New York Jets training camp has kicked into full gear. Three practices are in the books, and the hype is already off the charts.
Second-overall pick David Bailey is turning heads, while starting quarterback Geno Smith is inspiring optimism in the team’s offense after a day in which he completed 18 of 18 passes across 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills.
However, training camp is full of misleading information and stats. In particular, 7-on-7 drills are quite useless for evaluating quarterbacks, something we recently discussed at Jets X-Factor. Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley agrees, having voiced similar criticism of 7-on-7 drills.
A large portion of what happens on the practice field should be taken with a grain of salt, as much as it is exciting to have some semblance of on-field action back in the news cycle for the first time since the Super Bowl.
But training camp can’t be completely meaningless, can it?
What should Jets fans put stock into as they monitor the goings-on at Florham Park over the next few weeks?
There is one word in particular that summarizes what Jets fans should really be focused on.
Fundamentals
While most of the chatter on social media will center around clips of one-handed catches and beautiful deep passes, those fleeting moments of brilliance do not carry much predictive weight regarding what might happen in the regular season.
These are NFL players. We know they are capable of those moments. So, when they’re out there playing in shorts and T-shirts, we should expect them to make some fantastic plays across three to four practices per week.
To get the strongest sense of whether a player is building habits that will translate to consistent success on Sundays, we need to pay attention to the aspects of their game that are much subtler than how many sacks or touchdowns they rack up.
Fundamentals are king on the practice field.
For instance, David Bailey beating Armand Membou for a sack in shorts doesn’t tell us a whole lot about how he might fare when he has to go to Detroit and face Penei Sewell in September. It’s just not an environment that is at all similar to a real-game situation. The crowd noise, the snap count and misdirection of an opposing offense that he’s not used to, the full-force contact, the physical fatigue, the in-game mental pressure—none of it is there.
What we can fairly evaluate of Bailey are the finer points of his game: his awareness, his football IQ, his discipline, and his general fundamentals. All of these things can be properly evaluated on the practice field because the variables that separate practice from a real game have less effect on Bailey’s ability to execute in the fundamental areas than to win one-on-one for a sack.
If pre-snap motion lures him out of position in practice, it will probably happen in a real game. But if Bailey is consistently diagnosing plays and putting himself in the proper position to defend his gap, from play to play and practice to practice, that tells us a lot about where he is mentally. Stacking reps of quality fundamentals is a legitimate sign of positive development. It inspires confidence in his preparedness for the real thing.
The great news for Jets fans is that Bailey appears to be thriving in these exact areas. Reporting live from Florham Park, Jets X-Factor’s Robby Sabo has shouted out Bailey for his backside edge discipline on multiple occasions.
This is just one of the many “little things” that will determine whether Bailey is a solid NFL player or a superstar. And we don’t have to wait for the preseason to judge him in that area. If he is consistently checking this box in practice, it’s a great sign—a much more sustainable one than him collecting sacks, even if it is substantially less flashy and won’t receive much press from anyone except those with as keen an eye as the Sabos of the world.
This framework should apply to all Jets players who are under the microscope in training camp. Rather than evaluate them on how many highlight-reel clips are shared or what their stats look like, fans should do their best to read between the lines and deduce whether their players of interest are consistently displaying strong fundamentals.
One leaping touchdown grab doesn’t tell us anything about what a player will do in the regular season. But if a wide receiver is consistently releasing off the line with proper footwork, consistently attacking the ball away from his body at the catch point, and consistently finding the proper soft spots in the zone, he is building the type of habits that will anchor sustained success in the regular season.
Training camp isn’t meaningless in the NFL, but it can be difficult for fans to glean meaningful takeaways without actually being in-person to observe the action. Even for fans and media in attendance, breaking down players is still difficult without the luxury of replays. You get one look to evaluate all 22 guys, and that’s it.
NFL coaches have access to All-22 replays of every practice rep, so they can head back to the film room after each practice and draw meaningful takeaways through the fundamentally-focused lens we discussed today. Unfortunately, it’s much tougher for fans and media members to do the same.
Still, it is valuable for fans and media to understand what really matters at training camp. It isn’t about highlights—it’s about fundamentals.
Steady habits on the practice field are what will lead to success in the fall, not the highest peaks.
