New York Jets Draftees to Make Impact on 2012

Today, I’m going to spotlight a few members of that draft class who I believe absolutely need to, and likely will, have an immediate impact for the New York Jets this season.

Aug 18, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback David Carr (8) is sacked by New York Jets defensive end Quinton Coples (98) during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aristide Economopoulos/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

When you look at the 2011 New York Jets, one of the things that stood out the most was the obvious  — if Rex Ryan and the Jets defense didn’t put on an exotic blitz, nobody got to the quarterback to apply pressure and get a sack.

This has been a problem for the Jets not just last year, but since coach Rex Ryan has been here. Last season in particular, the Jets were 17th in the league in defensive sacks.

Quinton Coples had a combined 17.5 sacks in his junior and senior years combined.  That’s almost half of what the Jets did last year (35).

The knock on the kid is that he doesn’t play with a high motor but so far in the first two games, Coples has a couple of sacks.

Coples needs to channel his college junior year self  for the Jets to be the dominant defense that they think they can be.

Will Quinton Coples will be the second coming of JPP? No, for the sheer fact that JPP is a freak of nature. Could Coples be the next Jared Allen? Learning Allen’s former defensive line coah Karl Dunbar will help. Will he make an immediate impact? Absolutely.

The spotlight is going shift from Coples to linebacker Demario Davis out of Arkansas State.

You could make the argument that Davis was drafted to replace Bart Scott in the not so distant future and if you compare both Davis’s and Scott’s stats from 2011, they are ridiculously comparable.  Davis had 69 total tackles in 2011 compared to Scott’s 66 in a limited role.

So far, in two preseason games, Davis has six total tackles, five of which were solo. So far, Davis has made an impact on the defense in the run game. According to his draft profile, Davis’s foot speed is an asset and he could catch up to any back or beat them to the hole and plug the gap. Alot of times last year, the run defense looked like Swiss cheese.

He will be in a lot of sub packages on passing downs as well, and his speed with be an asset covering the tight ends of this league too.

July 29, 2012; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill (84) runs with the ball up field during training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-US PRESSWIRE

Finally, my microscope is studying wide receiver Stephen Hill.

Coming out of Georgia Tech, Hill played in an option system (not unlike what Tim Tebow is known for) but if you look at his 2011 numbers, he was a decent receiver.. (28 receptions, 820 yards).

Decent will not be good enough. The Jets don’t have a big wide receiver threat could out jump everyone. For all the problems and headaches that Plaxico Burress came with, he did help out with his size in the red-zone tremendously. Love him or hate him, Braylon Edwards did a lot of good outside the numbers in 2010 for Mark Sanchez. The first two catches that come to mind immediately are the game winning drive in the regular season against to Houston  along with the playoff catch in Indy in the fourth quarter.

Hill is in a bit of battle with Patrick Turner for the number three wide receiver spot and he needs to show a lot in order for the coaches to trust him with the first team offense. Both of them have virtually the same stats through two preseason games except that Hill’s got Turner beaten by five receiving yards.

Hill’s got a lot of upside and he really was a steal in the second round. Since I don’t fully believe that the Jets completely trust Turner to be that tall threat for the offense, Hill has got to step up. Sanchez needs a tall downfield threat in order to succeed as a passer and the offense to survive.

Bottom line here is that if the Jets are going to succeed, these three members of the rookie class need to, and will, step up and make an immediate impact.