as possible.
See specific details here: http://www.nyjetscap.com/darrellerevis.html
Rhodes was extended after the 3rd season, but as a 4th round pick he had a straightforward 4 year deal.
What makes you think Revis wont make this difficult? He’s not going to want to play those last 2 years for less money than he’s worth. Dont forget that he held out of camp for a significant amount of time because of contract issues, and he’s no dummy, he knows he’s the best in the NFL and he’s going to want to be paid accordingly.
JR,
Because he held out I think he’s less likely to make a big deal here. The team gave him a deal well above his draft slot, and he knows it. He also knows that the Jets rarely negotiate mid-contract with players, and as special and important as Revis is, he realizes he’s not above the team.
Brendan,
I hope youre right. But you sound like a fan, players dont think that way.
That’s not a fan thinking. The Jets have the leverage with the 3 remaining years on his deal (they will surely buy back those two lost years). Revis can either play, or hold out/make a big deal. I don’t see him doing the latter. The team knows how important he is and he knows how important he is, it’ll just be a matter of coming to a fair figure (probably around what Asomugha is earning, but for a longer period of time – say 5 years/$80-$90million)
JR – Maybe he will make it difficult. Let’s hope not. How can anyone predict one way or another? Either way, the threat of him potentially making things difficult at some point in the future is no reason to pay him extra now.
For now, let’s just enjoy having him around. I expect he’ll be here for years to come.
We can buy back his 2011 season for $5million. I expect we do that and then work on a new contract at that point.
About a year ago I began posting similar points about Leon Washington’s contract, and that didnt turn out so well. I may be jumping the gun, but the thought of losing the best player on our team is pretty scary.
i didnt realize 2011 and 2012 could be bought back. that is essentially a team option. so i agree that it might not make sense to extend him this off season, it will probably happen next year
that being said, i dont see how revis reports for the 2011 season without a new contract. he knows he is a top 3 corner and those team options are bascially like a franchise tag. he would be agreeing to play with absolutely no long term security and i dont see that happening
JR i agree – although as I mentioned the FO had all the leverage in the leon negotiation. they offered leon a fair contract and he rolled the dice. the FO obviously won that battle as now leon will be back on the cheap
with revis, it is different, as no other player could fill his role and he will be coming off years were he is nationally recognized. also the FO knows that they would have to call in the national guard if revis were to be lost to another team. i would be there on the front lines rioting
Darrelle Revis may be the most dominant player the Jets have ever had. Im serious.
JR,
The thing is, Revis isn’t entering his last year like Leon was.
And at this point in his career, I think he’s absolutely one of the most dominant Jets ever, if not the most dominant Jet.
I’m not making a direct comparison to Leon Washington. All i’m saying is, I prefer when the Jets sign their players sooner rather than later (i.e Jerricho Cotchery, and yes, Kerry Rhodes). Contracts turn into a huge mess and it can carry over to the overall team performance.
Agreed the jets shouldn’t let this drag out. But this isn’t as dire a situation as some people seem to think. This isn’t an urgent matter, as the Jets will have 1 or 2 years to sort this out.
Are the Jets the only team to start two white safeties?
JR,
The Leon contract situation didn’t work out well for Leon. It worked out great for the Jets. No matter what Leon and Keels are thinking, Leon’s injury has vastly reduced his bargaining power. Also, Leon was “only” making $535,000, which made his case much better for renegotiation.
The Jets will undoubtedly buy back the 5th year at $5 million, which isn’t exactly minimum wage and isn’t as hard a pill to swallow as Leon’s $535,000. That leaves the Jets time to negotiate before the buy back of the 6th year, which could be up to $15 million (I’m assuming that Revis will hit the benchmarks that maxes his final year). So, after his 4th season, Revis knows he’ll make, at a minimum, $20 million for the next 2 seasons if the Jets want to keep him. He’ll want to renegotiate, but so will the Jets because $15 million looming in the 6th year is a cap buster. So, I just don’t think Revis or his agent will be trying to renegotiate until after 2010.
Also, it will be interesting to see what the Raiders do with Asomugha for 2011 when he’s due $16.8 million. If he hits the market, there might be a glut of top corners on the market. So, let’s worry about Revis at the end of next year. And, let’s applaud Darrelle for making a good deal that netted him a cool $16 million.
Revis is the most dominant CB in Jets history. But, doesn’t Namath still get the nod as the most dominant player in Jets history? C-Mart also wasn’t too shabby, neither was Toon, Klecko, Gastineau or Maynard. Heck, Mawae’s still the best center that I’ve ever seen. I hope Revis makes All-Pro this year, but for a defensive benchmark, I’ll still take no. 99’s 100 1/2 sacks in his first 100 games…almost all from the defensive left, or strong side.
Sack,
My reference to Leon was simply to show that the Jets made little progress with him and his agent, regardless of what happened afterwards, I dont like lengthy contract discussions and I dread one with Revis.
It’s tough to compare a cornerback to a QB or a DE. For starters, great cornerbacks are judged by their ability to shut down opposing wide receivers, stats are not always as indicitive of a players performance. For QB’s and DE’s we have several different statistical categories to judge their performance. I think Revis has distinguished himself as the best corner in the NFL, and its shame the Jets are underachieving at 5-6, because if they had a better record, you can bet that Revis would be a top candidate for defensive player of the year.
So my question is this; were Namath, Martin, Klecko, Gastineau, Maynard or Toon, ever in their career, considered the best player at their position? Darrelle Revis is only in his 3rd season and he is already the cream of the crop for cornerbacks.
That’s just it…the jets weren’t desperate to make any progress, but Keels and co. were. They were never going to pay him anything extra this year and Keels was never gonna accept a deal that kicked in next year. Stalemate – and the jets win because they retain Leon on the cheap.
When I think dominance, Klecko and Gastineau are the names that come to mind first. Revis has had an incredible year though!
Bent,
Dominance is much easier to see from a defensive end than a corner, thats just the way football is. But whats truly more dominant; Klecko and Gastineau compared to other defensive lineman of their era, or Darrelle Revis compared to todays corners? Thats the problem that comes with being a shutdown corner. As Revis always says, it gets boring on Revis island.
For what its worth, I dont believe there is a right or wrong answer here. I just think that if Darrelle Revis continues his career at this pace, then he will be a hall of famer and truly one of the best Jets of all time.
i dont think there is a wrong answer either, but just to throw this out there – joe willie accomplished something that no other QB accomplished (4,000 yards in a 14 game season) and no other Jets QB accomplished (a SB win). thats a pretty strong statement
Yeah, it’s apples v oranges.
Revis is up there, no doubt. It’s amazing how many plays he makes compared with how many he gives up. Let’s hope the Jets can get him some postseason exposure one day!
Here’s to hoping he’s a Jets “lifer”.
Brian,
Again, it comes down to the availability of stats. That Namath stat is very impressive, but what type of cornerback statistics are available for comparison? For instance, Namath accomplished something that no other QB did, throwing for 4,00 yards in a 14 game season, but how many cornerbacks shut down the likes of Randy Moss (twice) Andre Johnson, Steve Smith, TO, and Marcus Colston in 1 season? Maybe that feat has never been accomplioshed before either.
Put it this way, take Jerry Rice in his prime and line him up against Darrelle Revis and my money says Rice has a real quiet day.
JR,
People know who the great CB’s were. Especially in today’s game, you can keep track of such things (I mean, we are in the era of overanalyzing). It’s clear that Revis is tops right now, but he’s also only played 3 years. You can’t be the most dominating player in a team’s history if you were only there for 3 seasons.
His dominance in only 3 seasons is just an indication of how good he will be in the future.
We can overanalyze all day, but that doesnt take away the fact that it is much easier to judge a Qb’s performance because of the availability of TD numbers, yardage, completion percentage, QB rating, etc. For corners, all you really have is PD, Interceptions and tackles, and the real good corners dont get too many of any of those because they are rarely thrown at.
Ive watched a lot of good Jets players, but I think Revis’ dominance is more apparent than some of the others mentioned.
This is pointless, and to be honest, scary. Don’t jinx the kid. He’s one of the only reasons I reach for a remote on Sundays.
Trust me, ive been saying this since the beginning of the 07′ season, and it hasnt caused any sort of jinx.
I agree they need to lock this kid down ASAP! I don’t care if his rookie contract runs thru INFINITY! No need to create a mess when its so obvious that he is no lower then 1A in the CB position in the NFL. But I am bias so I have him at #1 :)
KLECKO for the HOF!!!!!!!!!
JR,
I give the nod to Klecko and Gastineau because the “sack” wasn’t an official NFL stat until the Sack Exchange…they revolutionized how fans view defense. Plus, they were around when chop blocks and crack backs were still tolerated (crack backs ruined Klecko’s career). Also, as regards Mark, he (incredibly) played on the strong side, which was where top pass rushers usually played back then. It wasn’t until LT started abusing left tackles and killing QBs with blind side hits that teams started to put their best pass rushers on the blind side.
Even with that, Gastineau put up sick sack numbers in ‘81 (before sacks were official) he had 20, in ‘83 19 and in ‘84 22. In ‘85, as a 3-4 LDE, he had 13 1/2. He scored 2 defensive TDs. He was All-Pro 4 times, a Pro Bowler 5 times and a Defensive Player of the Year in ‘82. He even was a Pro Bowl MVP and he had 9 sacks in 7 post-season games. From ‘81-’85 he was a dominant defensive player.
I think Revis could have a run like Gastineau, but no Jets defensive player was a dominant force like Gastineau…even Klecko, who fans always forget was injured in ‘82, but Mark still had 4 1/2 sacks in those 3 playoff games and was, by far, the Jets’ best defensive player (so, the whole “Gastineau was only good because Klecko took up 2 blockers” argument is overblown).
leave smith in there , he’s more focused than con-artist Rhodes.after all, those interceptions were thrown right at him. he still runs like he’s on quaaludes. and Ryan on them too thinking to play him more than before proves again that this coach is a child when it comes to learning from past mistakes. we hope not to notice at all how much he plays. Ryan need to come to senses or Fitzpatrick will notice he’s back there land a bomb . then, like before it’s too late.just hope this team doesn’t f**k it up again. please don’t
Sack,
Obviously its a bit ridiculous of me to compare a guy who hasnt even completed 3 full seasons to Jets legends like Klecko and Gastineau, but I just think Revis is THAT good.