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00:01Dan Leberfeld, long-time friend of ours at Jets Whispers, Jets Confidential Magazine.
00:07I often catch Dan Saturday mornings or afternoons on satellite radio with Vic.
00:13On my saved channels, Dan, you're right between the Fantasy Station and Howard Stern.
00:20Not bad. I appreciate that. It's always great to be on the Wethersfield.
00:27Wait, first, that's a little bit of a shock.
00:29First Trista with her Rochester thing, and now Dan. They're coming for us.
00:34Wethersfield-Buffalo. Yeah, all right.
00:36Thanks for paying attention to the legal ID, Dan. We like that about you.
00:39Bulldog wants to ask you about the Knicks.
00:43Yeah, I wanted to ask you what your experience is like and what the city is like.
00:48I mean, it just seems like such a phenomenon.
00:50We just went through, not that the Knicks have been a stranger to the playoffs for a long time,
00:54but we know it's been a very long time since they've been in the spot they're in now,
00:58in the finals. We had a rebirth with hockey here and watch parties all over the place,
01:04and it just got really wild when the Sabres finally made the playoffs.
01:07I was wondering how you're experiencing this Knicks run, if you are at all, Dan.
01:12Well, it's absolutely huge here. I'm not the biggest NBA fan, but just walking around,
01:18whether it's the city or here in New Jersey, the people have definitely caught the fever.
01:23The Knicks have an enormous fan base in the tri-state area, and everywhere you go,
01:28you see mobs of people in New York City with Knicks shirts on.
01:34And after one of the games, I had the unfortunate pleasure of driving on 9th Avenue right when a Knick
01:41game ended,
01:42and the people were flying out of the bars and getting in their pickup trucks, waving flags.
01:48It is a huge thing. It's hard to even quantify how big the Knicks are here.
01:54Very cool. And last night was that time something itself, just the comeback, and now we're in the finals,
02:01one win away from their first title since 1973.
02:05To the Jets, the Bills are wrapping up their mandatory minicamp section of the offseason today.
02:13Is that the same for the Jets? Are the Jets done or close to it or what?
02:17No, the Jets actually have their mandatory minicamp next week, which I'm a proponent of from an NFL league-wide
02:28standpoint.
02:29Have it as late as you can so that gap isn't as huge, that ridiculous gap that many people are
02:36critical of.
02:37Even the union, the Western New York leader of the union, the former center, Trotter, has been critical of that.
02:48Why would you have a gap?
02:49You have offseason training where players are getting in great shape under the guidance of team strength and conditioning coaches.
02:57Also, there's a lot of classroom work, learning the playbook, updates to the playbook, new playbooks with new coaching staff.
03:03And then they're off for five weeks where they can lose some of the conditioning and lose some of the
03:09mental gains they made.
03:11It makes very little sense.
03:12I understand it's the onus is on the players to keep their head in the playbook and stay in the
03:17weight room.
03:18But still, that gap makes very little sense when you compare it to other sports, which have their camps that
03:23flow right into the season.
03:25But I think the Jets are doing a smart thing, having it as late as possible.
03:29I don't know what difference four weeks or five-week gap is, but at least they're reducing the gap a
03:34little bit.
03:34And the Bills are off for seven weeks after today.
03:3748 days, to be precise.
03:39So, even longer.
03:41Yeah, it doesn't make a ton of sense, but it is what it is, and it doesn't look like it's
03:45changing unless something changes in the CBA, as far as a lot of rules are concerned.
03:52And, you know, Mr. Tretter, from your neck of the woods, is going to really fight to the finish against
03:58the NFL.
03:58That's the kind of guy he is.
04:00This is J.C. Tretter, former lineman.
04:03I believe Akron, New York.
04:05Am I not mistaken there?
04:07I don't know, actually.
04:09It's not Wethersfield.
04:10I don't know.
04:12Dan, so Aaron Glenn gets another kick at it this season with the Jets, at least at the beginning, probably
04:20the whole year.
04:21You know, what do you think?
04:23I think we've talked about this, but, you know, with now into the offseason, looking ahead to year two for
04:28him, what do you think of the chances that it works out for him?
04:33How much blame, I guess, do you think he deserved for last year?
04:38What about Glenn coming back?
04:41Well, I think that there was no way he was ever going to be fired.
04:45He was only one year into a five-year deal, probably in the neighborhood of $10 to $11 million a
04:53year.
04:53I know NFL owners, you look at Mark Davis, how many contracts, that he's still paying from fired coaches and
05:00GMs.
05:01I just don't think the Jets were going to go down that same road as the Raiders and some other
05:06teams firing a coach after when you robbed it to the New England Patriots.
05:10He did that in recent history with Gerard Mayo.
05:12I just don't see it being that short a window for Aaron Glenn.
05:17Now, if they have another bad year, I think he'd be in a lot of trouble.
05:21But when you look at it, I think, to his credit, he learned from a lot of mistakes, at least
05:27on paper.
05:27We won't know everything in regards to him learning from mistakes until they play actual games, and we see how
05:34he manages the games and handles his timeouts and substitutions and the X's and O's.
05:39But as far as the roster and the coaching staff, he certainly learned his lesson.
05:44They have really turned over this roster.
05:47And hiring Frank Reich, who's so popular in your neck of the woods, one of the best moves in the
05:53offseason, I'm talking about player signings by teams or coaching additions by teams.
05:59He's right at essential casting for what they need to run their offense, which was a dumpster fire last year.
06:06As far as Frank's ability to be a master chess player calling offensive plays, and also not just that, being
06:13a really good bench coach for Aaron Glenn, being a guy who's coached,
06:17at three different places as a head coach, if you consider Stanford as well last year, obviously the Indianapolis Colts
06:25and Carolina Panthers as a head coach.
06:27And we know how selfless Frank is as a human being.
06:31So this isn't a guy who came in here saying, wow, the coach is on the hot seat, is in
06:36trouble.
06:37I can get in there, and he'll be fired after four or five games if they get up to an
06:410-5 start, and I'll be your head coach again.
06:44Frank's not wired that way.
06:45You guys know him pretty well.
06:46He is in here to fix the offense and to help Aaron Glenn as a sounding board.
06:52So great hire in terms of Frank Reich, and I look at their defense, and I really like what the
06:58general manager, Darren Mugee, did this offseason.
07:01Instead of spending a ton of money on two or three high-ticket, high-priced free agents, big-ticket is
07:09what I was looking for there,
07:10he went out and added tremendous depth.
07:13One of the problems for the Jets' defense last year was when they had to go to the backups on
07:17the D-line, and we know how much teams rotate,
07:19there was such a precipitous drop-off to the backups that teams were just destroying them when their backups came
07:26in.
07:26Teams were destroying them when their starters were in, but it was worse when the backups were in.
07:30Guys, they have such great depth on defense now that they really, really have a nice two-deep now,
07:36so I think they could withstand injuries better than last year.
07:39The schedule's not that challenging.
07:41Once again, I probably say this every year, I think they can hang around until late November, early December,
07:46and at least compete for a wild-card spot with this roster.
07:49But you've probably heard me say that before, so I don't know if it's credibility I am saying that.
07:54Yeah, first of all, real quick, good job on Treader.
07:58Born in Batavia, New York, attended Akron Central High School, so you had that.
08:03Yeah, I'm looking at their depth chart here, the Jets, on defense, and I count eight new names in the
08:10starting column.
08:13That's an overhaul, man.
08:15That is a wrecking ball.
08:18The absolute wrecking ball, and their run defense up the middle was horrific last year.
08:23You guys saw that in that meaningless game against the Buffalo Bills to wrap up the season,
08:30where the Buffalo Bills had four backup offensive linemen playing,
08:34and Ray Davis is a terrific player, not taking anything away from him,
08:38and he's obviously got a great story in terms of his life and what he's overcome.
08:42But Ray Davis had a career game that game, and he is the backup running back.
08:47I know he could start to some teams, but right now he is the backup to Cook at man.
08:53Man, he looked fantastic behind a line with four backup linemen in it.
08:59I mean, that's one of those jump-to-shark moments for a defense.
09:03So they go out and get Tavantre Sweat, a 366-pound nose tackle, and a trade with the Tennessee Titans.
09:11They signed another really good defensive tackle, David Onyemata, who was with the Atlanta Falcons last year.
09:19Not a household name, but a really good run defender.
09:22David Bailey in the first round in the draft to improve their pass rush.
09:26DeMario Davis at linebacker to be the traffic cop to lead the defense.
09:30This defense, I'm not saying it's going to be top five in the league,
09:33but I can guarantee you it's going to be a lot better than last year.
09:36The personnel is a lot better, and the depth is a lot better.
09:40With Dan Leverfeld here on WGR, Mike Schopen, the Bulldog.
09:43Davis, if I remember right, also had a big-ish game against the Jets at night in New York his
09:50rookie year when Cook missed.
09:52It's like the only game Cook has missed here in a couple of seasons.
09:55Dan, what about the Geno Smith idea?
09:58I mean, if you're going to go there, you probably want to at least think about, you know,
10:05you're talking about hanging around into, like, November or December.
10:08You want to be able to do that with a quarterback like this.
10:11This is not, you know, a rookie, somebody just sort of a throw-in,
10:16thinking about the 2027 draft or anything like that, which they might be doing.
10:20But I like Geno, and he's not been bad at all for the balance of the last three, four seasons.
10:29What are your expectations for him?
10:32Yeah, you know, at first I wasn't that high on the move,
10:36but the more I looked into it, I've warmed up to it.
10:39Because when you look at it from this standpoint,
10:42when he was the three-year full-time starter with the Seattle Seahawks from 2022 to 2024,
10:48his records were 9-8, 8-7, 10-7.
10:52Jets have not made the playoffs in 15 years,
10:56and they haven't had a winning record in a decade.
10:58So they would absolutely sign up for any of those seasons that Geno Smith had in Seattle.
11:04He's the quintessential game manager.
11:06He needs things around to be going well, good offensive line, good running game, good weapons,
11:12a defense that keeps the score down.
11:14And I think he can have that year, that year with the New York Jets in 2026.
11:20Last year in Las Vegas, you know, was a train wreck.
11:23There's no way around it.
11:24But that team in its entire was a train wreck,
11:26and it wasn't the kind of requisite supporting cast that Geno Smith needs to have success.
11:32The left tackle, Colton Miller, was out the whole year.
11:34And that really, really hurt that offense.
11:37They were playing backup left tackles,
11:39and very few teams in the NFL have a left tackle in the number two spot who you can hold
11:45up with.
11:45You have those freakish starting left tackles,
11:48and then there's a huge drop-off usually to the backup.
11:50I don't know who the backup to Deion Dawkins is in Buffalo,
11:53but usually it's not pretty when the backup left tackle comes in.
11:57So I'm going to give Geno a pass for last year.
11:59I just think that if they can get the Seattle Geno Smith with Frank Reich manufactured production,
12:06and that's a term I've fallen in love with the last few minutes,
12:09when you have one of those really good chess player offensive coordinators,
12:13like Clint Kubiak was last year with Sam Darnold.
12:16They manufacture production, meaning they dial up plays for guys that might not be full progression readers,
12:22where the first and second read is an easy throw.
12:26You see this in college a lot, and the guy can matriculate the team down the field.
12:30But when you have the Jets had a rookie offensive coordinator last year
12:34who had never called plays on the NFL level,
12:37and he wasn't able to help Justin Fields last year.
12:41Now, Justin Fields, you could argue whether he's a starting NFL quarterback.
12:44You could have that debate, but the OC didn't help him.
12:46And I think Frank Reich is one of those manufacturer production play callers,
12:51like Clint Kubiak was with Darnold, and like Ben Johnson was with Caleb Williams last year in Chicago,
12:58where he really helps the quarterback out by seeing the game through the quarterback's eyes
13:02and helping him drive the team downfield, not putting the total onus on,
13:07I'm calling this play from hell or high water, you execute it.
13:10I think Frank's really going to help Geno, and I think they can get that Seattle Geno,
13:14and I think they'd be happy with that.
13:16You mentioned the trouble protecting Geno last year in Vegas.
13:22How about that with the Jets here, Dan?
13:24Because I've mentioned a couple times when the Jets have come up,
13:28if you can get behind Geno as an idea, the skill position guys, I kind of like the group.
13:35The tight ends are pretty interesting.
13:37Brees Hall's excellent. Garrett Wilson's excellent.
13:39I liked Omar Cooper Jr. in the draft.
13:41We'll see.
13:42Even Adnai Mitchell had some moments.
13:45So what are the chances they can keep Geno functioning upright?
13:51Yeah, I think the line was very good over the second half of last year.
13:56Early in the year, they were not on the same page,
13:59which is often the case with NFL offensive lines
14:02because when you talk to former linemen in the league,
14:06they'll tell you that you need to get that work in the offseason.
14:10Now, it's not full contact, obviously, in the summer,
14:12but they feel like the cutback on spring and summer practices
14:16has really hurt offensive line continuity.
14:19So when you see early in the year teams sending stunts and twists and blitzes,
14:23and these linemen are not on the same page,
14:25I think a lot of it has to do with limited reps in the offseason.
14:28So they got better as the season went on.
14:31The line looks really good on paper.
14:33When you look at the two first-round offensive tackles in Membu and Fashionu,
14:39and then you look inside, Joe Tippin, the former center,
14:42has really taken to the right guard spot.
14:44Josh Myers was a pleasant surprise at center last year.
14:47The only question mark is they lost two left guards in free agency.
14:51Elijah Barrett-Tucker, who signed with New England,
14:54and Josh Simpson, John Simpson, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens.
14:58So they're going with Dylan Parham, who actually played with Gino last year
15:01with the Raiders.
15:02People have mixed reviews on his skill set, so we'll see when he does that.
15:07So keep an eye on the left guard spot and Parham and his performance.
15:11But you're right, the skill positions, they're deep there.
15:14When you look at the fact that you have Garrett Wilson
15:18and you have Omar Cooper, who is a rookie but wise beyond his years
15:22when he talked at very mature, learned a lot from Cignetti,
15:25a good culture builder, and he brings that to the Jets.
15:29So Cooper, Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, who was acquired in a trade
15:33with the Colts last year in the Sauce Gardner trade,
15:36which brought back two first-round picks.
15:38And Mitchell, Mitchell is a guy with an exotic size speed ratio,
15:42like 6'2", 210, runs under 4'4".
15:45So he's got an exciting skill set.
15:48Tim Patrick is a player they signed a couple weeks ago.
15:51Don't sleep on him.
15:52The former Denver Bronco, who was turning into a star receiver out there,
15:56and then he had an injury nightmare happen with a torn ACL one year
16:00and then Achilles the next.
16:02The Broncos had paid him big dollars before he got hurt.
16:05He's a good receiver.
16:07So that receiver room is very deep, the tight end room.
16:10Look at that with Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert and Kenyon Sadiq,
16:14the first-round pick out of Oregon, who's sidelined right now
16:17after a minor groin procedure, but this is a guy who's 6'3", 240, runs 4'3", 9.
16:24Omar Cooper ran 4'5", 2.
16:26So that shows you how fast this tight end.
16:29And I know Frank Wright is so excited to move this guy around.
16:33He's the kind of guy he could play in the slot, on the outside, as a fullback.
16:37So Sadiq is a weapon Frank is quite excited about.
16:41And then you talk about Brees Hall running back.
16:43So there's no shortage of weapons in this Jets offense.
16:46I am not usually pretty tough to get to some optimism for the Jets.
16:52Much like yourself, perhaps, Dan.
16:54You know, talking about hanging around in the schedule.
16:56I'm sort of Mr. Jet over here.
16:59And I'm hearing you.
17:01I'm feeling you on these names.
17:03In fact, one name that you mentioned and talked about,
17:05so I'm in a draft Bulldog with Davis Maddock right now, a best ball draft.
17:10And we drafted Garrett Wilson.
17:12And we drafted Gino to go with him.
17:14And I suggested we draft Omar Cooper, right?
17:18Because you kind of want to stack these things.
17:20And he says, no, I think Mitchell is better.
17:23So then Mitchell would have to, you know, beat out a high draft pick.
17:27And that's going to be tough because he's on a new team here.
17:29But he's been there.
17:30It's just like he doesn't maybe have the same sort of, like,
17:34backing of the coaching staff or the organization, perhaps.
17:36But what do you think of that take, Dan, that Mitchell might outplay Cooper this year?
17:43Well, I think they like Mitchell.
17:46I don't think they're head over heels in love where they're going to have confirmation bias with him.
17:50Remember, he was kind of a throw-in in that sauce-garter deal.
17:54The two first-round picks were the selling point for the Jets.
17:57And they threw in Mitchell, who was kind of on the outs in Indianapolis.
18:02So, he was thrown in.
18:03He's a good player.
18:04But he really doesn't have a leg up on Cooper because they're, once again, putting in a new offense.
18:09We talked about Frank Reich before.
18:11So, they were both starting from square one, learning this offense.
18:15So, there's no real advantage here other than the fact that Mitchell's been around a little bit.
18:19But, man, has he been in a lot of different offenses.
18:21So, his head must be spinning.
18:24But you'll appreciate the quote that he used when I asked him about being in so many different offenses.
18:28I asked Mitchell that.
18:30He said, you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
18:34How many NFL players quote Nietzsche?
18:39Is that how you pronounce it?
18:41I'm going to ask Mike.
18:42Not the Bulldog would know, but I know Mike is the more intellectual than we are.
18:46I hang out at a place called Nietzsche.
18:49I think he's quoting Kelly Clarkson.
18:51Just so you know.
18:52I think he's quoting Kelly Clarkson.
18:54I think that might be right, too.
18:56I don't really got to worry about those two.
18:58I think Mitchell's an outside guy.
19:01I think Cooper should be a slot guy, right?
19:04You read my mind, Bulldog, before I got into my schtick there.
19:09He's going to get into the, if you have a rim shot machine ready.
19:14By the way, speaking of schtick, I was expecting to take it on the chin for my Mike and the
19:19Bulldog tweet,
19:20but you guys took the high road.
19:22I didn't see it.
19:23Oh, okay.
19:26Yeah, I mean, we've been down that road.
19:28We know how you roll, Dan.
19:31Yeah.
19:32Honestly, I was trying to help you downstate.
19:34I really feel like, you know, you guys are probably the best sports talk show in the state of New
19:40York now.
19:41I'm being serious.
19:43When I say the fan in New York isn't what it used to be, I don't want to use that
19:46in regards to the compliment,
19:48because it sounds like a backhanded compliment.
19:50But I do think, so I'm trying to help you downstate.
19:52I see.
19:53You know, people listen online.
19:54And when I say Mike and the Bulldog, people are like, wait a minute.
19:57You know, the Mike and the Mad Dog thing.
19:59So I was trying to do some marketing for you downstate.
20:03But getting back to the receiver thing, you're absolutely right, Bulldog.
20:07Omar Cooper was primarily a slot receiver last year for the Indiana Hoosiers.
20:11He's very good in the slot.
20:13And Adonai Mitchell is an outside guy.
20:15And here's another thing, you know, watching the minicamp, not to give away too much of what you see there,
20:20but this guy, you know who their team MVP was last year?
20:24This is how, once again, I want to do a backhanded compliment, but this was their returner,
20:30was the team MVP, Isaiah Williams, the kick and punt returner, was the team MVP.
20:35And watching in the spring, he's also a really, really good slot receiver.
20:40So with Cooper, while they like him a lot and he's going to play a lot, they also love Isaiah
20:45Williams.
20:45And if Cooper's in the slot splitting time with Isaiah Williams, I'm just trying to help you with your fantasy
20:51team.
20:51I think they like Cooper a lot, but I think he could be in the slot platooning with Isaiah Williams.
20:56So just something to chew on.
20:59It's a tough situation when the kick returner, punt returner is the team MVP.
21:03There's probably drought years here in the Bills past where Brian Mormon might have been that for the Bills.
21:09Or at least people would say, like, he's my favorite player or something.
21:13It would just be like, come on.
21:14How about the Heisman?
21:15Didn't the Heisman Trophy winner go to that school?
21:17He wasn't the team MVP?
21:19Mendoza?
21:20No, no, we saw him at the Jets last year.
21:22Oh, okay.
21:23The Jets last year.
21:23Isaiah Williams, the slot receiver who's going to platoon with Cooper in the slot,
21:30Isaiah Williams was the Jets MVP last year.
21:32Okay.
21:33Kick and punt returner.
21:34That makes sense that Bulldog would mention Mormon.
21:38Brees Hall, before you go, real quick.
21:40Brees Hall signed.
21:41He was sort of cryptic in his social media stuff, do what you want with that.
21:45He ends up getting paid.
21:46Is he going to be three downs at this point, or is Braylon Allen interesting?
21:50What about the backfield, real quick?
21:53Yeah, Braylon Allen, I don't know if you saw that nugget the other day, 250 pounds now.
21:586'1", 250, very little fat.
22:01Look, I'm 5'11", 170.
22:03I got a bigger gut than that guy does.
22:05I mean, that guy, and he said he didn't try to gain the weight.
22:08It just came on naturally.
22:10He's 23 years old.
22:11So, you know, you're going to have that thunder and lightning kind of thing there.
22:14He's going to be the short yards back.
22:16Brees Hall is a three-down back.
22:18Allen will platoon once in a while, but it's mainly the whole show.
22:21This is the guy who's obviously one of the better backs in the league, but also an unbelievable receiver, guys.
22:27He's got the hands of a top-shelf receiver, the ball-tracking skills of a top-shelf receiver.
22:33So, Frank Wright's going to love this guy.
22:35They're going to throw to him a ton.
22:37Yeah, it'll be the Brees Hall show at running back.
22:39But Allen in short-yarded situations at 250 now, that'll be part of the scheme as well.
22:45Thank you, Dan, as always.
22:48Stay out of Midtown Manhattan on game nights the rest of this for the next few days, I would say.
22:55Probably stay away from that area.
22:56I think I will, and it's always great to be on the West Her Hotline.
23:00Yes.
23:01Thank you, Dan.
23:01Talk to you soon again.
23:02Wonderful.
23:03Bye-bye.
23:03All right.
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