Link: More on the Safety Switch
The New York Daily News’s Rich Cimini shared some more information on the Kerry Rhodes and Brodney Pool swap by the Jets which I thought was interesting.
Here’s how an opposing GM assessed the Pool/Rhodes switch:
“Pool has had four concussions, so that’s iffy. As a player, he’s a good athlete. He plays with tunnel vision like a lot of players do. He’s not real aware in pass coverage, but he’s solid against the run. He’s got talent. He doesn’t have Rhodes’ ball skills in coverage, but he’ll come up and hit you. In a way, he’s the opposite of Rhodes. If you had a guy with a concussion problem, you’d want it to be Rhodes because he doesn’t hit anybody. Pool will hit you.”
Some things have come to light since the Rhodes trade. For one, the Jets were shopping Rhodes at least two or three weeks before they dealt him, sources said, so it wasn’t like an Arizona-only situation. If the Cards had re-signed Antrel Rolle, the Jets would’ve found another taker.
Rhodes’ act with the Jets grated on a lot of people. According to people close to the team, he didn’t have a full grasp of the defense until Week 11, around the time he got benched. In the DB meetings, a lot of players used to sit near Jim Leonhard to pick his brain because of his familiarity with the system, but Rhodes never made that effort.
There also was a feeling that Rhodes showed no accountability when he made a mistake. Rhodes was the burn victim on the momentum-swinging Colts TD pass just before halftime in the championship game, but he refused to own up after the game — and that rubbed people the wrong way.
One point at a time. First as far as Pool, I thought he was regarded as having decent range in coverage. Of course he’d be a downgrade for the Jets in that regard no matter how you sliced it, but I think based on the system he doesn’t need to be the ballhawk that Ed Reed is in Baltimore, because of the serious upgrade at cornerback.
Second, whether it’s true or not (and I don’t see why it couldn’t be) that Rhodes was sulking all season, it’s damage control to one degree or another by the team. As far as Leonhard, that’s a very interesting point, I had asked Leonhard in an interview like Rhodes and Vilma used to, whether or not the DBs studied film together outside the facility … Leonhard basically sidestepped the answer saying they spend a lot of time there together at the facility. What was unsaid spoke volumes.
It also makes sense on why the team asked him to think about whether or not he wanted to be in NY.
33 Responses to Link: More on the Safety Switch
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JesusRevis says:
I wanted Rhodes to stay but clearly he wasnt willing to make the changes he needed to fit back in with the team. I like Pool as a short term option, but I still want the Jets to sign Sharper or use a relatively high pick on a safety.
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jvsvn says:
Interesting comments about Pool that suggest a few things: 1) the concussions might be a problem, 2) assuming he stays healthy and Jenks comes back strong, we will be a very difficult team to run on, and 3) since neither of our safeties are great cover guys, we need more pass rush than we showed last year.
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Green Lantern says:
Pool sounds like Taylor Mays….Hard Hitter, good in run support, Good Athlete, Sucks In Pass Coverage..
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Brendan says:
They still need to draft a safety, but Pool could be a pleasant surprise.
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cabras says:
Unfortunately Pool is one concussion away from being put on a PUP list.
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Please sign Sharper. We would have the best secondary in NFL history.
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John Z says:
If you don’t want be a team player, you don’t want to be on the team,
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Reprocity says:
When/How did we get Poole?
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The Jets signed him to a 1 year contract last week
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Eddie DiGio says:
I heard Sharper is recovering from knee surgery and he cant sign with anyone until he can pass a physical…otherwise, I think the Jets would have been all over it
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The concussion deal for Pool could be a major issue. The NFL is going to be very strict on head injuries this year.
I think he is a decent player but we need another body….. either a RFA offer sheet or one in round 2
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He also may be waiting to see if the Jets can free up some more UFA space to bring Sharper in.
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Yea it sucks that the money, fame and women got to Rhodes. He was really great once…
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I wish we knew the real # of concussions this kid had. I’ve heard 1 (from him and his agent), 5 (from the Browns) and everywhere in between by random media outlets.
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SackDance99 says:
Rhodes just stopped working hard. Rex is like Parcells, he wants guys who eat, drink and sleep football. Kerry had too many other interests and let his football work slide. He is so talented that he made up for it (mostly) on the field, but a motivated and dedicated Rhodes would have made the Pro Bowl this season. Too bad we couldn’t put Leonhard’s heart in Rhodes’ body.
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riccio475 says:
Don’t we have anyone on practice squad to play safety?
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If there were other takers< i wish we could've gotten a little more for rhodes.I'm sure tanny tried.
Poole's concussions scare the hell out of me, we have to draft or sign someone as a real backup plan.
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War Machine says:
I thought they said he was the same as Kerry? Now hes a run defender?
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Bent says: There’s some interesting information here and I agree with most of the comments, but I have two major issues with this article:
I don’t know who the opposing GM is, but I think they must have got mixed up, because that doesn’t sound like a description of Brodney Pool to me. At all!
Also, my take was that the TD before halftime wasn’t Kerry’s fault, so I don’t buy that comment either.
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Careful, Bent, the Rhodes haters are going to come out of the woodwork over that last comment.
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X says:
I dont see how that TD before the Half was Rhodes fault either… So Im not buying some things
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Bent says:
Let them hate. The guy played better than he got credit for most of the year, but he obviously got by without giving his all to the cause, so why should I put any effort into defending him?
I just thought it odd that there were two things in the article that didn’t make sense. Seriously…Pool a hard hitter that can’t cover? Did he get him mixed up with Elam?
By the way “he has talent” is what people say when put on the spot about evaluating a player they don’t know much about. I know, I use it all the time!
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We got the best we could for Rhodes, don’t you think that the rest of the league watched an underachiever w/ Rex as his coach? Why would anyone think he will do better with a different coach, I mean Rex is the epitome of a players coach. Boldin went for a 2nd, why would Rhodes go for more than a 4th.
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Rhodes is gone so this will be my last comment about him. There is only one “Rhodes hater” that matters. His name is Rex Ryan. Ryan benched the guy. He must not have liked what he was doing on the field. From that point forward it was obvious that Rhodes was a goner after the season.
Ryan believes in his system. He’s had enough success with it to back that up. He wants guys that buy into it completely. Rhodes didn’t do that last year and I can only assume that they came to the conclusion that he never totally would. Rhodes is a very talented player but if he wouldn’t do what the coaches asked then he wasn’t going to be around long term.
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JEFFDOLFINI says:
I didn’t really like the Brodney Poole signing, I think Sharper is a better fit, and does not have as many health concerns. Does anyone know what ended his season last year, was it concussions?
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Randy says:
Pool was a nice pickup, but by no means is he the answer to replacing Rhodes.he will do well in certain formations and filling in to give Leonard or whomever else needs a rest on safety.
As far as Safety goes, we have 1 of 2 options.
1-Sign Darren Sharper Once he becomes available
2-Move up in the draft and pick Berry or MaysIf It were me, Id look to move up and draft Berry or Mays in the first round.People are overating our need for a pass rusher as being a MUST.
We can always draft a Defensive end in the 2nd round and experiment Gholston at DE (Since he played that position in college). Our biggest need to me is Safety because Leonard is going to be playing extra hard to make up for the loss of Kerry Rhodes and we need insurence for Cromartie in the backfield. All in all Safety is 1st priority in the draft.
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Max says:
Rhodes was not Rex Ryan’s type of football player and Rex got rid of him. For Rex you have to breathe, eat and sleep football plus you need to “know” his defensive scheme inside and out. Rhodes never did. Jets will draft a Safety in the third round. First round – Defensive End/Linebacker.
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Randy,
Gholston would be blown away as a 3-4 DE. Just write him off already, he is not a player who can play for Rex.
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JetsFanInSouthFlorida says:
Not that it was unexpected but now it is official:
Jets re-signed SS Eric Smith to a one-year, $1.176 million contract.
Smith was tendered at the third-round level, which was prohibitive for a move to another team. He’ll enter the season as insurance behind a fragile Brodney Pool at strong safety.
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Revis Christ says:
i heard the jags want to traded down from ten … im sure tanny is chompping at the bit for draft day… eric berry eric berry eric berry
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BubbyBrister/shovelpass says:
Max – Jets don’t have a 3rd round pick (unless you mean they trade back and acquire one)
You could tell Rhodes and Leonhard werent on the same page all year…..Considering how well he knew the system it was not hard to speculate that Rhodes play was slacking because of…..him not knowing where to be….hmmm (Jacksonville game ring a bell?)
Rhodes in his interview was clearly talking about Leonhard making the calls and knowing the playbook and he thought he should be.
I defended Rhodes most fo the year not because he was playing so well but because I know what he “could” do with Rex and his skill level. Obviously he wasnt that interested in being great. Which sucks becasue a lot of us thought he would be.