NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS. July 16, 2015 Table of Contents

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS. July 16, 2015 Table of Contents"

Barbara Gibson
5 years ago
Views:

1 NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS July 16, 2015 Table of Contents NEW YORK POST... 1 Will Jets remain shy of workload to make Chris Ivory elite? (Brian Costello)... 1 NJ ADVANCE MEDIA... 2 Can Jets rookie Lorenzo Mauldin adjust to playing in space, at outside linebacker? (Darryl Slater)... 2 Former Jets top draft pick Quinton Coples arrow is pointing up, says his new position coach (Darryl Slater)... 3 Entering final year of contract, what s the next step for Jets linebacker Demario Davis (Darryl Slater)... 4 WEDNESDAY S SPORTS TRANSACTIONS... 5 NEW YORK POST Will Jets remain shy of workload to make Chris Ivory elite? (Brian Costello) New York Post July 15, As the Jets get close to training camp, I am going to examine the roster and give you my top 25 players. Each weekday, we will reveal another person on the list, leading right into camp. I am not including rookies on this list because I do not feel it is possible to fully evaluate them before they play a game. No. 10: Chris Ivory Last year s ranking: 9 Position: Running back Age: 27 How acquired: In a trade with Saints on April 26, 2013, for a fourth-round draft pick Years left on contract: Salary Cap figure: $2.75 million Looking back at 2014: Ivory led the Jets in rushing for the second straight season, gaining 821 yards on 198 carries and six touchdowns. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry and topped 100 yards in a game twice. Former offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg had a maddening tendency to go away from Ivory when it seemed like the Jets should just ride him. The Jets always seemed to want to get Chris Johnson into the game, which cost Ivory some carries. There were four games in which Ivory carried the ball fewer than 10 times. That is unacceptable. The former coaching staff worried about Ivory getting injured, which was one reason they tried to limit his carries. It appeared to work with Ivory playing in 16 games for the first time in his career. Pro Football Focus rated Ivory 39th out of the 57 running backs they graded. A deeper look at their analysis shows Ivory is a pretty good runner, but the other parts of the job kill his grade. Ivory rated as the 10thbest running back on running plays, but he was 56th out of 57 in pass blocking. 1 P a g e

2 Passing plays always hurt Ivory. He is neither a good receiver nor a good pass blocker. That puts him on the bench on nearly every third down. In the PFF stat pass blocking efficiency, Ivory ranked 61st out of 62 running backs. There is no questioning Ivory s running ability. He is fun to watch when he gets rolling. He never shies away from contact and always seems to be running downhill. He had 487 yards after contact, according to PFF, the 16th most in the league. He forced 52 tacklers to miss, the fourth-highest total, and finished 5th in elusive rating, a stat designed to measure a runner s ability independent of his blockers. Outlook for 2015: The Jets have a crowded backfield with Ivory, Stevan Ridley, Zac Stacy and Bilal Powell. How the running backs split the load will be one of the bigger stories of training camp. Ivory has shown he deserves to be the lead back. He has been very good over the past two seasons while always splitting carries. During the spring, the Jets used Ivory in spread formations a bunch, lining him up as a wide receiver. Spring is sometimes just experimental, but maybe Chan Gailey thinks he can make Ivory a bigger part of the passing game. If Ivory can become a complete back, he has the potential to be one of the best in football. NJ ADVANCE MEDIA Can Jets rookie Lorenzo Mauldin adjust to playing in space, at outside linebacker? (Darryl Slater) NJ Advanced Media July 16, Lorenzo Mauldin, the Jets' rookie outside linebacker, has already overcome enormous personal obstacles to reach the NFL. So you know he has plenty of resiliency, after spending almost his entire life in foster care, because his parents were in and out of jail throughout his life. He'll get to test his resolve during his first training camp with the Jets, later this month. It'll be his first time in pads at an NFL practice. The Jets drafted Mauldin in the third round this spring. Mauldin was primarily a defensive end at Louisville, and now he is being asked to learn both of the Jets' outside linebacker spots. In addition to having to play standing up at linebacker, compared to a defensive end's three-point stance, Mauldin will also have to adjust to playing in space more. His position coach with the Jets, Mark Collins, knows this will be a challenge for Mauldin, who is used to battling up close along the line. "I don't think it's a physical thing, as much as it is a mental thing right now, being a young guy," Collins said. "He's got some athletic ability. He doesn't concern me in space. So right now, it's just a young guy that has to learn the defense. The more he learns, the faster he'll play." When Collins studied Mauldin's college film, "I thought he had some explosiveness off the edge," Collins said. "He only played outside linebacker one year in college. He's been a defensive end. So the position is still new to him. He's still growing in that position. But I thought he had some explosiveness. I thought there was some rush ability." 2 P a g e

3 Defending the run in space might not be a huge issue for Mauldin, but having to drop into coverage will definitely be a challenge. "The coverage aspect of it would be the biggest thing," Collins said of Mauldin's transition to a relatively new position. Based on his defensive end experience, Mauldin figures to fit best as a rush outside linebacker in coach Todd Bowles' 3-4 defense. The Jets' starting rush linebacker, 2012 first-round pick Quinton Coples, has underwhelmed to this point in his career. Mauldin is also getting work as the strong-side outside linebacker, where Calvin Pace is the starter. (Bowles wants Mauldin to learn both outside linebacker spots, as the coaches attempt to determine where he fits best.) Pace has more of a successful NFL track record than Coples, but Pace will turn 35 in October. Former Jets top draft pick Quinton Coples arrow is pointing up, says his new position coach (Darryl Slater) NJ Advance Media July 15, This season is a big one for Quinton Coples, the Jets' rush outside linebacker. Yes, the Jets have picked up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract, which means they can retain him for 2016 if they want to. The Jets don't have to make a decision about Coples' 2016 contract status until next March. (Here's more on that process.) In the meantime, their new front office and coaching staff can attempt to determine, this season, whether Coples has a future with them, or whether the former No. 16 overall draft pick is expendable. (The Jets picked an outside linebacker who formerly played defensive end, Lorenzo Mauldin, in the third round this year.) At least one person in the Jets' organization likes what he's seen from Coples so far. That would be the Jets' new outside linebackers coach, Mark Collins. "He plays with very good violence," Collins said. "He can set the edge in the run. He can finish plays in the run game. He can push the pocket. He can affect the quarterback. It doesn't mean he's always going to sack the quarterback, but he can affect the quarterback. I definitely think his arrow is pointing up." Will this season, Coples' fourth, be the year when he finally turns the corner? He hasn't produced a whole lot so far. Coples saw some action as a reserve defensive lineman as a rookie in He was familiar with playing on the line from his college days at North Carolina. But in 2013, the Jets moved him to rush linebacker in Rex Ryan's 3-4 defense. Coples struggled with the transition initially. Last season, his second year at a new position was complicated by Ryan needing Coples to assist in coverage (much more than Ryan would've preferred) because of attrition in the secondary. 3 P a g e

4 This offseason, Coples said he expects to rush the quarterback "a lot more" in new head coach Todd Bowles' 3-4 defense. And it sounds like Bowles and Collins envision Coples doing a bunch more pass rushing, and less coverage especially compared to what he did last year. "If you're just looking at it from a common sense [standpoint], you've got a 280-pound guy, so naturally, you want him to rush the passer versus drop into coverage," Collins said. "Obviously, for him, you want him rushing the passer more than you want him dropping into coverage. But in the same sense, we're demanding, and we want him to be able to do both." Through three seasons, Coples has accumulated modest sack numbers 5½ as a rookie, 4½ in 2013, and 6½ last season. Still, when Collins examined Coples' film, the coach wasn't discouraged by the lack of sacks. "I think in a lot of ways, numbers sometimes can be overrated," Collins said. "He does a lot of things. He may not have great sack production, but he does a lot of other things very well. I know he has aspirations to change that production, and I have full confidence that he will. But I think there are a lot of things that he does well." In the end, as Coples and Collins both know, sacks play a large part in how much a team values (and pays) a player. Perhaps Coples rushing the quarterback more in 2015 will increase his sack total, and let him play to his strengths. Based on at least one metric, Coples was less effective last season than he was in Pro Football Focus rated Coples as the league's 31st-best 3-4 outside linebacker in 2013 (including 38th as a pass rusher, 22nd in coverage, and 18th against the run). In 2014, Coples rated 40th overall at his position (including 27th as a pass rusher, 17th in coverage, and 42nd against the run). PFF also calculates a rating called pass rushing productivity. It "measures pressure created on a per-snap basis, with weighting toward sacks," according to PFF. Among 3-4 outside linebackers last season, Coples ranked 12th in this category, out of 29 players. In 2013, he was 22nd out of 26. Progress? Coples saw his playing time dip slightly last season, with the arrival of veteran pass rusher Jason Babin. Coples played 834 snaps in 2013, according to PFF, and got 708 snaps in Coples missed the first two games of 2013 because of an ankle fracture. So, on a per-game basis, his snaps dropped from 59.6 to Late last season, Coples was able to return to his comfort zone, when a turf toe injury sidelined defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson for three games. Coples replaced Wilkerson on the line for those three games, as Babin started at rush linebacker. But in those three games, Coples didn't grade out spectacularly, according to PFF. His grades were minus- 0.6, minus-1.9, and minus-1.0. He did have a pass-rushing grade of plus-1.2 in the third game, against the Titans. This season is a fresh start for Coples, with a new coaching staff. He should be able to focus more on rushing the passer his most natural skill. Coples has a lot to prove in 2015, as the Jets' decision makers evaluate him. If they retain him for 2016 on the fifth-year option, they'll have to pay him $7.751 million next season. Can Coples show he deserves that money? Entering final year of contract, what s the next step for Jets linebacker Demario Davis (Darryl Slater) NJ Advance Media 4 P a g e

5 July 15, l While everyone is focusing on Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, as he enters the final year of his rookie contract (the fifth-year option season), there is another prominent Jets defender whose contract will expire after Weak-side linebacker Demario Davis was a third-round draft pick by the Jets in 2012, so they can't slap the fifth-year option onto his deal for (That applies only to first-round picks, like pass rusher Quinton Coples was for the Jets in 2012.) Davis isn't in line to get Wilkerson-type money, which could be about $40 million guaranteed in his second contract. And Davis isn't a star of Wilkerson's caliber. But Davis is entering his third season as a starter. He's a valuable part of the Jets' defense. So what's the next step for him? The Jets' new inside linebackers coach, Mike Caldwell, was a weak-side linebacker during his NFL playing days ( ). Caldwell liked what he saw from Davis while studying his film from last season. "Athletic, can really run, makes a bunch of plays," Caldwell said. "You get a linebacker like that, that's what you look for." Caldwell also pointed out how Davis has yet to miss a game in his NFL career. "The one thing that doesn't show up [on the stat sheet] is he's on the field," Caldwell said. "It's not like he's missing three or four games. And that consistency, being able to go out there every Sunday, that's important. And just the fact that his numbers might not have showed up, but if you turn on the film, he's making plays." Regarding those numbers, Davis has just one career interception (in 2012). He has 4½ career sacks, including 3½ last year. He has never forced a fumble in his career. He has recovered three of them, including two last year. In terms of more in-depth analysis, Pro Football Focus last season rated Davis as the league's 15th-best inside linebacker (including 38th as a pass rusher, 33rd in coverage, and 11th against the run). That was an improvement on 2013, when Davis was 49th overall (out of 55 players at his position) including 42nd as a pass rusher, 51st in coverage, and 24th against the run. It appears Davis just has to boost his coverage skills in order to make himself a more complete weak-side linebacker, since he has a knack for stopping the run. Last summer, during training camp, it seemed Davis was poised for a breakout season in Though he played better than he did in 2013, and made a bigger impact, he didn't exactly have a monster 2014 season. Can he raise his level of play in 2015, with a new coaching staff, as he auditions for his next contract? WEDNESDAY S SPORTS TRANSACTIONS BASEBALL Baltimore Orioles - Designated pitcher Wesley Wright for assignment. 5 P a g e

6 Miami Marlins - Acquired pitcher Chris Reed from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for pitcher Grant Dayton; assigned Reed to New Orleans (PCL); outrighted outfielder Jordany Valdespin to New Orleans. New York Yankees - Signed pitcher James Kaprielian. BASKETBALL Boston Celtics - Waived guard Phil Pressey. Los Angeles Clippers - Signed forward Branden Dawson. Philadelphia 76ers - Signed guard Pierre Jackson. San Antonio Spurs - Re-signed forward Matt Bonner. Toronto Raptors - Signed forward Luis Scola to a multi-year contract; signed guard Norman Powell. FOOTBALL Dallas Cowboys - Signed wide receiver Dez Bryant to a five-year contract. Denver Broncos - Signed wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to a five-year contract. Edmonton Eskimos (CFL) - Signed offensive lineman Brian Ramsay. Kansas City Chiefs - Signed linebacker Justin Houston to a multi-year contract. New York Giants - Signed safety Jeromy Miles; waived wide receiver Marcus Harris and safety Justin Currie. HOCKEY Anaheim Ducks - Signed forward Ryan Kesler to a six-year contract extension through the season. Arizona Coyotes - Signed defenseman Philip Samuelsson and forward Brendan Shinnimin to one-year, two-way contracts. Calgary Flames - Signed defenseman Oliver Kylington to a three-year, entry- level contract; signed forwards Bill Arnold, Kenny Agostino, Drew Shore and Bryce Van Brabant. Carolina Hurricanes - Agreed to terms with center Brody Sutter on a one-year, two-way contract. Dallas Stars - Signed defenseman Johnny Oduya to a two-year contract. Detroit Red Wings - Re-signed forward Louis-Marc Aubry to a one-year contract. Edmonton Oilers - Agreed to terms with defenseman Justin Schultz on a one-year contract. Florida Panthers - Agreed to terms with forward Lawson Crouse on a three-year, entry-level contract. Montreal Canadiens - Agreed to terms with defenseman Jarred Tinordi on a one- year, two-way contract. New York Rangers - Agreed to terms with defenseman Dylan McIlrath and forwards Jesper Fast and J.T. Miller. Pittsburgh Penguins - Re-signed forward Beau Bennett to a one-year contract. COLLEGE Xavier (NO) - Announced that its men's and women's cross country teams will affiliate with the Red River Athletic Conference for P a g e

Sports. Baseball. PERSONALIZE your cake by adding your own message, photo & icing colors Includes three baseball player figurines!

Sports. Baseball. PERSONALIZE your cake by adding your own message, photo & icing colors Includes three baseball player figurines! PERSONALIZE Includes three baseball player figurines! Shown on ¼ Two Tier Cake Serves 64 100/170 cal. per slice 3 + WARNING Baseball 65 Decopac/MLBP 2013 Anaheim Angels #4672 Arizona Diamondbacks #4709