When you’re sharing a backfield with Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson, you tend to play a lot closer to the box, and when your coach is Rex Ryan, you can usually expect to blitz. A lot. None of this information should be surprising, but it does apply another fold of pressure to already stressed passers, so athleticism is a must in this system, even at strong safety, where the 5’8″ 186lbs. Leonhard notched 3 sacks a year ago, including a gorgeous strip-sack of J.T. O’Sullivan in Week 17 (Rhodes failed to find even one in the regular season). On that condition, most of these players pass, though not without flaws. Leonhard is a bit rough when brought back to play man on tight ends, but he can be vicious once locked upon a target. Pool’s got the tools to cover the field, but he’s not an immensely physical guy. He’ll factor more into pass protection, where he could eventually share time with Donovan Warren, the much (relatively) hyped UDFA from Michigan whom nearly everyone expects will make the active roster, and may well become a starter in 2011. Warren, once thought to be a potential first round pick before some poor offseason performances sunk him, played CB in college, and has the skills in man coverage to become a lesser version of Darrelle Revis, lining up on either side of the field and getting his hands up precisely where they need be to score deflections. Eric Smith, who at this time a year ago was thought of by Rex Ryan as nothing more than trade bait, has proven himself to be a respectable backup at free safety, although it is doubtful that he will ever make the step up to NFL starter. The official Jets website touts Smith’s veteran leadership and communication skills, but it’s really his speed that aids him. He’ll be a far bigger contributor on special teams, I would think. Rex, for his part, seems to have changed his mind about Smith, and now compares him favorably to Ed Reed. I don’t know about that, but when it comes to the Ravens, I am looking forward to seeing him reconnect with his old buddy Anquan Boldin.

Bart Scott does not have a filter. I think we all understand this. The man whose name is usually proceeded in news-writing by adjectives like “loquacious” has been trash talking since he came off the bench for the Ravens in 2005, even in instances when it’s clear to everyone around him that he would be better served by just shutting up. During last season’s miserable nadir, when the team had won only a single game in a month and a half, and it looked as though a team that had started 3-0 was going to conclude the year with seven or fewer wins, there was Bart, still talking up our merits while everyone chuckled. ‘We’re the best defense in the league! We’re the best defense in the league!’ That’s all I heard on the radio while driving to school, and it didn’t take long for me to switch the damn thing right off. Maybe we were the best defense at the league, but such a statement – really, any positive talk about our team on the ropes – felt so out of sync with reality that it was impossible to swallow. They were misguided platitudes; the sort of foolish and undeserved talk spurred on by a blowhard coach who could do everything short of walking the walk.

Things have changed since then, and now that the Jets have everyone’s attention, Bart has only intensified his talk. No longer is he merely promising that we will have the best D in the league – oh no, that one’s a given. What he now insists is that the 2010 New York Jets will rank among the greatest defenses of all time.

Wow, has it really been a week since the last time I posted? That is, that is just awful. I’m real sorry about that, but on top of a ton of school work (this coming week is final exams) I had a slight family crisis to attend to, but things are much better now. It’s situations like these that make me wish I had multiple writers to back me up, but Max Strauss decided instead to launch his own site, which is absolutely fine, and I give him 100% of my support, and Ari, well, Ari sucks. Then again, I like the total control that comes with being the site’s lone maintainer, I just need to make sure that I continue, well, maintaining it. I know a lot has happened since the end of the Draft eight days ago, so I’ll just quickly move through them all, a la bullet point so that we can all get back up to speed and on the same page.