Darron Lee thinks he 'would be fine' as David Harris' replacement | Jets Q&A
Updated: Jan. 16, 2019, 7:01 p.m. | Published: Dec. 11, 2016, 10:00 a.m.
By Darryl Slater | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Darron Lee
Can Darron Lee play middle linebacker regularly? (Winslow Townson | AP Images for Panini)
FLORHAM PARK -- Can Darron Lee play middle linebacker in the NFL?
That's a question the Jets might have to ask themselves this offseason. They drafted Lee 20th overall this year. He is now starting at the inside linebacker spot next to David Harris, the Jets' longtime middle linebacker.
But Harris turns 33 in January. Next season is the last year of his contract. He has a $6.5 million salary cap figure. The Jets would save that full amount, with no dead money attached, if they cut him.
And if they do that, Lee might wind up being their middle linebacker in 2017. Lee, who is 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds, doesn't look like a traditional middle linebacker. Harris is 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds.
But the NFL is changing. Faster offensive pace requires more athletic inside linebackers like Lee, who can thrive in coverage against quick, short passes.
This season, the Jets have given Lee some action at middle linebacker, in their dime package (six defensive backs), with Harris off the field. In these situations, Lee must make the pre-snap defensive alignment calls -- just as Harris has done so capably since the Jets drafted him in 2007.
We recently spoke with Lee about the possibility of playing middle linebacker.
How'd you do in those dime looks when you played middle linebacker?
"It was fine. I've repped it so many times in practice and just watched Dave. It's not like hard or anything. I've watched how Dave goes about it. I like it."
What's your confidence level that you could play middle linebacker regularly?
"It would be fine. I have literally the best example right there with Dave, with longevity and consistency. That's one thing I'm really trying to add, too, just keeping it consistent and just taking my work ethic to another level. All of that credit is to him, just him being a great mentor. It's trickling down, and I think the guys are starting to see it trickle down."
In terms of making pre-snap alignment calls, what did you pick up from Harris?
"You've always got to be alert. And you've got to be not alert just for you, but [for] what the other team is doing, just in case for some other guys, if somebody else is a little confused. That's the whole main thing: You don't want any confusion out there. [Harris] tries to eliminate the confusion. If a guy is supposed to be in the B gap, and he's not, line him up in the B gap. The whole alertness of everything. I'm definitely going to try to take that to the next level this offseason."
The way an NFL middle linebacker looks has changed recently, hasn't it?
"I recognized that three years ago, when it first started happening. That's because I'm weird like that. I think 2011 might've been the last slow year, is what I call it. In 2012, the game picked up, if you noticed. Was that the year [Luke] Kuechly got into the league? [Yes, the Panthers drafted him in 2012.] And also, I noticed from quarterbacks. Their time of release from when they step back got significantly shorter. I'm like, 'The ball is getting out quicker.' You can't be 260 [pounds], and the ball is getting out [quick] and you've got to go chase -- and especially you see all these little short, speedy guys. They're so shifty, you can't be a heavyset guy running and chasing those guys down all game.
"OK, yeah, you do it in the first quarter. Do it in the second, do it in the third, do it in the fourth. Can you do it? That's the question you've got to ask yourself. I was watching Kuechly when he first got in, and I saw how much he weighed. [Kuechly is now 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds.] I'm like, 'Wow, he's not 250, and if he's running around here making all these tackles, why is that? The game has gotten a lot faster.' It all started when quarterbacks started getting the ball out faster. Then obviously, you've got to be faster [as a linebacker]. Because if you're slow, touchdown, other team. Once I noticed that, I knew. I'm like, 'This game has got to be about speed.' Now what are you seeing? It's all about speed."
Wait, so why does noticing that make you weird?
"It's weird because I was saying it so early, and people looked at me extremely crazy."
Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.