31-year old RB LaDainian Tomlinson looks like he wants to be more than just Shonn Greene’s caddy this year for the Jets.  He has carried the ball 22 times for 129 yards (5.9 ypc) and he has caught 4 passes for 25 yards (6.3 avg) so far this pre-season.  I still think that Greene will get the bulk of the workload on 1st and 2nd down for the Jets this year, don’t be surprised if L.T. gets more P.T. than anyone thought he would in 2010.

Call me crazy but I don’t think the Jets are trying to show anything during the pre-season as the gameplans seem very vanilla to me.  They looked that way again last night against the Redskins.  Mark Sanchez looked a little better than he has in the other games as he completed 13 of 21 passes for 139 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Mark Brunell didn’t do much as he finished the game by completing 1 of 3 passes for 7 yards.  LaDainian Tomlinson led the way on the ground for the Jets in this game with 86 yards rushing on 11 carries (7.8 ypc).  Shonn Greene pitched in with 56 yards rushing on 12 carries (4.7 ypc) last night.  Dustin Keller led the way in the passing game last night for the Jets with 5 grabs for 46 yards (9.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Jets finished up with 161 yards rushing on 32 carries (5.0 ypc).  They also threw for 127 yards last night.

OLB Calvin Pace led the way for the Jets’ D in this game with 5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  The Redskins finished up with 82 yards rushing (2.8 ypc) and 210 yards passing in this game.  The Jets are now 1-2 on the pre-season.

The Jets have placed 25-year old DT Ropati Pitoitua on the Injured Reserve List due to a Achilles Tendon Injury.  Pitoitua played in the first two pre-season games for the Jets making 4 tackles.  He played in 8 games as a rookie for the Jets last season and he made 3 tackles.  This injury will hurt the depth of the Jets’ front line as they were going to play Pitoitua a little more in 2010.

This was a awful game but at least the Jets played well on D.  Mark Sanchez started at QB and he completed 5 of 12 passes for only 10 yards.  Mark Brunell was even worse completing 3 of 7 passes for 2 whole yards.  Kellen Clemens was the best QB for the Jets on this day as he completed 4 of 6 passes for 32 yards.  Kevin O’Connell finished up things by throwing three incomplete passes.  Rookie RB Joe McKnight led the way on the ground for the Jets in this game with 28 yards rushing on 11 carries (2.5 ypc).  LaDainian Tomlinson ran the ball well as he carried the ball 3 times for 26 yards (8.7 ypc).  Laveranues Coles led the way in the passing game with 3 grabs for 12 yards.  The Jets finished up with 96 yards rushing (2.8 ypc) and only 16 yards passing against the Panthers.

OLB/DE Vernon Gholston led the way for the Jets in this game with 5 tackles including 2 tackles for a loss.  CB Antonio Cromartie also had a solid game with 4 tackles.  The Panthers finished up with only 82 yards rushing (3.9 ypc) and 93 passing yards in this game.

The Jets should have dominated this game as they had more yards 362-353 than the Giants and they had possession of the ball for 36:48.  Mark Sanchez looked pretty sharp in this game as he completed 13 of 17 passes for 119 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Mark Brunell only completed 1 of 3 passes for 14 yards in a very brief appearance.  Kellen Clemens looked allright completing 7 of 10 passes for 84 yards last night.  Kevin O’Connell finished up the game at QB for the Jets last night and he was not good as he completed 8 of 13 passes for 70 yards with 2 INTs.  Rookie RB Joe McKnight led the way on the ground for the Jets last night with 32 yards on 13 carries (2.5 ypc).  Shonn Greene (5 car, 26 yards) and LaDainian Tomlinson (8 car, 17 yards) each got their work in last night for the Jets.  WRs Santonio Holmes (4 rec, 55 yards), Danny Woodhead (5 rec, 41 yards) and Brad Smith (3 rec, 14 yards, TD) all helped out the Jets in the passing game last night.  The Jets finished up with 83 yards rushing (3.0 ypc) and 279 yards passing in the game last night. 

Linebacker Kenwin Cummings led a sub par effort from the Jets’ D last night with 7 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  The Giants finished up with 63 yards rushing (3.0 ypc) and 290 yards passing last night.

26-year old WR Brad Smith will likely be the full-time kickoff returner for the Jets in 2010.  Smith played in 13 games for the Jets last season and he returned 10 kickoffs for 310 yards (31.0 avg) with 1 TD return (a 106-yarder!).  He has now played in 60 games in his career with the Jets and he has returned 24 kickoffs for 536 yards (22.3 avg) with 1 TD return.  I expect that Smith will do a solid job of getting the offense good starting position in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE JETS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  B

The Jets boast one of the most physical offensive lines in the NFL as they can almost run the ball at will.  LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson improved his run blocking last season to go with his already solid pass blocking as he made the Pro Bowl last season.  Rookie 2nd round pick Vladimir Ducasse out of  U.Mass is likely going to start at LG for the Jets this year.  He will likely be a solid run blocker from day #1 but he has always had problems with speed rushers so he will have that to work on.  Center Nick Mangold is quite possibly the best run blocking center in the league.  He gets off the ball really fast and he picks off moving targets on the second level of the D very well.  RG Brandon Moore is a beast as a run blocker but he still needs to improve his pass blocking.  RT Damien Woody is getting up there in years but he still doesn’t get beat very often.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE JETS O-LINE in 2010:  A

47-year old head coach Rex Ryan is just like his daddy (Buddy) was.  He is a straight shooter who doesn’t take any crap from anyone.  I remember last season right before the playoffs started, Ryan proclaimed that his team should be the favorite in every game the rest of the season.  Then they beat the Bengals and Chargers on the road before falling just a little short in the AFC Championship to the Colts.  The Jets were 9-7 (56.3%) during the regular season last year and they were 2-1 in the playoffs in their first season under Rex Ryan.  They have made a lot of nice improvements to the roster so look out for the Jets in 2010.

The Jets are banking on 25-year old kicker Nick Folk putting last year behind him.  He played in 14 games for the Cowboys last season and he only made 18 of 28 field goals (64.3%).  Folk also nailed 36 of 36 extra point attempts last season as he finished up with 90 points for the Cowboys.  Folk has now played in 46 games in his NFL career as he has connected on 64 of 81 field goals (79%).  He also also made all 131 of his extra points.  Folk now has 323 points in his NFL career.  The Jets better hope he returns to the player he was in his first two years or they might be leaving a lot of points on the field.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE JETS KICKERS IN 2010:  C