Sportsnaut
The New York Jets didn’t exactly distinguish themselves in a 31-12 preseason loss to the New York Giants on Saturday at MetLife Stadium.
To be fair, most of the damage on the scoreboard came in the second half, when the Giants reserves badly outplayed the second, third and fourth stringers from the Jets. It was 7-6 Giants at halftime when more familiar faces populated the playing field.
Still, there was enough of a sample size to to make valid opinions on several Jets players based on performances from their second preseason game.
So, let’s dive into the Jets stock report, with several key risers and fallers.
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Braelon Allen is in the midst of an excellent training camp, and continued the good vibes Saturday, leading the Jets with 34 yards rushing on seven carries. His 4.9 yards per carry was buoyed by how many of those yards came after contact. The 21-year-old is an absolute truck coming at defenders, and impressed yet again battering the talented front four and linebacking corps of the Giants.
It’s more than the fact that Justin Fields was one of five through the air, a four-yard completion to rookie tight end Jason Taylor. It’s that he averaged 3.9 yards in the air on those five pass attempts. Fields is not even looking to get the ball downfield, continuing a trend from the preseason opener, a 30-10 win over the Green Bay Packers, and throughout an uneven training camp. He was 0-for-3 targeting Garrett Wilson, and is now 0-for-5 in the preseason looking the sy=tud receiver’s way. It’s not a secret that the Jets will be a run-heavy offense with Allen and Breece Hall leading the way this season, but Fields must show the ability to do more than dink and dunk in order to keep opposing defenses honest.
It feels like Kene Nwangwu locked up a spot on the 53-man roster Saturday. Already the favorite to be the kick return specialist, considering his four career TDs as a returner, Nwangwu had a 38-yard KO return to open the game against the Giants. He later made a great diving play in punt coverage to pin the Giants inside their own 10 yard line. And with Isiah Davis sidelined with an ankle injury, Nwangwu got extra reps as the third running back, and average 5.2 yards per carry (31 yards on 6 rushes).
The Jets invested pretty significantly in Andre Cisco this offseason. They signed the former Jacksonville Jaguars safety to a one-year, $8.5 million contract to be a starter for them after Pro Football Focus graded him 106th out of 171 players at his position last season. Of the 35 defensive players who saw action for the Jets on Saturday, Cisco had the worst overall grade...
