Why isn't Vlad a bust? 1. No player can be considered a bust 2 years into his career, let alone an offensive linemen. This isn't fricking Madden where players are "Plug and play". Some guys take time to learn proper technique,scheme & how to be a professional. Why does everything have to be so absolute with you people? Anytime a draft pick isn't a starter or showed any promise a year and a half into their careers they're automatically busts.It doesn't work that way. If it did..teams wouldn't spend millions of dollars invested in player development.They would just draft players and cut them after 1 year if they weren't pro bowlers. 2. He was primarily drafted to provide competition inside early at guard and eventually replace Woody at RT. He was considered very raw mentally and technique wise, however a very high ceiling based on physical skills & room to grow. Frankly, his scouting report has been spot on. The miscalculation? Woody tearing his ACL & retiring a year early, & the the shortened offseason due to the lockout that Vlad desperately needed. 3. He has displayed plus run blocking ability, and the ability to manhandle guys in one on one situations including JJ Watt & Haloti Ngota. I'm gonna take a wuild guess and say that if someone can manhandle those type of names even if only a handful of times..they have raw physical attributes well suited to play in the NFL for a long time. Call me a vlad apoplogist..I don't care. But I just think it's foolish to completely write off a young player who STILL has promise b/c people either can't recognize raw talent or can't fathom that some players take TIME to develop. Fact remains, if and when Vlad proves all you doubters wrong...the entire OT situation for this team falls into place. Does he get cut at the end of TC? Sure it's possible. But it's not this ridiculous short sighted no brainer that so many of you are alluding to. I will NOT back down on this argument. I had the same argument w/ Brick 2 years into his career...and I'll fight the same fight now.
vlad was never going to win the rt job last year.that was given to hunter when he signed his contract.vlad then had to fill the spot turner had before the injury.so saying he could not beat out hunter when he never had a chance is not correct
You are entitled to your opinion. Are my Ducasse defensive arguments redundent? likely. But the subject of O-line keeps coming up, and people refuse to acknowledge the notion that Ducasse COULD step up and become the starter at RT. If you don't think it's possible, that's your perogative. But at least acknowledge it as a possibility. He really is a vastly superior player than how he is percieved on this board. Bottom line is, people should be rooting for Ducasse to win the spot b/c if he does Brick/Ducasse w/ Hunter as a swing guy w/ starting experience is a very good chain of command for OT.
Kurt, I'm with you - you're not alone. This kid is going to blow a lot of people's minds if the mental part ever clicks.
We drafted him in the second round. If he doesn't step up as a man this year and block the fuck out of anyone who stands in his way he is a bust and should be pushing a log wagon around up in Alaska. It's a pretty simple job that shouldn't require a whole lot of thinking. Block the man in front of you, don't let them hit your quarterback and have fun teeing off on people when we run the ball. Ground 'n pound!!
VD will get one more chance this year, whether he deserves it or not, and of course I hope he succeeds. What bothers me is the notion that we should more or less count on him being likely to. i just don't see that.
I also agree with most of this. While I see tremendous upside for Vlad and believe he should and will be around until the end of his cheap rookie deal, I don't see how we are going into the season either expecting him to "get it" or relying on Hunter. It seems awfully foolish.
I still think it is possible for Ducasse to get it together in a new system and at a different position, but I don't think it's incredibly likely, or something that the Jets should be counting on to happen. I remember last year JJ Watt beating him badly and getting Turner injured, however Ducasse was playing guard here. http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/sto...r-has-broken-leg-mcknight-out-with-concussion
DeCastro is a RG. I think if the Jets draft DeCastro the odds are good that Slauson stays at LG, Brandon Moore gets cut and they're still looking for a RT.
It's foolish in the same way that driving Pete Kendall out of town without a reliable replacement in mind was foolish. Tannenbaum has said that he considers some positions as replacement level where it's easy to find people who can do the job. If that's true then he has done a lousy job of finding those people after he lets the replaceables go.
Yes, the parallels to that situation should be of concern to everyone. Although as I said the other day, as bad as Hunter is, he's not as bad as Clarke and Bender were. Still, Tanny has a proven record of screwing up replacing the "replaceable."
They're in a tough position. 10 years ago they could have found a Kareem Mckenzie or Jason Fabini in the 3rd or 4th round, who wouldn't carry a heavy salary & would compete for a starting position.The issue is, the Fabini & Mckenzie's of the world now go in the 1st or 2nd round b/c the market value for quality tackles has increased so acutely league wide. One might say "Why not just draft the tackle in round 1 or 2"? Well I think part of the reason is they want to give Ducasse his shot to start & drafting a guy that early complicates the matter. Additionally, what happens if Ducasse beats the draft pick out? You have 2 established starters in Brick & Vlad with high salaries & now have an unhappy rookie w/ no place to play and a premium salary. Why not sign somebody in free agency? All of the players available either want too much $ and/or a guaranteed starting position. If they truly believe that Vlad is ready to start..which it appears they believe he is..It is best to tread lightly, and if Vlad does not show anything early in TC..then you cut him & sign one of those street free agents who then will be guaranteed the starting position that they crave.
Hunter hopefully will not make it out of training camp. The guy is just awful and Sparano does not have enough time to coach him up Sanchez and Tebow too. 70% of Sanchez problem last year was the matador RT letting guys blow right past him and annihilate Sanchez. Of course he had happy feet which affected his accuracy. Speaking of accuracy that is the one thing Sanchez is gonna have to make huge improvements. Otherwise we will have two quarterbacks who cannot hit the side of a barn but only 1 can make his own plays.
I'm not sure why you keep saying Vlad has a high salary? Are you saying if they sign him to a big contract? Because at this point his salary is not high. 2nd rounders never got huge contracts. His cap number for this year is 750K not that high compared to what we were paying Wayne Hunter to be a solid backup/6th lineman in 2010 (1.2 mil) Here are the numbers: http://nyjetscap.com/vladimirducasse.html http://nyjetscap.com/waynehunter.html
Thank you for that info. With that said..Brick makes close to 10 mill a year, & 1st or 2nd round pick will make between 4-5 mill a year. Additionally, if the rookie OT doesn't beat out Vlad, he sits on the bench and doesn't help the team in anyway beyond depth. With a team in need of playmakers, I'm not sure that's a good option.
Boozer I could be wrong but I believe Hunter will make it out of training camp,,,,I believe we gave him two million dollars guaranteed ,,about a month or so ago',,,,I would love to see him on the bench but gone sadly I don,t see that happening
Love Hunter as a back-up. Just hate him as a starter. He's the ideal back-up tackle b/c he can play both Tackle spots & has a ton of starting experience. I don't think there's any way in hell he is starting for this team come September barring a catastrophic injury. The starter will be Ducasse or a FA/Draft pick.
How about swapping D'Brick and WFH? Can't be that bad, eh? Free rusher up the middle is much worse than free rusher off the edge.
100 years ago Vlad the Impaler would've been chained to the business end of a plow. Now, America will pay him millions of dollars to play a game while educated white folk will spend hours on end discussing his footwork and IQ. My how times have changed!
It would save $3 million. However, would that really improve the O-Line? That question can't be answered before the season
