Jets Team Report Print this | E-mail this | Comments on this article: 0 User comments Posted: April 8, 2007 Rich Cimini For Sporting News One player on the rise is first-year FB Stacy Tutt, a former college quarterback who spent most of last season on the practice squad. After a successful career at Richmond, he made the tough transition to fullback, displaying a willingness to initiate contact as a blocker. At 6-1, 233, Tutt has good size for the position. He's a quick learner, an important trait because the Jets' offense is so mentally demanding. Tutt runs well and has decent hands (he also could play some H-Back), which makes him a good complement to free-agent pickup Darian Barnes, who is more of a pure blocking back. Tutt, who saw limited action late last season, could be one of the surprises in 2007. . . . WR Justin McCareins' days with the Jets could be numbered. McCareins, who lost his starting job last season to Jerricho Cotchery, is due to make $2.9 million in 2007 -- cap-prohibitive for a backup receiver. Unless McCareins agrees to a pay cut, which is unlikely, he probably will be traded on draft day or released after the draft. He's still a capable, hard-working player, but he didn't hit it off with Eric Mangini. McCareins wouldn't mind a change of address and may be wishing for a trade. The Jets would love to get a fourth-rounder for McCareins, recouping the fourth-rounder they sent to the 49ers for RB Kevan Barlow. SCOUTING REPORT: SS Kerry Rhodes, coming off a breakthrough season, could be ready to vault into the elite group of safeties. Unlike the one-dimensional safeties, who are stereotyped as either a "centerfielder" or as an eighth-man-in-the-box hitter, Rhodes plays equally well at the line of scrimmage or 15 yards off the line in coverage. The proof: He recorded five sacks and four interceptions last season, yet was snubbed for the Pro Bowl. He attributes his improvement to becoming a dedicated film watcher. He always had the physical prowess to be a star; now he's learning to appreciate the mental aspect of the game. Rhodes has emerged as the best playmaker on the Jets' defense and he's in line for a long-term contract extension. OFFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS: With the addition of RB Thomas Jones, the Jets won't have to use as much deception as last season. In 2006, without a proven No. 1 running threat, they relied on misdirection runs and occasional gadget plays _ your basic "smoke and mirrors" approach. Jones affords them the luxury of attacking teams straight up. He also should help Chad Pennington's play-action passing. Even though the Jets maintained a 50-50 run-pass balance last season, their running game wasn't good enough to force teams to pay less attention to the pass. That should change, which could create opportunities for Pennington, who is a terrific ball handler. His best seasons came when he was carving up defenses with play-action passes. Rich Cimini covers the Jets for the New York Daily News. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=195534
It'd be great if we could get it, but I doubt it for reasons mentioned in the article. Since other teams know we have no use for him, they're likely to offer a 6th or 7th round pick (at best). More realistically, another team will just wait until draft day when we release him.
The other teams know that we are not going to pay him that type of money to be a back up. So unless some team really wants him the Jets should expect to release him.
Yeah that's kind of where I am too. The Jets only real hopes of getting a 4th round pick for McCareins would be if two or more teams really wanted to add him, making for an expensive bidding war if he got cut. I just don't see that level of interest. Wide receivers of McCarein's ability level are a dime-a-dozen in the NFL right now.
I think McCareins is more likely to be used to move up within a round than to recoup a pick on his own. Just a feeling though, no basis for that.
I have a feeling he might end up back in Tennesee, although I have no idea what we realistically can expect for him, he certainly underachieved with the Jets but is still a handy pick up for someone, I'd say best we could really hope for is 5th rounder.
Cimini is a certifiable idiot. The reason the Jets ran so many mis-direction plays is because the O line can't run block, and Thomas Jones or Gale Sayers won't change that fact. The man is a moron.
The Jets line is smallish at the moment and Baker and Askew aren't particularly good blockers either. With another season of conditioning there's no reason to believe that Mangold and Ferguson won't be able to step it up a bit in the run game. There'll still be issues but likely not as bad as last season. I expect Barnes and Jones to have a real effect on the Jets ability to run between the tackles. Whether they'll move up to a good rushing attack or just a passable one remains to be seen though. You're right that Cimini blithely passed by the real reason the Jets could not run well last season.
We could really use a road grader ROL in the draft .... even if it's round one. I know we need a pass rusher and a CB, but our offence would explode if we lucked out like we did on the OL in this year's draft. Kinda wished we got one in FA to let us go into April's draft unchained. Well, we do have some breathing room.
