Buzz: Will Lito be Warming the Bench?
When the Jets previously encountered the Colts, Lito Sheppard didn’t exactly have a great outing against Austin Collie and now there is speculation that Sheppard will be dropped out of the lineup in favor of Dwight Lowery.
The New York Daily News writes that Sheppard is expected to be dropped out of New York’s base defense Sunday. Sheppard reportedly told people during the week he didn’t know what role he would have.
Rich Cimini expects Sheppard to be active, but relegated to nickel or dime duty. If he’s New York’s fourth cornerback, he won’t be on the field that much.
What sayeth you?
30 Responses to Buzz: Will Lito be Warming the Bench?
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Jeff says:
Its going to be a tough outing for whoever is playing opposite of Revis.
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ktray says:
i kind of hate lito
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greg sec 130 says:
Interesting. When I asked about Lito last week in Bent’s analysis he thought they just stopped throwing his way, but as it turns out, Cimini is saying he was pulled from the game after getting picked on early. If that’s the case, I’m all for this move — Lito has looked terrible in the 1st Q of those two games (Chargers and Colts)
Put Darrelle on an island against someone and double the other.
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I will not question Rex but Lowery is not a better CB than Lito just yet. ….Plus Lito has played in these types of games for years …..
Maybe it has to do with the blitz package and covering in a short area. Lowery plays the “nickle” type coverage pretty well.
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Joe B. says:
Lowery gets beat too often on big plays, so I’m not thrilled about this, but I’d be surprised if Lito doesn’t get a lot of snaps. My guess is Rex is going to throw the kitchen sink at the Colts’ WRs.
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Dylan says:
I dont like that move at all. Lowery is too slow. There is no way he can keep up with Garcon or Collie. Lito is better in man to man. Lowey is a better player in zone defense, so maybe the Jets are planning on doing more of it against the Colts.
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Tim says:
I think it was on espn.com’s AFC east blog, where they had the statistic of guys who were burned the fewest times for big plays, and I believe Lowery has a better rating than Lito. Lito clearly has the experience, but does he have the speed?
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phil says:
obviously I didn’t watch coaches tape, but I really did not realize that Lito played that badly the past two playoff games. Apparently he did if they would bench him for an average at best corner in Lowry during the AFC championship.
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This has me scratching my head,but I will not Question Rex on any move defense related. He must plan on being more physical with the recievers is all I can think.
Stay loose Lito you may not sit for long.
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jon in bk says:
I would be surprised if this isn’t partially injury-related. Even if the coaching staff doesn’t know it, it seems like Lito has fluctuated greatly in terms of how well he moves.
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Phil, he was getting abused on the first few drives by Rivers. When they pulled Lito, the abuse stopped.
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jetfaninla says:
Here’s the link for the Tim Graham article on ESPN. http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/8882/jets-cbs-dont-feel-the-burn
“Stats Inc. records what it calls “burns,” the number of times a defender allows a reception to the man he’s covering. Stats Inc. then divides that by the number of times the defender is targeted to compute a “burn percentage.”"
Lowest Burn Percentage
Cornerbacks this season, Min. 50 targets
Player/Team Percentage
Darrelle Revis, Jets 37.0
Jabari Greer, Saints 37.9
Dwight Lowery, Jets 40.7
Drayton Florence, Bills 45.3
Leon Hall, Bengals 45.3
Lito Sheppard, Jets 45.6“Part-time starter Dwight Lowery, third on the list, allowed 22 catches on 54 targets for a 40.7 percentage. Usual right cornerback Lito Sheppard was sixth. Sheppard surrendered 26 catches on 57 targets for a 45.6 percentage.”
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BTW — Lowery is another 4th rounder from Mr T… that 2008 draft (Lowery, Keller, trade for Jenkins, Vilma trade for the pick to get Greene) is slowly making up for Gholston’s miss.
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J-Kay says:
I trust coach, if he thinks this is the best move, well, he knows something we don’t.
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Bent says: Lito did lose some playing time in the Chargers game*, but he wasn’t pulled permanently. That does partly explain why he was never thrown at again after Malcolm Floyd got the jump on him twice at the line.
It wasn’t as bad as the Colts game first time around though, where Manning was 5-for-5 throwing at him (although one was a blatant pushoff).
I think this news (along with Revis’ comments in the week about locking multiple people down) tell us that the gameplan of last week will be repeated…some zone, lots of 5 DB and putting Revis on different guys each time.
*Lito 39 snaps, Strickland 33, Lowery 26 (out of a possible 65).
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TruJetFan says:
Sounds like a plan. Go Jets!
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MrJetGreen says:
Could be a motivational move by Ryan…..remember the Rhodes demotion.
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Shane-O-Mack says:
We’re going to see a mix of everyone in the defensive backfield. We need to keep those guys fresh to keep up with the quick WRs. Lito may not start, and he may just be the nickel or dime back, but either way, he’s going to be out there. Besides Revis, I would bet Strickland, Lito and Lowery will get close to even amount of snaps out there.
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steviek says:
and the colts run alot of no-huddle out of 3 wr’s & a te…. so it can be pretty tough to substitute (and get ellis on or off the field).
so does the nickel become the de facto base d today? -
Head_coach says:
After trading OUT of the first round the jets pick cb____ out of____University!!
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brian311 says:
we are going to be in nickel the entire game. this is a non-issue
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Ben Nevis says:
I’ve said it since I saw him play in the preseason, and I said it again after the week 16 game against the Colts: Lito is the weakest link in this D. Yes, he’s had a couple of good games, but the rest of the time (when he wasn’t out with an injury), he was mediocre, especially compared to the other DBs.
(Another DB who hasn’t played all that well is Strickland: if I remember correctly, he lost the Atlanta game for us: when the game was on the line, DS gave up a big pass play deep in our own end, then blew the coverage on the TE in the end zone.)
I trust Rex to go with the DBs who give us the best chance to win.
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Green Lantern says:
OK I Have a plan trade all of our 1st round picks for seasoned Vets but protect our 4th rounders with our LIFE!!
Im joking of course.
GO JETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
geoff says:
whatever works
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toro rosso says:
so much for lowery . he couldn’t cover anybody let alone the fact that he runs with his head down. bad call and we got burned again. we’ll never learn.
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jets69 says:
Yeah, that plan fxxking worked out well! Time to draft another corner and a pass rush end and cut Gholston and Lito
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Lito was terrible but Lowery was a disgrace. The Jets need to draft a CB with the #29 pick. Lito will not be back with this team. I think bringing him here was worth the risk, but it didn’t work out. I think the Jets should bring Strickland back though. He is a pretty decent #3 corner.
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HOW ABOUT BRAD SMITH AS THE OTHER CORNER FOR THE JETS. HE IS THE BEST ATHLETE THEY HAVE?
yea NFL network just had on their banner that Lowery is starting over Sheppard. I like Lowery, but he’ll have very tough assignments today. He definitely needs help (over the top/across the middle for those quick slants), or else we’ll get burned. Lowery has done well tipping the ball though and wrapping up tackles.