Reaper
Footballguy
I don't play IDP but, I found this story interesting - Also with the Jets front 7 much improved and Darrelle Revis looking like a real good CB and Rhodes at SS..... This kid sounds like a ballhawk and may get a real good opportunity at FS for some stats...
Any opinions?
Hello Jets Fans,
I just wanted to take a moment to share with the Jets community a little more insight as to Dwight Lowery the Football Player, as well as the person. Let me start by saying, though, Dwight is SO stoked to go and play for the NY Jets, and for all of you, the fans!!! He is already rocking NY Jets gear (he already had NY Jets apparel before he was drafted). He takes Football very seriously. He is a true student of the game and of the DB positions. He will do everything he can to contribute to the success of the NY Jets team and franchise. He wont let you down.
For those concerned, I assure you, he will not be a bust. Have faith in your FO. Your team has done more research than most. While most of you know that Dwight played Safety in JUCO, ...when the New England Patriots Defensive Coach and the General Manager for the Atlanta Falcons flew out here to visit with him, neither of them had any idea that Dwight played Safety during his time at the JC level. A couple so-called local teams here in CA didnt even know he played Safety. He is a very versatile player and has had many interceptions at both the CB and Safety positions. ...Keep in mind he played Safety at the JC level and Corner at the D-1 level, ...not the other way around. It is a much more difficult transition to go from Safety to Corner than it is Corner to Safety. Not only did he make this transition successfully, he did so while simultaneously making the jump to a higher level of game play (JUCO to D1). When he first went to SJ State, he wasnt given any respect and was looked at like a third stringer. Thats what everyone thought of him, even the coaching staff, ...until they started practicing. Dwight tore it up in practice and scrimmages and not only earned his starting position, but did well enough to co-lead the nation in interceptions his first year at that level and at that position, as well as earning his First Team All-American status. Keep in mind that while he had 13 picks in 25 games, ...he had 49, I believe, in his last 60 games. Thats just a sick stat. So savage. In one game he had 42 of his teams 52 points. That would even be savage in Basketball, but he did this in a Football game, 7 touchdowns.
Dwight has been working exceptionally hard since the season ended. He only took about 7-10 days before we were back at it, training hard in preparation for the NFL season, and working on his weaknesses. He is a better player now than he was even during last season, and he will continue to get better. As I said, he is a true student of the game and of the DB positions. Im sure under the tutelage of Mangini and the Jets defensive staff, he will continue to flourish as a player and he will definitely contribute to the success of of the NY Jets team and franchise. He wants to *dominate* every player he plays against, and he is willing to work his ### off to make it happen.
He isnt tiny as some people in this thread have said. He was the biggest defensive back at the East/West Shrine game, bigger than some of the linebackers. Hes 6 and a very lean and solid 202 lbs. (All natural) The men in his family, father, uncles, etc, have traditionally put on a little more size in their early to mid twenties. He will likely get up to 210, maybe even 215, naturally, WITHOUT losing any speed, especially with the way we train.
As for the whole speed issue. He went into the Combine having not been able to train much for 11 days due to a hamstring pull. It was somewhat a lose/lose situation for him as he would have been looked down upon had he not competed and yet was not anywhere near full capacity. Also, when he ran his drills on the first day, he was coming off of 2 hours sleep due to flight delays, missed flight, being left at the airport by the NFL, (seriously, that was lame), and being woken up early in the am for mandatory drug testing (all players were woken up for drug testing). By the time he actually was able to check-in and walked into his hotel room it was 11:00 pm Pacific, 2:00 am your time. He was woken up at 4:00 am your time for the mandatory drug testing, and after that it was to medical exams, etc. There was no time to sleep before he had to perform. ...During sprint training with his sprinting coach, Aaron Thigpenn, he ran a 4.34, 4.35, 4.31, and a 4.33. And as someone had mentioned, straight line speed does not translate to football speed. His football speed, though, is fast and explosive. His mentality is, there is no way in hell anyone else is going to get that ball.
I dont think either speed nor size will be an issue.
As I mentioned, he studies a LOT of film. During a meeting with the San Diego Chargers, Dwight ended up in a film room watching some game tape with the Head Coach, Norve Turner, and the Offensive Coaching staff. The footage was of Chargers games played last season against various opponents. He recognized a play they had run and knew right away that Norve Turner ran the EXACT same play against Deion Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys in 94 when he was with the San Francisco 49ers. (He showed me the play from the SF/Dallas game.) He almost belted it out, but held back at the last moment because, as he said, he didnt want them to know just how much he knows and studies the game, because he may well be playing against them. ...I dont think his study habits will be a problem.
As far as his numbers falling off somewhat his Senior year compared to his Junior year, part of that was he missed several games during the season. But another component that played a major factor was that teams quit throwing to him. (Hence, the nickname ECLIPSE). What is a CB to do when the team only throws to him twice in the whole game, or even 5 times in the whole game? Any corner, I dont care who they are, would have a tough time putting up high interception numbers if they only get challenged by the other team 2 to 5 times a game. During one game (please forgive me as I can not remember exactly which game it was) they did not throw to him the entire first half, ...until late within the last 2-minutes of the half because they wanted to try to score before half-time. The ONE pass they finally threw to the man he was covering, Dwight intercepted. It was so sick!
He has never really been taught how to tackle, either in high-school, Cabrillo, or SJ State. Just as he had never had any coaching in sprinting mechanics before working with Aaron Thigpenn shortly before the Combine, yet when he is taught something, he works it on his own repeatedly until he has it down. ...Then hell work it some more. He WANTS to tackle and lay people out. He has such a savage mentality of wanting to dominate every player he plays against. I love it! Again, under the tutelage of Mangini and the NY Jets defensive coaching staff, Im sure he will improve in his tackling if this is an area that he needs to work on.
Character issues will not be a problem as he is just not the type of person to end up in situations that would be bad for him or for the team. He is devoted to his sport, his craft and his family. Football, Family and his Faith are the most important things to him. (He often would drive back home from SJ--an hours commute--to watch his little sister while his mom was at work). He doesnt really drink at all, either. He has a strong sense of Honor and Loyalty and is one of the greater people I know. Over the years of getting to know Dwight, he has not only become one of my best friends, but is one of the very few people I can say I truly trust. I do NOT say that lightly. My trusting him completely speaks directly to his character and to who he is as a person. ...He will not end up in situations that would hurt the team.
Im not only his friend, but I happen to be his Strength-&-Conditioning Coach as well. Ive had the opportunity to work with him for over two years now. Ive worked with athletes on all levels from virtually all sports over my 11 years of Coaching thus far, many who have dominated in their sport. Dwight is by far one of the most disciplined athletes I have had an opportunity to work with. He has developed an unparalleled work ethic. He studies film on average, 5 times a week. He works on some aspect of his footwork and field drills 5 or 6 days a week. He trains with me about 5 days a week. He works sprinting mechanics and runs sprints several days a week. He stretches every day and works on his IT-Bands and other trigger points almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He watches his diet closely, often times weighing and measuring his food. He VERY rarely ever drinks. When he hits the gym, its always some aspect of the Olympic-Lifts (Clean-&-Jerk, Snatch, Split-Jerk, Power-Clean, Snatch-Balance, etc), the foundational lifts (Overhead-Squat, Back-Squat, Front-Squat, RDLs, Thrusters, etc), gymnastics elements (Iron-cross, weighted pull-ups, handstand-pushups, front-levers, back-levers, muscle-ups, etc), as well as various medicine-ball drills, plyometrics, core-work, etc, often while wearing a weighted vest and weighted compression shorts. We will often hit these movements after an all out sprint, so he is getting exposure to a violent and explosive movement while at max heart-rate. He is training not only to be strong, fast and explosive, but to be strong, fast and explosive while at max heart-rates, as well as maximizeing his recovery time. ...Remember the Monday Night Football game back in 2000, the Miracle at the Meadowlands? ...The Jets comeback over the Dolphins, where, after being hopelessly down 30-7 at the end of the third quarter, the NY Jets didnt take a single huddle in the fourth quarter and came back to win, 40-37. (I believe it was the biggest comeback in Monday Night Football History.) ...Dwight is preparing himself for such events. (That was one of my favorite games of all time, btw.)
I am not trying to talk up our strength-&-conditioning program, nor am I trying to inflate Dwights image. Im trying to let you, the fans, know just how serious this kid is about football, and that when he is training, he is busting his ### working on elements that are going to directly transfer to his ability to perform. He wants to learn and he wants to improve, and he hes willing to work hard for it. He wants to dominate the DB posistions. ...Ultimately though, none of what I say matters. Im not trying to convince you or prove to you Dwights worth. That will be up to Dwight to do. He will prove his worth. He will earn your trust and respect, not only by what he does on the field, but by how he carries himself off the field.
Sorry for the length of this post, and thank you for your time. ...There is a huge evolution of Jets fans here in the Bay Area. I cant wait till the season starts!!!
Jason J-Dogg Highbarger
crossfitnsc.com
crossfitog.blogspot.com
Jets Fans Community,
Again, thank you for your time. As I said, I just wanted to share with all of you a little more insight as to who your team chose with their third pick. I know Dwight will work hard to represent the NY Jets Team, Franchise, and community of loyal Fans, well.
As for regular updates, ...I'll continue with updates when I can, so long as Dwight is cool with it and I have his permission to do so. Understand though, I won't be discussing his personal life. ...You never know, ...he might start posting here sometime when he gets a chance. ...He's busy studying the play book right now though.
Just to clarify, while I have been working with Dwight for over two years now, I am definitely NOT the Strength-&-Conditioning Coach for SJSU. I am my own independent S&C Coach working out of CrossFit North Santa Cruz, and have been with CrossFit for over ten years. Dwight and I work together privately in a 1-on-1 setting. Personally, I have a lot of problems with the SJSU strength program. I pretty much think it sucks. Bodybuilding like you see in the magazines does not translate to performance on the field or in any sport for that matter. SJSU doesn’t have Olympic-Lifts because, as the head Strength Coach at SJSU says; “Not everyone can learn them”. ...Which is absolute BS. Hearing such a comment by a S&C Coach for a University is infuriating. What it really comes down to is that he either isn’t confident in his ability to effectively teach the movements, or he simply doesn’t want to take the time to teach everyone. I think it’s a combination of the two. Being a good Coach requires, among other things, being a good teacher. While people do learn different things at different paces, EVERYONE can learn the movements if they have a Coach who is willing to work with all the athletes and invest the time necessary to ensure that every student and athlete learns the movements.
But let me digress. (Sorry. “My bad.”) ...Sometimes I really don’t mind being the guy who says what needs to be said.
As for the questions regarding where Dwight could play, I know it might sound like a generic answer, but I know Dwight would embrace whichever role the Coaching Staff felt he was best suited for.
I know he will do well as a Punt Returner on Special Teams. As for the CB or Safety debate, ...In all sincerity, I truly feel that Dwight has all the potential to become one of the few TRUE “shut down corners”. (I know they are very rare.) I don’t make that statement as a friend of Dwight’s, but as a Coach. Based on his intelligence and his understanding of the game, as well as his outstanding work-ethic, he really could become a true shut down corner. While it might be a bit of an adjustment, I think he will definitely be able to adjust to the “speed of the game” at the next level and be successful in covering the top receivers in the game. He studies the tendencies of QB’s and Receivers and acknowledges the subtleties, almost like how a professional poker player “reads” their opponents.
With that said, however, I think he might enjoy the Safety position a little more as it plays well into his strengths and gives him more freedom to see the plays developing and make a play on the ball. As many of you have acknowledged, he is a real “ball hawk”. He has great anticipation and instincts. His ability to read plays and see things developing, combined with his attention to detail when it comes to studying the tendencies of quarterbacks and receivers, play well into the Safety position. And as nyjetsfan mentioned, it might be a faster or smoother transition adjusting to Safety at the next level than it would be Corner. In the Friday night game that was televised during prime-time on ESPN, (Hawaii @ SJSU), when he got the interception during the first play of the second half, he recognized the play and said it was the exact same play that Hawaii ran to start the first half. For those who missed that game, he ALMOST had TWO interceptions in that game (the “almost” one still pisses him off.--He feel’s he shoulda had that one). He also had San Jose’s first 2 touchdowns, one off of the interception he made to start the second half that he ran back for a TD, and one off a Punt-Return that he ran back for a TD near the end of the first half. ...That game was put on ESPN prime-time to showcase Colt Brennan, but I think Dwight kinda took Colt’s thunder and stole the show. The broadcasters said at one point, “Hawaii, 14, Dwight Lowery, 14.” lol (There is a pic of him making that interception on the NY Jets web site in the lil photo album they have of Dwight. He actually took it right out of the receivers hands the very instant he caught it. It was almost instantaneous. If you have an opportunity to actually watch the play, it was funny as hell because the receiver literally did a double take, looking to his right, then back at his hands, then to his right again to watch Dwight running into the end zone. I think for a moment he wasn’t even sure just what had happened. It was so funny. ...A good receiver too.)
While I truly feel that Dwight has the potential to become a true shut down corner, it might be a smoother transition for him starting at Safety. He is confident in his abilities at both positions and he likes both positions, but I know he really likes the idea of playing Safety as it gives him more freedom to make plays on the ball when he sees plays developing. As 1968jetsfan stated, the Safety position plays very well into his strengths, his instincts and great anticipation skills, and his ability to read plays and see things developing. I don’t have any doubt in his abilities as Corner, but I think he would enjoy the Safety position more.
...Ultimately though, it somewhat doesn’t matter much what we as fans think. It will be up to Mangini and the Defensive Coaching Staff to decide the best fit for Dwight into the NY Jets system depending on what they are trying to do on Defense.
...Regardless of what position Dwight ends up playing in the NFL, I truly believe that he has all the potential to become one of the best Defensive players to ever play the game. ...I make that statement as both, a Coach *and* his Friend.
Jason “J-Dogg” Highbarger
crossfitnsc.com
crossfitog.blogspot.com
Any opinions?
Hello Jets Fans,
I just wanted to take a moment to share with the Jets community a little more insight as to Dwight Lowery the Football Player, as well as the person. Let me start by saying, though, Dwight is SO stoked to go and play for the NY Jets, and for all of you, the fans!!! He is already rocking NY Jets gear (he already had NY Jets apparel before he was drafted). He takes Football very seriously. He is a true student of the game and of the DB positions. He will do everything he can to contribute to the success of the NY Jets team and franchise. He wont let you down.
For those concerned, I assure you, he will not be a bust. Have faith in your FO. Your team has done more research than most. While most of you know that Dwight played Safety in JUCO, ...when the New England Patriots Defensive Coach and the General Manager for the Atlanta Falcons flew out here to visit with him, neither of them had any idea that Dwight played Safety during his time at the JC level. A couple so-called local teams here in CA didnt even know he played Safety. He is a very versatile player and has had many interceptions at both the CB and Safety positions. ...Keep in mind he played Safety at the JC level and Corner at the D-1 level, ...not the other way around. It is a much more difficult transition to go from Safety to Corner than it is Corner to Safety. Not only did he make this transition successfully, he did so while simultaneously making the jump to a higher level of game play (JUCO to D1). When he first went to SJ State, he wasnt given any respect and was looked at like a third stringer. Thats what everyone thought of him, even the coaching staff, ...until they started practicing. Dwight tore it up in practice and scrimmages and not only earned his starting position, but did well enough to co-lead the nation in interceptions his first year at that level and at that position, as well as earning his First Team All-American status. Keep in mind that while he had 13 picks in 25 games, ...he had 49, I believe, in his last 60 games. Thats just a sick stat. So savage. In one game he had 42 of his teams 52 points. That would even be savage in Basketball, but he did this in a Football game, 7 touchdowns.
Dwight has been working exceptionally hard since the season ended. He only took about 7-10 days before we were back at it, training hard in preparation for the NFL season, and working on his weaknesses. He is a better player now than he was even during last season, and he will continue to get better. As I said, he is a true student of the game and of the DB positions. Im sure under the tutelage of Mangini and the Jets defensive staff, he will continue to flourish as a player and he will definitely contribute to the success of of the NY Jets team and franchise. He wants to *dominate* every player he plays against, and he is willing to work his ### off to make it happen.
He isnt tiny as some people in this thread have said. He was the biggest defensive back at the East/West Shrine game, bigger than some of the linebackers. Hes 6 and a very lean and solid 202 lbs. (All natural) The men in his family, father, uncles, etc, have traditionally put on a little more size in their early to mid twenties. He will likely get up to 210, maybe even 215, naturally, WITHOUT losing any speed, especially with the way we train.
As for the whole speed issue. He went into the Combine having not been able to train much for 11 days due to a hamstring pull. It was somewhat a lose/lose situation for him as he would have been looked down upon had he not competed and yet was not anywhere near full capacity. Also, when he ran his drills on the first day, he was coming off of 2 hours sleep due to flight delays, missed flight, being left at the airport by the NFL, (seriously, that was lame), and being woken up early in the am for mandatory drug testing (all players were woken up for drug testing). By the time he actually was able to check-in and walked into his hotel room it was 11:00 pm Pacific, 2:00 am your time. He was woken up at 4:00 am your time for the mandatory drug testing, and after that it was to medical exams, etc. There was no time to sleep before he had to perform. ...During sprint training with his sprinting coach, Aaron Thigpenn, he ran a 4.34, 4.35, 4.31, and a 4.33. And as someone had mentioned, straight line speed does not translate to football speed. His football speed, though, is fast and explosive. His mentality is, there is no way in hell anyone else is going to get that ball.
I dont think either speed nor size will be an issue.
As I mentioned, he studies a LOT of film. During a meeting with the San Diego Chargers, Dwight ended up in a film room watching some game tape with the Head Coach, Norve Turner, and the Offensive Coaching staff. The footage was of Chargers games played last season against various opponents. He recognized a play they had run and knew right away that Norve Turner ran the EXACT same play against Deion Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys in 94 when he was with the San Francisco 49ers. (He showed me the play from the SF/Dallas game.) He almost belted it out, but held back at the last moment because, as he said, he didnt want them to know just how much he knows and studies the game, because he may well be playing against them. ...I dont think his study habits will be a problem.
As far as his numbers falling off somewhat his Senior year compared to his Junior year, part of that was he missed several games during the season. But another component that played a major factor was that teams quit throwing to him. (Hence, the nickname ECLIPSE). What is a CB to do when the team only throws to him twice in the whole game, or even 5 times in the whole game? Any corner, I dont care who they are, would have a tough time putting up high interception numbers if they only get challenged by the other team 2 to 5 times a game. During one game (please forgive me as I can not remember exactly which game it was) they did not throw to him the entire first half, ...until late within the last 2-minutes of the half because they wanted to try to score before half-time. The ONE pass they finally threw to the man he was covering, Dwight intercepted. It was so sick!
He has never really been taught how to tackle, either in high-school, Cabrillo, or SJ State. Just as he had never had any coaching in sprinting mechanics before working with Aaron Thigpenn shortly before the Combine, yet when he is taught something, he works it on his own repeatedly until he has it down. ...Then hell work it some more. He WANTS to tackle and lay people out. He has such a savage mentality of wanting to dominate every player he plays against. I love it! Again, under the tutelage of Mangini and the NY Jets defensive coaching staff, Im sure he will improve in his tackling if this is an area that he needs to work on.
Character issues will not be a problem as he is just not the type of person to end up in situations that would be bad for him or for the team. He is devoted to his sport, his craft and his family. Football, Family and his Faith are the most important things to him. (He often would drive back home from SJ--an hours commute--to watch his little sister while his mom was at work). He doesnt really drink at all, either. He has a strong sense of Honor and Loyalty and is one of the greater people I know. Over the years of getting to know Dwight, he has not only become one of my best friends, but is one of the very few people I can say I truly trust. I do NOT say that lightly. My trusting him completely speaks directly to his character and to who he is as a person. ...He will not end up in situations that would hurt the team.
Im not only his friend, but I happen to be his Strength-&-Conditioning Coach as well. Ive had the opportunity to work with him for over two years now. Ive worked with athletes on all levels from virtually all sports over my 11 years of Coaching thus far, many who have dominated in their sport. Dwight is by far one of the most disciplined athletes I have had an opportunity to work with. He has developed an unparalleled work ethic. He studies film on average, 5 times a week. He works on some aspect of his footwork and field drills 5 or 6 days a week. He trains with me about 5 days a week. He works sprinting mechanics and runs sprints several days a week. He stretches every day and works on his IT-Bands and other trigger points almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He watches his diet closely, often times weighing and measuring his food. He VERY rarely ever drinks. When he hits the gym, its always some aspect of the Olympic-Lifts (Clean-&-Jerk, Snatch, Split-Jerk, Power-Clean, Snatch-Balance, etc), the foundational lifts (Overhead-Squat, Back-Squat, Front-Squat, RDLs, Thrusters, etc), gymnastics elements (Iron-cross, weighted pull-ups, handstand-pushups, front-levers, back-levers, muscle-ups, etc), as well as various medicine-ball drills, plyometrics, core-work, etc, often while wearing a weighted vest and weighted compression shorts. We will often hit these movements after an all out sprint, so he is getting exposure to a violent and explosive movement while at max heart-rate. He is training not only to be strong, fast and explosive, but to be strong, fast and explosive while at max heart-rates, as well as maximizeing his recovery time. ...Remember the Monday Night Football game back in 2000, the Miracle at the Meadowlands? ...The Jets comeback over the Dolphins, where, after being hopelessly down 30-7 at the end of the third quarter, the NY Jets didnt take a single huddle in the fourth quarter and came back to win, 40-37. (I believe it was the biggest comeback in Monday Night Football History.) ...Dwight is preparing himself for such events. (That was one of my favorite games of all time, btw.)
I am not trying to talk up our strength-&-conditioning program, nor am I trying to inflate Dwights image. Im trying to let you, the fans, know just how serious this kid is about football, and that when he is training, he is busting his ### working on elements that are going to directly transfer to his ability to perform. He wants to learn and he wants to improve, and he hes willing to work hard for it. He wants to dominate the DB posistions. ...Ultimately though, none of what I say matters. Im not trying to convince you or prove to you Dwights worth. That will be up to Dwight to do. He will prove his worth. He will earn your trust and respect, not only by what he does on the field, but by how he carries himself off the field.
Sorry for the length of this post, and thank you for your time. ...There is a huge evolution of Jets fans here in the Bay Area. I cant wait till the season starts!!!
Jason J-Dogg Highbarger
crossfitnsc.com
crossfitog.blogspot.com
Jets Fans Community,
Again, thank you for your time. As I said, I just wanted to share with all of you a little more insight as to who your team chose with their third pick. I know Dwight will work hard to represent the NY Jets Team, Franchise, and community of loyal Fans, well.
As for regular updates, ...I'll continue with updates when I can, so long as Dwight is cool with it and I have his permission to do so. Understand though, I won't be discussing his personal life. ...You never know, ...he might start posting here sometime when he gets a chance. ...He's busy studying the play book right now though.
Just to clarify, while I have been working with Dwight for over two years now, I am definitely NOT the Strength-&-Conditioning Coach for SJSU. I am my own independent S&C Coach working out of CrossFit North Santa Cruz, and have been with CrossFit for over ten years. Dwight and I work together privately in a 1-on-1 setting. Personally, I have a lot of problems with the SJSU strength program. I pretty much think it sucks. Bodybuilding like you see in the magazines does not translate to performance on the field or in any sport for that matter. SJSU doesn’t have Olympic-Lifts because, as the head Strength Coach at SJSU says; “Not everyone can learn them”. ...Which is absolute BS. Hearing such a comment by a S&C Coach for a University is infuriating. What it really comes down to is that he either isn’t confident in his ability to effectively teach the movements, or he simply doesn’t want to take the time to teach everyone. I think it’s a combination of the two. Being a good Coach requires, among other things, being a good teacher. While people do learn different things at different paces, EVERYONE can learn the movements if they have a Coach who is willing to work with all the athletes and invest the time necessary to ensure that every student and athlete learns the movements.
But let me digress. (Sorry. “My bad.”) ...Sometimes I really don’t mind being the guy who says what needs to be said.
As for the questions regarding where Dwight could play, I know it might sound like a generic answer, but I know Dwight would embrace whichever role the Coaching Staff felt he was best suited for.
I know he will do well as a Punt Returner on Special Teams. As for the CB or Safety debate, ...In all sincerity, I truly feel that Dwight has all the potential to become one of the few TRUE “shut down corners”. (I know they are very rare.) I don’t make that statement as a friend of Dwight’s, but as a Coach. Based on his intelligence and his understanding of the game, as well as his outstanding work-ethic, he really could become a true shut down corner. While it might be a bit of an adjustment, I think he will definitely be able to adjust to the “speed of the game” at the next level and be successful in covering the top receivers in the game. He studies the tendencies of QB’s and Receivers and acknowledges the subtleties, almost like how a professional poker player “reads” their opponents.
With that said, however, I think he might enjoy the Safety position a little more as it plays well into his strengths and gives him more freedom to see the plays developing and make a play on the ball. As many of you have acknowledged, he is a real “ball hawk”. He has great anticipation and instincts. His ability to read plays and see things developing, combined with his attention to detail when it comes to studying the tendencies of quarterbacks and receivers, play well into the Safety position. And as nyjetsfan mentioned, it might be a faster or smoother transition adjusting to Safety at the next level than it would be Corner. In the Friday night game that was televised during prime-time on ESPN, (Hawaii @ SJSU), when he got the interception during the first play of the second half, he recognized the play and said it was the exact same play that Hawaii ran to start the first half. For those who missed that game, he ALMOST had TWO interceptions in that game (the “almost” one still pisses him off.--He feel’s he shoulda had that one). He also had San Jose’s first 2 touchdowns, one off of the interception he made to start the second half that he ran back for a TD, and one off a Punt-Return that he ran back for a TD near the end of the first half. ...That game was put on ESPN prime-time to showcase Colt Brennan, but I think Dwight kinda took Colt’s thunder and stole the show. The broadcasters said at one point, “Hawaii, 14, Dwight Lowery, 14.” lol (There is a pic of him making that interception on the NY Jets web site in the lil photo album they have of Dwight. He actually took it right out of the receivers hands the very instant he caught it. It was almost instantaneous. If you have an opportunity to actually watch the play, it was funny as hell because the receiver literally did a double take, looking to his right, then back at his hands, then to his right again to watch Dwight running into the end zone. I think for a moment he wasn’t even sure just what had happened. It was so funny. ...A good receiver too.)
While I truly feel that Dwight has the potential to become a true shut down corner, it might be a smoother transition for him starting at Safety. He is confident in his abilities at both positions and he likes both positions, but I know he really likes the idea of playing Safety as it gives him more freedom to make plays on the ball when he sees plays developing. As 1968jetsfan stated, the Safety position plays very well into his strengths, his instincts and great anticipation skills, and his ability to read plays and see things developing. I don’t have any doubt in his abilities as Corner, but I think he would enjoy the Safety position more.
...Ultimately though, it somewhat doesn’t matter much what we as fans think. It will be up to Mangini and the Defensive Coaching Staff to decide the best fit for Dwight into the NY Jets system depending on what they are trying to do on Defense.
...Regardless of what position Dwight ends up playing in the NFL, I truly believe that he has all the potential to become one of the best Defensive players to ever play the game. ...I make that statement as both, a Coach *and* his Friend.
Jason “J-Dogg” Highbarger
crossfitnsc.com
crossfitog.blogspot.com
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Based on what Bill Belichick has done in the past, I'd guess that Mangini would like to be able to use a less interchangeable alignment with his safeties, but the relatively corner play (before Revis) and free safety coverage has necessitated using Rhodes in coverage frequently over the past season and a half.If the Jets can find a solid cover FS (not Elam) and an average second corner, Rhodes probably moves into a more Rodney Harrison like role similar to what he was in early 2006.
Best Of Luck - What kind of business?Man, I was dying for some Rovers insight at draft time......In the end I think Gholston was best possible scenario this side of some crazy insane trade down where they stock piled late 1sts and or early 2nd's which I ALWAYS look for that rarely if evenr happens....Good stuff....Like I said up top, I don't play IDP - Just throwing it out to you guys and the fact that I think this kid will have a great opportunity on a defense where the spot he plays wethe that be FS or CB might be the spot offense try to pick on - The spot with a ton of opportunity....Maybe I'll catch you at training camp since this wil be the last one on LI.
Best Of Luck - What kind of business?Man, I was dying for some Rovers insight at draft time......In the end I think Gholston was best possible scenario this side of some crazy insane trade down where they stock piled late 1sts and or early 2nd's which I ALWAYS look for that rarely if evenr happens....Good stuff....Like I said up top, I don't play IDP - Just throwing it out to you guys and the fact that I think this kid will have a great opportunity on a defense where the spot he plays wethe that be FS or CB might be the spot offense try to pick on - The spot with a ton of opportunity....Maybe I'll catch you at training camp since this wil be the last one on LI.
