Link: Wilson and the Slot
Rich Cimini answers some mailbag questions on ESPN New York on a number of topics, but here’s the one I thought was most interesting … one on Kyle Wilson and his transition to playing the slot.
Hi Rich, what do you think Rex’s plan for Kyle Wilson is? I’ve heard reports that he is very high on him as a nickel corner. Personally, I feel the nickel corner is the harder position to get a hold of. They do not have any sideline help, and they have to go up against shifty, quick receivers. Do you think Rex might put Dwight Lowery (who I believe is a decent corner) in to start the season as the nickel and ease Wilson into the role? This, to me, is one of the bigger questions facing training camp. (Scott, Hoboken, N.J.)
Scott, Wilson is slated to be the starting nickel/slot corner. You’re right, it’s not easy for a nickel back to cover a slot receiver. In Wilson’s case, he played on the boundary for his entire career at Boise State, and it’s not as easy transition. I was talking to Wilson a couple of weeks ago, and he mentioned that it’s tougher to cover a receiver in the slot than outside because you don’t have sideline leverage. That said, Ryan is willing to throw Wilson into the fire. Really, it’s the perfect way to break in a rookie cornerback: Let him play about 40% to 50% of the snaps as a nickel, then move him into the starting lineup in year two.
Rex loves throwing his rookies in at the deep end, and with Revis and Cromartie on the roster, Wilson will definitely be tasked with slot work for much of the season.
While there’s no boundary to work against as a slot corner, boundaries can’t make interceptions, but zone coverage players can. So, there are some chances that the scheme might provide zone help via a linebacker or safety to Wilson that will be a little different, mostly based on where the help is coming from. So while there’s no boundary to work against, there are some spots on the field that Wilson can push receivers towards knowing there’s another set of eyes that are there to help him out.
38 Responses to Link: Wilson and the Slot
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Bent says: spent – One of Wilson’s better strengths is tackling, so he is probably well suited to that role.
Football Outsiders said that the Jets gave up more yards on average on screen passes that anybody else. However, if it was a real weakness, why didn’t teams run them all the time, to try and alleviate some of the pressure and open up some running lanes? Bill Belichick provided some useful insight after week two when he suggested that it is extremely risky to run a screen pass against man-blitzes (which is what the Jets run) because you never know who the free man will be, so it is basically a high-risk, high-reward proposition.
Toss a solid tackler like Wilson into the mix and perhaps you’ve improved an area of weakness.
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k.c. says:
isn’t dwight lowery only in his,like,SECOND season.?
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Harvlis says:
I agree with Bassett — the defensive scheme will help Wilson a great deal. With pressure coming from all angles, and a defense that is hard to read — it will make it that much easier for Wilson to transition into his nickle role. Unless Cromartie has an outstanding season, Wilson is the future, opposite Revis.
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Bent says:
kc – this will be his 3rd season.
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juunit says:
Exactly, as long as Wilson is aware of where his linebackers are playing around him he can use them to his advantage just like he would use a sideline. If there’s a linebacker underneath where the receiver is, then don’t plan on running underneath, go behind him instead. I mean, it’s all easier said than done but this is his job, just know where the rest of your defense is going to be. He seems like a bright kid, shouldn’t be much of a problem.
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JEFFDOLFINI says:
Well at least we know, we have flexibility next season when we are trying to sign all of our free agents. Bent, do you think that if we could only sign two players out of Holmes, Edwards, and Cro that we would sign Holmes and Edwards if Wilson is ready? I would still say that DBs are more important on this team than an extra wide reciever. I would sign Edwards and Cro before I would bring back Holmes……………
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Bent says:
Quite possibly. It’s good to have the choice, like you say, so they can see how the season goes and act accordingly.
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If given the choice of three players, and you could only bring back two, 10 times out of 10 I would bring back the player not named Braylon Edwards. I’d rather put Cromartie out to receive for the offense.
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Nick says:
Personally, i’d play Wilson at CB whenever we play a team like New England, who has a Welker type player in the slot. Revis vs. Moss, Cro on Welker, and the kid playing the other CB spot.
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juunit, I could not dissagree with you more. All Jets fan did was whine about us not having that number 1 wide reciever on our team. That big, physical presence that can run. Even though he drops passes, he is still really important to this team. More important than you know. We need to keep Edwards over Holmes. Unless Edwards blows his knee out this year.
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greene says:
ohhhhhhh, you disagreed with juunit,
be warned Jeff, get ready for the derogative insults!
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I disagree with Mr. Unit as well (assume ju is his first name?). Braylon dropped a few passes, sure, but he caught a ton of balls, and nobody else on our team could have gotten as open as he did to even get the chance to drop them. You can’t look bad droppin passes if you don’t get open.
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Initials are JU and I’m mocking the rap group G-Unit, it’s an inside joke. But anyways… We had a rookie QB in Mark Sanchez last season, yet our GM went out and got the NFL’s leader in dropped passes. That’s a very stupid move. When you have a rookie QB, it would really help if all his targets had sure hands, because he isn’t going to have a 70% completion rate as it is. All those extra passes that get dropped only hurt more because there is a rookie behind center. Not to mention the possible mental effects it could have on the QB. “Even when I make good passes we still don’t get a completion.”
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Greene it’s not my fault you don’t understand the point of name recognition, which is to reach as vast an audience as possible, nothing derogatory about it.
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justfndoit says:
“he played on the boundary for his entire career at Boise State”
False.
In his 4 years at BSU he played multiple positions:
Left/Right corner
Boundary/Field corner
Safety
NickelIn most sets, he would line up against the opposing team’s best WR. The AFC East is a great division and I’m looking forward to some exciting matchups.
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greene says:
juunit,
dont make me copy and paste the comments you have written when people disagree with you. (i wouldnt do it anyways, free time is a priviledge)
and its not my fault you dont understand marketing works by repetition, i’m surprised your “marketing” degree didnt teach you that, lol.
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So you are saying that Coles would have been better as the number one reciever than Braylon? That is crazy, just because Coles had better hands does not mean that it would have been better for Sanchez. Braylon as that big, athletic, deep threat was very important to our QB’s growth. They will be even better this year. If he were to leave you would be the same person saying ” we need a number one reciever.” We have one everyone, we need to keep him! In fact, I am holding out hope that we will give someone like him a contract to send a message to the rest of these guys that want to holdout.
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Bent says:
When the Jets got Edwards in 2009, he was very cheap for the production he’s capable of and a low-risk proposition. If he’s going to play like the guy who dropped 19 passes in 2008, then he’s not worth keeping, but if he produces anything like he did in 2007 (80-1239-16TD) then he was a great pickup. Or maybe he’ll play like last year, lower production, several big plays, very low drop rate (outside the top 25 in the AFC and fewer drops than guys like Coles, Stuckey and Keller).
Cromartie is almost exactly the same boat. He had superb production in 2007 and was okay in 2009. In 2008 he was awful, much more of a problem than Edwards, who dropped a lot of passes but still had decent production and a few great games. Cromartie was just terrible in 2008 and if he plays that bad again, that would do more harm to the team than multiple drops by the receivers, admittedly frustrating though they are when they do happen.
Holmes too, appears to be on the up, but maybe he’ll regress or get in trouble.
Luckily the Jets have made no commitments and have enough flexibility to retain none or all of them (and anything in between).
As for juunit, maybe he was out of line in the past, but he was new to the site and apologized and moved on. He knows the rules now and seems to be playing nice so perhaps give him a break.
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Wolf says:
This defense is frightening.
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DSmizzle says:
However this winds up playing out with Cro, Edwards and Holmes, (keeping all, one, two or none), its a great “problem” to have. Holmes is enough of a “big-play” threat that he is distinguishable from Cotchery in this regard (that said, Cotch is a GREAT asset to this team, but I see him as more of a Welker than a big-play threat, which was a tremendous asset last time I checked).
So with regard to each of these guys, the JETS have a lot of options. If Cro is too expensive and Wilson pans out, I’m not going to be too upset if Lowery or another player has to be slotted in at Nickel-3rd CB. Its an important role to be sure, but I think we can all agree that when you look around the NFL, a 1st-round pick with big upside is a bit of a luxury (having such luxuries this year like their situation at CB and WR has me thinking this is going to be their best shot at a Super Bowl over the next few years).
With regard to Edwards and Holmes next offseason, assuming that they both acquit themselves well in 2010, I wouldn’t be upset with either of them being our “deep threat”. Granted, I’m going off the top of my head and someone might come back at me with something like “Football Outsiders proves Holmes isn’t a deep threat but a possession receiver”, etc., but I’m fairly certain he’s a big-play threat.
Additionally, losing one of these guys NEXT year might be further mitigated by Sanchez going into 2011 with another full season under his belt.
Sorry for the novel-length posts, but I’m an attorney with ADD.
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Meant to say “having a 1st-round pick with big upside slated to be the NICKEL-SLOT CB is a luxury in the NFL.
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I think that Braylon fits whats this team does alot better than Holmes. He is a better run blocker and is willing to do all the dirty work and stay out of trouble. He is also bigger and just as athletic and he puts fear in the eyes of opposing defenses and make them respect the deep threat. I may be in the minority here, but I definitely think Braylon is more important for the role that he plays on this offense.
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No, now that Holmes is here, Holmes and Cotchery combine for a perfectly talented 1 and 2. I’d be perfectly happy if Braylon was gone. Of course he’s going to make some plays, but he’s going to mess up too many plays for a professional wide receiver. Receiver is in his job description, and he isn’t good at catching, there’s really nothing else to it. I’ve said this before, but dropped catches don’t relate all the number of passes that should’ve been caught by the receiver. Only certain passes count as dropped passes, so to say that Braylon is saved based solely on his dropped passes is kind of illogical. How about the times that the ball deflects off his hands into the air and becomes easy pickings for the defense? I counted that happening at least twice in his time with the Jets. Yes it happens to everyone, but not with the regularity that it happens to Braylon.
Greene, don’t make you? Do whatever you want bud. No matter what you do though, you still won’t understand that the point of naming a stadium after something is to increase the name recognition of that brand. And to do that, they need as many different people as possible to see it.
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War Machine says:
i agree a bit to Jeff…. But hold on a minute Holmes is an absolute BEAST….I dont know how much u might have watched him over the years but besides Braylons one good year in 2007… Holmes has smashed and dashed him and honestly its not even close…. I mean did u see him in that superbowl game…. the guy just gets open and WILL catch any and EVERYTHING that is thrown to him….
Now i will say Holmes needs too earn a lil trust because he is a weed head and if he gets paid he might revert….
But if he doesnt i ganuruntee u if he was starting the whole year like Braylon is and he and Sanchez were on the same page as Braylon then he WILL have better stats then him…
Might you forget that Holmes IS A TOP 10 Reciever in the league and has the stats to back that up….
Braylon has top 10 talent but not the stats to back it up….
and i know Braylon didnt have a superbowl qb throwing him passes but …..
Like i said Holmes is a Monster and i would actually rather have him and Braylon over CRO if we had to choose….
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LukeV says:
I got to go to the new stadium last night for some VIP club thing! The new building is amazing!
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Bent says:
Juunit – I take your point, he definitely dropped some balls he should’ve had, but any pass that defelects of his hands would constitute a drop, even if intercepted, so his drop numbers would include any instances such as those that you described.
For me, the important thing isn’t the drop number, it’s the fact that his catch rate improved significantly. Hopefully it continues to improve or at least doesn’t go back to the way it was. I’m sure they will sign him if his production makes up for his number of drops and won’t if his drops resurface. The other aspect to consider is that his performance sets his asking price.
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juunit:
The one weird thing I’ve noticed about Braylon is that its not really the tough catch that troubles him, its the routine catches. Its a bit strange and I chalk it up to lapses in concentration or having Mike Pelfrey-like “yips”, but over his career, Edwards has struck me as the kind of guy that will make the most difficult and acrobatic catches you will see in the NFL, but easy passes are dropped by him far too often.
I don’t know how the stats on this play out, but I don’t think you can say he has “no hands” because of some of the things I’ve seen him do. Yes, the acrobatic catch might be based less on “hands” and more on sheer athleticism allowing you to put your body in a position where you can get your hands on it … but if you saw these highlight catches and didn’t know he had a severe case of the “drops”, you’d probably say he had great hands.
I think this is something that he can work on (concentration), as there is a lot of technique involved in properly catching a pass, and he may allow himself to get distracted, whereas in order to make a circus catch, you have no choice but to singularly focus on the ball after you get your body in the proper position.
We can’t wait on him forever and in light of the fact that we have Cotch and Holmes on the roster, we should let him try his trade elsewhere if he still can’t nip this problem in the bud … but I’m pretty sure this is something some players get better at over the years.
All that said, as mentioned many times over, even if he makes a terrible drop like against Buffalo in Canada last year when wide open to walk into the end zone and the ball hits him in the face, opposing defenses are definitely afraid of him, and even though he will make a ridiculous drop every now and then, Edwards isn’t the kid on the playground (like me) who you don’t have to cover because he will definitely drop the ball.
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Andy says:
Jeff,
I agree. It was exactly what I was thinking about when I was reading this thread. Edwards is a big part of our offense even when he doesn’t catch any passes. He helps make the running game good. When we didn’d have Edwards, everyone know we were running the ball and stacking eight in the box, and we could not do to much as far as the passing game is concerned. He blocks well down the field and still is a deep ball threat. Personally I would like to keep both Holmes and Edwards. But with everyone and their mom looking for a new contract….I don’t know what will happen.
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Joe B. says:
Is it that much of a given that Cro will be let go at the end of the season? I know the job is probably eventually Wilson’s, but I wouldn’t mind having three stellar corners for years to come.
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Bent says:
Smizz – yeah, you can’t blame the Bills drop on bad hands, it hit him in the face!
He seems to have more of a problem with judging the flight of the ball. There was one where he beat the guy easily but he slowed up and it sailed over his head and off his fingertips. Another he watched right into his breadbasket, but left a gap – poor technique. His actual hands are pretty good if he judges the flight of the ball correctly and he has an impressive radius/range.
Maybe it’s his eyesight or a correctable technical flaw, but he made some improvements already for whatever reason, so hopefully he can become even more reliable.
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Bent:
I’m with you as to this being something that can be improved. I’m brainstorming trying to think of a good example from the JETS specifically and the NFL generally of a guy with great physical tools who needed to work on pass-catchng technique. I always played line, have hands like feet and trying to catch a hard throw with a tight spiral would surely result in physical harm to my face or body … But from Pee Wee through middle school, high school and college (and watching JETS’ practices), during position-specific drills I’ve consistently seen WR’s at all levels spend a significant portion of their individual-position practice time working on this with their position coaches. The work on pass-catching technique was very intricate, not unlike the great attention paid towards practicing proper footwork to properly run routes, get into breaks, etc. So I have surmised that there is a method to the madness, and they aren’t spending so much time working on technique because pass-catching is an inherently natural skill that can’t be improved by practice and repetition.
I’m looking for some NFL examples and I don’t have any names off the top of my head, but I know this is an area where a player can improve over time.
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I am not saying by any means that Holmes is not a great reciever but I just think that alot of people underestimate what Braylon brings to this team. Not only will you see some big plays disappear, you will also see the running game suffer as well. With the contract situations of Revis, Harris, Mangold and Brick I just don’t see Edwards, Holmes, and Cro coming back. Revis has kind of killed our chances of bringing all of these guys back, but 6 of 7 would be great!
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Haha, well as you said Bent, it’s really the number of times the ball is thrown to him and the percentage of catches he makes that is my gripe with him, not necessarily just the dropped passes and passes to the face. But I suppose you guys do have a point about the intangibles like his blocking, I’ll admit I hadn’t really noticed how his blocking was, so I will take your word for it. It’s just that, with Braylon and Keller combined, there just seem to be many guys on the field who I have to hold my breath for every time the ball goes near them. And DSmizzle, that always seems to be the case doesn’t it? Not just with Braylon I mean. I know when I’m playing some kind of sport it seems to me like I’ll make the amazing and difficult play but then still lose on a routine one.
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Bent says:
jeff – I wouldn’t rule out them being able to bring back all seven to be honest. Not saying I think they will, but unless Cro/Holmes/Bray all have great years, they’ll have the option if they’re prepared to stretch themselves.
Smizz – Plaxico, Shiancoe, Devery Henderson. It happens a lot. Dwayne Bowe led the league in drops last year, I bet he becomes a really good player.
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Bent says:
Juunit – agreed. Let’s hope he continues to improve on both routine and flashy plays, because he did improve last year, a lot, even if he’s not all the way there yet.
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I’m a Mets fan, I always expect the worst. But maybe I’m wrong and Braylon does keep improving.
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sth11 says:
The thing I’ve noticed about Braylon’s worst drops is that they mostly occur on plays where he is going to catch the ball, in stride, with a good possiblility for YAC. Couple this with his physicality and how dangerous he is with the ball in his hands, and I think we can be fairly confident that Braylon is thinking about running with the ball before he catches it.
If you ever watch Larry Fitzgerald, he always follows the ball all the way into his hands (with which he always catches the ball) and it’s the biggest reason he’s such a great receiver; these are two aspects of his craft that Braylon should be concentrating on improving this offseason.
While this is certainly a somewhat amateur flaw in a Pro WR, I see no reason why he shouldn’t be able to learn how to focus on the easy catches as well as the acrobatic ones, which, if you really think about it, basically proves that he has good hands and, I think, lends more credence to the idea that his drops are focus/concentration related as opposed to the result of some technical flaw (though lack of concentration may very well cause such technical flaws to occur).
You need to be able to concentrate AND have good hands in order to make the rediculous catches he makes, so he clearly has the ability, he just needs to learn how to be more consistent in the mental aspect of the game. We all know he has the physical tools.
Screen passes have been our weakness for a while. Will Wilson be responsible for covering guys running screens across the middle? And if so, why would we want a rookie covering our soft spot?