Speaker 1: Hey, this is Ryan Fitzpatrick and you are listening to
Speaker 1: the e A Podcast with Eric Allen. Take it away. Hey,
Speaker 1: what's up the e A in studio right now? It's
Speaker 1: the bye week. Hope you're enjoying a RESTful weekend with
Speaker 1: friends and family. I'm getting away myself. But before I
Speaker 1: left Flora Park, I got a chance to speak with
Speaker 1: Jets GM Mike mccagnant talk about the state of the
Speaker 1: Green and White with six games remaining in the two
Speaker 1: thousand sixteen schedule. We covered a lot of topics. You
Speaker 1: can watch the interview on Jets Flight Plan, which airs
Speaker 1: eleven thirty CBS New York or New York Jets dot
Speaker 1: Com as well. But I gotta treat for you here
Speaker 1: on the e A Podcast because we're gonna give you
Speaker 1: our conversation and full right now. Well, your team has
Speaker 1: entered the bye week. Can we get your general overall
Speaker 1: thoughts where the squad is at this point in the season. Well,
Speaker 1: I think first and foremost, Um, you know, we're obviously
Speaker 1: just go with a record three and you know three
Speaker 1: and seven. Um, there are some things that we feel
Speaker 1: good about, you know, some of a lot of younger,
Speaker 1: a lot of our younger players are getting a opportunity
Speaker 1: play and contribute. Um, you know, we do feel good
Speaker 1: about that going forward. We obviously are disappointed in the
Speaker 1: record as I mentioned, Um, and I think you know
Speaker 1: when you when you look at it. Overall, Um, we
Speaker 1: feel we are making progress, you know, towards where we
Speaker 1: eventually want to be. But of course the wins and
Speaker 1: losses at this point time are very disappointed to us.
Speaker 1: Speaking about making progress, you've mentioned what you've done from
Speaker 1: a youth standpoint, and the roster you constantly obviously evaluate
Speaker 1: that you have a lot of young players on this team.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the wide receiver position. You're getting contributions
Speaker 1: from Robby Anderson, an undrafted free agent from Temple, jay
Speaker 1: Len Marshall, an undrafted free agent from Ohio State, and
Speaker 1: then a seventh round pick in toront Peak from Clemson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but all three of those guys have done a very
Speaker 1: good job for us. And I think you know, going
Speaker 1: in going into the draft process, um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: very nice when you can actually hit on a late
Speaker 1: around draft pick that actually has a potentially be a
Speaker 1: good player for you. But then in addition to that,
Speaker 1: find the two college free agents. We have both done
Speaker 1: a very good job and we think all three of
Speaker 1: them have a lot of upside and potential. And and
Speaker 1: then obviously Robby in particular has some real big playability
Speaker 1: and potential. And then the other part of it is
Speaker 1: people does get lost a little bit. Is is you
Speaker 1: know Devin Smith from a year ago was injured but again,
Speaker 1: you know, we got a chance to seem a little
Speaker 1: bit last year before he got hurt. But of course
Speaker 1: he's back now healthy, so that it's another young player
Speaker 1: to kind of throw in the mix too. He's almost
Speaker 1: because of injury last year's almost sort of red shirt
Speaker 1: that first year. But it's a we feel good about
Speaker 1: our receiver crew over all, and that doesn't take anything
Speaker 1: away from you know, Brandon Marshall and obviously Quincy and
Speaker 1: Quincy is another player has done very well for US
Speaker 1: year this year, This year too, you mentioned Quincy an
Speaker 1: emerging receiver in his second year as far as a
Speaker 1: crude seasons in the National Football League, Did you think
Speaker 1: he was ready for that next step? Have you been
Speaker 1: pleasantly surprised by his development? Yeah, I think the one
Speaker 1: thing you find and in last year we felt good
Speaker 1: about him and we thought he is a good young player,
Speaker 1: but this year is again he sort of elevated his game.
Speaker 1: And that's the and I think long term that's kind
Speaker 1: of where you know, our focus really is, is like
Speaker 1: to build through the draft and built through the younger players,
Speaker 1: and of course when those players do make sometimes dramatic
Speaker 1: you know, improvement from year one to two, but year
Speaker 1: two to three and then three to four. But Quincy's
Speaker 1: done a very nice job for us. And again he's
Speaker 1: a player we saw the potential on him, uh and
Speaker 1: then this year in particular, he's really sort of blossom
Speaker 1: and taking it to another level. I think offensive line
Speaker 1: coach Steve Marshall has done an amazing job here. In
Speaker 1: two thousand and sixteen, reshuffled that line up numerous times
Speaker 1: because of injury. Wesley Johnson started the last three games
Speaker 1: for you guys at center at right tackle. Brendo Jackomani
Speaker 1: started the year on the pup list, so Bena Jelana
Speaker 1: and Brent Quality alternated a right tackle. After Ryan Claytey
Speaker 1: went down, I Jelanna really became a swing tackle because
Speaker 1: he went back to the left side. And now you
Speaker 1: got Bruno back and your young guards. I think when
Speaker 1: you look at this Jets team and a and a foundation,
Speaker 1: how about those guys like Winners and of course James
Speaker 1: Carpenter and do you like what you've seen up front? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's interesting I think going into the season,
Speaker 1: and we liked a lot of those guys beforehand, um,
Speaker 1: but we really didn't. They were sort of unproven. I mean,
Speaker 1: they performed in preseason. A lot of those guys been
Speaker 1: on the regular season, some of the younger guys you mentioned, Um,
Speaker 1: But that's some one of the things too. When when
Speaker 1: the season unfolded and um, you know, and again Ryan
Speaker 1: did a nice job for us early before he got hurt,
Speaker 1: but um, and then Brenda being out for the start
Speaker 1: of the season, it was a bit of an unknown
Speaker 1: how we were going to perform in that area. But
Speaker 1: the one nice thing that came out of it was
Speaker 1: all those young guys you've mentioned, you know, a particular
Speaker 1: quality and Ben Um, both those guys have done a
Speaker 1: nice job for us and and again now they're you know,
Speaker 1: performing at a level we feel good about going forward.
Speaker 1: So whereas at one point I was a bit of
Speaker 1: a concern for us, now it's actually turned into sort
Speaker 1: of you know, an area where we actually feel pretty
Speaker 1: good about. How about winners specifically, he seems like he's
Speaker 1: taking his game to the next level. Became a full
Speaker 1: time start or last year after Willie Cologne went out.
Speaker 1: I remember his first start in London, matching up matching
Speaker 1: up with the donmid Consue of course did a fine
Speaker 1: job there. But he seems to be really in a
Speaker 1: comfort zone right now. Yeah, And I think with Brian
Speaker 1: in particularly, like he's he's you know, you look at
Speaker 1: his career and he's missed a little time with injuries early. Um,
Speaker 1: but he's blossom very nicely in the fact that it's
Speaker 1: a testament knowlity to Brian. But again the coaching from
Speaker 1: both Steven actually David Diez and Fonte. Both those guys
Speaker 1: do a very good job with the offensive line. But
Speaker 1: Brian's one of those guys we were excited about going forward. Um. Again,
Speaker 1: he's in that certain point of his career where he's
Speaker 1: starting to you know, sort of starting to reach his
Speaker 1: potential and fulfill some of his potential. So we're excited
Speaker 1: about him going forward and um, obviously gonna be a
Speaker 1: free agent at the end of the season, but we
Speaker 1: try hopefully try to keep him and get him back
Speaker 1: and keep him the mix. How about the production of
Speaker 1: Matt Forte. A lot of people said a thirty year
Speaker 1: old running back, and you and Todd Bull said, we
Speaker 1: don't see a thirty year old running back. We see
Speaker 1: a good running back. And he's a guy who's getting
Speaker 1: better by the game and run game has really come
Speaker 1: on the last four games. I think your averaging are
Speaker 1: more than a hundred fifty yards on the ground over
Speaker 1: that time span. And four is a big reason why. Yes,
Speaker 1: and and Matt was a player. I mean we obviously, um,
Speaker 1: when Chris was cass Ivy was a free agent, we
Speaker 1: you know, we wanted to resign Chris, but of course
Speaker 1: that we knew that market was going to be you know,
Speaker 1: was gonna obviously price him out at a certain level. Um,
Speaker 1: So when we lost out on Chris, obviously Matt was
Speaker 1: kind of our next target. Now that doesn't take away
Speaker 1: anything from belal Pal who has actually done a very
Speaker 1: good job for us. Also and then I guess and
Speaker 1: then early late in training camp we had actually Kyrie
Speaker 1: Robinson also but he injured he got injured in training camp. Um,
Speaker 1: but both but Matt's done a great job. And I
Speaker 1: think Matt's you know, proven that, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: really more of a testament not just his ability, but
Speaker 1: how he approaches the game as work ethic. Um. But
Speaker 1: he's done a very nice job for us. And then
Speaker 1: really with him and Bilal and Blow again when we
Speaker 1: utilized him, is a very good running back in his
Speaker 1: own right. So it's a nice one to punch to
Speaker 1: have with both of those guys, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of excited about both those guys going forward. How
Speaker 1: about your first to overall pick as GM and the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. Leonard Williams. He had a good rookie
Speaker 1: campaign and now he's made that sophomore leap if you
Speaker 1: look at the team stats. And I know football is
Speaker 1: more than just stats, but one thing he talked about
Speaker 1: all off season was I got to get to the
Speaker 1: quarterback more. And he certainly has despite playing in the
Speaker 1: interior where you see a lot of traffic, as you know,
Speaker 1: and he's up there and tackles, tackles for loss and
Speaker 1: quarterback hits as well. You know, it's interesting with Leonard
Speaker 1: and Leonard was a very young player. I don't think
Speaker 1: he actually turned twenty one until like June of last year. UM,
Speaker 1: so we knew he had he had obviously been very young.
Speaker 1: He still has a lot of you know, potential and
Speaker 1: ability to develop. Um, but he's really blossomed into a
Speaker 1: very good young player. UM. I think last year we
Speaker 1: always felt very good about Leonard and we thought, you know,
Speaker 1: he was a very active player, very you know, a
Speaker 1: very dominant player at times. Um, he was close. I
Speaker 1: think he actually was one of the higher rated guys
Speaker 1: in terms of number hits on the quarterback a year ago.
Speaker 1: Now this year, obviously he sort of converted those into sacks. Um.
Speaker 1: And I think that this year, at this point in
Speaker 1: time last year may have only had about a half
Speaker 1: sack on the season after nine or ten games. This
Speaker 1: year's at six and and and really developed into a
Speaker 1: very good, dominant, complete player. How about your first round
Speaker 1: pick there? And Lee made a lot of contributions early,
Speaker 1: he got a little bit banged up, but now I
Speaker 1: was returned to the lineup. What have you seen from
Speaker 1: him so far so early in his career. Well, Darren's
Speaker 1: another again, another young player. When we drafted him, I
Speaker 1: think he just literally was just turned twenty one or
Speaker 1: just a little over that um, but again, he's a
Speaker 1: very athletic linebacker. UM. I think at one point time
Speaker 1: before he was injured, he was actually leading our team
Speaker 1: in tackles. So he's done a very good job for
Speaker 1: us and and we're excited about him going forward. But
Speaker 1: he brings definitely an athletic speed element to the game.
Speaker 1: And it was kind of when we lost him to
Speaker 1: the the ankle injury. That was obviously unfortunate, but he
Speaker 1: should be ready to going back and playing a full
Speaker 1: time basis now going forward. But again, another young player
Speaker 1: who you know, we like a lot as a player
Speaker 1: in terms of a billion potential and the player can
Speaker 1: potentially e helop into but also from a character and
Speaker 1: intangible standpoint, a very good kind of kid to go
Speaker 1: build around. Going forward. When you resume action, you'll be
Speaker 1: hosting the New England Patriots. You had a waiver claim
Speaker 1: from the Patriots and Darryl Roberts. Now here's a guy
Speaker 1: who impressed the coaching staff at practice and now is
Speaker 1: playing a critical role, especially over these last six games.
Speaker 1: Marcus Williams out with the ankle sprain, and when you
Speaker 1: guys go to sub, Darryl Roberts is playing outside for it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Daryl actually has done a very good job, and I
Speaker 1: think people tend to forget, like you focus so much
Speaker 1: on pro free agency in the offseason, you focus on
Speaker 1: the draft, But there's two other avenues of acquiring players
Speaker 1: that are are critical or you know to us. Um
Speaker 1: one is, you know the college free agents, which we've
Speaker 1: had some success with with you know, the two receivers
Speaker 1: and actually, um, you know, there's a defensive linement named
Speaker 1: Thomas also that did a nice job for us. But
Speaker 1: the other part of it is when you get into
Speaker 1: the season, you have the waiver wire or practice rosters
Speaker 1: from other teams that you can go sign players from.
Speaker 1: But you know, Roberts is a player that we liked
Speaker 1: in the preseason, um, you know, and he was a
Speaker 1: little injury to thinking one of the games at the
Speaker 1: end of it, but we liked him enough that we
Speaker 1: claimed him, and um, he's coming into a very good
Speaker 1: job for us. Not unlike uh to a degree, almost
Speaker 1: when Marcus Williams was brought into this organization a few
Speaker 1: years ago, he was a player that you know, we
Speaker 1: actually had in Houston that was you know, waved off
Speaker 1: our practice roster. The Jets sign him. He turned into
Speaker 1: a good player for the Jets here, But Roberts is
Speaker 1: of the same type of you know, those are where
Speaker 1: you start moving ahead the you know, you're trying to
Speaker 1: build your talent base. When you when you can add
Speaker 1: talent through those avenues, that actually gives you a chance
Speaker 1: to be successful down the road. At the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: you've got a chance to see Bryce Petty, a fourth
Speaker 1: round pick in your first draft, make us first start
Speaker 1: against Dale Rams and then obviously Christian Hackenburg continues to
Speaker 1: develop since we're not out of practice when these guys
Speaker 1: are taken rops, can you talk about Hackenburgh and how
Speaker 1: he's coming along? And also, was it fun for you
Speaker 1: just to take a step back and and see Bryce
Speaker 1: in action? Yeah, you know it's and and it's funny
Speaker 1: when you watch when I watched Bryce the other day
Speaker 1: and he and he did a pretty good job. And
Speaker 1: that's for his first start ever, And that's a pretty
Speaker 1: pretty aggressive front seven or defense. Those guys get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback pretty cularly. Steve been doing that this season
Speaker 1: and I think our offensive lined a nice job and
Speaker 1: Bryce did a nice job in that kind of environment. Um,
Speaker 1: but it's nice when you see when you think back
Speaker 1: to when you know, as a GM, you probably think
Speaker 1: back to the first few mini camps for the first
Speaker 1: preseason games from a year ago, and Bryce was a
Speaker 1: true rookie and then it's nice to see how much
Speaker 1: he's progressed from there and now he still has a
Speaker 1: lot more you know, he still has a lot more
Speaker 1: potential to develop. Um, But it was a it was
Speaker 1: a nice first start format. I think it's you know, again,
Speaker 1: when we break down the tape, there's always nuances and
Speaker 1: things from a coaching standpoint which he needs to do
Speaker 1: better on and can do better on. But he he
Speaker 1: did get off to a good start, which was nice.
Speaker 1: And then with Christian, um, you know, he's a player
Speaker 1: that we like quite a bit in terms of his
Speaker 1: A billion potential, but of course, um, you know, there's
Speaker 1: aspects of his playing needs improve upon, and we've been
Speaker 1: happy with the progress he's made and at some point
Speaker 1: in time we'll see if um, you know, how he
Speaker 1: does on the field. But but he's done some good
Speaker 1: things for us, you know, in the practice environment. I
Speaker 1: think you know, unfortunately because of injuries, um, you know,
Speaker 1: usually we had four quarterbacks. Then we you know, lost
Speaker 1: Price for a period of time and then obviously Gino unfortunately,
Speaker 1: but Christians getting more reps in practice, which is only
Speaker 1: good for his potential in his development. Six games left
Speaker 1: you as the GM, the football architect of the New
Speaker 1: York Jets, are you excited to continue to watch these
Speaker 1: guys as you tinker with the roster because that never ends,
Speaker 1: as you know, that's a daily thing that you guys.
Speaker 1: You have staff throughout the country, even up in Canada
Speaker 1: looking at guys. So the roster. I always laugh in
Speaker 1: the summer when people say it's a final roster. Roster's
Speaker 1: never find no, no, I think, I think what you um,
Speaker 1: what you realize. In this business, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: constant process trying to figure out ways to make the
Speaker 1: team better. And we do that ourselves. UM. As I
Speaker 1: mentioned before, you know, we're we are disappointed with the record. Um,
Speaker 1: but there are some good things in in the organization
Speaker 1: in terms of players and stuff like that that we
Speaker 1: feel good about going forward. We definitely are you know,
Speaker 1: have you know, focus on some of the young players
Speaker 1: that have come in more recently. But it's a constant
Speaker 1: process and you're you're constantly trying to figure out ways
Speaker 1: not only too you know, acquire players, add more talented
Speaker 1: players to roster, but also you know, look at ways
Speaker 1: we can improve overall, and um so that's kind of
Speaker 1: been our focus. And again it really from the from
Speaker 1: the end of July and this right before they started
Speaker 1: training camp until the end of the draft. It's it's
Speaker 1: a you know, kind of a nine month sprint. Thanks Mike,
Speaker 1: I've enjoyed it. Thank you. Ch