Young Jets Ready for Takeoff?
Action Set to Ramp Up at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center
While Sheldon Richardson can practice with the team during training camp and play in preseason games, he won't be eligible to play in the first quarter of the 2015 season. Rookie Leonard Williams, a USC product taken with the No. 6 overall selection in Round 1, could see some first team reps in camp. "The big thing is going to come in pads, when you can get hands on people and shoulder pads and you can really show your strength," said head coach Todd Bowles of Williams this spring. "From an assignment standpoint, he wasn't a fish out of water."
A first-round selection of the Jets in 2014, Calvin Pryor started in 11 games while collecting 67 tackles. Pryor, who will be asked to play free safety at times, figures to get more time down in the box in Year 2. "So I'm going to be back to my old self, doing what I do, being down in the box, and just tracking the ball down," he told NewYorkJets.com this spring. "That was music to my ears."
Devin Smith was one of the top vertical threats in all of college football last season. The 6'0", 196-pounder, a second round-pick from Ohio State, will have to get comfortable lining up in multiple spots as he makes his transition. But opposition safeties are going to have to account for his speed. "It makes it difficult for the defense when a guy has that kind of speed. It allows you not to double Brandon and Decker," said head coach Todd Bowles. "It also allows you to open up the run game a little more and as a safety, if you're not very fast – you better back up."
While four of the five starters along the offensive line look to be set, 10-year veteran Willie Colon will compete against a trio of 24-year-olds in Oday Aboushi, Brian Winters and Brent Qvale. Aboushi, who started the Jets' final 10 games last season after Winters went down with a knee injury, helped the club finish third overall in rushing (142.5 ypg). Dakota Dozier, a Furman product who was a fourth-round selection in 2014, cross-trained at center this spring.
The Jets have a trio of intriguing prospects at OLB in Lorenzo Mauldin, Ikemefuna Enemkpali & Trevor Reilly. The 27-year-old Reilly, who served a two-year mission in Sweden, played well on special teams as a rookie with 12 stops. Enemkpali's 17.5 career sacks at Louisiana Tech rank third in school history and Mauldin, a third-round selection out of Louisville, combined for 16 sacks his junior and senior seasons.
Jace Amaro, who led all rookie tight ends in receptions (35) and receiving yards (345), thrived in a spread system at Texas Tech. New Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey will make the defense defend the entire field and he will flex the TEs wide at times. Can the 6'5", 265-pound Amaro, an H-back who missed minicamp with a back injury, step up this summer?
The Jets have star power & depth at cornerback. Both Dee Milliner, a former first-round pick who is coming off an Achilles injury, and Dexter McDougle, a third-rounder in 2014 who missed his rookie campaign with a torn ACL, could take the competition to another level. While McDougle participated in some team reps this spring, the Jets hope Milliner will be ready for the start of camp.
