One guy nobody is talking about as a potential replacement for Kerry Rhodes is James Ihedigbo. James has mostly been a special teamer during his time with the Jets. He's probably best known for two critical penalties on kickoff returns. One came in 2008 against the 49ers that negated a Leon Washington touchdown and caused Mike Westhoff to give the officals an tongue lashing. The second was a critical personal foul on the overtime kickoff against the Bills in 2009, which proved costly as the Jets botched a long field goal attempt on that drive in a bitter loss.
James is a guy who stuck out to me a lot at the end of the season. On third downs he had a lot of success as a blitzer. He's looked pretty quick and athletic. Does he have the strength to play the run on the cover skills to be successful against the pass? I don't think anybody except those in practice could say. Rex has done a great job turning no names into quality players, though.
He may be nothing more than a substitute, but maybe the coaching staff sees enough in him to give him a shot at the job. I couldn't say one way or the other, but just tuck his name in the back of your mind if the team doesn't make a bold move to address the position.