Rhodes will ride the bench....

I began my harsh criticism of #25 very early this season. He has simply been playing with no passion. He has not been hitting, is consistently out of position on tackles and is always a few steps late in pass coverage. Rhodes does have the talent to be a premiere DB in this league... there is no question.

He is totally caught up in all of the worst trappings of being a successful pro athlete in NYC. He is pursuing a modeling career in the offseason, dating singers and actresses and spends more time on the red carpet than in the weight room. He believes the hype 100% and thinks his natural talent is enough to get the job done. When the RB's and WR's you are charged with covering are faster and more gifted that you, and they are also working twice as hard, the only logical outcome is the bench becoming your BFF.

The straw that broke the camels back seemed to be a half-ass tackle on Welker over the middle in the Patriots game. He had a chance to inflict some serious pain on the little shifty WR. Instead he just brushed him with his shoulder. I have seen plays like that all season from Kerry, so I was not as shocked as some other fans. For me, the final outrageous Rhodes moment was when he asked fans, via his twitter page, to vote for him for the Probowl. That was simply disgusting. He really thinks he has been the same player, and at that point I knew he needed a wake up call.

Reports from around the league say that because of his benching the Jets will almost certainly release or trade Rhodes in the offseason. What they fail to realize is the player who is stepping in for #25 is not an all-pro prospect. Eric Smith is an OK back up, but I don't expect him to set the world on fire.

If the Jets are going to move Rhodes they would need a big offer from another team, or someone to step up in the remainder of the 09' season. If we don't have a solid player in Rhodes spot, he will hang around longer than most fans would like. On the brighter side of this whole disappointing ordeal, we know Rhodes has the talent... maybe this situation will help him to get refocused, and he can return to his previous form. He is still young. As much as I have been hard on him I still have a little faith left that he can pull it together.