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Nothing earth shattering but interesting piece by Lombardi today:
DMN: Jets, ?Skins add information men | National Football Post
DMN: Jets, ?Skins add information men | National Football Post
INFORMATION MEN
The Jets traded for Kevin O’Connell (have you ever seen a team more obsessed with the Patriots than the Jets?), and the ‘Skins signed former Giants quarterback Andre Woodson, so now both players will face their former teams in Week 1 (Woodson) and Week 2 (O’Connell) of the season. Does this mean the new teams will have insight and privileged information coming from the two quarterbacks? Yes, they’ll know all the calls and all the checks, and they’ll know the philosophy behind the schemes. But will it help their new teams win? In my mind, knowing what will happen and preventing it from happening are two different things.
The Jets have had a personnel obsession with the Patriots, often claiming players the Pats let go, but rarely do those players make significant contributions in helping the Jets win. Many thought it was because former Jets coach Eric Mangini knew the Patriots players who were available, so it was a natural process. But the obsession has not ended, as evidenced by some recent claims. Now, the Jets are carrying four quarterbacks on their roster. With the exception of starter Mark Sanchez, carrying three backups fits perfectly with the John Madden creed: “When you have a lot of something, you got nothing.” You have to wonder what the Jets’ real motivation is in acquiring O’Connell.
Will Andre Woodson and Kevin O'Connell provide their new teams with an edge against their former clubs?
The last thing they need is a another weak-armed quarterback who’s best suited to play the shotgun and didn’t look good in any preseason game. The Jets will claim they had a high grade on O’Connell coming out of college, so it made sense to them to make the trade. But does this make sense at a time when you have two players suspended for the opening game? This means you roster is light on kicking game players and could use a little help. I’m not against the trade for O’Connell, but what I don’t understand is why a team would carry three quarterbacks with very little game experience. Isn’t two enough? Something seems a little fishy here.
The Lions put in a claim for Kevin O’Connell knowing two things: One, they really didn’t want him, and two, they knew that among the Jets, Browns and Broncos, one of those teams would be willing to give them a late draft choice. Clearly, the Jets, Browns and now the Broncos are very predictable with their personnel acumen.
So can O’Connell help the Jets learn more about the Patriots’ personnel and scheme? I’m not sure he can offer any more than former Patriots coach Brian Daboll could during his stint with the Jets. O’Connell can help Jets coach Rex Ryan understand their protection patterns and how they might block certain looks, but that information is nothing that Ryan or Mike Pettine, the defensive coordinator, can’t determine off game tape. So the claiming of O’Connell must be talented related or obsession related, but not insider information related.
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