Jets vs. Eagles Pre-Season Finale Review: The Great, Good, Bad, and Ugly

Antonio Allen is still neck-and-neck with Jaiquawn Jarrett for the starting free safety job. (Photo: US Presswire)

By Mike O’Connor, Staff Writer

Even though hardly any Jets players who will be starting at the kickoff of the regular season played in last night’s pre-season game, there was still crucial matters on the line. Positional battles were given their final out of practice efforts, players on the bubble proved their respective worth for the final time, and some won and lost playing time. So, it’s essential that we take a deeper look at who showed up when it mattered most.

Here’s a pre-season finale edition of “The Great, Good, Bad, and Ugly.” Also, if you’re looking for more game recap work, check out my raw notes from the first watch-through last night.

The Great:

Kahlil Bell- Once again, the Jet who’s now in his second-stint in New York was very impressive. Bell has now ensured all fans that he is a runner with a well-rounded skillset: power, patience, vision, precise cuts, and desire; the full package. While he doesn’t pop off the screen in any of these categories, Bell’s consistent mix of these skills let him run all over the Eagles’ backups for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Sure, a 3.8 yards per carry average won’t blow anybody away, but Bell was consistent last night despite the Jets’ incredibly frustrating run blocking efforts. Overall, Bell has confirmed a roster spot and beyond at this point. If he sees 5-10 carries per game behind Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell before Mike Goodson returns to the team in Week 4, I definitely won’t be complaining.

Matt Simms- I was reluctant to put Simms in such a valued category, but it really just comes down to perspective. Simms wasn’t perfect last night, but he has come out of nowhere to efficiently unseat Greg McElroy as the third quarterback. Yes, he was facing a mirror image of backups on the Eagles’ defense, but he has never played against anything but strictly backups. Enduring seven sacks with constant pressure leaking through the offensive line and still managing to complete 33 of his 44 attempts for 285 yards and no interceptions is more than just reassuring, no matter what kind of NFL quality he’s facing. The Jets simply cannot cut Simms after how well he’s played throughout this pre-season, even if it means they’ll have to cut McElroy.

The Kicking Competition- Nick Folk just can’t get a break, as former Dolphin Dan Carpenter was brought in as some late minute competition. Both played and boomed nearly all of their kickoffs for easy touchbacks, which is something Folk isn’t exactly known for. Both nailed the only field goals they attempted, with Carpenter’s coming from a respectable 45 yards out. I highly, highly doubt that the Jets will find a reason to choose Carpenter over the consistent Folk, but a little healthy competition never hurt anybody.

Leger Douzable- The pre-season superstar continued his excellence last night, with another menacing performance. The defensive end’s great game won’t pop off the stat line, but he was consistently effective rushing the passer, working inside versus the run, and holding a strong edge. He’s a versatile player who can rush from the 3-tech and 5-tech, and his motor evidently never stops running. In fact, nearly every significant pressure the Jets recorded on Nick Foles or Matt Barkley was due to a Douzable hurry, or he was right behind the initial pressure to the quarterback. Douzable has done more than just secure a roster spot; he’s guaranteed himself some chances at actual, important regular season snaps in the defensive line rotation.

Ricky Sapp- Most Jet fans love to joke about Sapp’s lack of development, but he finally put something on tape last night, and a lot of it. Sapp impressed me with his motor rushing the passer, even if his stiff hips didn’t allow for as many sacks as he should have gotten in the stat line (only had one). However, the reason Sapp was so great last night even surprised me. He’s known as such a “tweener” kind of player who is a little undersized for an outside linebacker, but Sapp was instinctive, quick, and tough about working his way from the edge to the inside gaps to pinch in to stop the run. I’ve never seen this from Sapp, but it was impressive to see him perform so well laterally. Unfortunately, it might be too late for Sapp to snag a roster spot. He was ineffective throughout the pre-season, and many other role players passed him up on the depth chart. He has to hope that the Jets don’t keep the injured Josh Mauga AND carry one more outside linebacker than they typically would.

The Good:

Michael Campbell- Campbell, also in his second stint with the Jets, came on big-time last night, showing a nice passer-to-receiver connection with Matt Simms. Campbell was consistently getting open with a quick get off on the line of scrimmage, precise cuts within his routes, and by wasting little movement in his cuts. He ended up catching 5 passes for 90 yards. However, Campbell still doesn’t look at all like a complete receiver. He has a stable 6’2 frame, but he doesn’t play to his size. On a deep ball from Simms last night, Campbell was double covered, but was open due to his speed downfield. However, Campbell looked clumsy and wasn’t synchronized with his jump for the ball. As a result, the pass was easily forced incomplete. To make matters worse for Campbell, he has come on far too late in this pre-season. He might have a shot at the practice squad, but the wide receiver depth chart already looks pretty set and stone. His chances of making the roster seem to be a long-shot.

Ryan Spadola- Spadola wasn’t as good as he has been through most of this pre-season, but he still flashed why he was an excellent UDFA pickup after the draft this year. Spadola is so unbelievably tough going over the middle, and showed that a bit when he caught 6 passes for 47 yards versus the Eagles. He is actually quite big at 6’3, but he’s versatile as a pass-catcher and caught a couple of bubble screens last night. He’s simply always getting open, whether it’s deep, underneath, or an intermediate route. The only reason Spadola is being held back to “good” this week is because of his lost fumble last night.

Mossis Madu- The quick, jump-cut runner showed off some of his talents last night again, including a nice 14 yard pickup. Madu was also nailed in the knee on a low tackle attempt, but showed some serious toughness, as he hardly missed any time. Madu is grinding for a roster spot, and he might have a chance considering how similar to Chris Ivory Kahlil Bell seems to be. If the Jets want a change of pace backup, Madu could tag along until Mike Goodson finally returns in Week 4 after his suspension.

Danny Lansanah/Nick Bellore- Both backup inside linebackers were quite literally all over the field last night, picking up two solo tackles apiece and helping out with another nine tackles combined. Lansanah has been a great all around linebacker all pre-season, showing instincts, power, and coverage ability. Bellore made his own case with some consistent reads and play recognition. Both are locks to make the team.

Antonio Allen/Josh Bush- Allen is really only here because of his very nice play jumping a route late in the game last night, picking off the pass, and returning it for six. I’ve found it hard to consistently like Allen, however, as he leaves much to be desired in terms of coverage. It seems that whenever he has to turn his hips and run in coverage, he gets caught up and loses his coverage assignment. When the game is in front of him, however, he can close quickly and he’s very efficient. Both of these instances were evident last night, as we saw the good and the bad with him. Bush, on the other hand, was quietly consistent. He had a clutch pass deflection in the end zone that would have resulted in an Eagles’ touchdown. Both have a fair shot at starting at free safety this season, though I firmly believe that Bush provides a better fit.

Rontez Miles- The versatile rookie showed some excellent kick coverage last night, recording two solo tackles on special teams. His injury, however, has kept him out long enough that it might be out of the question for him to make the active roster. As a promising rookie, his best and most realistic case is a practice squad spot.

The Bad:

Separation at Safety- Josh Bush, Antonio Allen, and Jaiquawn Jarrett all played practically the entire game last night, and still, it’s nearly impossible to call one of them a starter at free safety thus far. Competition is never a bad thing, but it’s certainly not a plus when none of the three have looked good enough to take the available starting spot. It looks like we might see a revolving free safety door this year.

Zach Rogers- Rogers contributed four catches for 40 yards last night, but his crucial mistakes have proved to occur far too often. He already had a horrendous drop in the pre-season opener versus Detroit, and he had another awful drop last night deep downfield, as he saw the ball slip right through his hands on a perfectly thrown ball from Matt Simms. Even worse, it appears that Rogers was scared by the contact that was unavoidable from the incoming safety if he had made the catch. this is a bad sign when you’ve got a fellow UDFA rookie in Ryan Spadola showing no fear of taking a hit or running routes right through the heart of the field. Rogers also muffed a punt in which he looked like he slacked off and didn’t care. He has likely played himself off of the active roster, but his youth and upside will likely land him a spot on the practice squad.

The Backup Offensive Line- This unit was simply awful at times last night. Brian winters stood out as a rookie, as he was getting beat off the snap by quickness from the interior nearly every play. Vladimir Ducasse couldn’t get contact or leverage off the snap either, and he looked slow and awkward when asked to pull from his guard position. Caleb Schlauderauff was timid and looked weak overall at times. J.B Shugarts was literally jumping the snap every other play, and it was noticeable. He’s lucky that it’s a pre-season tradition to not call false starts late in games. And last and definitely least, Jason Smith was getting beat like a drum off the edge last night, far worse than Wayne Hunter ever was by actual premier pass rushers. There’s absolutely no chance he can even make the team after that embarrassing performance.

The Ugly:

The Roster Chances Of-