Getty Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith throwing around the pigskin during a college football game.
The New York Jets veterans have been working out for the last couple of weeks, but it is time for the young bucks to stretch their legs for the first time this offseason.
On Friday the green and white will kick off their rookie minicamp and that will run through Sunday. That will be the first opportunity for fans to get a look at all the shiny new draft picks and undrafted free agents.
🚨 #Jets rookie minicamp will start on Friday, May 6 and run through Sunday May 8 🚨
On top of all that going on, several rookies will be getting their shot to impress the coaches during try outs.
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A Very Intriguing Name to Watch
The official Villanova Football account announced on Tuesday, May 3 that quarterback Daniel Smith has accepted an invite to the Jets rookie minicamp.
Several youngsters who were unable to secure contracts with NFL teams following the draft got invites from the rest of the league.
These present unique opportunities for these players to impress and catch on to join the 90-man offseason rosters heading into training camp.
Smith will have that very chance with the Jets this weekend. He was with the Wildcats for five years and had a really solid career:
- 94 touchdowns to 32 interceptions
- 10,000 passing yards
- 139 quarterback rating
He was one of the top quarterbacks in FCS football after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Campbell. While with the Fighting Camels he set several school career records including rushing touchdowns, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total offense.
On top of Smith’s passing prowess, he has also been heralded for his “good quickness” as an excellent runner, per his bio page for Villanova.
Good Chance to Catch On
This will be a mini three-day try-out for a bunch of these players (full details here via our UDFA tracker).
There won’t be much time to impress, but that is the task for these youngsters.
The good news is NFL teams love carrying camp arms. While it may seem like the Jets have their three quarterbacks locked in for next season in Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Mike White that won’t be enough to get the team through training camp.
They will need several arms at a bare minimum in camp to spread out the workload.
In other words, Smith and several of the other quarterbacks, the Jets are bringing in for rookie minicamp have a very legitimate chance to extend their stay.
As Connor Hughes noted in a recent column for The Athletic, in a perfect world the Jets would love to flip quarterback White for a future draft pick.
That opportunity could present itself during training camp if he impresses behind the scenes or during the preseason. If that happens that would also create an open spot on either the 53-man roster or even on the team’s practice squad.
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