While it was the top of the Jets cornerback depth chart that drew most of the attention this off-season with the addition of free agent Trumaine Johnson and re-signing Morris Claiborne, it’s the bottom of the depth chart that’s been turning heads for much of the pre-season.\u00a0 If some of this preseason’s top performers can carry their play through to the regular season, the Jets may be far better off in the secondary than previously expected.<\/p>\n
You can’t talk about this team’s training camp and preseason performances without having former sixth-round draft choice Derrick Jones as a prominent piece of the conversation.\u00a0 From the early days of camp when Jones opened plenty of eyes when he was asked to cover Robby Anderson on a go route.\u00a0 Anderson, who has embarrassed plenty of top corners in the NFL wasn’t able to get any separation from Jones as the pair sprinted down the left sideline stride for stride on what was an incomplete pass.<\/p>\n
Once the pads came on, we saw Jones come away with multiple interceptions, and several near-picks that were a matter of judgement calls from the refs, or momentum carrying Jones out of bounds before getting his feet down.\u00a0 The bottom line however, was that Jones was consistently disrupting the Jets offensive flow.\u00a0 Jones eventually cooled off, but then showed off more of his ball skills in the preseason finale when he broke up a deep ball down the middle of the field and intercepted a pass late in the game.<\/p>\n
One could make a case for Jones being the most physically gifted athlete on the roster, and if he’s not at the top of the list, it might be because Rashard Robinson takes the spot.<\/p>\n
Robinson started out camp rather quietly, but made strides as the weeks went on.\u00a0 While he gave up a few key catches against the Redskins, his body of work was rather impressive.\u00a0 Robinson earned the praise of head coach Todd Bowles when the preseason schedule wrapped up, commending him for his play on the field and his attitude off of it.<\/p>\n