This might be something to help us pass the time?
BGA: Scouting the UDFAs – Part One (Offense)
May 30th, 2015 10:00 am
BentBent, theJetsBlog.com: As regular TJB readers know, we don’t usually cover rookies in Bent’s Game Analysis. However, we’ve been looking at this year’s draft class in great detail so, this year, we’re going to provide in-depth scouting reports covering each of the Jets draft picks, as well as any undrafted free agent signings.
We’ve already covered the Jets’ draft picks (which you can see here), so now we’re moving on to look at the undrafted free agents the Jets have retained on their 90-man roster. We’ll cover these in three parts, starting today with offensive players.
After the jump, we’ll be looking in detail at what tight end Wes Saxton, fullback JC Copeland and quarterback Jake Heaps have to offer.
Quarterback Jake Heaps
Jake Heaps is a 23-year old quarterback who played collegiately at BYU, Kansas and Miami. He lacks ideal size (6’1″, 208) but is described as a pro-style quarterback with good mechanics and a solid arm. He entered 2010 rated as the top quarterback prospect in the Nation, but after a tumultuous college career was not on many draft radars entering the offseason.
Heaps did a decent job as a freshman at BYU, completing 57% of his passes and throwing for 15 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He led BYU to six wins in his 10 starts, really finding his feet down the stretch as BYU went on a 5-1 streak which concluded with him throwing eight touchdowns and no interceptions over the last three wins. He threw for 294 yards and two scores against UNLV and then followed that up with four touchdown passes against Colorado State. He had another four touchdown passes in the team’s bowl game against UTEP.
Despite his solid second season, Heaps apparently found it hard to win over his team mates, something that was attributed at the time to his immaturity. He also developed a few bad habits (forcing throws, throwing off his back foot under pressure) and eventually lost his starting job in his second season, despite recording the only 300-yard game of his career against Utah. After transferring to Kansas to play under Charlie Weis, he had to redshirt 2012 and couldn’t lock down a starting role in 2013. He did throw for 279 yards and a score against Louisiana Tech, but he also had two picks and this was his only 200-yard game with the Jayhawks.
Heaps transferred again, to Miami, but only threw 12 passes in four relief appearances as he was again unable to establish himself. At his pro day, he put up poor-to-below average numbers in most categories, although he did manage to run the three cone drill in under seven seconds, something only five quarterbacks managed to do at the combine.
Sadly, Heaps is probably best know for this blooper. However, here’s a creative way of showing off his accuracy.
When they added Heaps to the mix, the Jets had five quarterbacks on their roster and had pretty much already stated that they will cut down to four before camp. It was therefore thought that he might just be an extra arm for OTAs and nothing more, but surprisingly the Jets released Matt Simms earlier this week to get back down to four.
Heaps’ collegiate resume is actually better than that of Simms, though. He received much more in the way of playing time and narrowly outperformed him in terms of completion percentage (54.7% to 54.5%) and TD/INT ration (1.2 to 1.0). Simms did have better numbers for yards per attempt (6.9 to 5.8) but in terms of being a quarterback with the raw tools that didn’t really get much opportunity in college, the two are more or less equivalent. Therefore, it’s perhaps not that surprising that they decided to proceed with the cheaper Heaps as a long-term project in place of Simms, who no longer has any practice squad eligibility.
Fullback JC Copeland
Unlike the rest of the players we’ll be covering in this series, the 23-year old JC Copeland isn’t actually a rookie. Copeland was already in camp with the Dallas Cowboys last year having gone undrafted.
Copeland was a converted defensive lineman who moved to fullback while at LSU and played a key role as a lead blocker for the Tigers. He is absolutely huge (5’11”, 271) and is aggressive and powerful. However, his athletic measurables are poor and he has a tendency to try and light up his target when blocking, rather than drive them out of the play.
As you’d expect with a player of this type, Copeland has some spectacular blocks on his highlight reel. (Here’s one from the FXFL, where Copeland played last season after failing to make the Cowboys roster). However, as John Conner found out, when you get to the pros, players are going to bounce off your hits and you need to get better at sustaining blocks to be successful.
There was evidence of this in his preseason appearances with the Cowboys. Copeland played in three games, but was only out there on offense for two snaps in each game. On one play, he took a bad angle and his man beat him inside to stuff a run in the hole. On another, he lit up a blitzing linebacker but this knocked him off balance so he wasn’t available as a checkdown option for the quarterback who had to take a sack. On another play, he let his man get off his block at the second level, although the run went the other way. He also had one play where he allowed his man into the backfield and even though he was able to block him to the ground, that penetration led to the run being stuffed.
Copeland is a fiery character, as demonstrated in this notorious interview at last year’s Collegiate Bowl (where he scored two short yardage touchdowns). However, he also needs to keep that under control as he has had a tendency to commit dead-ball penalties after the whistle.
Copeland has been a weapon at times in the passing game, although he lacks natural hands and also contributes as a short yardage back. However, it’s as a lead-blocking fullback that he will need to establish himself to have a chance at making the Jets roster. Still, with former John Idzik draft pick Tommy Bohanon as his only competition, it does seem like he has a realistic shot. That’s if offensive co-ordinator Chan Gailey even opts to carry a fullback on the roster.
Tight End Wes Saxton
21-year old Wes Saxton is listed at 6’4″ and 235 pounds and was regarded as a potential mid-round pick entering the 2014 season. He showcased excellent speed and explosiveness at the combine and is the kind of player who can contribute in a H-Back or “move” TE role as well as being able to line up in the backfield or in the slot.
Saxton is a player I’m extremely familiar with, having watched every South Alabama game this season. However, his performances this season might not be entirely representative of his potential. He struggled through much of the season with an ankle injury and ended up catching just 20 passes, only five of which went for more than 10 yards. He also had some issues with dropped passes.
However, in 2012 and 2013, the former junior college transfer showcased much more in terms of being able to get downfield and make plays. He caught a career-best 50 passes in 2013 and averaged over 12 yards per catch in each season.
Saxton isn’t regarded as much of a blocker and lacks ideal size to play inline at the pro level. However, in terms of playing the tight end role in Chan Gailey’s offense, which would require him to contribute in the passing game from the slot and block on the perimeter, Saxton may have the kind of skill-set to make him a good fit.
I made a series of gifs – all from 2014 – to demonstrate some of the things Saxton is capable of.
Here’s one of those rare receptions for more than 10 yards and this one does come from in-line. Note how he sells the play-action (and Brandon Bridge ran play-action less than 10% of the time, less than all but one player from last year’s class), by acting like he’s whiffing on a second level block.
From the same game, he shows that while he may be limited as a blocker, he can still make contributions in that area. Lining up as an H-Back on the left, he gets downhill before the outside linebacker and gets enough of him to prevent him from slowing down the runner from the backside.
Saxton is in more of a fullback position here, but he leads the way for Bridge on a roll-out. As you can see, he is able to get a physical advantage against a defensive back and he proves that here by driving him backwards.
Early on in their bowl game, South Alabama ran three plays where Saxton was lead-blocking. One saw Bridge roll out right for 10 on a designed keeper. This one sees him lining up on the right and doing an excellent job of downfield blocking on his man.
Later in the same game, Saxton did a good job of engaging a linebacker in space and moving him laterally to create a running lane over the right side.
However, I don’t want to give the impression that Saxton is a flawless blocker. Here we see him whiff on a block in space, something which he needs to become more consistent at avoiding.
Against major conference opposition in the form of South Carolina, Saxton flashes the ability to get downdfield here, catching a 16-yard pass down the seam. Interestingly, four of the five 10+ yard catches he had were in the first quarter, suggesting they perhaps made an effort to get him involved by targeting him early, but it didn’t translate to any kind of consistent production.
Against the same opposition, Saxton performs a kick-out block on the right side here, actually driving his man to the ground.
Finally, here’s a play where he takes a short pass and turns upfield to create yards after the catch. That was one of the only such plays he managed to make in 2014, so it was good to see him demonstrate that at least once.
Often when a team acquires several undrafted free agents, there will be plenty of buzz surrounding those players who were well-known and perhaps expected to get selected a lot sooner. Usually, though, those players have fallen for a reason and Saxton’s disappointing 2014 campaign hurt his chances of getting drafted. Still, he has showed some ability earlier on in his career and the fact that he proved his athletic credentials at the combine perhaps means he will be in the mix at a position where there should definitely be playing time opportunities available for anyone who can excel in preseason.
Conclusions
This is an interesting “round eight” haul so far from the Jets. While it wouldn’t surprise me to see any of these three names kicked to the kerb before we get to camp, you can envisage a situation for each of them that would see them remaining with the team going forwards.
Heaps may have the ceiling of camp arm, but with Simms gone there might be a spot for him if he can show a glimmer of promise. Copeland might be an outside bet to beat out Bohanon, but he has more chance than last year’s number two fullback, Chad Young, who – if you recall – had outstanding film but was too small.
As for Saxton, his poor 2014 campaign remains a concern. Obviously the injury was a factor, but I wonder if he focused too much on improving his blocking and this ate into his productivity in the passing game. For someone not regarded as a blocker, he did show some promise that he could develop into someone who contributes positively in a “move” role. The tight end position should be interesting to watch because it doesn’t seem like either starting role or the third tight end spot are secure. Saxton will need to make the most of any opportunities he gets, though.
Part two of our three-part look at the undrafted free agents will follow in a few days’ time.
