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Eagles meet again with Temple S Jaiquawn Jarrett

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  • #16
    McShay liking him is kinda scary to me. But if he really is ready to contribute right away, then that does seem like a second round pick. Given Reid's comments, it seems likely the Eagles were planning on selecting Paea there until Chicago jumped in front of them, but our secondary could sorely use depth even if Mikell does come back.

    Comment


    • #17
      http://phillysportsdaily.com/eagles/...d-for-success/

      Eagles Draft Confidential: Final Analysis
      by Greg Cosell, NFL Films

      Greg Cosell has been with NFL Films for 31 years and is the Executive Producer of NFL Matchup on ESPN. His expertise is film study. He spends countless hours breaking down tape, dissecting schemes and of course, critiquing players on the NFL and collegiate level.
      __________________________________________________ _______

      ...Second-round pick Jaiquawn Jarrett was one of my favorite players to watch on film. He’s a confident, competitive, aggressive, reactive safety with a dynamic playing personality, and big time striking ability as a tackler. He’s a tempo setter for a defense. His 40 time was not relevant; he was instinctive and decisive, and field fast...

      Comment


      • #18
        http://www.csnphilly.com/05/01/11/bF...487&feedID=692

        Frank: Post-draft Q & A with Eagles GM Roseman

        Q: You guys haven’t stopped raving about Jaiquawn Jarrett since you picked him. How good can he be?

        Roseman: “When you talk about Jarrett and the type of player he is, we really feel like we’re getting a hammer, a Dawkins or a Quintin Mikell-type of player. He’s going to fit in perfectly.”

        Comment


        • #19
          There's a fair amount of difference between Dawkins and Mikell

          Comment


          • #20
            Originally posted by FairOaks View Post
            There's a fair amount of difference between Dawkins and Mikell
            Yeah, that jumped out at me too. I figured one of you would comment on that.

            Comment


            • #21
              Per RotoWorld...

              Eagles coach Andy Reid calls second-rounder Jaiquawn Jarrett the most intimidating safety in the draft.


              "Talk about people who'll come up and smack you ... It's not fair to compare him to Brian Dawkins," said Reid. "But they're the same stature, same size, same speed, but they'll both torch you." Reid is already talking as if Jarrett is a starter at strong safety, which doesn't bode well for free agent Quintin Mikell's chances of returning. Jarrett was widely viewed as a reach, but highly respected NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell absolutely loves him.

              Comment


              • #22
                http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categor..._id=8&id=43141

                Fort Hamilton’s Jarrett, Eagles Appear to Be Perfect Match

                By John Torenli


                Fort Hamilton head football coach Daniel Perez described Jaiquawn Jarrett as a “sweet, humble kid” off the gridiron, but a young man to be feared at all times on the football field.

                The Philadelphia Eagles wholeheartedly agreed with his assessment.
                “I mean, he just crushes people,” Eagles coach Andy Reid gushed, moments after making Jarrett the first-ever Tiger to be selected in the NFL Draft.

                “I know he did that in high school. I know he transferred that to the college level. And I’d expect him to transfer that to this level. He’s a big-time hitter.”

                The Eagles, who got a firsthand look at Jarrett smashing opposing receivers from his safety spot at nearby Temple University during the past several seasons, took the Fort Hamilton standout in the second round with the 54th overall pick during the league’s annual swap meet.

                Projected to go as deep as the third, fourth or even fifth round, Jarrett was more than just pleasantly surprised when the Eagles came calling, providing him a chance to compete on the same pitch he played on during his collegiate career with the Owls at Lincoln Financial Field.

                “This is like a dream come true,” said the 6-foot-2, 195-pound knockout artist during Saturday’s introductory press conference. “I’ve been playing in Philadelphia for the past four years and I love being here. I can’t wait to get out there and practice.”

                There were some early concerns that a less-than-spectacular time in the 40-yard dash would cost Jarrett some spots in the draft, but the perennial All-MAC selection credited the Eagles’ coaching staff for seeing through the raw numbers on paper.

                “A lot of teams shied away from my 40 times,” he noted. “But coach Reid did a great job of evaluating me and saw something that a lot of people didn’t see. I’m a lot quicker on the field than I am running the 40.” And a lot scarier, too.

                Perez told the Eagle last week that opposing receivers had to keep their heads on a swivel to see if Jarrett was approaching, and Reid noted the same thing on film and during the rookie’s pre-draft workouts. Reid paid Jarrett the ultimate compliment by comparing him to former Eagles All-Pro safety Brian Dawkins, one of the hardest hitters in recent NFL memory.
                “That’s a privilege just to be compared to one of the best ever to play the game,” Jarrett said when he asked of the comparison. “I always enjoyed watching Brian Dawkins play. He’s a very forceful intimidator.” Oddly, Jarrett’s role model at the position is one of the most notorious names in NFL history.

                “[Ex-Raiders safety] Jack Tatum is someone I always modeled myself after. He was known as ‘The Assassin’,” Jarrett revealed.

                An assassin on the field, but a role model off it is what Jarrett hopes to be in the City of Brotherly Love, especially when it comes to aspiring other Brooklyn kids to pursue their NFL dreams.

                “My neighborhood was basically about basketball,” admitted the Bedford-Stuyvesant resident. “There’s a lot of talented football players in Brooklyn, but it’s rare that colleges go out to New York City to recruit. I keep that with me, and I walk around with a bit of a chip on my shoulder.

                “I think I’m becoming a role model for New York City kids. Just to let them know that every dream is reachable.”

                Though he may have a chance to compete for a starting job in the Eagles secondary right away, Jarrett is keeping things in perspective as he awaits the end of the ongoing NFL lockout.
                “I’m coming in here to compete for a spot,” he said. “I’m coming in here with confidence but not cocky and arrogant. The day I stop learning is the day I hang up the cleats.”

                Comment


                • #23
                  I'm sorry but.......I'm about sick of seeing Reid and others compare him to Brian Dawkins. If you are that fucking infatuated with Brian Dawkins. why didn't you just keep Brian Fucking Dawkins?!?!?!?!?!

                  (Old wounds don't heal easily....)
                  http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Per RotoWorld...

                    One NFL personnel exec tells the Philadelphia Daily News his team would have "definitely" taken Eagles' second-round SS Jaiquawn Jarrett had the Temple star fallen to the third.


                    "I loved him," the personnel man said. "When you look at the whole package, he's tough, he's smart. The thing you didn't see a lot of on tape is pass coverage. But as this whole process went on, the Senior Bowl and that stuff, he got better in that area. I think there's an upside to the pass coverage ... He's a real football player."

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...les-Draft.html

                      NFL Scout Breaks Down Eagles Draft

                      I talked to an NFL personnel man this week and asked him to break down the Eagles’ draft. Here are his thoughts on their 11 draft picks;

                      2 – Jaiquawn Jarrett, S, Temple -- ``I loved him. We would have definitely taken him in the third round with our pick. When you look at the whole package, he’s tough, he’s smart. The thing you didn’t see a lot of on tape is pass coverage. But as this whole process went on, the Senior Bowl and that stuff, he got better in that area. I think there’s an upside to the pass coverage. But you know what you’re getting. He’s a real football player. Some people might want to make a big deal of his 40 time (4.62). But the guy plays fast. He covers ground. He knows where to go. It wouldn’t surprise me if he competes for a starting job right away. He’s very mature. He’s played a lot of football. I don’t think anything’s too big for him. He’ll compete. There’s no doubt about that. And he’ll play on (special) teams.’’

                      Asked whether Jarrett, who was regarded as a third- or fourth-round pick by many, was a reach with the 54th pick, the scout said, ``I don’t think so. Not the way it was happening. Not the way the safety board was coming off. Aaron Williams (34th pick, Buffalo) probably will play safety. But after that, in my mind, Jarrett was the next best guy. I mean I’d take him 7 days a week over Rahim Moore (45th pick, Denver).’’

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        http://www.csnphilly.com/05/09/11/Ea...357&feedID=692

                        Eagles' Jarrett was vital to Temple's resurgence

                        Reuben Frank
                        CSNPhilly.com



                        To really understand how much Jaiquawn Jarrett meant to Temple’s football resurgence, you have to first understand just how bad Temple was before Jarrett arrived on campus.

                        No winning seasons since 1990. Just three since 1979. A 4-42 record the previous four years. A 31-148 record from 1991 through 2006. That’s an average of fewer than two wins a year over a 16-year span.

                        In the four years immediately preceding Al Golden’s first recruiting class, Temple allowed 40 or more points 21 times, 50 or more nine times, 60 or more seven times and 70 or more twice.

                        That was the challenge facing that first group of Golden recruits.

                        Try to make something out of nothing.

                        “I don’t think people really understand where we were as a program,” Golden said. “It wasn’t just as simple as let’s get some players around and try to win and turn the program around. We had a whole culture. We were just trying to get back to Division I level, let alone try to be a winning program.”

                        Golden took over at Temple in December of 2005, and his first recruiting class had only his word to go on that something special was about to happen at a program with virtually no winning tradition.

                        Up at Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton High School, Jarrett – a smart, hard-hitting safety from far off the beaten recruiting path – didn’t have any scholarship offers and was planning to attend prep school in Connecticut for a year.

                        At the last minute, a scholarship opened up, Golden offered it to Jarrett, and one of the primary building blocks of Temple’s remarkable resurrection was in place.

                        Because he didn’t have the resources or talent as the teams the Owls were competing against, Golden had to find a different way for his ragtag band of unrecruited overachievers to win football games.

                        His solution was an intense focus on fundamentals – something that suited Jarrett perfectly. The Jarrett-Temple match turned out to be an ideal one. Temple became one of the biggest surprises in Division I, and Jarrett became a second-round draft pick.

                        “We didn’t have the talent to compete, and we certainly didn’t have the scholarship numbers to compete early in his career,” Golden said. “So we wanted to be more fundamentally sound than anybody and eliminate the things that caused us to lose – missed tackles, interceptions, fumbles -- things we could control as we were building that program, and Jaiquawn utilized his time better than most.”

                        In 2007, Temple won four games, a modest total, but it matched their most in 17 years. In 2008, the Owls won five. And then in 2009 and 2010, they went 17-8, matching the most wins in a two-year span in the program’s 81-year history. They recorded consecutive winning seasons for the first time in more than 30 years and even played in a bowl game for the second time in 75 years.

                        After a generation as the laughing stock of college football, Temple was relevant again, and Jarrett was one of the biggest reasons why.

                        “He was critical to what we did,” Golden said from Miami, where he’s now preparing for his first year as the Hurricanes’ head coach. “Jaiquawn was a leader, and he was there when it wasn’t easy. He came in after we won one game (in 2006), and his first year I think we won four games, so he went through the heartaches of the 2007 team and enjoyed the success of the last two years.

                        “We don’t turn that program around without guys like Jaiquawn, because guys like Jaiquawn showed how important it was to win in the classroom, in the community, in the weight room, being leaders and ultimately being tough and disciplined on the field, and he was really the poster child for that.”

                        The Eagles drafted Jarrett with the 54th pick in last month’s draft, and the more you hear Golden talk, the more you understand not only why the Eagles took him in the second round but also why they believe he has a very good chance to make as much of an impact on South Broad Street as he made on North Broad.

                        “He came to us as a guy that would be naturally physical, but I don’t think anybody worked on tackling as much as Jaiquawn did,” Golden said. “And as he started to get stronger and develop the skill set, he just went to a different level. He didn’t really come to us with the technique or the refinement, but I don’t think anybody studied it any more than he did.

                        “We did a high school player development tape a couple years ago, and he’s all over that tape, which means every high school in America saw it, because we did it for the NFL. Our tackling-teach tapes that we show down here at Miami, he’s all over it. The coaches call him ‘The Clinic’ just because of how great an example and how great a model he was in terms of how to tackle.

                        “He really left a legacy. He’s the best tackler I’ve been around in my 21 years as both a player and a coach. I’ve never seen anybody tackle like he does in the open field, just how sound he is technically.”

                        Eagles fans just may recall that tackling in the secondary has been a problem the last couple years.

                        Jarrett will do his part to make sure that changes. Golden promises.

                        “The thing that makes him special, here he is one of our best leaders, he’s got one of the best demeanors off the field, great student, does a great job in the community, runs the defense, has poise during the game,” Golden said. “But at the same time ... I wouldn’t call it reckless, but he’s fearless and he’s physical -- but he’s so disciplined in his technique and very few people can take the technique and bring it to the field of competition. And he does.”

                        E-mail Reuben Frank at [email protected]

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Per RotoWorld...

                          By Jeff McLane
                          Inquirer Staff Writer

                          BROOKLYN, N.Y. - It was 5 a.m. when 14-year-old Jaiquawn Jarrett got out of bed.

                          He had an hour and 50 minutes to make freshman science class at Fort Hamilton High, his school, located 14 miles from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home, two buses and a train away.

                          Jarrett, now the Eagles' second-round pick out of Temple, didn't mind the commute, except maybe during the winter. So, for four years, Jarrett made this trek, because Fort Hamilton is a better academic institution than his neighborhood school and a "football school" instead of one of the many "basketball schools" that fill this New York City borough.

                          So at 5:40 a.m., Jarrett departed for the 38 bus. It transported him downtown to Dekalb Avenue, where he caught the R train. The train dropped him off at 86th Street, where he either took the 16 bus or walked the three remaining long blocks.

                          "Never did I think, 'Why am I doing this?' " Jarrett says now.

                          There was no time for introspection. Jarrett was not a daydreamer. He was a doer.

                          "I was always occupied," Jarrett said, describing his hour-long transit. "I was either listening to music or I was playing the PSP. My mind never wandered."

                          Even if it had, it is doubtful Jarrett could have imagined the Eagles selecting him in the second round of the NFL draft last month. Four years earlier, the Owls safety nearly went without a college scholarship after a stellar career at Fort Hamilton. Now he's penciled in as the Eagles' starting strong safety, the presumable heir to the beloved Brian Dawkins.

                          Two weeks after the draft, Jarrett's mother, Audrey Young, hosted a celebration. Almost everyone who had an impact on her son's life was there - family, friends, neighbors, coaches and teachers - essentially the village that helped to raise and nurture him.

                          "And, at some point in the party, I see him turn to someone and say, 'They should make a movie out of this,' " said Vince Laino, Jarrett's high school coach. "And it was said in a tone like this: 'Don't make a movie about me. Make a movie about how this is all happening to a person like me and we're all enjoying this.' "

                          Jarrett, 21, may have had plenty of guidance along the way. And there were pitfalls. But as his stepfather, Jeff Legree, said: "I didn't take those buses with you. I didn't go to class for you. I didn't practice for you."

                          If Jarrett got his drive and determination from anywhere, it was from his mother. A corrections officer at Rikers Island for the last 21 years, Young, 46, would often bring home lessons from the prison for Jarrett and his three siblings - David, 28, Lincoln, 24, and Kailah, 17.

                          "Jaiquawn is the younger version of his mother," Legree said. "As a parent, you know that kid that makes you proud all the time? That's Jaiquawn. He consistently makes her proud."

                          The same can be said for his hometown.

                          "People don't realize the impact that he's made on Brooklyn," Legree said. "He's the buzz right now."

                          The demon inside

                          Bedford-Stuyvesant - "Bed-Stuy" to the locals - is to Brooklyn what Harlem is to Manhattan. It is the cultural center for the borough's black population. The neighborhood has also seen its share of unrest over the years, although gentrification has slightly altered the dynamic.

                          "I know a lot of people on the outside, when they're looking in, they only see what they read from the newspaper or see on TV about the violence that goes on here," said Jarrett, currently splitting time between Bed-Stuy and Philadelphia. "But when you live in this neighborhood, you rarely see the violence."

                          Director Spike Lee set his 1989 film Do The Right Thing in his native Bed-Stuy. Jarrett's older brother, David Moss, said the film aptly depicts the neighborhood during the summer, even to this day.

                          Jarrett and his family live on Greene Avenue, two blocks from where Do The Right Thing was shot. His maternal grandmother, Cora Young, lives a few doors down on Greene. His aunt, Valerie, lives near his grandmother. An uncle lives several blocks down, near St. James Place.

                          Audrey Young lived with her mother when Jarrett was born. She and her children relocated to public housing around the corner on Quincy Street for several years until she bought the house on Greene - specifically, the bottom two floors of the four-story building - 13 years ago.

                          "This block here is like one of those old-fashioned blocks like in the '40s and '50s," Legree said. "Everybody knew each other, and if you did something, the lady up the block told your mother and she spanked you. Then, you got the church on the block . . . and it's one of the big political churches in the neighborhood."

                          Antioch Baptist Church is directly across from the elder Young's home. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached there.

                          Jarrett's childhood was typical in many ways for a Bed-Stuy child, consisting of family, basketball and church. He was also without a present father. His parents split when he was young, and his biological father, Lincoln Jarrett, was often absent. Jaiquawn Jarrett said they have recently reconnected.

                          "He wasn't around here then," Jarrett said. "What kept me in line was my mother. . . . She works on Rikers Island, so she's got that mentality that 'You ain't going to mess with me.' Just to work on Rikers, you got to be tough. Enough said."

                          Jarrett, as feared a hitter as there was in the Mid-American Conference, said that he also gets his toughness from his neighborhood. On a recent day, he, Moss and their younger sister walked to a nearby park to shoot hoops. Along the way, nearly everyone who crossed Jarrett's path greeted the native son.

                          "Just growing up in Bed-Stuy, you got to have a mentality that you ain't going to let anybody punk you," Jarrett said. "You don't want to be considered soft. You don't want to be violent, but you don't want to be seen as a coward."

                          Jarrett said he never had to defend himself. Of course, there were plenty of scraps with his big brothers. "He's cool, but if you mess with him he's got a little demon inside of him," Moss said.

                          When Jarrett was 10, he was chasing his brother Lincoln, and his arm went through a glass pane on a French door. He sliced opened his arm and a piece of skin was dangling from the cut. It required 110 stitches, and the cut is now a prominent arrow-shaped scar.

                          "It didn't really bleed much," Jarrett said.

                          He said this as if he had a paper cut. Jarrett brings that same nonchalance to football. In an age when post-tackle posturing is the norm, he simply offers a hand and a slap on the back after one of his patented big hits.

                          "I'll help him up, but that's my way of being funny," Jarrett said. "Like when I make a big hit on somebody I pick him up, let him know, Yeah, let me help you up with that one. It's showing great sportsmanship, but that's my way of getting satisfaction."

                          Jarrett has never been considered dirty, but his all-time favorite player - Raiders safety Jack Tatum - was considered one of the NFL's dirtiest.
                          "He's a throwback," Legree said of Jarrett. "Remember those old NFL films when everybody had a jacket and tie on before the game, but the games were so nasty? That's Jaiquawn. He's a gentleman off the field but Jack Tatum - 'the Assassin' - on it."

                          'Who was that?'

                          Legree remembers when he first met Jarrett. He was scouting talent for his youth football program, Mo' Better Jaguars, when he went to an after-school program at Jarrett's middle school.

                          "Jaiquawn was the only kid there with his school uniform still on - a button-up shirt and dress slacks," said Legree, who would marry Jarrett's mother in 2007. "Everybody else had jeans on - you know, the urban thing. Jaiquawn looked like he was working in an office, and the other kids looked like they were going to school."

                          Jarrett had already become known in football circles. Only two years earlier, at age 11, he first took up the game. Up until then it was strictly basketball. Moss' father coached the Lynvet Broncos and thought Jarrett should try out.

                          The first time he wore pads, he decked one of the coaches' sons.
                          "They were looking, like, 'Who was that?' " Jarrett said. "And they were shocked to see that a first-timer knocked the coach's son's head off - and he was supposed to be the star."

                          Jarrett was hooked.

                          "When he had a good game, he would come home and not take his uniform off," Moss said. "He had his cleats on and everything. . . . And you would be, like, 'Yo, take your stuff off. Go take a shower.' And he would be like, 'Nah, I'm good.' "

                          Jarrett played running back and middle linebacker for both the Broncos and Jaguars. When it came time to choose a high school, Fort Hamilton was an obvious choice. A number of Mo' Better players had gone there before, and Jarrett didn't want to attend his neighborhood school, Boys and Girls High.

                          "It's known as a basketball school," Jarrett said of Boys and Girls, which produced such hoops luminaries as Connie Hawkins and Lenny Wilkens. "A lot of kids that went there always seemed like they didn't go to class."

                          Fort Hamilton, which overlooks the Narrows and Lower New York Bay on the south side of Brooklyn, is considered one of the better academic public high schools in New York. Laino started the football program in 1990 and needed only a few years to turn it into a power.

                          By 2002, Fort Hamilton won its first city crown. Two years later, Jarrett arrived. By the end of his freshman season, he was promoted to varsity. In the spring before his sophomore season, he was moved from linebacker to safety, the Tigers' most important defensive position.

                          Jarrett was a two-way starter - he also played H-back - for three years, and captained Fort Hamilton's 2005 and 2006 city championship teams. His former coaches and teachers spoke glowingly about their former star pupil to a recent visitor. He always did the right thing, they said.

                          "He was never a needy kid," said Ruben Sanchez, Jarrett's position coach at Fort Hamilton. "He always had a goal on where he was going to go. . . . He always knew what was right and what was wrong. He had great moral values."

                          Despite having solid grades and being named the borough's defensive player of the year as a senior, Jarrett was barely recruited. Fort Hamilton had other Division I talents, but he slipped through the cracks for a variety of reasons, most notable of which was geography.

                          "We're a basketball town and football usually takes a backseat," said Laino, who retired last year. "And Jaiquawn is the perfect example. What he went through with his career symbolizes what happens in New York City all the time."

                          Especially Brooklyn. When you think of this borough and the great athletes it has produced, you think of Michael Jordan, Billy Cunningham, Carmelo Anthony, and Stephon Marbury, to name a few. Even a football school such as Fort Hamilton was best known for producing Bernard and Albert King.

                          And then Jarrett was clocked in about 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a combine, and the schools that even bothered to come into New York stopped sniffing. Some suggested prep school. He earned a scholarship to Suffield Academy Prep School in Connecticut but never stopped hoping for an offer from a college.

                          "I don't think anybody wouldn't get down," Laino said. "But he did the right thing. He was in the weight room every day busting his butt. I remember this clearly. After everybody else left, he's the last one to leave the gym. He'd come in the office every single day: 'Hey, Coach, what's up? Anything happening? Anyone call?' "

                          Finally, someone did call. Temple brought him down for a visit with the plan of delaying his enrollment until the second semester. But during his visit, a Temple player had flunked out, and a scholarship became available.
                          The Owls offered on the spot - May 23 - but it initially took a little convincing to get him to accept.

                          "Jaiquawn still kind of wanted to go to Suffield Academy instead of going to Temple. That's crazy, right?" Legree said. "We're, like, 'Jaiquawn, no, this is a four-year scholarship to a D-I school. You got to take this.' "

                          Waiting to begin

                          Of course, he took it. And for four seasons he used the recruiting slight as motivation.

                          "I had a chip on my shoulder," Jarrett said. "I had something to prove when I got out there every day."

                          By the sixth game of his freshman season, he was starting at safety. Jarrett owned that spot for the remaining 43 games of his career, along the way becoming one of Temple's most accomplished defensive products.

                          He became an inspiration to Brooklyn's younger set of football players, Jarrett's former coaches said. They use his rags-to-riches story to motivate their players and to get the borough's young players involved in team sports.

                          Fort Hamilton safety Brandon Reddish, bound for Syracuse, is following in Jarrett's footsteps. When he would slack off, though, Sanchez would text Jarrett to call Reddish to get on his back.

                          "Jai's his idol, and this is a kid that's in college that takes time to take care of people around him," Sanchez said. "How's that?"

                          Jarrett has yet to cash in. The NFL lockout has recent draft picks in limbo, having not signed contracts. Jarrett said he's getting by on the kindness of friends and family and a stipend from his agent as he trains, but he did not rule out getting a job if the work stoppage cuts into the season.

                          He has a degree in criminal justice and always dreamed of becoming a corrections officer like his mother. Audrey Young has four years left at Rikers Island before she qualifies for a pension and said she had no plans of quitting even though her son has offered to support her once he signs his contract.

                          Jarrett said he wants to buy his mother a Chevy Tahoe. He still doesn't own a car. He takes the Chinatown bus from Philly to Manhattan and then the A train back to Bed-Stuy almost every weekend. He said he hasn't thought about his first post-contract purchase.

                          "I'll probably buy some Pradas," he said, pointing at his shoes.

                          On the second night of the draft, Jarrett's family gathered at his home.

                          Only the second and third rounds would be held that evening, and Jarrett was, at best, expected to go somewhere in the third round.

                          Nervous, he went upstairs to his sister's bedroom to watch the draft alone. The second round was proceeding, and Jarrett was flipping back and forth between Bad Boys II and the draft when the Eagles were on the clock.

                          His phone rang and it was a 215-area code number. "Oh, no, this is my dream coming true," Jarrett said aloud.

                          After he talked with the Eagles, Jarrett went downstairs to celebrate with his family.

                          "And he was crying just a little bit," Young said. "He wasn't crying crying. But you could see the tears."

                          Jarrett smiled at his mother's slip.

                          "Tears of joy," he said.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            http://igglesblitz.com/philadelphia-...quawn-jarrett/

                            Jaiquawn Jarrett
                            Tommy Lawlor

                            Yesterday was Father’s Day to most of the world, but I decided to make it Jaiquawn Jarrett Day. I liked watching him play in 2010, but was still really caught off guard when the Eagles took him in the 2nd round. He’s grown on me since the draft, but I decided to do some more tape study and research on him.

                            I watched him vs Ohio and UConn. He picked off a pass in the Ohio game. It was a poor downfield throw. Jarrett was in the right postion and showed pretty good ball skills in making the pick. He played very little in the box in that game, generally staying deep as the FS. He did take good angles to the ball when going to make tackles.

                            UConn was a different game. They run a lot. That allowed Jarrett to move around more and get some time in the box. The two best plays Jarrett made were on run blitzes. He took on pulling Guards. He didn’t do this in space by diving at their feet. He took them on in traffic and did so up high. On one play he fought off the block and got in on the tackle (a TFL I think). The other play he affected the run by stuffing the G and let a LB make the tackle. You like it when a 198-pound Safety has no hesitance about taking on 300-pound linemen. Hell, he expects to beat them. That’s a mentality I want in a SS.

                            Jarrett can play FS or SS. I think he’s okay in space. I think he really shines when he plays in the box. He is a good hitter, but I’m real impressed with him as a tackler. I can’t tell you how many young DBs won’t tackle. They “cut tackle”, meaning that they try to dive through the legs of the runner/receiver without wrapping up. That can work in college, but is dangerous in the NFL. Try that on Adrian Peterson and you’ll bounce off and watch him run for a TD. You must wrap up. Jarrett goes low when he tackles and pretty consistently is able to wrap up his targets. There are some plays when he will just hit the guy, but sometimes that’s all you can do.

                            He did knock one receiver out of the UConn game. The player was trying to get away from one defender who had him by the leg. Jarrett came up to finish things off. And being a nice young man, he decided to help the receiver to the ground. It was a tad forceful so the training staff had to come out and help the receiver to the sideline. Not a dirty hit at all. Just tough.

                            I happened to re-listen to Greg Cosell of NFL Films talking about him to Dave Spadaro. Greg loved Jarrett. I think he said Jaiquawn was his highest rated Safety in the whole draft. Here’s the link to the Eagles Live talk with Cosell. Interestingly, he mentions the Eagles should go after a CB in the 3rd round. Dave asked who the Eagles should get. Cosell didn’t know who the Eagles might like, but did mention that he was high on this kid named Curtis Marsh. Clearly Cosell was on the same page as Andy Reid, Howie Roseman, and Juan Castillo when it came to evaluating DBs.

                            Cosell mentions how much he loved Jarrett in the Temple/Penn State game. Someone was kind enough to put together a great video of Jarrett in that game. He missed a tackle on one of the first plays and then played lights out the rest of the way. Here’s that game.

                            Jarrett played in the Senior Bowl. A dedicated Temple fan put together a video of Jarrett’s snaps from the game. He played both SS and FS. He looks so much more natural in the box. The thing to watch for in this video is just how physical he is with guys who try to block him. You’ll also see him in man coverage in some sets. That isn’t his strength, but he’s also not completely lost. Here’s the Senior Bowl clips.

                            Many of you know my good friend Matt Alkire from our work together at ScoutsNotebook. He is a recruiting guru for Scout.com. Matt spoke to an assistant coach for a team that faced Temple multiple times in the last four years. Matt asked the coach his thoughts on Jarrett. To paraphrase it as nicely as possible, “Thank god he’s gone.”

                            The coach gave Jarrett the ultimate compliment for a Safety. He said that his runners/receivers hated crossing the middle because they knew Jarrett was back there and could unleash some brutal hits. The coach had seen Jarrett really pop some of his guys and wanted Jaiquawn to graduate or get locked up (purely a joke because of the hits), but that he was tired of facing him.

                            If ever there was a glowing recommendation from an opposing coach for a physical Safety, that’s it. Forget about your resume, that’s what you want on your tombstone. ”Here lies a Safety that opposing coaches and players hated to face because he regularly knocked the crap out of them.” Pure poetry.

                            We won’t know if Jaiquawn Jarrett is ready to start this year until we see him in practice and the preseason. I do know that the more I read and hear about the guy does give me confidence that he’s the kind of rookie who can play right away. A quick resolution to the lockout situation would certainly help Jarrett’s case to be the starter quite a bit. He can’t make up for the missed time, but it is still possible for him get plenty of work in before the real games are schedule to start.

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                            • #29
                              Real encouraging stuff on JJ there, YPCM, thanks for posting.
                              http://shop.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifOK, let's try this again...

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                              • #30
                                Ew...
                                http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2...year#storyjump

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