I know this won't be a popular post by those who have their minds set but before we write off AJ, lets take some things into consideration. 1) AJ is a player will little high level experience as a tackle. He was a TE most of his college carreer and only in his last year was he converted to tackle. 2) He was interesting beasue of his good athleticism but bc of his lack of experience he has to be considered a project. 3) AJ was a natural LT but bc Fabini was our starting LT we put him at RT, so not only did he have limited experience at T, he had NO experience at RT. All and all AJ has been asked to a lot of things that he had very little experience with. I think he has be thrust into a pretty difficult situation. However, now that he had an extra year to learn behind Clement at RT and he has a little more pro experience and exposure he could be a sleeper. All I am saying is that I know Jones has not impressed to date, but taking the facts into condsieration, he should not be written off completely.
I think he provides great depth and could be a starter, but in the time-frame of development, it might take another year...that we can't afford to wait...aka we need a RT...shoot, i'll even take clement back at this point...i'd rather draft a guard or 2 and fill RT with a vet...they're the cheapest OL along with C and we got that under wraps for the foreseeable future. Just throw some dough at a fat guy like runyan (bastard) and watch TJ run...
I trust Tangini, if they think he is ready and they start him, that is enough of an indicator to me that he will be fine. If they bring someone in, that will be fine too. I am just saying that if he is the starter that it is not a reson to panic.
I liked when Jones was put in as RG for a while. The guy is athletic and can pull and stay in front of most backs.
Jones has no POWER--he doesn't run block worth a crap, and he is AT BEST a reserve--another Birdbrain Boobway reach on draft day.
We need help in run blocking and I do not see Jones helping us in that way. He is a fleet of foot guy, not the mauler we are looking for.
He might turn into a very good tackle in Denver where the playing conditions require a lighter, quicker lineman but I don't think he's gonna do well here. He's just gonna get mauled by the heavier defensive lines that teams like the Dolphins, Pats and Bills favor.
When you have a very good pass blocker, they are typically not as good at run blocking since pass blockers have to be a little lighter on their feet to deal with speed rushers. It is rare to have someone who is a great pass blocker and great run blocker. With AJ he is probably geared more toward pass blocking and less so run blocking. If we put a road grading mauler at that position they will likely be less adept at pass blocking. It is a tradeoff.
While I agree with most of what has been said on this thread, one other consideration is interesting to me. Given AJ's legal problems last year (DUI I believe) the fact that he was NOT CUT leads me to believe that Mangini must think pretty highly of him. I fully expected he would be cut for that indescretion.
You do realize e was a 4th round draft pick, and many teams admiteddly considered taking him in the 2nd round, right? I know Bradway isn't perfect..but c'mon..you are surely reaching w/ this one.
I have always liked AJ... a poor mand Brick, keep him for depth. He can play LT, LG, RG but not RT. We need a serious mauler at RT, if you ask me that is what this team is really missing. The biggest problem I have is that this was the same situation last year and we got a stop gap player in Clemens wothout grooming the future RT. Is it AJ? I would highly doubt it but it would be interesting to see him actually grasp a zone blocking scheem, although highly unlikley.
Now that's an interesting idea. Put him in as the 6th lineman on the strongside when the Jets want to go strong.
I admittedly so far have been wrong about AJ. First of all, I thought he was awful at RT during his 2nd year when he was a 16 game starter, but when he was moved to LT, he showed alot of promise. His quick feet and decent knee bending makes him a very intriguing prospect. The problem is, he has short arms and lacks the height needs to play OT in the NFL. The stretch armstrong DE's just swim move and bull rush him all day long and he as no way to defend it. W/ that said, I was extremely impressed w/ him when he replaced Pete Kendall at LG against the Pats. Not only was he not a liability, he gave us a damn good upgrade in protection/ blitz pick and of course the ability to pull. In fact, I'll go on record as stating he'd be an upgrade over Moore or Kendall talent wise on the inside. W/ that said, Kendall offers too much in terms of leadership up front so he wont be going anywhere, but I'd love to see him get a shot at unseating Moore at RG.
I think Jones best shot at becoming a FT starter as a Jet is if he really takes to the position change to OG, specifically LOG. Mangenious experimented with that last year. If Jones takes to it, I think he could potentially be Kendall's heir apparent.
