New York Jets

Want to join the flashy, high-stakes world of NFL blogging? Turn On The Jets is looking to hire a new staff writer for the 2013 NFL season. This is an unpaid position for somebody looking to gain writing and social media experience on a rapidly growing New York Jets/NFL site (30,000 unique visitors and 120,000 page views last month) We can only promise experience, increased exposure to your writing and more Twitter followers…and maybe a free Shake Shack meal if you are around New York City. We are looking for 1-3 articles per week and contributions to our weekly roundtables. Ideally, the candidate will have previous writing experience and an interest in an analytical approach to the game of football. We don’t break news at TOJ. We don’t come up with flashy headlines sourced by anonymous people. Basically, pretend you are writing for The Daily News and then do the opposite of that. Previous experience looking at and breaking down game film is also encouraged. Finally, we like our writers to have an active social media presence, particularly on Twitter. If you are interested, please send a 500-900 word writing sample to JoeC@TurnOnTheJets.com. Come up with your own topic or angle, as we encourage our writers to think outside the box and come up with their own article ideas. HURRY UP…MILD AMOUNTS OF LOCAL BLOGGING FAME AND RETWEETS AWAIT!

SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber is at the NFL Rookie Premiere, which is being attended by many Draft picks, including Jets quarterback Geno Smith. Geno talked about his first luxury purchase in the NFL. A voice from behind a television camera on Thursday asked Smith if he had rewarded himself in the wake of the draft. A watch? A new car? His answer lacked the hoped-for banality. "The playbook." Click here to read the whole story. It also discusses how Geno fits with the team and in relation to the new offensive system. Nothing we hear from Geno is going to be particularly meaningful. The only real takeaway is that he gave a good sounding answer, which means he might be able to handle the media well. That is a good thing considering the wave of negativity that hit in the days following the Jets' selection of him in the second round.

It does not seem like the Jets are in any hurry to make a move on Mike Goodson after his arrest. Goodson is the third Jet to be charged with marijuana possession in the last two weeks, joining defensive end Claude Davis and cornerback Cliff Harris, who were both released by the team. The Jets have a bigger investment in Goodson, whom they signed to a three-year, $6.9 million free-agent contract in March. Goodson and Chris Ivory were expected to be the Jets’ top two running backs. In a statement, the Jets said they would have no comment until “the legal process has run its course.” At this point, it is probably premature to make definitive statements on what the Jets should or should not do. We simply do not have all of the information necessary right now. Frequently, initial reports on incidents like this are either incomplete or incorrect. It is probably best to refrain from judgment until we have more answers

Good morning, Gang Green Gangsters! Seriously, if you're not reading Infinite Jets, then, well, you're not seeing all the words that are up on that site. James Walker: John Idzik is in a bad spot with Mike Goodson. He posted bail, so I think he can coach the Knicks tonight. Kristian Dyer: Tommy Bohanon finds a familiar face in Idzik. Behind the Steel Curtain: Plaxico Burress speaks out in support of Mark Sanchez. NFL.com: Geno Smith seems to get it. Pro Football Focus: D'Brickashaw Ferguson and John Abraham missed the list of PFF top players. Randy Lange: His dream delayed, now Lanier Coleman is back in it. NYJets.com: Oday Aboushi is working on hand technique. The Jet Press: Why Jets fans stay with their team. Star-Ledger: Sports Authority approves the expanded American Dream proposal. Respect the authoritah! Jaguars.com: Mark Brunell will join the Jacksonville Jaguars TV booth for the preseason. Sports Illustrated: Jimmy Haslam's Cleveland Browns ownership is not currently in danger, but things could change. OSN: The Browns are gearing up to punt the ball down opponents' throats. Associated Press: Bruce Irvin has been suspended 4 games. Associated Press: The Chicago Bears and Kyle Long agree to a deal. I'm glad we don't play them this year because we don't need Kyle Long sacking Mark Sanchez all day, like his two dominant brothers Chris Long and Jake Long. USA Today: Robert Griffin III's dad says that his rehab is ahead of schedule. Over the Cap: A primer on some rookie contract sticking points. The Football Educator: The effects of the Tuck Rule on the NFL salary cap. Enjoy your weekend, and if you happen to be at the Jets Lupus Walk today, tell us how it went and share some pictures if you'd like.

A Staten Island Native, Rookie T, Oday Aboushi, is Playing Close to Home.

(Rob Foldy/USA Today Sports) The New York Jets have one of the most interesting situations heading into training camp as nobody knows what to expect from the quarterback position. At the moment, it’s safe to say the starting job is Mark Sanchez‘s to lose and now that David Garrard is out of the picture–should the former first-round pick be feeling even more confident? Garrard decided to call it a career this week by retiring as his knees just simply couldn’t handle playing at the pro level anymore and even though the team selected Geno Smith in the 2013 NFL Draft, Sanchez does have the advantage over the rookie heading into training camp. Not only does Smith still have a few areas in desperate need of improvement, but Sanchez has a major advantage on him from an experience perspective. As mentioned before–it’s safe to say the job is Sanchez’s to lose at this point. Sanchez has received plenty of opportunities to prove himself as a starter over the years and as bad as it sounds–the 2013 season could be his final shot at a starting job. New York can only give Sanchez so many chances before deciding to move on and it will certainly be interesting to see how training camp plays out with the battle at the quarterback position. Only time will tell, but on the bright side–at least Sanchez has one less quarterback to worry about taking his job now that Garrard has decided to call it a career. “Like” Dan Parzych on Facebook Be sure to follow Dan on Twitter @DanParzych

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports The New York Jets are unlikely to contend in 2013, but that doesn’t mean it will be a lost season, necessarily. GM John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan know that evaluating young talent is an important ongoing process. At the Jets’ three-day rookie mini-camp last weekend, Idzik and Ryan made a conscious decision to push their rookies harder than in years past, challenging them with what Idzik called a “fire hosing” of information. For the Jets, it was a way to get the rookies used to the hectic environment of training camp and the regular season. They’re going to need their rookies, drafted and undrafted, to make more of an impact than ever before. “I think we did challenge the guys a little bit more,” Ryan said. “We put more on their plate on offense and defense to let them know, look, it is going to come fast and a lot you have to stay on top of it.” Among the players who stood out, according to Ryan, were quarterback Geno Smith, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, wide receiver Zach Rogers and center Dalton Freeman. The latter two were undrafted. Obviously, it’s hard to project much from rookie mini-camp, but I like the approach of throwing the rookies into the deep end and letting them sink or swim. Life in the NFL is not easy, and the rookies need to learn that, fast. “They’re going to have their hiccups,” Idzik said. “I think the first practice, … they literally had only two hours of meeting time and then they’re out on the field and we’re running them through adjustments. They did a great job.” Let’s hope that experience and hard work pays off on Sundays. Jon Presser is RantSports.com’s New York Jets Lead Columnist Follow him on Twitter @metsjetsnets88 and on Google+

The Turn On The Jets 12 Pack is back, with an edition focusing solely on New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith.  1. My pre-draft opinions of Geno Smith are documented here and here. I thought he was strong value at #39 and was happy the Jets didn’t use one of their first round picks on him or sacrifice any picks to move up for him in the 2nd round. Prior to the draft I wrote this - In the proper situation, Smith should be a productive starter in this league with the potential to develop into a Pro-Bowler. He remains rough around the edges and if put in the wrong situation, shouldn’t be expected to immediately turn around a bad team. The importance of the Jets grooming him properly was discussed here and if the Jets don’t put too much on his plate this season, he should be fine. This will be a run heavy offense that emphasizes a high amount of screen passes and quick releases to the outside, which plays to Smith’s strengths. It is a good thing the Jets have Marty Mornhinweg running the offense, as he will help Smith’s development in the coming years. 2. I do think Smith is going to be the day one starter. In 2009, Rex Ryan started Mark Sanchez despite him having 1 year of college starting experience and having a good, but far from great summer. Geno Smith has 3 years of college starting experience and I do think he is capable of having a good enough summer that Rex will be comfortable enough to start him. He will have the backing of the front office who will be anxious to see Smith play and move past Mark Sanchez and his contract situation. I have been a noted “Sanchez Apologist” for years at this site and I wouldn’t be stunned if he had a better than expected summer but he’d really need to be leaps and bounds more competent than Smith to get the day one job. 3. I don’t buy any argument that is based on the notion that Smith shouldn’t start his rookie year “because the Jets started Sanchez his rookie year and look what happened!” Everybody who says that now was saying it was a GENIUS move to start Sanchez his rookie year after he had just outplayed Tom Brady in New England for a divisional round playoff win. Sanchez’s issues had nothing to do with starting too soon. They had to do with his own shortcomings coupled with the Jets doing a poor job of building around him, particularly in 2011 and 2012. Smith and Sanchez are different people in different situations. If you hypothetically sit Smith all year on a team that is likely going to be .500 or worse no matter who is at quarterback, what do you do if you are in position to select a quarterback in the top 5-12 of next year’s draft? You would have no notion of what kind of player Smith could be and will be making an uninformed decision. 4. I buy none of the diva talk surrounding Smith. We’ve already discussed how overblown the agent story was and by all accounts Smith is about as high of a character guy as you can find. If he has issues in the NFL, I doubt they will be because he is a “diva.” For the record, most of the garbage you hear about Mark Sanchez’s personality is false as well. Everybody who I have ever discussed him with around the team and who has interacted with him had nothing but positive things to say about his work ethic and personality. He has been an awful quarterback on the field the past year and a half, it doesn’t mean he is a lazy, entitled jackass who never pushes himself. 5. We actually got word from a source the morning of round 2 of the NFL Draft that “there was no way the Jets were leaving the night without Geno Smith,” we hinted at it in this article and on Twitter that day but weren’t 100% sold that it was accurate…clearly it was. The source had indicated that the Jets were heavily considering moving up 3-5 spots to grab him, which fortunately they didn’t have to do and that he was nearly taken with the 13th p

With David Garrard hanging up his cleats, the Jets will have an opening on their roster. As far as I could tell, the original plan for the Jets at quarterback looked something like this. Garrard and Geno Smith would be the top two quarterbacks. Garrard would mentor Geno. Geno would either start from day one, or Garrard would be a placeholder until Geno was ready. Hopefully Mark Sanchez would play well in preseason, and some team would be crazy enough to trade for him. Once that didn't happen, Sanchez would be cut. With Garrard gone, the plan obviously will not look exactly the same, but the Jets might look into some free agent options to take his spot if for no other reason but to give them another quarterback aside from Geno who can spare the needless drama Sanchez's presence could provide. Here are five options in alphabetical order. None are great. You might be able to talk yourself into a few of them the same way you could have talked yourself into Garrard. Charlie Batch Ties to the Jets: None Batch was the third quarterback selected in the Peyton Manning/Ryan Leaf Draft. After a fairly undistinguished run as the quarterback of the Lions, Batch reinvented himself over the past eleven years as a backup in Pittsburgh. He's actually started five games in the last three years and completed 62.2% of his passes with a 7.2 yard average per pass, albeit with an ugly 4-8 TD-INT rate. The Steelers have gone 3-2. That includes a stunning 25/36 276 yard performance at Baltimore last year in a surprising victory over the Ravens. I wouldn't trust Batch's 38 year old body to hold up for a 16 game season, but if the Jets are looking for somebody who can show Geno the ropes and be a caretaker for a little while until he is ready to start, Batch could conceivably be an option. Byron Leftwich Ties to the Jets: None The 33 year old Leftwich was Chad Pennington's backup at Marshall University for a time before taking over the starting job. He is a former first round pick who has never really panned out. His time with Jacksonville wasn't successful, and second chances in Atlanta and Tampa Bay did not work out much better. Between all that, he has had a few stints as a backup with the Steelers. Outside of an electrifying run against Baltimore last year made all the more surprising by the fact he was never very mobile even in his youth, Leftwich has not shown much skill lately. If you watched the Steelers when he played last year, it seemed like they designed their offense to avoid asking him to do anything. He's a tough guy. He played most of that Ravens game with a broken rib and produced this iconic moment playing hurt in college. He could show Geno how to prepare but not much else. Matt Leinart Ties to the Jets: None Those of us who wanted the Jets to pick Leinart over D'Brickashaw Ferguson in the 2006 Draft will still pretend that never happened. Leinart has been a bust in every sense of the word. He's also never been much of a leader in the NFL. Signing Leinart would just create a bunch of terrible jokes about the Jets being the destination for bust quarterbacks from USC. Tyler Thigpen Ties to the Jets: David Lee was his quarterbacks coach with the Dolphins (2009-2010) and the Bills (2012). The great Alan Schechter over at The Jet Press actually came up with this idea. Thigpen had relative success pressed into regular duty in Kansas City in 2008, 18 TD's, 12 INT's on a Sanchezian 54.8% and 6.2 yards per pass. He also ran for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns. He's pretty much Mark Sanchez. He just is a better scrambler, costs way less, and was undrafted from Coastal Carolina instead of the fifth pick from USC so your expectations are more in line. If you're going to have a Sanchez quality player as your backup either way, a low profile version might be better than the current high profile version. Vince Young Ties to the Jets: Marty Mornhinweg was his offensive coordinator with the Eagles (2011). David Lee was briefly hi

During the 2013 NFL Draft, the Jets took a position that was bare and made it very crowded. Considering the constant preaching of competition around the Jets these days, it makes sense that John Idzik would draft Brian Winters, Oday Aboushi, and Will Campbell to be added to a stable of Offensive Guards that could already include Willie Colon, Stephen Peterman, Vlad Ducasse, and Caleb Schlauderaff. Over the next few weeks, TOJ will do some film studies on some of the new Offensive Linemen to see what kind of players they are and how they might fit into the Jets offensive plans (see Colon’s breakdown here). Today we will look at 3rd Round pick Brian Winters. Winters is interesting in that he wasn’t highly recruited out of high school despite a decorated career in both football and wrestling. From a small school in Ohio, Winters was named All-State but only garnered a two-star rating from Rivals.com. Because of this, he didn’t receive many College offers and chose Kent State over Syracuse and Akron. This was probably the right decision as he was able to start 50 career games for the Golden Flashes at both tackle spots, finishing his career at left tackle. Upon first look, Winters is an intimidating figure. He has arms covered in tattoos attached to a 6’4” 320 pound frame. He resembles Richie Incognito of the Miami Dolphins who is known as a nasty, physical player. But does Winters’ style of play, match his intimidating look like Incognito’s does? After watching film for about 2 minutes the answer is a resounding YES! The first thing you notice about Brian Winters on film is his style of play. While he will not be known as a technician by any stretch of the imagination, he is an extremely physical player. Mike Mayock’s main quote about Winters leading up to the draft was that he “has no trouble finishing blocks.” The film agrees with Mayock’s statement. Winters is a guy that loves to mix it up with defenders. He has put countless big hits and pancakes on tape. This is where his wrestling background really comes into play. Every snap is like a mini wrestling match between Winters and the defender he is blocking. If he gets the defender off balance, you can guarantee that he will be delivering a hip toss as he has done on film over and over again. Lineman have different motivations. Some linemen just want to get a body on someone and make sure they take the proper technique to accomplish their assignment. Other linemen want to punish the defender and don’t care what technique they use to do it. Brian Winters falls into that second category. Winters started at left tackle for the majority of his college career and it is apparent on film that he does not have the footwork and athleticism to continue to play that position in the NFL. He really struggles to set the edge of the pocket against speed rushers. It almost appears that his upper body and lower body are two completely separate entities. He will often stop his feet when he goes to punch. This is why he struggles to stop edge rushers on both up field speed moves and inside counter moves. I thought Kent State’s quarterback did a pretty solid job of moving around in the pocket to mask some of these issues. Because of this issue on the edge, Winters is a perfect candidate to move inside to Guard. He has the perfect demeanor and skill set to be a solid starting guard in the NFL. He can be classified as a “phone booth blocker.” In small spaces, you are going to be in a dogfight if Winters is blocking you. He is a really good run blocker and most of his success can be attributed to his hands. Don’t let his bench press at the combine fool you (Cut short by injury), he has one of the best and most powerful punches of anyone I have evaluated in this draft. Both in pass and run blocking, he has the ability to completely stagger the defender and stop their momentum. The only downside is that he packs so much power in his punch that his feet stop moving; forcing him to lunge. This is s