Jets Studs & Duds Scorecard: Week 2

By Michael Nania@Michael_Nania Sep 18, 2019, 11:22am EDT

Following each Jets game this season, I’ll be participating in the post-game tradition of listing out the studs and duds of the Jets’ previous game — but with a new twist.

Each player listed, whether they were a stud or a dud, is capable of earning up to five points positively or negatively, depending on how good or bad their performance was. In total, the scores of each player listed will add up to match the Jets’ scoring margin from their game that week. This past Monday night, the Jets fell by 20 points to the Browns, so the combined point total of every player listed below will add up to -20.

At the end of the season, I’m hoping this scorecard system will help us get a good look at which players had the biggest impacts on the team, both positive and negative.

As an added note, no coaches (or general managers) will be involved in these lists.

The studs earn the privileges of having some nice colors attached to their name, while the duds merely get tagged with various levels of badness.

Studs: Gotham Green (5 points), Platinum (4), Gold (3), Silver (2), Bronze (1)
Duds: Level 5 (-5 points), Level 4 (-4), etc.

Here are my studs and duds from the Jets’ Week 2 loss.

Studs

Le’Veon Bell - Gotham Green (5 points)

For the second week in a row, Le’Veon Bell needed to do all of the heavy lifting himself. And he delivered yet again. Bell forced 11 missed tackles, leading the league for the second week in a row. He has racked up a total of 20 avoided tackles so far, six more than any other player in the league (Austin Ekeler is second with 14).

It’s not a good sign when the team’s lead back is forced to do so much hard work just to be competent. Bell’s efficiency numbers were not great, as he rushed for 68 yards on 21 carries (3.2 per attempt) and caught for 61 yards on 10 catches (6.1 per catch).

However, if an average running back were getting those touches, it’s likely that the efficiency numbers would be significantly worse than even those mediocre numbers. Bell’s playmaking ability has kept the Jets offense from being completely unable to move the football. Based on their performance so far, it seems fair to think the Jets may not have scored a single point on offense thus far without the contributions of Bell.

One of the big questions surrounding Bell was whether his year off would lead to him dealing with rust or if it would lead to him playing fresher. So far, it’s obviously been the latter. Bell is playing elite football. Hopefully the Jets can get everything else together and make the most of his talent while he’s still playing at a high level.

Steve McLendon - Silver (2 points)

Strong game for McLendon. He was in on four run tackles short of the sticks for two yards or less. That total tied him for the second-most among defensive tackles in Week 2 (Derek Wolfe led the pack with five).

McLendon and Bell are the only Jets who are appearing in the positive section of this list for the second week in a row to start the season.

Nate Hairston - Silver (2 points)

The Jets benched their richest defensive back in favor of Hairston, and they actually got improved results. Hairston stayed quiet in coverage throughout most of the game. He was victimized by Beckham on an insane one-handed catch in the first quarter, but after that, Hairston didn’t allow a catch until garbage time. He made his presence felt early, as on the next drive following the Beckham play, Hairston forced an incompletion by clobbering David Njoku on an underneath pass.

Hairston did have a killer holding call, as he was penalized before deflecting the pass on a fourth & 2 play. Cleveland scored a touchdown on the next snap.

Darryl Roberts - Silver (2 points)

Roberts had a solid game in coverage after a terrible season debut. Across eight targets, he allowed five catches for only 35 yards and one first down.

The Jets’ chances of winning were pretty much spent at the time, but with under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Roberts made a nice interception on a pass intended for Beckham.

Tackling was an issue, though, as Roberts was credited with a pair of misses.

Robby Anderson - Bronze (1 point)

Anderson put up some nice production, especially given the quarterback situation. He caught four of six targets for 81 yards, with all four of his receptions resulting in 10-plus yards and a first down. In the first quarter, he had a 31-yard reception wiped out by a Kelvin Beachum penalty.

Tarell Basham - Bronze (1 point)

Basham had a very active game in ways both positive and negative. He racked up seven pressures, including a nice sack off the edge. That total of seven pressures tied Basham for fifth among edge defenders in Week 2. He also was in on a pair of run stuffs, and helped stop another run short of the sticks on third down.

However, Basham did have a pair of missed tackles, as he was one of many Jets defenders who had a hard time finishing plays against the Browns.

Blake Cashman - Bronze (1 point)

The rookie had a nice bounceback game after a rocky debut. He was credited with allowing just one catch (on one target) for -1 yards over 29 coverage snaps, stopping Odell Beckham on a key third & short in the first quarter. His tackling was sound throughout the game.

Duds

Brian Poole - Level 1

Poole actually posted good coverage numbers for the second game in a row. Across seven targets, he was credited with allowing only two catches for 11 yards and no first downs. That makes up for the poor game he had otherwise. Poole missed a pair of tackles, including one that could’ve stopped Nick Chubb’s touchdown run. He was also caught out of position on a few other run plays. In addition, he may have been partially at fault for the coverage on Beckham’s touchdown, although it seems Neville Hewitt was the primary culprit there.

Henry Anderson - Level 1

No egregious penalties from Anderson this week, but he produced only one hurry across 30 pass-rushing snaps.

Trevor Siemian - Level 1

Siemian was ineffective before leaving the game, completing three of six passes for three yards. On the play in which he was injured, he failed to see a wide open Josh Bellamy in the middle of the field.

Josh Bellamy- Level 2

As just mentioned, Bellamy was wide open for a big gain on a play in the first half, but Siemian missed him.

However, Bellamy would later drop an extremely easy uncontested ball on a pass from Falk. It would’ve been at least an 18-yard gain to get the Jets moving down the field with under a minute left in the half. At worst, the Jets could have milked the clock and went into halftime trailing 13-3. Instead, Bellamy’s drop would lead to the Jets punting the ball back to the Browns and giving up a field goal going into the half.

Overall, Bellamy caught one pass for five yards (a garbage time dump-off) over 28 receiving snaps.

Jamison Crowder - Level 2

Unproductive game for Crowder, who finished with four catches for 40 yards across six targets and 40 receiving snaps. 30 of those yards came on a play in garbage time.

Ryan Griffin - Level 2

Griffin has blocked poorly thus far, and he hasn’t made up for it in the receiving game at all.

Kelechi Osemele - Level 2

Osemele has not been as egregiously bad as some of his teammates, but he has struggled in both phases thus far. He has not been able to bounce back to his peak form, appearing to continue the decline that seemed to begin last season.

Leonard Williams - Level 2

Williams continues to produce big plays at a shockingly low level. Against the Browns, he had numerous opportunities to come up with sacks or stuffs that he failed to finish. Evidence continues to mount that Williams is not unlucky, but simply a poor finisher, limiting his impact (and contract value).

Big plays aside, Williams’ performance was poor in this game. Value PFF grades as you wish (they graded Brian Winters better than Bell this week), but in Week 2, Williams was given the second-worst overall grade among interior defensive tackles to play at least half of their team’s snaps. In particular, he had the worst grade in run defense.

Neville Hewitt - Level 3

Hewitt made some big plays in Week 1, but they masked some other mistakes. In Week 2, Hewitt’s deficiencies were exposed. He was in on numerous coverage busts, most notably the game-sealing 89-yard touchdown reception by Beckham in the third quarter.

Marcus Maye - Level 3

Maye had a strong game in Week 1, but he was exposed on Monday Night Football. Most notably, his whiffed “tackle” on Beckham’s touchdown was one of the most embarrassing you will ever see.

Brandon Shell - Level 3

Shell had a few poor missed blocks in both the run and pass game. He also had a false start. Blame should be spread across the entire line for their brutal performance thus far.

Brian Winters - Level 3

Winters continues to do a poor job creating any push in the run game, consistently being shoved into the backfield and forcing Bell to make quick decisions.

Ryan Kalil - Level 4

It’s starting to look like the decision to bring Kalil out of retirement was a mistake. He has looked brutal in all aspects, appearing to be washed up.

Against Cleveland, the communication issues up front were abound once again, while Kalil was again manhandled in one-on-one battles.

It appears the Jets may be quickly realizing their mistake and turning to Jonotthan Harrison. Harrison has been a low-level starting talent in his career, but that is certainly a tier or two above the quality that Kalil has provided thus far. In addition, Harrison spent the entire offseason with the team, while he played with Shell and Winters last season. The chemistry and communication would likely receive a significant boost.

Kelvin Beachum - Level 5

Beachum is my first Level 5 dud of the season, as he was the most egregiously poor offensive lineman against Cleveland. He was credited with allowing five pressures. Two of those were sacks by Myles Garrett, who absolutely dominated Beachum throughout the night in both phases. Beachum also racked up three penalties, one of them a holding call that wiped out a 31-yard catch by Robby Anderson. Garrett may have gotten another sack (it would have been his first at the time) had Beachum not held him.

For the past couple of seasons, Beachum has given the Jets above replacement level play at left tackle, but he has been egregiously bad through two games in 2019. The Jets need to seriously consider making a switch to Alex Lewis or Chuma Edoga on the left side if Beachum has another game as bad his last two.

Here is a look at the Week 2 scorecard: