Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets podcast, the
Speaker 1: Draft Pick Profile Series, presented by Verizon Rolling On. Here
Speaker 1: Ethan Greenberg e A breaking down the second third round
Speaker 1: pick of the New York Jets. That's defensive lineman outside
Speaker 1: linebacker Jabari Zuniga out of Florida. And you're gonna hear
Speaker 1: from Joe Douglas and his staff on why they like Zenigo.
Speaker 1: I they think he's a good fit for the Jets.
Speaker 1: You're also gonna hear from Zeniga himself. I spoke with
Speaker 1: him after he was selected on that very busy Day
Speaker 1: two of the NFL Draft for the New York Jets.
Speaker 1: And e A. This is a player where the Jets
Speaker 1: selected him. They had their options if they wanted to
Speaker 1: go with the receiver or they wanted to beef up
Speaker 1: the interior of the offensive line. But they end up
Speaker 1: going with the guy who can play defensive line or
Speaker 1: maybe he can stand up and rush in Jabari Zeniga. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Green's first two picks, the Jets go McKay Backton in
Speaker 1: the first round. They come back in the second round
Speaker 1: well Back and Joe Douglas takes Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims.
Speaker 1: Then of course, Ashton Davis got Day two underway for
Speaker 1: the New York Jets, and then they came back with
Speaker 1: another defensive player, Jabari Zeninga, a guy who had an
Speaker 1: interesting college career at the University of Florida. He can
Speaker 1: play all up and down that defensive line. Uh, good
Speaker 1: first step, explosive player, and Green's he considers himself the
Speaker 1: steel of the draft. I know a lot of fans
Speaker 1: are probably looking at and saying, well, why don't you
Speaker 1: take receiver there? Because interestingly enough, the next two picks
Speaker 1: that fouled Zeninga were Lynn Bowden out of Kentucky and
Speaker 1: Brian Edwards out at South Carolina. But Douglas I think
Speaker 1: added another chess piece for Greg Williams. Ashton Davis. We
Speaker 1: talked at length about his versatility, while you're getting another
Speaker 1: guy who is an extremely versatile player at the University
Speaker 1: of Florida, and he's got a lot of upside as well.
Speaker 1: And before e A and I dive into Jabari Zeniga
Speaker 1: and the player he is, his past of Florida, what
Speaker 1: he can provide to the Jets. Let's hear from the
Speaker 1: man himself. Let's hear from Joe Douglas and his staff
Speaker 1: on why they like Jabari Zeniga. He can play the end,
Speaker 1: he can reduce inside and nickel packages the lineup over guard.
Speaker 1: You know his suddenness, his explosiveness off the ball. You
Speaker 1: know his motor, his play temperament, how hard he plays
Speaker 1: that jumps off the tape. The first thing is that
Speaker 1: he showed was his versatility throughout his career, being able
Speaker 1: to play all over the front or Florida's defensive line.
Speaker 1: He's played anywhere from right to left. They'll kick him inside.
Speaker 1: It's a sub pass rusher as well, and then at
Speaker 1: times he would stand up in rush from different spots.
Speaker 1: So you know, the thing is he shows versatility, but
Speaker 1: what he does have his his explosiveness and twitch off
Speaker 1: the ball and get off and talking about a guy
Speaker 1: who's two pounds ran four six five. Although he missed
Speaker 1: six games this season, his production rate and what he
Speaker 1: did show when he was on the field is what
Speaker 1: we saw on him and what we expect from him
Speaker 1: transition for us to the Jets in terms of being
Speaker 1: able to get after the quarterback. I really like ja
Speaker 1: Bar He's a versa of a guy that can play
Speaker 1: up and down the line of experiment he's uh, he's
Speaker 1: hard charging. You know, he's a brood in there. He's
Speaker 1: got really strong hands, he's got speed of power. You know,
Speaker 1: he can reduce as an interior rusher. He's got snapped
Speaker 1: through the heads. He can play leverage, you can two guys.
Speaker 1: He's got good strength in his hands. He can hold
Speaker 1: the point of attack versus run. You know, this guy
Speaker 1: flashing at the at the end of place and and
Speaker 1: and making plays on the ball. And you know, he
Speaker 1: runs a four six forty, he's about six three, and
Speaker 1: he's two hundred sixty pounds. He's just really an explosive
Speaker 1: guy that that that uses his explosiveness, uh to make
Speaker 1: plays all over the field. He struggled through a few
Speaker 1: injuries you know, this year and missed a few games.
Speaker 1: If you watch that Miami game, I feel like he
Speaker 1: really took over that Miami game. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's he's another kid that that that played well at
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl. He showed well the Senior Bowl as well.
Speaker 1: We were fired up to get a guy like this,
Speaker 1: you know, a guy that's got some real power to
Speaker 1: him that that you can feel when watching him. You know,
Speaker 1: he's a force at the point of attack, and he's
Speaker 1: a good athlete. You know, he's got a high motor.
Speaker 1: He's gonna fit in well with the guys we have
Speaker 1: on the d line and at the outside back of position.
Speaker 1: You know, he had just sort of an unfortunate beginning
Speaker 1: to a season in terms of the high ankle spring
Speaker 1: and sometimes those are tough to get over. And you know,
Speaker 1: this is a very productive player when he was on
Speaker 1: the field. He's another player I used the word versatile.
Speaker 1: You know, he can play outside as a as a
Speaker 1: rusher on the edge, but he's also quick and and
Speaker 1: physical enough to to go inside along the defensive front.
Speaker 1: So he can really almost line up anywhere across that
Speaker 1: front line. Uh. And you know he brings the mentioned
Speaker 1: of pass rush, whether it's off the corner or inside
Speaker 1: in a sub situation on the interior that you know,
Speaker 1: you just never have enough guys that can get after
Speaker 1: the quarterback, and that that's an area that we wanted
Speaker 1: to improve. We felt like the value was there. He
Speaker 1: was rated high on our board pretty much through this
Speaker 1: whole journey from December to February through this month's meetings,
Speaker 1: and so he sort of maintained his water. If you
Speaker 1: want to term it that way, and we thought he
Speaker 1: would represented good value in the third round. The first
Speaker 1: thing that sends out to me about Zeniga you here
Speaker 1: all the Jets personnel staff talk about it too, is
Speaker 1: he was effective even though he only played in six
Speaker 1: games this season for Florida because he missed most of
Speaker 1: the year with a high ankle sprain. And his stats
Speaker 1: at the end of the season he only had fourteen tackles,
Speaker 1: seven tackles for lost in three sacks. But Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: mentioned in his media call after they drafted Zeniga that
Speaker 1: he had a very high production rate despite missing the
Speaker 1: majority of the season. You look at Zenega, he at
Speaker 1: forty five tackles in six and a half sacks in
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. So Joe Douglas talked about his production rate. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's there. When he was on the field, he was
Speaker 1: making plays, making things happen. And the other thing that
Speaker 1: I think stood out to the Jets about this gator
Speaker 1: was he played with his hair on fire greens. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think one thing about Jabari it seems like he's
Speaker 1: a very reserved player off of the football field, and
Speaker 1: then he puts on a helmet and then the switch
Speaker 1: flips and he really goes after it. I mean, in
Speaker 1: his career at Florida he red shirted in ten and
Speaker 1: then played sen to en for the Gators eighteen and
Speaker 1: a half sacks, thirty four and a half tackles for loss.
Speaker 1: And I think what the Jets really like about out him,
Speaker 1: and I feel like again we're beating a dead horses.
Speaker 1: His versatility, the fact that he can play any position
Speaker 1: along the defensive line, he can develop his pass rush
Speaker 1: over time, and really, I think Phil Savage said it
Speaker 1: best in that clip we heard earlier. So you can't
Speaker 1: have enough of these guys, guys that are versatile and
Speaker 1: guys that get after the quarterback. And I think that Zaniga,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, is probably not the
Speaker 1: pick Jets fans imagined, but it's a position which Jets
Speaker 1: fans wanted Joe Douglas to address, and I think Zaniga
Speaker 1: fits the bill. Frankly well. He can certainly disrupt the
Speaker 1: opposition quarterback, but he is a penetrator green, so he's
Speaker 1: gonna try to get up field in a hurry. And
Speaker 1: he is a guy, frankly is still learning the game.
Speaker 1: You played one year of high school football, so you
Speaker 1: look at his production at the University of Florida playing
Speaker 1: on Saturdays in the SEC. You mentioned the eighteen and
Speaker 1: a half acts and forty two career games. What I
Speaker 1: found fascinating throughout the pre draft process is we talked
Speaker 1: about him as an edge. Well, he himself talks about
Speaker 1: how he can play the nine technique, the three technique, Uh,
Speaker 1: he can play the traditional and spot, and that he
Speaker 1: can move inside to maybe in sub packages, and he's
Speaker 1: playing closer to the center. So at this point in
Speaker 1: his career, you probably consider him more of an interior
Speaker 1: rusher greens. Yeah, I think that the guy that comes
Speaker 1: to mind when I think of a guy like this
Speaker 1: is almost kind of like Jordan Jenkins in a way
Speaker 1: where he wasn't the most productive pass rusher at Georgia,
Speaker 1: but he showed flashes and then he developed his pass
Speaker 1: rush since coming into the league. And Jordan Jenkins has
Speaker 1: done that and Jabari Zniga can do that from now
Speaker 1: till his third or fourth year in the league. That
Speaker 1: I think he's on the right path. And when you
Speaker 1: look at his past, this is another basketball first athlete.
Speaker 1: He didn't play football until he was in high school.
Speaker 1: He was five ft eleven and two hundred ten pounds
Speaker 1: during his junior season before hitting a growth spur. And
Speaker 1: now he's six three, two sixty four And this is
Speaker 1: a guy that was not heavily recruited. He's a three
Speaker 1: star athlete and at the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: think this is another guy that has worked up to
Speaker 1: the position in which he was drafted. And that's something
Speaker 1: we've said for Denzel Mims, It's something we said for
Speaker 1: Ashton Davis, and I think it's definitely something that we
Speaker 1: can say for Jabari Zaniga as well. Yeah, another thing
Speaker 1: is he's six three, two hundred sixty four pounds. In Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: he ran the forty yard dash I believe in four
Speaker 1: point six four seconds. So I think that caught the
Speaker 1: eye of a lot of onlookers. People filed the draft
Speaker 1: and of course the scouts. You saw him playing fast
Speaker 1: on film. Well, the forty yard dash confirmed that. In Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: the Jets you're gonna see probably I would imagine George
Speaker 1: Jenkins and a guy like Darrell Basham's standing up more.
Speaker 1: And this guy has room to grow, not only just
Speaker 1: picking up past rush techniques as his career evolves in
Speaker 1: the National Football league, but I anticipate will probably put
Speaker 1: on some weight as well. Greens. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: fair to say too. And we'll see what happens when
Speaker 1: we finally get back to the facility and he can
Speaker 1: touch the grass a little bit. But I think this
Speaker 1: is an interesting pick, to say the least, because, similar
Speaker 1: to Ashton Davis, not only with the versatility, the Jets
Speaker 1: at the end of the day might have gotten a
Speaker 1: discount on Jabari Zeniga. If he played a full season
Speaker 1: and we're healthy for the entirety of the season, if
Speaker 1: he had a little more senior tape, then maybe he's
Speaker 1: around two, picking out around three pick You're right six games,
Speaker 1: But in this case you're talking about Jabari Zanga and
Speaker 1: uh not a major injury. So by all accounts, when
Speaker 1: he gives back to one Jets Drive or when he
Speaker 1: arrives at one Jets Drive, uh, I think he should
Speaker 1: be ready to go. And this is a great place
Speaker 1: for a young defensive alignment. If I'm a young defensive aligneman,
Speaker 1: this is a place I want to go to. Andre Carter,
Speaker 1: great pass rusher in his heyday, had not that Jets
Speaker 1: defensive line, and Greg Williams a defensive mastermind, and we
Speaker 1: saw what the Jets did last year and that defensive
Speaker 1: line is a very deep and it's got a lot
Speaker 1: of big dogs who get after it. And what better
Speaker 1: guy for a young kid to hang around or following
Speaker 1: around the facility than Steve McClendon. Yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: there is a better person for a young defensive player
Speaker 1: to follow the Steve McClendon. He's kind of the defensive
Speaker 1: father of the bunch really. And before we break down,
Speaker 1: just how Zuniga fits into this Jet scheme and what
Speaker 1: this roster looks like with him on, and let's hear
Speaker 1: um Jabari's Aniga himself. Jabari, congratulations. What was it like
Speaker 1: getting the phone call from Joe Douglas. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: very exciting. You know, I was with the family, so
Speaker 1: so everybody was wining with emotionally. Know my mom, My
Speaker 1: mom was was almost crying, so so, you know, it
Speaker 1: was it was just very exciting and an emotional moment.
Speaker 1: What was your pre draft interactions like with the Jets
Speaker 1: and did you have a sense that they liked you
Speaker 1: throughout the process. Um, y'all talked to the Jets about
Speaker 1: to about five times, and I talked somebody at the
Speaker 1: Single Bowl, I talked to somebody Combine and then I
Speaker 1: talked to him. They zoom called me about three times
Speaker 1: um after the Comboy, So so I kind of had
Speaker 1: an idea that that they were interested. But you know, uh,
Speaker 1: I'm just excippy to be a excitited to be a
Speaker 1: part of the organization. So you clearly, to your point,
Speaker 1: had a lot of interaction with the Jets. What do
Speaker 1: you think that you can add to this defense? I
Speaker 1: heard you talking about your verse of autility, but what
Speaker 1: can you specifically bring to this Jets front? Um? Probably senatity.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like you know, I'm I'm um,
Speaker 1: I'm a very uh progressive player. So I just feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, I can bring a pass or to the
Speaker 1: to the UH to the defense. And I feel like
Speaker 1: it's just just being overall seenations players, being overall senagor
Speaker 1: football player. And I heard you talking to the media
Speaker 1: before this, you said you feel like the Jets got
Speaker 1: the steel of the draft because of course you were
Speaker 1: hampered with that ankle injury. So at full health, what
Speaker 1: do you bring to a defense? UM, I definitely feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll bring a lot you know, Uh, like
Speaker 1: you said, you know, I was kind of hampered by
Speaker 1: my by my ankle injury. But I feel like, like
Speaker 1: like a healthy, healthy me is is is is a
Speaker 1: very good football player. And and and that's that's definitely
Speaker 1: what the Jets to getting. You know, like I said,
Speaker 1: it didn't you know, a hard worker, you know, somebody's dedicated,
Speaker 1: somebody it's gonna do anything for the organization. So, Jamar,
Speaker 1: did you meet with Greg Williams at all during your
Speaker 1: pre draft interactions? Whether that was Senior Bowl combine or zoom?
Speaker 1: I didn't? I sorry? Okay, Well who did you meet with? Um?
Speaker 1: I met with the GM my position coach and Andre
Speaker 1: Carter or Joe Vitt Joe Vick okay, and the uh
Speaker 1: and then the assistant position coach. Okay. And if I
Speaker 1: were to ask you how to describe your game, what
Speaker 1: would you say? Uh? Probably versustile. And I feel like
Speaker 1: I can play play a lot of different positions. Um No,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, I could play all along
Speaker 1: the line of different soun packages. Um, it's probably very
Speaker 1: very versatile. You know. I feel like, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm aggressive. You know, I feel like it's niceus
Speaker 1: so so that's probably. And do you prefer to play
Speaker 1: with your hand in the ground own or standing up? Honestly,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, okay, And I just want to ask
Speaker 1: you this. I saw something that said, you know, you're
Speaker 1: kind of a quiet, so soft spoken guy and you
Speaker 1: let your play on the field. Do you're talking? Would
Speaker 1: you consider that accurate? That is very accre Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I can say to myself, I want to introverted side
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm not really a guy who likes the
Speaker 1: club stuff like that, but but you know when I
Speaker 1: when I get on the field, I definitely let loose
Speaker 1: and I definitely let it all out. Hey, Jo Bari,
Speaker 1: did you know Marcus May and Brian Pool when they
Speaker 1: were at Florida too? Because you guys overlapped. But I
Speaker 1: don't know how friendly you guys were. Yeah, we we
Speaker 1: weren't the best of friends. But it's not definitely lived
Speaker 1: up to those guys. And I feel like my mind
Speaker 1: knows are two two floor the great snow that two
Speaker 1: players that that belong and uh, you know hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: uh football Hall of Fame, let alone the Florida all
Speaker 1: the Thames so so so I definitely feel like you
Speaker 1: know those those guys are legendary, but we weren't the
Speaker 1: closest to friends, but I definitely looked up to him
Speaker 1: from leadership perspective. All right, Jabar, I just want to
Speaker 1: ask you this before we wrap things up. Obviously this
Speaker 1: is unprecedented times because all your rookie classes and everything
Speaker 1: will be through virtual program. But what step number one
Speaker 1: for you now that you're a New York Jet. Of course,
Speaker 1: getting to know my teammates, but but probably the most definitely,
Speaker 1: most definite pointies get into that playbook because you know,
Speaker 1: at the end of day, it's all about uh, you know,
Speaker 1: being being a productive player in this league. And I
Speaker 1: definitely feel like that's that's the most important stuff, is
Speaker 1: getting into the playbook. Yeah, I think one of the
Speaker 1: benefits of drafting a guy like this at the at
Speaker 1: a position where the Jets are rather stout is that
Speaker 1: I think maybe the expectations are a little less from
Speaker 1: day one. The only because I don't know how much
Speaker 1: playhook get as a starter. I assume that will probably
Speaker 1: be involved in sub packages to a certain degree. But
Speaker 1: when you look at the defensive line between Steve mcclennon Bronzovarokasi,
Speaker 1: Nathan Shepherd, Henry Anderson, Quinnin Williams, and then you think
Speaker 1: about guys like Jordan Jenkins and Torrell Bash them last year,
Speaker 1: it just feels like Jabari Snigo will have an ability
Speaker 1: or an opportunity rather to be almost sponge like soak
Speaker 1: up as much as he can from all these talented
Speaker 1: players and then be effective for the Jets on the field.
Speaker 1: You just have a lot of options, Greg Williams, and
Speaker 1: he's the first one to tell you, don't say I
Speaker 1: run a four three. Don't say I run a three
Speaker 1: four because he's gonna continually mix it up and you
Speaker 1: play and so many sub packages anyway, So again, good situation.
Speaker 1: And when you read the scouting reports about Zenena, you
Speaker 1: know the guy I thought of immediately a little bit
Speaker 1: when they said the hair on fire, the NonStop mote
Speaker 1: or the strength, I did think of a guy like
Speaker 1: Jordan Jenkins. I'm not saying that he is the same player.
Speaker 1: I'm saying that d n A, that is the guy
Speaker 1: I thought of, just the way the style is, getting
Speaker 1: up the field, never taking a playoff, getting his nose dirty. Uh,
Speaker 1: the explosiveness and Zenega has a high upside again, and
Speaker 1: that's what you want in these draft picks. None of
Speaker 1: these guys are finished products. You know. I'm glad you
Speaker 1: mentioned that because you can speak to this a little
Speaker 1: more than I can. I'm pretty sure that Jabari Zeniga's
Speaker 1: pro comparison, I don't remember which website it was. It
Speaker 1: might have been Pro Football Focus, might have been another website.
Speaker 1: Their pro comparison for Jabari Zeniga was Calvin Pace. So
Speaker 1: that's a player that I watched grown up. And you know,
Speaker 1: you can correct me if I'm wrong, and I'd like
Speaker 1: you to expand on this, but Calvin Pace, to me,
Speaker 1: and I think most Jets fans was He's a guy
Speaker 1: that probably given you between five and eight sacks a year,
Speaker 1: and he's a great run fender as an edge setter,
Speaker 1: and maybe in a lot of ways almost feels like
Speaker 1: an older version of Jordan Jenkins. Yeah. Well, Calvin Pace
Speaker 1: was a hell of a player. He wasn't a guy
Speaker 1: who was coming off the edge getting you fifteen sacks
Speaker 1: a year. But to your point, he was consistent. He
Speaker 1: was a dominant in terms oftorney things inside, he was
Speaker 1: a cerebral assassin greens Uh, he could study it, and
Speaker 1: he knew the way offenses were attacking him, and he
Speaker 1: was a key part on some of those great defenses.
Speaker 1: But strong stout not a blazer off the edge, but
Speaker 1: he could get there. And also, uh, just a guy
Speaker 1: who it was gonna be tough ever getting outside of him.
Speaker 1: Speaking of pace guys you talked to over the years,
Speaker 1: is that it's great to have uh number one move.
Speaker 1: It's great to even have a secondary move. But what
Speaker 1: separates the good path s rushers from the very good
Speaker 1: ones to the excellent ones that they have multiple tools
Speaker 1: in their bag. So if one doesn't work, I'm going
Speaker 1: to be If he doesn't work, I'm switching to see
Speaker 1: and that's going to develop over time. But he has
Speaker 1: those raw tools that you like. I know we keeps
Speaker 1: saying this, but it feels like it goes back to
Speaker 1: Jordan Jenkins again, and he's kind of like this example,
Speaker 1: this third round example that his pass rush numbers from
Speaker 1: a sacks perspective has increased every year since he's entered
Speaker 1: the league in two thousand sixteen. And I think that
Speaker 1: that is kind of like the poster child of what
Speaker 1: you want out of a third round pick. I feel
Speaker 1: like and I think Jabari is an ego. From everything
Speaker 1: that I've read, it seems like he has the work ethic,
Speaker 1: the motors, seems like he's a guy that's gonna fit
Speaker 1: in the locker room. So I think Jets fans should
Speaker 1: be excited not only about this pick, but really when
Speaker 1: you think about what that front seven looks like, fully healthy,
Speaker 1: considering where they finished last year top ten, number two
Speaker 1: against the run as a defense, you think about this
Speaker 1: front seven now adding another piece. And we've said this before,
Speaker 1: but the front has an ability to be a very
Speaker 1: very effective group when football is finally bad. You know,
Speaker 1: I look at it and say, you were top ten
Speaker 1: in your yards a lot less year number seven. Overall,
Speaker 1: there is no reason why this defense can't be top
Speaker 1: ten again. I think they'll probably want to get those
Speaker 1: scoring numbers down, but a lot goes into the scoring equation, turnovers,
Speaker 1: field position, and whatnot. So I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: the right stat when you're looking at defenses, nor is
Speaker 1: yards always the right judge. But by the end of
Speaker 1: the season, the Jets were one of the better defenses
Speaker 1: in the National Football Are you mentioned front seven. I'm
Speaker 1: just I'm looking at the entire defense, because again you
Speaker 1: ad did that piece be for Ashton Davis and he
Speaker 1: gives you more flexibility and versatility, and you're adding to
Speaker 1: uh all world safety and Jamal Adams and then you
Speaker 1: got Marcus May back there and where it's gonna be
Speaker 1: interesting what happens at the cornerback position. But I just
Speaker 1: think right now the Jets have a lot of different
Speaker 1: pieces and they added big time with these two first
Speaker 1: defenders here early in the draft in Davis in the
Speaker 1: A four mentioned Jabari Zoninga Um, So you know, I
Speaker 1: think that, yes, the Jets are gonna have a very
Speaker 1: good front seven, but I think extends beyond that. And
Speaker 1: now you've got Zeninga too, because he's another piece that
Speaker 1: again if he steps into a sub package role right away,
Speaker 1: he's another guy you have to account for, a four
Speaker 1: point six four guy who's two undred sixty four pounds
Speaker 1: who can get up the field and to trade. So
Speaker 1: these are more pieces on this defense that was good
Speaker 1: last year that has a chance to be very good
Speaker 1: in two thousands one. All right, there you have it.
Speaker 1: Another edition of the official Jets podcast, the Draft Pick
Speaker 1: Profile series presented by Verizon. That was the Jabari Zeniga
Speaker 1: edition E A myself going back to Gainesville for the
Speaker 1: next episode with Florida running back with Michael p. Ryan