Jamaal Westerman: ‘Next Year I Want to Be a Starter’
Coming out of the 2009 spring OTAs, Rex Ryan praised his UDFA Defensive End / Linebacker Jamaal Westerman and what he was showing the team already to that point.
During the 2009 season, Westerman played on special teams extensively, and saw some time in package situations on defense showing promise. But with the addition of Jason Taylor to the team in 2010, the logjam at OLB and a nagging ankle injury kept Westerman from seeing much time on the field with established veterans like Taylor, Pace and Thomas playing ahead of him.
Now, the Jets have released Jason Taylor (though talk about bringing him back) and are being linked in many a mock draft to OLB type players, which could threaten to bar Westerman again from contributing in a larger role yet again.
Rod Boone of Newsday talked to Jamaal Westerman about his intentions for the 2011 season recently.
"Next year, I want to be a starter," Westerman said in a recent conversation with Newsday. "You want to be that guy that’s always on the field helping the team win. And I think you always want more time on the field, wherever it is, whatever situation. I think I ended the year pretty good, but we had a lot of veteran guys in front of me that have been making plays in the league for a long time.
"But I want to be one of those guys out there and just keep learning from our coaching staff, just keep learning from them and keep trying to get better and keep making the plays that will allow them to put me on the field more."
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Westerman stating that he wants to start. It’s a goal, and he wants to do what it takes to achieve it. I’d be troubled if anyone on an NFL roster didn’t want to be a starter, but of course it comes down to what works best for the team.
Rod Boone makes point that Westerman was hampered by an ankle injury much of the season, which is interesting … since I don’t remember him showing up on the injury report much during the course of the season. Of course, Westerman did play during the team’s postseason run, which is a good sign for going forward, and that the Jets aren’t writing him off if they’d play him in big games.
Workout buddy at TEST Bart Scott had praise for Westerman’s abilities, and agreed he’d like to see him used more extensively in pass-rush situations.
"He’s explosive, he’s a natural pass-rusher," Scott said. "Now, I think hopefully the game will start slowing down for him. I look forward to him hopefully making that next transition so we can infuse some young talent into our defense.”
Bart Scott has proven that you don’t have to be a drafted player to be a highly effective one, but there’s something to be said for a great college resume and great metrics coming out of the Combine.
When the Jets have the luxury of potentially adding a top five pass rusher from this draft class, it’s easy to get giddy at that notion, but I’ve always liked Westerman, and would love to see him in an expanded role for the Jets. That’s not to say he doesn’t need some polishing, but he’s got more drive and production than we ever saw out of Gholston. But what I would say that drafting a guy like Akeem Ayers or Justin Houston doesn’t preclude the usefulness of Westerman going forward – it might just delay it. Sooner or later the Jets are going to have to make some future decisions about Bryan Thomas and/or Calvin Pace and what the future holds for them and Westerman might be a nice transition piece to those moves.
20 Responses to Jamaal Westerman: ‘Next Year I Want to Be a Starter’
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I found it strange that Westerman was always inactive but never on the injury report. The Jets need an OLB, but it looks like all the premium OLB will be gone at 30, I don’t want the Jet to reach, and I’m sure the Jets would like to dump Bryan Thomas’s salary, so Westerman is very important to the Jets
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i remember in 2009 in his and the Jets’ first game against the Texans he got a sack. i thought it would be a sign of more to come and he would eventually take over for BT, but after that game he didn’t really play much. Being from New Brunswick and a fan of RU Westerman was awesome to watch. i hope he gets his shot cause the guy is talented.
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Bent says: So, he’s saying he wants to be traded to the Browns?
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Westerman was the enigma of the season. As pointed out above he was inactive for a great number of games without having a serious injury (unless they were hiding something). His emergence could save the Jets a draft pick at OLB as I’m certain the braintrust knows what they have in him. He is aggressive, intelligent and hard working. What other attributes are necessary to justify playing time? Only performance, and this should be the year to put up or say goodbye.
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he’ll be a starter… on special teams, lost alot of respect when he missed that easy blocked punt in the steelers game
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because of one small mistake on teams you have lost faith in a 3rd yr player? wow,harsh man. good thing your not the man making the decisions or everyone would be cut (no offence)
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Bent says:
…a sack he only got because Gholston took on a double team, leaving him unblocked.
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I liked what I saw from him in the preseason, it’s too bad he didn’t get a chance to really play during the regular season.
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As we’ve learned quite a bit about injury report accuracy over the last 2 years… hide what you can seems par for the course here.
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he wont start unless someone is hurt and im hoping brooks reeds comes in when that happens
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Just a reminder about Westerman’s senior year at RU: He opted to play out the rest of the year after partially tearing his biceps tendon. The delay in his having surgery if I recall correctly either kept him out of or limited his performance at the combine, likely costing him any chance he had of being drafted.
I’d still like a pass rusher in the draft. No such thing as too many pass rushers if it’s cheap.