Babin, Owusu and two quarterbacks cut as Jets shape roster

Jason Babin and Chris Owusu were among the couple of surprising names cut by the New York Jets on Saturday morning as the team whittled down its roster to 53 players ahead of the start of the regular season.

Among the cuts was wide receiver Shaq Evans, taken as a draft pick by former general manager John Idzik just last year. Evans had a pretty good training camp but was hit or miss during preseason, causing his star to fall. Also gone from the Idzik regime was veteran outside linebacker Babin, brought in as a free agent as well as Owusu, who had a tremendous training camp until a concussion sidelined him for a couple of weeks.

Gone as well are the two quarterbacks brought in after Geno Smith had jaw surgery two weeks ago. Both Matt Flynn and Josh Johnson impressed in the fourth preseason game but neither quarterbackmade the squad.

Players who did make the roster (as of now) includes safety Rontez Miles, whose stock soared during training camp as well as veteran wide receiver Jeremy Kerley. A veteran drafted by former head coach Rex Ryan who received a contract extension from Idzik last year,Kerley made the roster after some doubts about whether he could be cut or traded following a lackluster camp and preseason.

Players on the bubble such as outside linebacker Trevor Reilly, nose tackle T.J. Barnes and offensive lineman Dakota Dozier all made the roster after steady progress over the past three months.

Released

Jason Babin(LB/6-3/267/Western Michigan/PawPaw, MI)

Deion Barnes(LB/6-4/255/Penn State/Philadelphia, PA)

Charles Brown(T/6-5/300/Southern California/Chino Hills, CA)

Durell Eskridge(S/6-3/207/Syracuse/Miami, FL)

Shaquelle Evans(WR/6-1/213/UCLA/Inglewood, CA)

Matt Flynn(QB/6-2/225/Louisiana State/Tyler, TX)

Julian Howsare(FB-OLB/6-3/255/Clarion/Altoona, PA)

Josh Johnson(QB/6-3/198/San Diego/Oakland, CA)

Wesley Johnson(G/6-5/297/Vanderbilt/Nashville, TN)

Taiwan Jones(LB/6-3/252/Michigan State/New Baltimore, MI)

Keon Lyn(CB/6-1/201/Syracuse/Miramar, FL)