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For the most part, there weren’t too many surprises with the initial 53 for the Jets but there were still a couple.
The Jets are currently sitting at 53 players and while this 53 certainly won’t be the 53 going forward, there were still some surprises among those that did or did not make the first cut. Let’s run through a couple of those surprises here.
Which bubble players are making the final cut?
The Jets have now had three preseason games to evaluate their roster following Saturday’s meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have just one more game and one more week before having the make the cutdown to 53 players on their roster. Even after that, changes will be made at the bottom of the roster. For now, let’s take the current field of 90 and do our best to trim it down to 53 with just days left in the preseason.
Jets Wire takes its first crack of the offseason at predicting what New York’s 53-man roster will look like come Week 1.
The 2021 NFL draft just ended and training camp is still months away, but it’s never too early to take a crack at what the Jets’ roster might look like come Week 1.
With the draft in the books, Joe Douglas and company can begin fine-tuning New York’s roster. There are still free agent signings to be made and undrafted free agents to be evaluated as the offseason progresses into its final stages, but it’s safe to assume Douglas and Robert Saleh already have some idea of what they want the 53-man roster to look like.
For the first time this offseason, let’s take a stab at predicting Gang Green’s opening day roster.
Jets Wire breaks down four surprising moves the Jets made during cut weekend.
The Jets were busy at work over the weekend, cutting down their 80-man training camp roster to 53 with the regular season less than a week away.
Throughout the weekend, Adam Gase and Joe Douglas had 27 tough decisions to make. Some were easy, while others likely took hours of deliberation. Some were also downright head-scratching.
With that being said, here are four of the biggest surprises from New York’s weekend of roster moves.
In three years with the Jets, Jonotthan Harrison served as nothing but a reliable offensive lineman who produced when his number was called. That was not enough to save his job, though, as he was among New York’s first round of cuts on Friday night.
The decision to cut Harrison leaves the Jets without a true reserve center and down a leader, one Sam Darnold pinpointed as an invaluable presence in the locker room.
“For the last 2½ years, for lack of a better term, he’s been kind of like an older brother to me, showing me the ropes,” Darnold told ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “It’s been fun, man, watching him come to work every day. He works harder than anyone I know. Jon is an incredible human being, a great leader and a great friend. He understands how much of a business football is. That’s how we both have to look at it, but it does suck.”
New York will undoubtedly miss Harrison on and off the field. It’s tough to argue against Joe Douglas’ reasoning when it comes to offensive line personnel, but this decision is one that leaves plenty of questions.
Jets Wire evaluates the Jets’ projected depth chart after cutting their roster down to 53.
With training camp and the 2020 offseason now in the books, the Jets’ depth chart has somewhat of a new look to it.
New York parted ways with 27 players on Saturday in order to cut its roster down to 53. Some of those players reverted back to the practice squad and have a chance to begin the year on the active roster, while others are now seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
Let’s take a look at how the Jets’ depth chart reads after cut day and some potential changes that could be in store before Week 1.
Note: There are more than 53 players listed below, as the Jets have yet to determine who is going on injured reserve.
Starter: Sam Darnold
Backups: Joe Flacco, James Morgan
Flacco is on the 53-man roster, but will miss New York’s first couple of games as he works his way back from offseason neck surgery. James Morgan is not ready to serve as Sam Darnold’s backup, which leaves practice squad signal-callers David Fales and Mike White duking it out for the No. 2 spot to begin 2020. Fales has the advantage here.
The Jets can’t escape the injury bug, yet again, as they send another player to the injured reserve list.
The Jets can’t escape the injury bug, as they sent another player to the injured reserve list on Monday.
Forced to start Kyron Brown at cornerback this past weekend, the Akron product left Sunday’s game with a quad injury. That makes 16 Jets to land on IR this season.
As a result, New York filled the void on their roster by signing wide receiver Jeff Smith. Another undrafted free agent, Smith got his start by signing on to the Jets’ practice squad in September.
The wideout started his career at Boston College as a quarterback. Following his freshman campaign, he made the position change, leading to 72 catches for 1,078 yards and nine touchdowns over the next three years.
Smith possesses a versatile skill set that came to life as a Golden Eagle. Boston College utilized him in the ground game, as well. Smith recorded 902 yards and another nine scores as a rusher.
With a new whole on their practice squad after promoting Smith, the Jets added offensive lineman Brad Lundblade. The 24-year-old spent some time with the Carolina Panthers practice squad before being released earlier this week.
