Jamaal Westerman was one of the hits of training camp. The Post talks about how the rookie is taking a bigger role on defense.
What hasn't the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Westerman done? A defensive end at Rutgers, he's been moved to outside linebacker, then inside linebacker and now calls plays on the field for the second team. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano's penchant for having his defenders learn the whole scheme instead of just their assignments is serving Westerman well.
It's very impressive to see a rookie have such command of a complicated playbook to be making the calls.
This is the kind of thing that makes me really excited for Rex Ryan. A lot of people dismiss the job he did in Baltimore because of all the talent he was handed on defense. How about guys like Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard who went from undrafted free agents into big money free agents because of how Rex developed them? Westerman looks like the next great Ryan project.