Antonio Cromartie returns to the New York Jets this offseason. But not to play. He returned to coach and it’s not the position you’d think.
One of the most talented cornerbacks to ever step foot on a field returned to the New York Jets this week in Antonio Cromartie. But he didn’t return for a chance to make the 53-man roster, instead, he’s trying to help others make the team.
After spending a decade haunting opposing NFL quarterbacks, he’ll try to have that same impact on the linebackers. Wait, what?
That’s right, Cromartie is trying coaching out thanks to the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program. He reached out to head coach Todd Bowles about the possibility and then BOOM, it materialized.
Bowles revealed the reasoning behind Cromartie being thrown back there with the linebackers:
“I want him to learn the overall defense. And you can learn the overall defense at the linebackers spot. He can stand up and coach corners and safeties all day, but to learn the defense and get a grasp of the scheme and the run game and how the backers are underneath the DB’s (defensive backs) in the passing game, he needs to start in the middle and expand his horizons a little bit so I put him with the linebackers.”
I also spoke with New York Jets Team Reporter Eric Allen about it this past week on ‘The Manchild Show with Boy Green’ about the topic and other top training camp storylines:
Senior reporter and team insider for the New York Jets, @eallenjets joins the show today to talk about the start to Jets training camp, Sam Darnold's contract, and more!https://t.co/CDx6ZLZD9s
— The Manchild Show with Boy Green (@Manchild_Show) July 27, 2018
The Jets have had issues creating turnovers the last several seasons, so if Cromartie can pass on some of his talent for taking away the football to the linebackers, that’d be a nice plus.
Cromartie was one of three coaching interns the Jets have welcomed in this offseason. The others: Derrick Alexander (assisting the Jets wide receivers) and Randy Starks (assisting the Jets defensive line).
Speaking of the linebackers, here is who the Jets are working with for their 2018 training camp roster:
- Anthony Wint
- Frankie Luvu
- Kevin Minter
- Kevin Pierre-Louis
- Neville Hewitt
- Brandon Copeland
- Lorenzo Mauldin
- Dylan Donahue
- Darron Lee
- Josh Martin
- Jordan Jenkins
- Obum Gwacham
- David Bass
14 in total and realistically only eight or so will make the team, so there’s a ton of cuts to be made with this positional group. This is one of the big training camp battles to keep an eye out for throughout the preseason.
