In an otherwise disappointing loss, the New York Jets first round draft pick showed a glimmer of what he can become with his impressive speed.
Every rookie will have growing pains trying to transition to the next level. It’s a matter of whether or not they can show signs of transforming into a talented player. So far the New York Jets’ Darron Lee has done just that.
In a pretty embarrassing loss, the one bright side was Lee. He had a career high five tackles and recorded half a sack.
Let's close with something all #Jets fans can agree on…
…Darron Lee is FAST! pic.twitter.com/kjm1I0r1Sk
— Joe Caporoso (@JCaporoso) September 27, 2016
Through three games he’s shown impressive speed to the ball. He is able to get in the backfield quickly and make plays.
The Jets have lacked speed at the linebacker position for quite some time. They’ve tried to bring in guys like Jason Taylor to be the OLB pass rusher but it hasn’t seemed to work out.
David Harris is a great tackler, but he isn’t particularly quick which is something that Lee brings to the table. Can Lee be the next Von Miller?
The Jets certainly hope so. It’s only been three games, so it’s tough to determine what Lee is at this point in his career. However, he can flat out run, that we do know.
Lee, and the rest of the Jets defense had the tough task of containing Travis Kelce. David Harris just got burned on one big play due to his lack of speed. Can Lee be a candidate to cover the TE?
Keep in mind the Jets play in the same division as Rob Gronkowski. Most linebackers can’t keep up with him and most defensive backs are too small to match up with him. Lee isn’t most linebackers.
We’ve seen his good nose for the football, making tackles in the backfield, but can he learn to cover the TE, something the Jets have struggled with for what feels like forever?
Maybe Lee can be that guy, maybe our expectations of him are too high. Only time will tell, although one thing is for certain: the guy is fast.
