In making official the Erik Ainge signing, the Jets tonight also announced they had signed Kyle DeVan, a 6-2, 306-pound center from Oregon State. DeVan, a Pac-10 honorable mention in 2005 and 2007, started 38 straight games for Oregon State and appeared in 50 games overall. He was originally signed by the Redskins May 1 as an undrafted free agent.
My work is done here.
Well, not quite. For those who didn't get through on Wednesday's live chat, we'll be doing another one next Wednesday, the day before training camp starts, at 1 p.m. More to come. But not tonight. I need to watch Greta for the latest on Favre. As always, I report, you decide.
Comments (21)
great jet coverage.the jets will make the playoffs and chad pennington will lead the way.great years for thomas jones and the jets defense
Erik,
Mr. T has always said this is the land of oppurtunity. I can't wait and see the Favre circus about to start in Green bay. If Thompson had any sense at all he would trade him as quick as possible. And not to the Jets.
Erik,
I see that the Giants are letting you spread out your PSL payments over 3 payments with the last one [40%] due in March of 2010. For ticket holders that will have the 1,000 PSL per seat fee at least that is reasonable even though i feel all teams should fund their own buildings. Fans don't want to hear this but once again its a business and teams will due what they feel they have to. I remember the days at Shea when tickets were 6.00 and Knick tickets with a GO Card was 0.50 {thats right] 0.50 cents.Wow i sound like my dad. Times have sure changed.I also use to go to concerts for 2.50. Now the average ticket is 100.00. Sad!
Who was the backup center? Still need offensive line depth.
Anything interesting from Greta?
D.Woody i believe could play center also. Thats why resigning Clement for depth would be a good move.
Erik--
It's total BS for both teams to say that all the money needed to pay for the construction costs of the new stadium is being raised privately. Since when are fans (who are being asked to invest in the capital expenses of the profit-makers, but not share in both organization's profits) a private funding source.
That's not an investment. Bonds are an investment -- that pay interest to the bondholders over time and pay them back for providing needed funding. Call this scheme what it is without any fancy brochures, spin or rationale: It's robbery, it's excessive and it's reverse Robin Hood--with the rich owners taxing the blood out of the little guys.
The statement that this was the only way for the teams to go is also untrue. C'mon. Don't insult our intelligence. PSLs were not the only answer the owners had. They could have found other alternatives to spare the fans and put some of their own skin in the game.
There is no way of knowing how much the PSLs will bring both teams combined plus the vigorish they'll be making every year via the increase in the annual cost of season tickets. If Arlen Specter still wants to do something useful about the NFL he should conduct an independent audit of the costs of the stadium [subtract what the corporate sponsors and naming rights will bring in]. Then determine how much the PSLs and projected increases in ticket prices will bring the owners over the next five years. My bet is that we are being asked to provide far more revenue than needed to cover the expenses.
Specter should take away the NFL's protected monopoly status if they refuse to cooperate. Open the books. Give us transparency -- not the word of the owners. Isn't it the government's responsibility to protect the interest of the public? Yes, the last time I checked we, the fans, are the public, not the private!!!
Finally, the teams say that purchasing PSLs gives fans the right to purchase season tickets. If it really is a right, doesn't that mean that each year a fan can decide to exercise the right or refuse to exercise it? If the team is doing well (Giants), of course, fans will want to buy tickets--even at the new rates. If the team is doing poorly (Jets), why can't we say no thanks, Woody. Keep the tickets this year. You sell them this year at market value. See me next year, when you put a better product on the field.
If acquiring season tickets is a right, rather than an obligation, then we should have the right to say no. Evaluate our team's chances each year. Choose to buy when we think the team is worth seeing. Don't buy when we think ownership doesn't care and the team is going nowhere. Let the bad owners of bad teams face the prospect of holding tickets that no one wants--the kind that fans of 4 and 12 teams get stuck with in December, that scalpers will give you $5 for, if you're lucky.
This creates an incentive for owners of lousy teams to get better fast. Let the suits take some risk here. Otherwise our owners have us buying an over-priced PSL, forcing us to buy over-priced season tickets once we've choked on the PSLs. It leaves them to sit in their luxury boxes knowing that, if their team doesn't perform well, it doesn't matter. Everything is bought and paid for by us--or our wealthy replacements.
IRA, did you know you're in wikipedia?
dmb88886,
So is your man Barrett. Please lighten up on him. He is better then you think.
IRA, I don't want to ruin this blog that much, so i'll refrain from going back and forth again with you about it until something other news comes up or he gets burned in camp.
dmb88886,
Excellent thats the way its suppose to be. Hey if he plays well it will only make the Jets a better team. If not then somebody will replace him. Bottom line is we all want them to win. GO JETS!!!!
John Z, to answer your question from the previous post: at least with the Giants policy, if you choose not to purchase the season tickets for a season, then you forfeit your PSL and the team, because you "violated" your PSL agreement, can then re-sell it. In other words, the team does not buy back the PSL, they simply take it back and make more money off it. What a deal! For the team. We'll see what the Jets policy on that is but I'm guessing it will be the same. And I KNOW you were excited the British Open came on at 7 this morning and you're glued to the tv right now. Don't even say you're not (kidding).
RC Meany, I couldn't find a word I disagreed with there. I will write more about this in August but the thing I just can't get over - and wrote it in yesteryday's post - are the Jets and Giants claims of this stadium being "100 privately financed." They're going to get some 600-800 million in PSL money. That's not privately financed! As Newsday's Neil Best always says, sigh.
And dmb, haha. I'm glad you don't want to "ruin" this blog as you put it, but we're always good with debate here. But it's nice to see a momentary truce between you and Ira in regard to Barrett. Let's at least get to training camp and let things sort themselves out. Don't count Lowery out of getting some significant CB time, either.
Hey, Erik, I asked this question on the Live Chat but I guess the moderator was already inundated with questions from dbm88886, as you never got to mine (what's his secret?). So, I'll ask it again now.
How do you think the Jets return game will shape up? With Justin Miller returning from injury and Leon Washington already proving to be one of the NFL's best, the Jets would seem to have some excellent options. In addition, Stuckey showed some excellent return skills last preseason, and if Woodhead makes the team he would figure to be a candidate as well.
I assume, with Revis taking all fhe defensive snaps at CB, he will not be used in the return game. And with the addition of Chatman at RB the Jets will need to find ways to get LW the ball, which would make it logical that he return both punts and kickoffs.
Taking the above into account, how do you handicap the competition for punt and kick returner, and do you think the Jets may line up LW in the slot to get his some snaps as a receiver? I look forward to your response, and thanks in advance.
Also, regarding our return game-- what will the absence of Westhoff mean?
Erik,
With regards to the return game, I imagine every team would love to be in such a tough spot, don't you think?
I imagine that now Chris Everett is the latest tonic for that dead Scottish "sport". Go figure.
"Hey, Erik, I asked this question on the Live Chat but I guess the moderator was already inundated with questions from dbm88886, as you never got to mine (what's his secret?). So, I'll ask it again now."
I only had 2 questions answered, sheets had 3.
But Joe, with regards to your question, I personally feel that Miller is one of the best return men i've ever seen. I think he's better than Leon actually. Scheme and speed (along with vision) had a lot to do with Leon's success. However those guys often get figured out in the NFL after a few season (Morton, Hall, etc.). Miller actually breaks a ton of tackles (i've never seen another kick return man do that so much) while running back kicks and drags guys as he keeps running. That's something that can't be figured out. I think he's more likely to have consistent success for years than Leon would.
Here is a scouting report that I dug up on Barrett: "Runs and changes direction well. Reads plays well and doesn't bite or gamble often. Solid in run support.
Not possesing top speed and can get burned at times , but an adequate starter."
Again, with a solid pass rush he will not be exposed. Go Jets !
Alright, I tried to not talk about barrett, but you guys pulled me back in. I don't care what some scouting report says, I watch every game, he's atrocious whenever in the game. Not only do my eyes and other fellow fans back that up, but stats do too. You guys probably don't notice or specifically pay attention when we let up an important pass, but every time he's in the game he's giving a huge cushion, still getting burnt, and still letting up a ton of 3rd down 1st downs.
His run support also gets overrated because he's a big hitter, which is often what happens with DB's in this league. They call the bigger hitters good tacklers, when that's sometimes not true. His run support his first season with the jets was solid, since then its not been as good as advertised. Deion Sanders, often called a terrible tackler/run support guy, was actually really good. It wasn't pretty, but he almost never missed a tackle, which Barrett does quite frequently for someone who's labeled to be great in that area.
I'll say it again, he's one of the 10 worst (and i'm being nice by not saying 3 worst) CB's in this league. And I don't mean starters, I mean on a roster.
Ok, just to weigh in on dmb's side, the cushion Barrett leaves is ridiculous. I've seen him leave 10 yards on a third and two. Ask my wife, I'm usually screamimg at the TV. It's common sense. You don't worry about getting burned deep when you're supposed to be stopping the drive.
Regardless, the guy is simply not a top 10, or even top 20 corner. At least Miller's fast enough to cover his own mistakes, even if he is a little dim.
Anywhooo (I'm staying out of the Barrett thing for now!) Joe M., I think you and others hit it on the head with the Jets return game as potentially being one of the best anywhere. The only thing I might disagree with is what you said about Revis: he returned quite a few kicks In the OTAs and minicamp so I'm not sure he's totally out of the loop there. Miller didn't have a ton of reps - certainly not as many as Washington and others - in the offseason return game (he had some, though), because they were still bringing him along slowly in terms of recovering from his surgery. Regardless, the Jets have a lot of options to return kicks, all of them good it appears.
Washington in the slot is an interesting proposition. We didn't see that in the OTAs - when they sent him out, it was strictly from the backfield - but who knows? Teams don't even show 10 percent of their stuff in the OTAs. Remember too, the Jets seem to have a lot of options at slot right now; Stuckey, B. Smith, Keller (sometimes), etc.
As for RC Meany's question about not having Mike Westhoff, it's a good one because, and I'm not telling you guys anything you don't know here, Westhoff was considered one of the best special teams coaches in the league. Kevin O'Dea takes over and based on the little bit we talked to some of the special teams guys in the offseason, O'Dea has gotten high marks. Still, Westhoff leaves some pretty big shoes to fill.
John Z, dead Scottish sport??? Brutal, just brutal.
You put the giants cbs on the jets last season with the jets pathetic pass rush and they will be no better than Barrett, but look at the results of the giants with a balanced defense.
A corner like Barrett who doesnt have blinding speed will be exposed with a weak pass rush. Only the very good CB wont and at times will still get burned.
Barrett has the instincts and can hit. You are looking at him without taking the team concept into account. It is a team sport!
Most other cb put on the jets last season would get burned.
I would not be surprised if Barrett starts. The pass rush will make the difference and Miller doesnt have the instincts. With the pass rush, it will benefit Barrett more as he has solid fundamentals. Miller just cant catch on and raw speed alone is useless without technique
First off, the top 3 Giant CB's are better Barrett. Ross played very well as a rookie, and looks like he might be pretty good in the league. Madison I always thought was overrated, and he's old, but he's still better than Barrett. And Webster I think is solid just inconsistent. But they aren't a great group.
The fact that you're comparing it to a team with one of the sickest Dlines and pass rushes you'll EVER see with terrible CB's doesn't do any justice for Barrett. By telling me he won't be as terrible with a better pass rush, well yeah, you can say that for any CB, its all relative. He's still terrible relative to other CB's in the league.
"Most other cb put on the jets last season would get burned."
That's funny, because a castoff considered terrible such as Hank Poteat was infinitely better than Barrett on the same team as him. So again, that excuse doesn't work. Revis played great, Poteat played pretty solid. So it wasn't the pass rush that was the issue. In fact, our pass D wasn't terrible last season. Barrett just sticks out like a sore thumb because, well he's terrible.
"I would not be surprised if Barrett starts. The pass rush will make the difference and Miller doesnt have the instincts. With the pass rush, it will benefit Barrett more as he has solid fundamentals. Miller just cant catch on and raw speed alone is useless without technique"
I'm not a huge Miller fan (although he's better than Barrett, anybody is), but why aren't we talking about Poteat who played well last season. Again, Poteat played better last season than Barrett has EVER played in his career. Its not even close.