“He used to say, ‘Big guys are just like pretty women. There’s not a lot of them, and everybody wants them,’” Dunbar said. “You can’t find those guys everywhere.”

[...]

“If you want to have a good defense, you’ve got to have a good defensive front,” Dunbar said. “I think we have two of the better corners in the league. We have pretty good linebackers. It’s not to take away from any defensive linemen that were here before, but when you get a chance to get young, big athletic guys, you get them.”

It’s true.  The Giants have lived and died with this truism.  The Jets defensive line has gotten substantially younger and more athletic in the last two years with the additions of Mo and Coples – not to mention backup addition like Kenrick Ellis, Marcus Dixon and Aaron Maybin.  While I think Rex Ryan can put together an effective defense with lesser DL talent, the defense is going to be that much better by having young and extremely athletic players for him to utilize there over the next five or so years.  He’s still going to bring his numbers, but one of the biggest woes of the Jets defense was bringing real pressure with just three or four guys.

As far as what the Jets will do defensively in 2012?  Dunbar says it’s more of the same, but there might be more wrinkles too.

“We’re going to do what they did last year,” Dunbar said. “We’re going to do what Rex has done his whole career. I was fortunate to play for him in Arizona. We did the same stuff. … If you’ve got guys that can get on the field and be disruptive, you’re going to put them on the field.”

It’s not something that we want to dwell on.  We wish Cromartie and his family all the best and hope that whatever issues there were have been resolved and don’t come up again.

The problem I have is Bell is similar to fellow free-agent signing LaRon Landry. Both are great tacklers, but the pair struggle in coverage. Will Landry or Bell play free safety and attempt to cover tight ends and receivers going across the middle? Neither is a good option. Eric Smith is probably a little better in coverage, but he’s not a viable starter. The Jets did not improve their pass coverage this offseason, which is a major issue.

Eric Smith is better in coverage than Landry and Bell?

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Well if that isn’t an utterly frightening prospect about the Jets veterans coverage skillset at the safety position, then I have NO IDEA what is.  Let’s hope that Walker is misinformed about Smith’s comparative coverage abilities to Bell and/or Landry, otherwise the Jets are well and truly screwed.

Via Deadspin, Rex Ryan was in Florida recently and agreed to take a picture with a couple on their wedding day.  Have fun and be *somewhat* respectful … it’s their wedding after all!

When one Tebows, he drops to a knee and puts a balled fist to his forehead, somewhat looking like the armor-lock pose from Halo: Reach. There’s no signing of the cross or pointing to heaven, but because its namesake, the New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, is such a visibly religious person, everyone gets fired up about mixing religion and sport even though that has been done in the end zone for decades.

Big deal … Tebowing is sooooo passé, I will be on the lookout for when the game adds Taylor Swifting to the game’s repertoire.

Today, send us any questions you have about the Jets to thejetsblog@gmail.com or hit is up on Twitter @Brian_Bassett.  As a special treat, the best question will get answered via our brand-spanking new Social Cam account!

Here’s a Brandon Moore interview from last night’s Jets Nation.