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By Chuck, January 27, 2013 10:23 am

So over Christmas, I (the admin/main writer) was talking to my cousin about football. Chuck is an absolute die hard Jets fan. While talking, he ended up telling me how he prepares notes and whatnot on the players in the draft the Jets could take. He did this just for himself on his IPad while re-watching college games. So I told him if he felt up for it, he could send me what he writes and I’d post it here. This is his first batch of prospect reports.

Chase Thomas, OLB, Stanford

Linebacker from Stanford, he has experience playing in the 4-6 bear defense and sets the edge very well. Does everything good but nothing great. Watching the Notre Dame tape he looked unblockable, but then tired out. Plays well in coverage and run support. I feel he can be a Mike Vrabel type at OLB, he’s gonna get 5-10 sacks, but he’s not a freak like Aldon Smith. He plays the run very well, he’s an average 3 down backer.

Pros: Does everything well. He is a leader at Stanford, while being versatile and can play OLB in both 3-4 and 4-3 schemes.  Has a good motor. Good one on one moves in pass rush. Can drop back and cover a TE or RB. Smart football player who can excel against the new running QB due to his lane discipline.

Cons:  Lacks the speed to be a freak at OLB. He’s not the type of kid that will flourish t the combine, I believe his 40 time will suffer. Is helping to produce sacks enough to help out the Jets?  Also vs Notre Dame seemed to get winded chasing around the QB, and made some good plays that could have been great if he had made the tackle.

Overall: This kid is what the jets need at OLB. He might not be the answer, but you put him in the Brian Thomas role and this kid will flourish. He’s going to get 85 tackles 7 sacks and play all 3 downs.  Hoping he falls to rounds 3-5 because I think the combine will hurt him. At the worst he will dominate on special teams, but I expect him to be a Vrabel type and at best Clay Mathews.

Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon

Extremely athletic with a very long wingspan and has a good build to him. He will flourish at the combine, but I’m not sure the game film backs it up.

Pros: He’s a superior athlete to the point that a lineman should rarely block him when he rushes the passer. He’s very much like Jason Pierre-Paul or Aldon Smith in that way. He’s very good when he gets to scrap down the line. Any time he’s in pace and gets to use his speed he’s dangerous. Sheds blocks pretty well and when he drops into coverage he’s not a liability.

Cons: His game film and measurables just don’t match up. Maybe it’s because he’s raw but watching him vs USC I was shaking my head because I had trouble finding him. He’s also got to develop pass rushing moves. It was like watching an Aaron Maybin clone. Every time trying to run around the lineman and getting pushed out of the play. Also when running misdirection at him he was completely fooled. He’s definitely  a project.

Overall: I see why scouts salivate over this kid because the motor is there. The measurables are there but he needs to be coached up. He’s a classic bust or boom type prospect. If he’s taught how to rush the passer, hes easily a top 5 pick. I believe he’s a first rounder and I like him more then Barkevious Mingo. Worst case scenario he’s out of the league in a few seasons. Best case hes got the tools to be like JPP or Aldon Smith, but buyer beware and as a Jets fan I don’t know if I’d like us to pick him.

Philip Thomas, Safety, Fresno State

The reason I looked at Thomas is that he stood out at the senior bowl practices, and his DB coach McDonald was just hired as the Jets new DB coach. I’m sure there interest and McDonald will be able to give the scouting staff his two cents. The first thing you notice about Thomas is he’s always around the ball and he’s aggressive, something I love from safeties.

Pros: Very skilled player whose not afraid of contact. He can come up and make a play in the run game, but also play the pass very well. He’s a great blitzer something Rex loves to do and could make an immediate impact with the Jets blitz heavy defense. He’s also ball hawk who had 8 ints and 3 sacks and it shows his versatility. I’m hoping the jets can draft him this year.

Cons: The reason why Thomas isn’t a lock for the first round is he’s sometimes a little too aggressive which makes him miss tackles. Against Oregon he missed two huge tackles, which led to a TD. He also had a barely missed one vs Boise. He’s got to get better at controlling himself. I think the combine is huge for him because I feel he’s more quick than fast, which can hurt his draft stock. His speed isn’t elite and he won’t be able to make up for that with his aggressive style.

Overall: I’m sold on this kid. I feel like he can be a great safety in the league. I wonder where he gets drafted though. I can see as high as round 2 and low as round 4, depending on combine results and how scared off teams are with the tackling. But best case I see him as a Laron Landry type the way he defends the run and his intense style but much better in the ball hawking department.

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By Mark D, December 20, 2012 6:47 pm

And I’m sure I’m not alone. The Tebow maniacs quickly descended upon Jets fans once the trade was made, leaving the carcass of the Bronco’s alone. It shouldn’t be too surprising that a team like the Bronco’s is dominating the league right now after upgrading from Tebow to a psychically limited Peyton Manning. Last season as they won 7 of 9 games from October 20th on, they needed 3 OTs and only won one game by more then 1 TD (against the hapless Raiders). With a real QB, they have been pretty dominant for the season.

First off, there’s the hype machine. I’ve seen QBs win a ton of games and then just disappear when it came to the pros, Danny Wuerffel, Eric Couch, Colt McCoy, the list goes on. Sure some of them get a chance in the NFL, but most of them just disappear after a few seasons. I saw the great Charlie Ward decide on basketball instead of football, despite being one of the best QB’s I’ve ever seen, all because he was too short. There were people arguing that Ward might not even be drafted if he went into the NFL draft.

So what’s the difference? Well Tebow reeks of the great white hope. An outspoken christian playing for a southern team. Also don’t forget that following Tebow’s winning of the Heisman as a Sophmore (first ever) ESPN agreed to a new TV contract with the SEC. So it’s in ESPN’s best interest to hype up SEC schools as much as possible for their ratings. Other then Tom Brady, I’ve never seen someone so overhyped by the talking heads at ESPN. All for the almighty dollar and the ratings.

When Tebow doesn’t play, all you hear are excuses, excuses and more excuses. In Denver the only reason Tebow got a chance over the 2nd string Brady Quinn was because Elway was sick of his obnoxious fans. John Fox got things to work just right for them to back into the playoffs and beat a reeling Steelers team. Even after spending a first round pick on him, Tebow was never the future for the team, and nothing made it more obvious then how hard the Broncos went after Manning.

Now he’s in New York, and was really nothing more then a publicity stunt. Yet Tebow still thinks he deserves to play, because you know, he’s Tebow. Here’s a shocker for you Tebow, I’ve seen far better QBs, you know ones that could actually read an NFL Defense, never get a chance to play. Just ask Jeff Blake how that worked out for him? It also isn’t surprising your being skipped over, given your poor performances in practice.

The funny thing is, I’ve seen plenty of players on the Jets work their ass off and work their way up the depth chart. One of the most famous Jets ever, Wayne Chrebet, started training camp 12th on the Jets Depth chart. But when you show up time and time again to practice and fall to show any improvement, why do you deserve a shot to play? Because the Broncos were willing to change their whole offense last year to make up for your faults? That’s not something that’s common in the NFL.

With Tebow seemingly out of the picture, I can’t wait for him to be gone and his clueless dittoheadESPN fans to be gone too. The guy was never as good as ESPN tried to paint him as. He will never be as good as the hype. If you find yourself more a fan of Tebow then watching football, then I’m willing to bet you’ve never watched football before. The Tebow led Broncos were one of the most boring teams for 90% of the game, and then Tebow would scramble in the 4th quarter and do just enough for them to win.

It also doesn’t help that since the Jets were unwilling to play Tebow, ESPN and a lot of other talking heads who just follow suit have been mocking the team. Guess what ESPN, no matter how much you want to pressure the Jets, call them losers, mock them as a circus, you can’t tell them who to play. I’m glad the Jets stuck with Sanchez, if for no other reason then because ESPN has been screaming for him to be benched since game 4.

I hope Tebow disappears after this season. I hope he ends up in the CFL, which given how much ESPN covers the CFL it might as well be Siberia. The great irony would be if Tim Tebow goes to the CFL and ESPN starts showing highlights from CFL games. At that point you have to admit ESPN is insanely desperate to make Tebow into something bigger, and find a way to force people to think it was the coaches and not ESPN that was wrong about Tebow.

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By Mark D, February 7, 2011 5:45 pm

It’s amazing that Curtis Martin is not a Hall of Famer already. But then again, maybe it isn’t. I have never heard a bad word about Curtis Martin. Never has a player come forward to bash him. Never has a coach complained about him. Never has he been in the tabloids for causing trouble during the offseason. An impeccable team mate in almost every way, Martin was the strong silent type for his career. Unfortunately an NFL player actually being a standout human being isn’t a good story for the writers. It’s easier to write articles when you have a Terrell Owens, a Chad Johnson or a Deion Sanders around who will never shutup.

Curtis Martin is 4th all time in Rushing Yards, is only the second RB to ever start his career with 10 consecutive 1000 yard seasons (Barry Sanders is the other) and was one of the toughest players of his era. He played through injury after injury and only in his final season did he finally show the effects. But at that point he knew enough that it was time to hang it up, and didn’t try to hang around longer then he should have (cough Shaun Alexander, Emmit Smith, Terrell Davis cough) and make a mockery out of himself.

In 2002 he should have missed 7-10 weeks due to ankle injuries, but instead let’s quote him

”My ankles were the size of your head,” he said. ”It was the most pain I’ve been in. I had to dig deeper than I ever had to just to play.”

He played through another season even though he had a ligament tearing away from his ass bone. He played two consecutive seasons with torn knee ligaments. I challenge you to look at his year to year rush totals and try to figure out which years he was struggling through injuries.

Curtis Martin came over with Parcells, with the Pats saying they could replace Martin with a first round pick. Instead the Pats struggled at the RB position until adding Corey Dillon to the mix. Martin meanwhile was the cornerstone of the Jets, one of the big reasons they had a winning record during his time with them. It should be noted that Martin never had a “great” QB to help him out. Vinny Testervarde, Chad Pennington, Rick Mirer, Ray Lucas, Brooks Bollinger aren’t exactly murders row. Neither were WRs that great, with Keyshawn Johnson, Wayne Chrebet, Coles and Santana Moss being the most notable names on the list. Year in, Year out Martin produced while the Jets won some and lost some.

For almost a decade Curtis Martin was the one recurring player/person in the Jets. He survived multiple head coaches, multiple QBs and kept on running. During his time (and disregarding his final season) the Jets only finished below .500 once. In the decade before he joined the Jets they finished below .500 7 times. The Jets hadn’t had a 10 win season since 1986. During his time with the Jets they finished with 10 wins or more 3 times.

Obviously Barry Sanders is a Hall of Famer. Faulk just made the Hall of Fame over Martin. Faulk and Martin entered a year apart (Faulk was from the 94 Draft, Martin the 95) and a mile apart (Faulk was the 2nd overall pick, Martin was taken in the 3rd round. Sanders was taken in the 89 Draft . So Faulk had a great run of 4 years, but those years were with the rams and probable Hall of Famers QB Kurt Warner, WR Isaac Bruce along with Torry Holt, Ricky Proehl and Az-Hakim. Anyone could have put up insane numbers in that offense. Teams were stretched to the breaking point just trying to cover those Receivers, so when Faulk ran it was usually against defenses trying to stop the pass.

If your going to argue that Faulk was a great receiver and point to his yards from scrimmage, once again he was usually the 4th or 5th receiver and even when covered out of the backfield it was commonly an overwhelmed linebacker. Faulk was only good when he had everything going for him.

The biggest falling of Curtis Martin seems to be that he didn’t market himself. And that itself resonates with the failings of the selections to the Hall of Fame. Because Martin didn’t run around screaming from the rooftops how great he is, how everyone else is horrible, and instead was a workhorse day in and day out. The amazing thing is these writers will bash the egotism of guys like Owens, and then reward them with first ballot tickets into the Hall of Fame. But a guy who is good in every respect like Curtis Martin has to sit and wait, it’s a shame and disrespectful.

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By Mark D, January 23, 2011 9:53 pm

I hope the dying shithole that is Pittsburgh ends up in worse shape then Flint Michigan.

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By Mark D, January 22, 2011 10:54 am

The Miracle Mets in 86 was back when I was all of 5 years old. Looking back and seeing how close that team came to losing (Thanks Billy Buckner), I should have been ready for what the future held. Since then as a fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks and Islanders pretty much all I’ve known has been losing. The Mets have gotten to the World Series once since then, the Jets rarely ever get to the AFC championship game let alone the Super Bowl, the Knicks had a strong run but have been a laughing stock and the Isles, well if the Knicks are a laughing stock I’m not sure whats the next word down.

Look, it’s been a long hard time being a fan of all those teams, and tomorrow already feels like the Super Bowl. Let’s put aside the fact that I’ve hated the Steelers since they cheated to get to the Super Bowl with Neil O’Donnel (Kordell Stewart left the endzone and came back in before catching the game winning touchdown. They also have the most obnoxious bandwagon fans around, an asshole of a quarterback, the refs handed them their last Super Bowl win and they can shove all six of their Super Bowl rings up their collective asshole. Right now the Jets haven’t gotten to the Super Bowl in way too long. This is the first time they’ve gotten to the AFC Championship game twice in a decade. They need to have the Ghost of Leon Hess come up and say “I’m too old to wait, I want to win now!” to give them a kick in the ass.

Look, I really don’t care how they do it, but the Jets have to win tomorrow. There are no fans less deserving of a Super Bowl (another) appearance then the Steeler fans. Sure, Mike Vick is a villain but Ben Roethlisberger is able to get away with a certain crime that Rhymes with gRape and be cheered. Did  anyone protest his first game back? No, because people care more about Dogs then they do real Human beings. It’s been almost 25 years now since a team I like has won the Championship. I have since been taunted by everyone other NYC team winning and some Jersey teams too. I had to sit through the one Mets World Series appearance being spoiled by the Yankees. That the Giants have been to the Super Bowl multiple times and have won multiple Super Bowls. The Oilers pretending to be the Rangers even managed their once in 54  year miracle.

Look, I’m not sure what the Steelers did to deserve their six Super Bowl wins, the Refs constantly making favorable calls for them, or the reason that Philly stations broadcast the Steelers instead of the Jets. But as bad as all that is, if I have to sit through another Super Bowl with the Steelers in it, after they have beaten the Jets, I am going to lose my mind. I am going to start throwing stuff out my windows. The Steelers are the biggest pieces of crap, and they walk around as though their shit doesn’t stink. Their fans? even worse. If your a Steeler fan I probably hate you. For the most part your just like my ex, you don’t care about football until someone tells you the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. Then you run out and buy your brand new overpriced Bettis jersey cause you don’t realize that no talent is retiring at the end of the season.

Right now I am so angry at the thought of the Steelers winning tomorrow that I am nearly breaking my keys. All season long I’ve been telling my cousin to calm down because he gets overhyped for games. This is the reason why. You save up that anger and emotion for an important game. I knew the Jets were going to beat the Colts, I knew the Jets were going to beat the Pats. That wasn’t an issue and I wasn’t over excited. But now the Jets have to go out and win the big one to get to the game. This is why Ladamian Tomilison, Jason Taylor and Santonio Holmes was brought in. To win the big one and get the Jets over the hump.

Of course they also want their Super Bowl Rings which two of them are missing and Holmes probably has revenge on his mind. He had to pay the price for Big Ben’s infractions. No matter your regular season stats, do you really want to retire from the NFL without a ring and leave your legacy up in the air? People excuse Marion and Sanders, but you have to be insanely talented and stuck on an awful team to be remembered on that level. It is time for those guys to win the Super Bowl now, and to bring one home for the Jets fans.

We’ve been through a lot as Jets fans. Ken O’Brien, Browning Nagle, Rich Kotite, Neil O’Donnel, Bubby Brister, Rich Kotite, Rick Mirer, Al Groh, Rich Kotite and Eric Mangini. That’s just from the time period I’ve been watching them. Don’t forget there seems to be a lot of crossover between Jets/Mets/Islanders fans. We’ve all been suffering for nearly 30 years now. We deserve a winner. It feels like it’s now or never, like we’ll have to wait another 30 years for there to be another winner. That and did I mention I really hate the Steelers and their fans? No? Well I really do hate the Steelers and their fans.

So Let’s go J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS! and hopefully we’ll see Fireman Ed at the Super Bowl!