{"id":28465,"date":"2015-05-04T12:38:39","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jetnation.com\/?p=28465"},"modified":"2015-05-04T12:38:39","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:38:39","slug":"te-wes-saxton-tops-list-of-jets-undrafted-free-agents-new-york-jets-undrafted-free-agents-udfa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/2015\/05\/04\/te-wes-saxton-tops-list-of-jets-undrafted-free-agents-new-york-jets-undrafted-free-agents-udfa\/","title":{"rendered":"TE Wes Saxton Tops List of Jets Undrafted Free Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Glenn Naughton<\/p>\n

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Just because the NFL draft comes to close, that doesn’t mean it’s time for teams to stop using their scouting reports to add promising young players.\u00a0 Since the draft’s conclusion, Mike Maccagnan and the Jets have reportedly added a dozen undrafted free agents to bring to camp.\u00a0 Here is a list of those players with notes\u00a0from various outlets.<\/p>\n

Wes Saxton, TE, South Alabama- <\/strong>Listed as the number two undrafted tight end by NFL.com, Saxton had a strong showing at the NFL combine.<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>The 6′ 3”\/248 lb Saxton clearly has considerable upside according to one AFC East scout according to CBSSports.com.<\/p>\n

“That South Alabama program has some players and the tight end is definitely one of them. He’s a mismatch nightmare and, yes, I think he needs to mature on the field in some areas, but I could easily make the argument he has the most upside of any senior at his position this year.” — AFC East scout<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Saxton is a long-shot to make the Jets roster with Jace Amaro and Jeff Cumberland, Zach Sudfeld and\u00a0Kellen Davis\u00a0around, but if the new staff doesn’t see a bounce back season from the talented but inconsistent Cumberland, or some\u00a0production from Sudfeld,\u00a0it may not be out of the question.\u00a0 He was also named as one of seven UDFA’s who could contribute by NFL.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deion Barnes, DE, Penn State- <\/strong>Somewhat of an enigma, the 6′ 4”, 255 lb Barnes had a very productive freshman season at Penn State racking up 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, but that production fell off significantly in year two as he managed only 4 TFL and 2 sacks.\u00a0 The Philadelphia native did improve in his final college season (12.5 TFL\/6 sacks) but he never became the player many envisioned after his fast start.\u00a0 He reportedly has good quickness and is tough to block when his technique is sound.\u00a0 Projected by some as a 3-4 OLB at the pro level, Barnes says teams approached<\/a> him about playing both defensive end in a 4-3 as well as 3-4 OLB at his pro day.<\/p>\n

Taiwan Jones, LB, Michigan State- <\/strong>Jones is viewed as a big hitter in the middle of the field at 6′ 3”, 245 pounds.\u00a0 While he played his senior year at middle linebacker and has been downgraded in pass coverage, there’s one thing worth noting in regards to his college performance.\u00a0\u00a0Prior being moved inside where he played at 259 pounds, Jones spent\u00a0his first three seasons at Michigan State playing outside linebacker and was often asked to drop in to coverage.\u00a0 For that reason, Jones views\u00a0 himself as an every down ‘backer<\/strong><\/a> at his combine weight of 245.\u00a0 With excellent durability, Jones played in every game of his four-year career according to NFL.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Julian Howsare, OLB, Clarion- <\/strong>A small-school prospect, Howsare showed great versatility at Clarion where he played defensive end, outside linebacker and a little bit of inside linebacker.\u00a0 Howsare could also be a special teams ace as he was credited with ten blocked kicks at Clarion.\u00a0 The 6′ 5”, 255 lb\u00a0linebacker has good burst and an excellent spin move when rushing the passer.\u00a0 Given his versatility, NFL scouts who attended Howsare’s pro-day had him go through drills not only on defense, but at the fullback position as well.<\/p>\n

\"Eskridge\"<\/a>Durell Eskridge, S, Syracuse- <\/strong>It seems Eskridge’s decision to declare for the draft this season wasn’t viewed as a great decision by some talent evaluators.\u00a0 One AFC scout had this to say about the safety according to NFL.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0“No question he should have stayed another year. He thinks he’s ready but he needs to define the type of player he is. Right now, he’s just a guy to me. I don’t know how to define him yet.” — AFC scout<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eskridge logged 182 tackles and 5 interceptions in three seasons, but most scouting reports appear to concur with the analysis above in suggesting\u00a0he would have benefitted from another season in college.\u00a0 He has good physical attributes at 6′ 3”, 208 lbs with good range and was athletic enough to warrant a look as a wide receiver for Syracuse (1 rec, 19 yds) so despite coming out early, he appears to be a player who could be a contributor if brought along by the right coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Jordan Williams, DE, Tennessee- <\/strong>Underwhelming college productivity logging just 66 tackles and 6.5 sacks in four seasons but size, versatility and toughness make him worth a look.\u00a0 Played OLB\/DE “JACK”\u00a0at Tennessee as well as DT as a senior.\u00a0\u00a0The 6′ 4”, 287 lb Florida native was fitted with a cast so that he would be able to play despite a broken wrist as a senior.\u00a0 Another player brought in by the Jets with extensive experience at multiple positions.<\/p>\n

Jake Heaps, QB, Everywhere- <\/strong>Heaps is a bit of a head-scratcher.\u00a0 Even having drafted Bryce Petty, the Jets were sure to take a look at an undrafted free agent at the quarterback position but Heaps saw little playing time at Brigham Young, Kansas and Miami.\u00a0 After throwing fifteen touchdowns and 9 interceptions as a freshman at BYU, Heaps would go on to throw 17 TD’s and 18 INT’s over the course of three seasons split between the three schools.\u00a0 During his lone season at Miami, Heaps completed 6 passes on 12 attempts with no touchdowns or interceptions.\u00a0 Unlikely to be more than a camp arm.<\/p>\n

Antonio Johnson, OT, North Texas- <\/strong>If the Jets were going to add a linemen from a small school, what better choice than the North Texas Mean Green?\u00a0 Listed at 6′ 5”, 302 lbs, Johnson appeared in 35 of 37 games (34 starts) at North Texas where the Mean Green allowed just 17 sacks over the past two seasons.\u00a0 Johnson will be competing for a spot on an offensive line that’s overcrowded in terms of numbers, but should he impress the Jets, there are several back-up offensive tackles who may not be lock to make the final 53.<\/p>\n

Davon Walls, DT, Syracuse\/Lincoln University- <\/strong>Possibly the most intriguing prospect brought in by Gang Green, Walls is as raw as raw can be.\u00a0 He bounced \"Walls\"<\/a>around between five different universities, often at no fault of his own, before landing at Syracuse.\u00a0 After playing just three games as a junior, he was kicked off the team following a conviction for felony burglary that was later reduced to misdemeanor trespassing after completing his probation.\u00a0 A 310 pound defensive tackle who went from Syracuse to Lincoln University where he dominated, Walls reportedly runs a 4.8 40 and played only a handful of games as a freshman in High School before giving\u00a0football another shot in college.\u00a0 He’ll have a tough time sticking with such a stacked Jets defensive line, but if this story<\/strong><\/a> is accurate, he may be a good long-term project.<\/p>\n

Greg Henderson, CB, Colorado- <\/strong>As with the additions on the defensive line, Henderson won’t have an easy time sticking given the amount of depth the Jets have at the cornerback position.\u00a0 Listed at 5′ 11”, 181, Henderson is said to have improved<\/a><\/strong> his game each season at Colorado and logged 10 pass break ups a season ago.\u00a0 His 4.53 40 time may have played a part in his going undrafted.\u00a0 Best case scenario for Henderson is likely a spot on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Bill Belton, RB, Penn State- <\/strong>Productive runner at Penn State when his number was called.\u00a0 At 5′ 10”, 204, Belton carried the ball 355 times for\u00a01,657 yards and\u00a014 touchdowns.\u00a0 He did most of his damage during\u00a0 his last two seasons at Penn State after garnering just 73 carries in\u00a0 his first two seasons.\u00a0 A good change-of-direction runner according to CBSsports.com<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Posted a career-high 201 yards vs. Illinois in 2013 match-up.\u00a0 With the addition of Rams RB Zac Stacy, Belton will have his work cut out.<\/p>\n

David Helton, LB, Duke- <\/strong>Productive, high character player who led the ACC in tackles in 2013 & 2014.\u00a0 Recipient of National Football Foundation (NFF) William V. Campbell Trophy<\/strong><\/a>, awarded to the nations top collegiate football student-athlete in the nation.\u00a0 Had career-high 19 tackles in upset victory over no. 16 Virginia Tech in 2013.\u00a0 The Jets have several veterans competing for back up spots at the inside linebacker position but\u00a0Helton could push for a roster spot with no reserves etched in stone.<\/p>\n

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By Glenn Naughton     Just because the NFL draft comes to close, that doesn’t mean it’s time for teams to stop using their scouting reports to add promising young players.\u00a0 Since the draft’s conclusion, Mike Maccagnan and the Jets have reportedly added a dozen undrafted free agents to bring to camp.\u00a0 Here is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":28469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,1337],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"category-featured-editorials","9":"category-home-slider"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/saxton.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-7p7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28465"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28471,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28465\/revisions\/28471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}