Getty Several Las Vegas Raiders walking off the football field after a tough contest.
The New York Jets are in full evaluation mode at 4-11 with two games remaining in the 2021 NFL regular season.
With a slew of injuries and COVID cases, the team is scouring the league to find capable pieces to show their stuff and perhaps earn their way onto the roster long term.
On Wednesday morning the green and white added some very interesting pieces to the mix.
ALL the latest Jets news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Jets newsletter here!
Steal a Young Piece
The Jets poached linebacker Javin White off of the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad. The talented former UNLV stud entered the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2020.
Over the last two years, White has played in five games but has spent the majority of his time on the practice squad.
He has some intriguing traits at 6-foot-2, 211 pounds but at that size he is a bit of a tweener.
That lack of a true position is a major reason he didn’t hear his name called in the 2020 NFL draft. The other thing that hurt him is COVID issues canceled his Pro Day so he didn’t get to show off his athletic traits in a t-shirt and shorts.
This will probably be another safety-linebacker project for head coach Robert Saleh to experiment with during the final two games. The fluidity and instincts aren’t there as a safety and he appears too limited physically to be an every-down linebacker.
Will be fascinating to see how he develops and what he becomes. This is a perfect low risk versus high reward kind of move.
If he flops, no harm, no foul you just move on. Although if he works out you have a nice rotational player at either safety or linebacker who also has some ability on special teams.
Interesting Player to Watch
The other move the Jets made on Wednesday was on a lesser level, but still incredibly intriguing.
They added tight-end Joshua Perkins to their practice squad.
The 28-year-old has bounced around the NFL with three different stops with the Atlanta Falcons (2016-17), Philadelphia Eagles (2018-20), and most recently with the San Francisco 49ers (2021).
There are several obvious connections with general manager Joe Douglas from his time with the Eagles and familiarity with the 49ers system (Mike LaFleur).
Perkins has played in 22 career games and has started in only two of those. During that time he has racked up 17 receptions for 196 yards and has two touchdowns.
He is a proven veteran with some know-how and can help a position that has been obliterated by injuries and COVID.
Perkins will be a break the glass emergency option on the 16 man practice squad if anything else goes wrong, but there is a chance he could be elevated for the game on Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Follow @BoyGreen25 & @obermuller_nyj on Twitter for all the latest New York Jets breaking news, rumors, fresh takes, and more!
READ NEXT: Proposed Trade Would Send Ex-Jets QB to NFC Squad, Last Chance at Redemption