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Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets podcast, the

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Speaker 1: Draft Pick Profile Series, presented by Verizon Rolling On. Here

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Speaker 1: Ethan Greenberg e A breaking down the second third round

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Speaker 1: pick of the New York Jets. That's defensive lineman outside

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Speaker 1: linebacker Jabari Zuniga out of Florida. And you're gonna hear

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Speaker 1: from Joe Douglas and his staff on why they like Zenigo.

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Speaker 1: I they think he's a good fit for the Jets.

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Speaker 1: You're also gonna hear from Zeniga himself. I spoke with

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Speaker 1: him after he was selected on that very busy Day

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Speaker 1: two of the NFL Draft for the New York Jets.

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Speaker 1: And e A. This is a player where the Jets

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Speaker 1: selected him. They had their options if they wanted to

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Speaker 1: go with the receiver or they wanted to beef up

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Speaker 1: the interior of the offensive line. But they end up

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Speaker 1: going with the guy who can play defensive line or

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Speaker 1: maybe he can stand up and rush in Jabari Zeniga. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Green's first two picks, the Jets go McKay Backton in

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Speaker 1: the first round. They come back in the second round

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Speaker 1: well Back and Joe Douglas takes Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims.

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Speaker 1: Then of course, Ashton Davis got Day two underway for

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Speaker 1: the New York Jets, and then they came back with

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Speaker 1: another defensive player, Jabari Zeninga, a guy who had an

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Speaker 1: interesting college career at the University of Florida. He can

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Speaker 1: play all up and down that defensive line. Uh, good

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Speaker 1: first step, explosive player, and Green's he considers himself the

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Speaker 1: steel of the draft. I know a lot of fans

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Speaker 1: are probably looking at and saying, well, why don't you

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Speaker 1: take receiver there? Because interestingly enough, the next two picks

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Speaker 1: that fouled Zeninga were Lynn Bowden out of Kentucky and

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Speaker 1: Brian Edwards out at South Carolina. But Douglas I think

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Speaker 1: added another chess piece for Greg Williams. Ashton Davis. We

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Speaker 1: talked at length about his versatility, while you're getting another

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Speaker 1: guy who is an extremely versatile player at the University

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Speaker 1: of Florida, and he's got a lot of upside as well.

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Speaker 1: And before e A and I dive into Jabari Zeniga

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Speaker 1: and the player he is, his past of Florida, what

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Speaker 1: he can provide to the Jets. Let's hear from the

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Speaker 1: man himself. Let's hear from Joe Douglas and his staff

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Speaker 1: on why they like Jabari Zeniga. He can play the end,

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Speaker 1: he can reduce inside and nickel packages the lineup over guard.

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Speaker 1: You know his suddenness, his explosiveness off the ball. You

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Speaker 1: know his motor, his play temperament, how hard he plays

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Speaker 1: that jumps off the tape. The first thing is that

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Speaker 1: he showed was his versatility throughout his career, being able

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Speaker 1: to play all over the front or Florida's defensive line.

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Speaker 1: He's played anywhere from right to left. They'll kick him inside.

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Speaker 1: It's a sub pass rusher as well, and then at

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Speaker 1: times he would stand up in rush from different spots.

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Speaker 1: So you know, the thing is he shows versatility, but

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Speaker 1: what he does have his his explosiveness and twitch off

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Speaker 1: the ball and get off and talking about a guy

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Speaker 1: who's two pounds ran four six five. Although he missed

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Speaker 1: six games this season, his production rate and what he

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Speaker 1: did show when he was on the field is what

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Speaker 1: we saw on him and what we expect from him

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Speaker 1: transition for us to the Jets in terms of being

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Speaker 1: able to get after the quarterback. I really like ja

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Speaker 1: Bar He's a versa of a guy that can play

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Speaker 1: up and down the line of experiment he's uh, he's

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Speaker 1: hard charging. You know, he's a brood in there. He's

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Speaker 1: got really strong hands, he's got speed of power. You know,

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Speaker 1: he can reduce as an interior rusher. He's got snapped

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Speaker 1: through the heads. He can play leverage, you can two guys.

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Speaker 1: He's got good strength in his hands. He can hold

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Speaker 1: the point of attack versus run. You know, this guy

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Speaker 1: flashing at the at the end of place and and

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Speaker 1: and making plays on the ball. And you know, he

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Speaker 1: runs a four six forty, he's about six three, and

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Speaker 1: he's two hundred sixty pounds. He's just really an explosive

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Speaker 1: guy that that that uses his explosiveness, uh to make

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Speaker 1: plays all over the field. He struggled through a few

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Speaker 1: injuries you know, this year and missed a few games.

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Speaker 1: If you watch that Miami game, I feel like he

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Speaker 1: really took over that Miami game. And uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: he's he's another kid that that that played well at

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Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. He showed well the Senior Bowl as well.

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Speaker 1: We were fired up to get a guy like this,

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Speaker 1: you know, a guy that's got some real power to

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Speaker 1: him that that you can feel when watching him. You know,

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Speaker 1: he's a force at the point of attack, and he's

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Speaker 1: a good athlete. You know, he's got a high motor.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna fit in well with the guys we have

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Speaker 1: on the d line and at the outside back of position.

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Speaker 1: You know, he had just sort of an unfortunate beginning

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Speaker 1: to a season in terms of the high ankle spring

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Speaker 1: and sometimes those are tough to get over. And you know,

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Speaker 1: this is a very productive player when he was on

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Speaker 1: the field. He's another player I used the word versatile.

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Speaker 1: You know, he can play outside as a as a

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Speaker 1: rusher on the edge, but he's also quick and and

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Speaker 1: physical enough to to go inside along the defensive front.

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Speaker 1: So he can really almost line up anywhere across that

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Speaker 1: front line. Uh. And you know he brings the mentioned

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Speaker 1: of pass rush, whether it's off the corner or inside

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Speaker 1: in a sub situation on the interior that you know,

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Speaker 1: you just never have enough guys that can get after

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Speaker 1: the quarterback, and that that's an area that we wanted

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Speaker 1: to improve. We felt like the value was there. He

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Speaker 1: was rated high on our board pretty much through this

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Speaker 1: whole journey from December to February through this month's meetings,

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Speaker 1: and so he sort of maintained his water. If you

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Speaker 1: want to term it that way, and we thought he

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Speaker 1: would represented good value in the third round. The first

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Speaker 1: thing that sends out to me about Zeniga you here

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Speaker 1: all the Jets personnel staff talk about it too, is

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Speaker 1: he was effective even though he only played in six

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Speaker 1: games this season for Florida because he missed most of

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Speaker 1: the year with a high ankle sprain. And his stats

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Speaker 1: at the end of the season he only had fourteen tackles,

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Speaker 1: seven tackles for lost in three sacks. But Joe Douglas

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Speaker 1: mentioned in his media call after they drafted Zeniga that

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Speaker 1: he had a very high production rate despite missing the

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Speaker 1: majority of the season. You look at Zenega, he at

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Speaker 1: forty five tackles in six and a half sacks in

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Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. So Joe Douglas talked about his production rate. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's there. When he was on the field, he was

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Speaker 1: making plays, making things happen. And the other thing that

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Speaker 1: I think stood out to the Jets about this gator

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Speaker 1: was he played with his hair on fire greens. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think one thing about Jabari it seems like he's

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Speaker 1: a very reserved player off of the football field, and

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Speaker 1: then he puts on a helmet and then the switch

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Speaker 1: flips and he really goes after it. I mean, in

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Speaker 1: his career at Florida he red shirted in ten and

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Speaker 1: then played sen to en for the Gators eighteen and

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Speaker 1: a half sacks, thirty four and a half tackles for loss.

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Speaker 1: And I think what the Jets really like about out him,

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Speaker 1: and I feel like again we're beating a dead horses.

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Speaker 1: His versatility, the fact that he can play any position

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Speaker 1: along the defensive line, he can develop his pass rush

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Speaker 1: over time, and really, I think Phil Savage said it

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Speaker 1: best in that clip we heard earlier. So you can't

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Speaker 1: have enough of these guys, guys that are versatile and

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Speaker 1: guys that get after the quarterback. And I think that Zaniga,

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, is probably not the

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Speaker 1: pick Jets fans imagined, but it's a position which Jets

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Speaker 1: fans wanted Joe Douglas to address, and I think Zaniga

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Speaker 1: fits the bill. Frankly well. He can certainly disrupt the

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Speaker 1: opposition quarterback, but he is a penetrator green, so he's

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Speaker 1: gonna try to get up field in a hurry. And

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Speaker 1: he is a guy, frankly is still learning the game.

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Speaker 1: You played one year of high school football, so you

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Speaker 1: look at his production at the University of Florida playing

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Speaker 1: on Saturdays in the SEC. You mentioned the eighteen and

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Speaker 1: a half acts and forty two career games. What I

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Speaker 1: found fascinating throughout the pre draft process is we talked

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Speaker 1: about him as an edge. Well, he himself talks about

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Speaker 1: how he can play the nine technique, the three technique, Uh,

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Speaker 1: he can play the traditional and spot, and that he

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Speaker 1: can move inside to maybe in sub packages, and he's

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Speaker 1: playing closer to the center. So at this point in

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Speaker 1: his career, you probably consider him more of an interior

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Speaker 1: rusher greens. Yeah, I think that the guy that comes

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Speaker 1: to mind when I think of a guy like this

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Speaker 1: is almost kind of like Jordan Jenkins in a way

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Speaker 1: where he wasn't the most productive pass rusher at Georgia,

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Speaker 1: but he showed flashes and then he developed his pass

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Speaker 1: rush since coming into the league. And Jordan Jenkins has

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Speaker 1: done that and Jabari Zniga can do that from now

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Speaker 1: till his third or fourth year in the league. That

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Speaker 1: I think he's on the right path. And when you

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Speaker 1: look at his past, this is another basketball first athlete.

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Speaker 1: He didn't play football until he was in high school.

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Speaker 1: He was five ft eleven and two hundred ten pounds

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Speaker 1: during his junior season before hitting a growth spur. And

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Speaker 1: now he's six three, two sixty four And this is

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Speaker 1: a guy that was not heavily recruited. He's a three

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Speaker 1: star athlete and at the end of the day, I

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Speaker 1: think this is another guy that has worked up to

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Speaker 1: the position in which he was drafted. And that's something

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Speaker 1: we've said for Denzel Mims, It's something we said for

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Speaker 1: Ashton Davis, and I think it's definitely something that we

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Speaker 1: can say for Jabari Zaniga as well. Yeah, another thing

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Speaker 1: is he's six three, two hundred sixty four pounds. In Indianapolis,

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Speaker 1: he ran the forty yard dash I believe in four

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Speaker 1: point six four seconds. So I think that caught the

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Speaker 1: eye of a lot of onlookers. People filed the draft

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Speaker 1: and of course the scouts. You saw him playing fast

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Speaker 1: on film. Well, the forty yard dash confirmed that. In Indianapolis,

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Speaker 1: the Jets you're gonna see probably I would imagine George

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Speaker 1: Jenkins and a guy like Darrell Basham's standing up more.

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Speaker 1: And this guy has room to grow, not only just

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Speaker 1: picking up past rush techniques as his career evolves in

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Speaker 1: the National Football league, but I anticipate will probably put

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Speaker 1: on some weight as well. Greens. Yeah, I think that's

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Speaker 1: fair to say too. And we'll see what happens when

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Speaker 1: we finally get back to the facility and he can

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Speaker 1: touch the grass a little bit. But I think this

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Speaker 1: is an interesting pick, to say the least, because, similar

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Speaker 1: to Ashton Davis, not only with the versatility, the Jets

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day might have gotten a

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Speaker 1: discount on Jabari Zeniga. If he played a full season

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Speaker 1: and we're healthy for the entirety of the season, if

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Speaker 1: he had a little more senior tape, then maybe he's

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Speaker 1: around two, picking out around three pick You're right six games,

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Speaker 1: But in this case you're talking about Jabari Zanga and

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Speaker 1: uh not a major injury. So by all accounts, when

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Speaker 1: he gives back to one Jets Drive or when he

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Speaker 1: arrives at one Jets Drive, uh, I think he should

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Speaker 1: be ready to go. And this is a great place

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Speaker 1: for a young defensive alignment. If I'm a young defensive aligneman,

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Speaker 1: this is a place I want to go to. Andre Carter,

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Speaker 1: great pass rusher in his heyday, had not that Jets

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Speaker 1: defensive line, and Greg Williams a defensive mastermind, and we

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Speaker 1: saw what the Jets did last year and that defensive

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Speaker 1: line is a very deep and it's got a lot

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Speaker 1: of big dogs who get after it. And what better

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Speaker 1: guy for a young kid to hang around or following

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Speaker 1: around the facility than Steve McClendon. Yeah, I don't think

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Speaker 1: there is a better person for a young defensive player

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Speaker 1: to follow the Steve McClendon. He's kind of the defensive

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Speaker 1: father of the bunch really. And before we break down,

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Speaker 1: just how Zuniga fits into this Jet scheme and what

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Speaker 1: this roster looks like with him on, and let's hear

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Speaker 1: um Jabari's Aniga himself. Jabari, congratulations. What was it like

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Speaker 1: getting the phone call from Joe Douglas. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: very exciting. You know, I was with the family, so

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Speaker 1: so everybody was wining with emotionally. Know my mom, My

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Speaker 1: mom was was almost crying, so so, you know, it

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Speaker 1: was it was just very exciting and an emotional moment.

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Speaker 1: What was your pre draft interactions like with the Jets

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Speaker 1: and did you have a sense that they liked you

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Speaker 1: throughout the process. Um, y'all talked to the Jets about

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Speaker 1: to about five times, and I talked somebody at the

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Speaker 1: Single Bowl, I talked to somebody Combine and then I

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Speaker 1: talked to him. They zoom called me about three times

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Speaker 1: um after the Comboy, So so I kind of had

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Speaker 1: an idea that that they were interested. But you know, uh,

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Speaker 1: I'm just excippy to be a excitited to be a

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Speaker 1: part of the organization. So you clearly, to your point,

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Speaker 1: had a lot of interaction with the Jets. What do

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Speaker 1: you think that you can add to this defense? I

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Speaker 1: heard you talking about your verse of autility, but what

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Speaker 1: can you specifically bring to this Jets front? Um? Probably senatity.

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Speaker 1: You know, I feel like you know, I'm I'm um,

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Speaker 1: I'm a very uh progressive player. So I just feel like,

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Speaker 1: you know, I can bring a pass or to the

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Speaker 1: to the UH to the defense. And I feel like

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Speaker 1: it's just just being overall seenations players, being overall senagor

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Speaker 1: football player. And I heard you talking to the media

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Speaker 1: before this, you said you feel like the Jets got

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Speaker 1: the steel of the draft because of course you were

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Speaker 1: hampered with that ankle injury. So at full health, what

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Speaker 1: do you bring to a defense? UM, I definitely feel like,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'll bring a lot you know, Uh, like

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Speaker 1: you said, you know, I was kind of hampered by

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Speaker 1: my by my ankle injury. But I feel like, like

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Speaker 1: like a healthy, healthy me is is is is a

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Speaker 1: very good football player. And and and that's that's definitely

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Speaker 1: what the Jets to getting. You know, like I said,

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Speaker 1: it didn't you know, a hard worker, you know, somebody's dedicated,

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Speaker 1: somebody it's gonna do anything for the organization. So, Jamar,

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Speaker 1: did you meet with Greg Williams at all during your

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Speaker 1: pre draft interactions? Whether that was Senior Bowl combine or zoom?

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Speaker 1: I didn't? I sorry? Okay, Well who did you meet with? Um?

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Speaker 1: I met with the GM my position coach and Andre

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Speaker 1: Carter or Joe Vitt Joe Vick okay, and the uh

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Speaker 1: and then the assistant position coach. Okay. And if I

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Speaker 1: were to ask you how to describe your game, what

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Speaker 1: would you say? Uh? Probably versustile. And I feel like

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Speaker 1: I can play play a lot of different positions. Um No,

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Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, I could play all along

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Speaker 1: the line of different soun packages. Um, it's probably very

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Speaker 1: very versatile. You know. I feel like, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm aggressive. You know, I feel like it's niceus

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Speaker 1: so so that's probably. And do you prefer to play

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Speaker 1: with your hand in the ground own or standing up? Honestly,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, okay, And I just want to ask

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Speaker 1: you this. I saw something that said, you know, you're

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Speaker 1: kind of a quiet, so soft spoken guy and you

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Speaker 1: let your play on the field. Do you're talking? Would

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Speaker 1: you consider that accurate? That is very accre Yes, sir,

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Speaker 1: I can say to myself, I want to introverted side

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Speaker 1: and I'm I'm not really a guy who likes the

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Speaker 1: club stuff like that, but but you know when I

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Speaker 1: when I get on the field, I definitely let loose

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Speaker 1: and I definitely let it all out. Hey, Jo Bari,

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Speaker 1: did you know Marcus May and Brian Pool when they

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Speaker 1: were at Florida too? Because you guys overlapped. But I

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Speaker 1: don't know how friendly you guys were. Yeah, we we

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Speaker 1: weren't the best of friends. But it's not definitely lived

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Speaker 1: up to those guys. And I feel like my mind

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Speaker 1: knows are two two floor the great snow that two

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Speaker 1: players that that belong and uh, you know hall of Fame,

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Speaker 1: uh football Hall of Fame, let alone the Florida all

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Speaker 1: the Thames so so so I definitely feel like you

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Speaker 1: know those those guys are legendary, but we weren't the

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Speaker 1: closest to friends, but I definitely looked up to him

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Speaker 1: from leadership perspective. All right, Jabar, I just want to

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Speaker 1: ask you this before we wrap things up. Obviously this

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Speaker 1: is unprecedented times because all your rookie classes and everything

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Speaker 1: will be through virtual program. But what step number one

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Speaker 1: for you now that you're a New York Jet. Of course,

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Speaker 1: getting to know my teammates, but but probably the most definitely,

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Speaker 1: most definite pointies get into that playbook because you know,

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Speaker 1: at the end of day, it's all about uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: being being a productive player in this league. And I

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Speaker 1: definitely feel like that's that's the most important stuff, is

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Speaker 1: getting into the playbook. Yeah, I think one of the

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Speaker 1: benefits of drafting a guy like this at the at

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Speaker 1: a position where the Jets are rather stout is that

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Speaker 1: I think maybe the expectations are a little less from

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Speaker 1: day one. The only because I don't know how much

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Speaker 1: playhook get as a starter. I assume that will probably

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Speaker 1: be involved in sub packages to a certain degree. But

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Speaker 1: when you look at the defensive line between Steve mcclennon Bronzovarokasi,

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Speaker 1: Nathan Shepherd, Henry Anderson, Quinnin Williams, and then you think

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Speaker 1: about guys like Jordan Jenkins and Torrell Bash them last year,

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Speaker 1: it just feels like Jabari Snigo will have an ability

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Speaker 1: or an opportunity rather to be almost sponge like soak

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Speaker 1: up as much as he can from all these talented

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Speaker 1: players and then be effective for the Jets on the field.

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Speaker 1: You just have a lot of options, Greg Williams, and

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Speaker 1: he's the first one to tell you, don't say I

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Speaker 1: run a four three. Don't say I run a three

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Speaker 1: four because he's gonna continually mix it up and you

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Speaker 1: play and so many sub packages anyway, So again, good situation.

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Speaker 1: And when you read the scouting reports about Zenena, you

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Speaker 1: know the guy I thought of immediately a little bit

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Speaker 1: when they said the hair on fire, the NonStop mote

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Speaker 1: or the strength, I did think of a guy like

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Speaker 1: Jordan Jenkins. I'm not saying that he is the same player.

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Speaker 1: I'm saying that d n A, that is the guy

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Speaker 1: I thought of, just the way the style is, getting

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Speaker 1: up the field, never taking a playoff, getting his nose dirty. Uh,

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Speaker 1: the explosiveness and Zenega has a high upside again, and

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Speaker 1: that's what you want in these draft picks. None of

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Speaker 1: these guys are finished products. You know. I'm glad you

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Speaker 1: mentioned that because you can speak to this a little

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Speaker 1: more than I can. I'm pretty sure that Jabari Zeniga's

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Speaker 1: pro comparison, I don't remember which website it was. It

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Speaker 1: might have been Pro Football Focus, might have been another website.

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Speaker 1: Their pro comparison for Jabari Zeniga was Calvin Pace. So

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Speaker 1: that's a player that I watched grown up. And you know,

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Speaker 1: you can correct me if I'm wrong, and I'd like

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Speaker 1: you to expand on this, but Calvin Pace, to me,

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Speaker 1: and I think most Jets fans was He's a guy

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Speaker 1: that probably given you between five and eight sacks a year,

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Speaker 1: and he's a great run fender as an edge setter,

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Speaker 1: and maybe in a lot of ways almost feels like

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Speaker 1: an older version of Jordan Jenkins. Yeah. Well, Calvin Pace

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Speaker 1: was a hell of a player. He wasn't a guy

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Speaker 1: who was coming off the edge getting you fifteen sacks

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Speaker 1: a year. But to your point, he was consistent. He

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Speaker 1: was a dominant in terms oftorney things inside, he was

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Speaker 1: a cerebral assassin greens Uh, he could study it, and

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Speaker 1: he knew the way offenses were attacking him, and he

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Speaker 1: was a key part on some of those great defenses.

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Speaker 1: But strong stout not a blazer off the edge, but

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Speaker 1: he could get there. And also, uh, just a guy

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Speaker 1: who it was gonna be tough ever getting outside of him.

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Speaker 1: Speaking of pace guys you talked to over the years,

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Speaker 1: is that it's great to have uh number one move.

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Speaker 1: It's great to even have a secondary move. But what

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Speaker 1: separates the good path s rushers from the very good

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Speaker 1: ones to the excellent ones that they have multiple tools

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Speaker 1: in their bag. So if one doesn't work, I'm going

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Speaker 1: to be If he doesn't work, I'm switching to see

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Speaker 1: and that's going to develop over time. But he has

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Speaker 1: those raw tools that you like. I know we keeps

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Speaker 1: saying this, but it feels like it goes back to

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Speaker 1: Jordan Jenkins again, and he's kind of like this example,

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Speaker 1: this third round example that his pass rush numbers from

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Speaker 1: a sacks perspective has increased every year since he's entered

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Speaker 1: the league in two thousand sixteen. And I think that

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Speaker 1: that is kind of like the poster child of what

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Speaker 1: you want out of a third round pick. I feel

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Speaker 1: like and I think Jabari is an ego. From everything

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Speaker 1: that I've read, it seems like he has the work ethic,

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Speaker 1: the motors, seems like he's a guy that's gonna fit

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Speaker 1: in the locker room. So I think Jets fans should

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Speaker 1: be excited not only about this pick, but really when

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Speaker 1: you think about what that front seven looks like, fully healthy,

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Speaker 1: considering where they finished last year top ten, number two

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Speaker 1: against the run as a defense, you think about this

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Speaker 1: front seven now adding another piece. And we've said this before,

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Speaker 1: but the front has an ability to be a very

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Speaker 1: very effective group when football is finally bad. You know,

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Speaker 1: I look at it and say, you were top ten

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Speaker 1: in your yards a lot less year number seven. Overall,

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Speaker 1: there is no reason why this defense can't be top

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Speaker 1: ten again. I think they'll probably want to get those

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Speaker 1: scoring numbers down, but a lot goes into the scoring equation, turnovers,

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Speaker 1: field position, and whatnot. So I don't know if that's

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Speaker 1: the right stat when you're looking at defenses, nor is

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Speaker 1: yards always the right judge. But by the end of

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Speaker 1: the season, the Jets were one of the better defenses

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Speaker 1: in the National Football Are you mentioned front seven. I'm

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Speaker 1: just I'm looking at the entire defense, because again you

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Speaker 1: ad did that piece be for Ashton Davis and he

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Speaker 1: gives you more flexibility and versatility, and you're adding to

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Speaker 1: uh all world safety and Jamal Adams and then you

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Speaker 1: got Marcus May back there and where it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: interesting what happens at the cornerback position. But I just

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Speaker 1: think right now the Jets have a lot of different

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Speaker 1: pieces and they added big time with these two first

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Speaker 1: defenders here early in the draft in Davis in the

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Speaker 1: A four mentioned Jabari Zoninga Um, So you know, I

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Speaker 1: think that, yes, the Jets are gonna have a very

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Speaker 1: good front seven, but I think extends beyond that. And

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Speaker 1: now you've got Zeninga too, because he's another piece that

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Speaker 1: again if he steps into a sub package role right away,

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Speaker 1: he's another guy you have to account for, a four

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Speaker 1: point six four guy who's two undred sixty four pounds

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Speaker 1: who can get up the field and to trade. So

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Speaker 1: these are more pieces on this defense that was good

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Speaker 1: last year that has a chance to be very good

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Speaker 1: in two thousands one. All right, there you have it.

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Speaker 1: Another edition of the official Jets podcast, the Draft Pick

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Speaker 1: Profile series presented by Verizon. That was the Jabari Zeniga

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Speaker 1: edition E A myself going back to Gainesville for the

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Speaker 1: next episode with Florida running back with Michael p. Ryan