Link: One Shot
As the Jets prepare to take on the Giants tomorrow night, Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com writes one player to look out for is undrafted TE Jeff Cumberland.
“Early in camp, he really jumped out,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said Saturday. “He can run away from people, he’s got great height, he will go up and catch it and he’s fairly physical. I’m excited to see how he does in this game, against guys that have no idea about him.”
Cumberland is 6 feet 4, 260 pounds with 4.43 speed in the 40 (his Pro Day time). He caught only 51 passes in his career but averaged 17 yards per reception and scored 11 touchdowns. His ability to separate from defenders shows up immediately on the practice field, prompting the coaches to give him a few reps with the starters.
Not shy on confidence, Cumberland expects to create a buzz Monday night.
“I believe I’m certainly going to surprise a lot of people,” he said. “As of now, probably not too many people know about me. I feel that once Monday comes and I show what I can do … people will soon find out who I am and what I can do.”
48 Responses to Link: One Shot
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really hoping he makes the roster i’ve been following him for a while. lots of potential.
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I have a good feeling that this guy is going to do very well on Monday night .. I also hope Warren shows something ..
Btw .. Hank how horrible did Colt McCoy look last night .. I know he’s a rook but that guy is the worst .. At best he can be 25% of Chad Pennington .. He looked about as comfortable as a pitbull at Mike Vick’s house .. That is all ..
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“He looked about as comfortable as a pitbull at Mike Vick’s house” hahaha that is the funniest vick joke i’ve ever heard. and it’s even better because it’s true mccoy looked terrible last night but it’s either him or delhomme.
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Ed L says:
Way off topic but has there been any new news on the revis front since the whole going confidential announcement?
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Bent says: No, which is good.
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i hope he pushes keller, keller has been doing pretty good nothing special though i feel like he has been underacheiving he has alot of potential maybe we can get more out of keller now if not cumberland overtake him.
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I saw Cumberland in Cortland, he is quicker and faster than Keller, has size and can grow. As crazy as it may sound, the Jets may carry 4 TE’s and only 5 WR’s. There is a big drop off in talent, after Brad Smith
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I think Keller showed great talent in the playoffs and thats the last we all saw Keller.
are you counting the long snapper as a tightend too
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I can’t tell if Keller’s problem is not enough chances or jut lack of something else. Not sure if he’s a great blocker, but He should be more of a target. For young QBs, good tight ends are usually their best friend.
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Bent says:
He is not a good blocker, although he showed signs of improvement at the end of last year.
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I expect he will get plenty of opportunities this season especially with opposing defenses having to contend with Edwards, Holmes (when he returns) and Cotchery.
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Guys, throwing over the middle is the most difficult thing for young quarterbacks to do. Think about it. You have bodies crossing from both side and all angles. Outside the number reads are much easier to make because it’s only half of the field. In fact, this is the exact reason Flacco struggled for a stretch last year because teams started taking away the outside of the field forcing him to make quick decisions in the middle of the field. Keller will be more of a threat as the game slows down for Sanchez and he is able to make the quick decisions required for throws over the middle.
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first of all I dont understand some of the Keller hating going on above? He is an awesome tight end AND he’s only in his THIRD year I believe? Anyways,if he’s as good as advertised,a two tight end set with Keller and Cumby could be potent.
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I think this guy has to make the team his only roster competition is Mulligan. This guy does sound like he has lot of potential another nice udfa find by Tannembaum
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I think we can carry 3 TE’s but certainly not 4. If we carry 3 I’d say Matthew Mulligan will be the odd man out because Cumberland has really opened some eyes. If we carry two then Cumberland may be left out, it all depends in how Ben Hartsock does, I hope Cumberland makes it though, having 2 tight ends like him in Keller that are faster than almost any linebackers and a lot of safeties will create so many mismathces for defenses. We’ll see what happens, I’m hoping Gholston shows us what Rex has been talking about. I really want Warren to make the team, he’s so much more useful than Cole or Coleman. Warren can be used as a safety on some situations and in dime packages. Coleman always finds a way to make the team somehow though.
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Cumberland’s success points out, again, how good Tanny and Co. are at signing quality UDFAs. That’s why I have never understood the criticism that the FO doesn’t hoard enough draft picks. Going for quality over quantity and maximizing the UDFA market works just as well as holding on to 4th-7th round picks.
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Why all the Dustin Keller hate? Because he isn’t a good blocker, he isn’t a big target, and he doesn’t have good hands. Those really are the three most important criteria for a TE. All he has is speed, which is wonderful, if he could catch the ball. He had an OK playoffs, he was wide open on those big catches he made in the 99 yard game. The opposing defense screwed up, it wasn’t through Keller’s talent. And besides those playoff games, he’s been practically nonexistent. It seemed like just about every game during the regular season (playoffs too) that he would drop an extremely pass. Not what you look for in a TE. Great, he isn’t your ordinary TE. He also isn’t good as a TE. So we have an out of the ordinary mediocre TE… whoopdydoo.
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I have to agree keller last season was non existent very inconsistent until theplayoffs and i remember him dropping a lot of passes like sanchez he had an up and down year.
but in the playoffs stepped his game up now I am just hoping he could show more production.
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Keller was not wide open because the defense messed up. He was wide open in the playoffs, because LBs can’t cover him because of his speed. In order to cover him, the opposing team needs to put a DB on him. Most teams aren’t willing to do that, because that means leaving the Jets wide receivers one on one with their defensive backs. You can stop Keller by putting a good safety or CB on him. But that means leaving yourself very vulnerable on the outside. Holmes, Braylon, and Cotchery will have a ton of success if they are going one on one in man coverage. Teams are forced to pick their poison. If teams key in on Dustin, the wide receivers are going to make a lot of plays. If you use the safeties to give the CBs help, Keller is going to be wide open in the middle of the field. That is why the Jets are a matchup nightmare for just about every team. Not to mention, they have LT who can catch the ball well out of the backfield. All Sanchez needs to do is get the ball to the open man, because there will be someone open on most plays.
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You do realize that this is only his third year and he has had close to 50 catches each of his first two years thats really not mediocre at all for such a young player. Really dont understand the Keller hate.
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3rd and long in OT against the Pats on Thursday Night Football, Favre to Keller for a first down. Feely goes on to kick the game winning field goal on that drive. All I gotta say!
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I really don’t see the Keller critisizm. Nor do I agree that he has bad hands. He’s going to be lethal in our passing game.
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Keller doesn’t have bad hands…I think Sanchez last year made some horrible throws to Keller, often to the wrong shoulder. IMO, Sanchez had trouble hitting Keller when Keller was in typical TE formations and patterns, but was much better at hitting him when he was in WR-type formations and routes. Once Sanchez gets better at recognizing coverages or learns that a 12 yard gain for a first down from his TE is often better than trying a 20-yard pass to a WR in Cover 2. Patience and taking what the defense gives you are 2 traits that Sanchez didn’t really have last year and they are what made Brady great from the first time he started.
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Oh, it’s only his third year in the NFL? What is this, baseball? NFL players have very short shelf lives. To have a 10 year career is equivalent to playing into their 40′s in baseball terms… as in not many people do it. Especially not mediocre TEs that only value is speed which is always the first tool an athlete loses, his speed.
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Read my comment on your post. His value is much greater than his production (in terms of catches and yards). Teams need to game plan for him. If teams put a safety on him, Keller might not put up big numbers, but the receivers will be going up one on one against the opposing teams CB. If teams decide to put a LB on Keller, he will beat them every time. The addition of Holmes is going to help Keller a lot. Teams won’t leave Holmes and Braylon one on one on the outside without safety help. Than means that Keller is going to be matching up against LBs. No LB can keep up with Keller. He is way too fast. Also remember that the Jets only had an average WR corps and a rookie QB last year. That obviously hurt Kellers production. The year before that, Keller was a rookie. I would be surprised if he doesn’t have a huge year.
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Keller had close to 50 catches last year and was a huge part of our teams success in the playoffs, relax hes not mediocre at all
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Most premier wide receivers don’t come into their own until their 3rd season (it’s actually pretty similar to the 27 year old power hitter rule-of-thumb in baseball), and for some of the best pass-catching TEs the numbers are pretty similar. Tony Gonzalez averaged 45 catches and 2 TDs until breaking out in his 3rd year. Dallas Clark averaged 30 and 3 for his first 4 years and didn’t come into his own until the 5th. If you’re suggesting great NFL players don’t have a learning curve, you’re way off base.
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Well uh, seeing how Cumberland apparently seems very fast, and he definitely has bigger hands and he’s definitely a bigger target. I’m really not sure how Keller is going to be causing match up problems. I believe somebody has even said Cumberland is faster than Keller. Whatever, whatever… we’ll go through another year of potential Keller and some of you will realize he just isn’t that good and some other people will still be bending over in front of him.
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How great would it be if Revis reports tomorrow night and start against the Giants on Monday Night Football.Woody loves to make headlines and this would be the kind of move that would steal ALL the spotlight away from the Giants while playing them at the same time.
Imagine all the News and Press the Jets would get during the game.ESPN would be focusing on Revis 90% of the time that the Jets are on Defense and even on offense.
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As result the Giants would be getting ignored and I think that is what Woody Johnson would want lol
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Even if he did sign tomorrow, I doubt he would play. He’s missed all of camp and he wouldn’t know the playbook because it isn’t going to be the same as last season. It would nice, definitely. But it’s not going to happen even if he did sign.
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I watched a youtube video of his college plays and wasn’t impressed at all. He looked like a sasquach trying to run anything other than a hitch pattern. Very sloppy.
Either he’s improved tremendously since then or Ryan is just pumping up one of his guys again. I love the fact that Ryan does that, but you have to take it with a grain of salt when he does.
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Sasquatch? The guy runs like a WR with huge, graceful strides. I don’t know where you get that from.
Something you have to factor into this is his QB is a run-first option QB. Juice Williams was never that great of a passer, and Cumberlain never really harnessed his abilities. He is surprisingly good at blocking and has a lot of ability. A TE from a run-first with his physical talents is a gift for how the Jets got him. He could develop into a taller Dustin Keller with his athleticism (4.4 forty, 35″ vertical, 20 bench reps).
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I told you, I watched a youtube video. I don’t know where you get the “graceful” from. He ran terrible routes in the video (other than the hitch).
It’s possible he’s improved tremendously since that video was taken (college).
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Here’s the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OIWweKIMr0&feature=player_embeddedBeing fast doesn’t matter if you run routes like this in the NFL.
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I’ve seen the video. How does he look like sasquatch there? He’s big, and uses huge strides (which is why he covers 40 yards in 4.4 seconds). The fumble play early on (yes, he fumbled, but bear with me) shows a DB playing 15 yards off him (because he could get beat deep by a behemoth playing the outside) Cumberland firing off the line to keep that DB deep and then getting a hitch and sprinting around a DB. A young, inexperienced mistake led to the fumble (not covering the ball for a from-behind tackle), but how can you look at that play and call him Sasquatch?
He’s a TE, not a WR. TE routes don’t need to be as precise as a WR’s because they have much bigger bodies to use to their advantage. Keller still doesn’t run great routes, it’s just a matter of body control.
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I was just referring to how sloppy the routes were. I agree a TE doesn’t need to have as precise routes as a WR, but those looked terrible.
I’ll keep an eye on him tonight, but I’m not getting my hopes up.
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Some of his routes were sloppy (rounded cuts and stuff like that) but it appeared that the route-running tree at Illinois is high-school level. They’re a run-first team and I didn’t see anyone running double moves or anything. Let’s just hope that with a really good coach for the WRs, the Jets can fine-tune Cumberland’s routes. Because with his ability (and surprisingly strong blocking) he could be a very good player for depth this year.
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If this guy comes on strong, we can run more double tight end formation, and with our run game teams would have a prob!!