The Jets have brought in some new blood (Dustin Keller, Bubba Franks) to compete with Chris Baker to light a fire under him.  Baker has never lived up to his potential for the Jets.  He played in 15 games (all starts) for the Jets last season and he caught 41 passes for 409 yards (10.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  It will be hard for Baker to put up better numbers than he did last season as there will be more competition for playing time at tight end.  Baker has now played in 83 games (38 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 124 passes for 1,311 yards (10.6 avg) with 12 TD grabs.

6’2″, 248 pound Dustin Keller was a first round pick this past April for the Jets and he will compete for the starting job in training camp.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for Purdue last season and he caught 68 passes for 881 yards (13.0 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Keller has soft hands and enough speed to make teams pay if he’s left in single coverage with either a safety or a linebacker.  Keller played in 46 games (26 starts) in his career at Purdue and he caught 142 passes for 1,882 yards (13.3 avg) with 16 TD grabs. 

30-year old veteran Bubba Franks had the worst season of his NFL career for the Packers last season.  He played in only 8 games (1 start) for the Packers last season and he caught 18 passes for 132 yards (7.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Look for Franks to possibly be a go to guy near the end zone as he was with Brett Favre in Green Bay.  Franks has now played in 114 games (94 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 256 passes for 2,300 yards (9.0 avg) with 32 TD grabs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B