Yup. If we don't bring back Leonhard, we have Eric Smith & Landry starting. I'm not sure I want 2 similar style safeties. I'd much rather have Smith backing up Landry, or both. Even if Leonhard rotates with Smith and his primary role is to teach the young guys, we will still be way better off at the position. I highly doubt any of the 6th/7th round safeties will be seeing significant minutes any time soon, but you never know.
Jimmy Leonhard is the same style Safety as Landry and Smith. All three of them are bruising safties, Jimmy just has more instincts than the two of them. Our big mistake was not retaining Pool.
Bringing back Leonhard is an absolute must with our current situation at safety. I also love the idea of bringing in Benson, I'm not confident in Greene and McKnight carrying the load in a run-heavy offense. In addition, I really think the Jets could benefit from looking at a TE like Visanthe Shiancoe. After Keller, the position is extremely weak.
Eric Smith and the word dominant belong in the same idea... They only thing in his career that he’s been even close to “dominant” is on STs.
While I dont doubt that, we still suffered against TEs, even Landry did last year with the Redskins. Its just concerning when it boils down to things.
A few things... - Brown is sort of finished. He was awful last year. My hunch is that if the Jets wanted a versatile guard/center type, they'd have brought back Turner. I think they're focused on developing the guys they have in there. -What is this love affair with Benson? The guy has fumbled 12 times in the last two years. He hasn't averaged 4 yards a carry since 2009. I won't even mention the arrests, because I don't have to. The guy is a shit back. - Would love to see Leonhard back, and if the kids develop, I'd like to see him back at the expense of Eric Smith. The Jets apparently love Tracey Wilson, and Allen and Bush seem to have high upside, but I have my doubts about Laron Landry even playing 5 games with this team. Leonhard is a smart, heady guy who's not afraid to mix it up, and I think he'd be a valued guy on the roster in any capacity. - English is intriguing. One of those "why not?" moves. If his foot checks out, why not? -X-
I would have liked Pool back as well, but Leonhard can and did play mostly FS last year (starting over Pool) and ran the secondary. He's way better in coverage than Smith. He can handle those type of assignments, whereas Smith constantly gets burned. Leonhard is also much quicker and I'd rather see him in coverage than Smith or Landry, but again, even if his role is diminished and he spends time teaching the new guys, it's worth it. We are better with him, than without him and there aren't any decent FSs in FA, so that should be our #1 focus.
No reason to bring in Benson unless we feel Powell is already a bust (which seems likely) although I did hear another name at RB get thrown around a few months ago as having potential to crack the roster (John Griffin) so I think we are fine at RB, and should certainly try to give Conner some more touches... Our biggest need is a veteran olineman...not quite sure who is available, but somebody like Clifton for the Packers is what we need. Not saying him, because I know his health is in bad shape, but a veteran leader with a ring who can get in Santonio's face if need be and bring back a lot of the leadership that has been lost over the last 2 offseasons. WR I would love to see Bray come back. We would have a nice group of versatile blocking WR's who have the ability to get open deep and should help Tone thrive underneath as well as Kerley/Keller. I think our front 7 is set, but we still need help in secondary. Leonhard will be back, seems like a given there. Between Landry/Bush/Allen/Davis, I think our coverage of RB's and TE's will improve. Landry may not be great in coverage but he will jam Gronk at the line all day and alter routes that will greatly help us. Still need to add a solid 4th CB, could be Drew Coleman, or I know there were talks of Chris Johnson. Also whispers Nate Clements could be released.
