Staff writer Joe Malfa attended New York Jets training camp on July 31st, here are his observations from the day:

Brandon Marshall is a tremendous asset

This may be stating the obvious, but the acquisition of Brandon Marshall was monumental for this offense. He made a few tough catches in double coverage, including a one-handed grab in the endzone on a fade over Dexter McDougle and Jaiquawn Jarrett. His presence alone will fix a major weakness this team has had over the years — redzone efficiency. It was fun to watch him go toe-to-toe with Revis — he got some separation on a couple of plays, but the ball never came his way when the two were matched up. Marshall also brings some much needed leadership to this offense. He spent a lot of time talking with Devin Smith and seemed to be giving the rookie some pointers when the players broke off into their positional drills. It was also nice to see Marshall take Geno Smith to the endzone after practice was over to work on some fade routes on their own. The two seem to have a lot of chemistry and it will be fun to watch them when September rolls around. For all the talk about the return of Revis and Cromartie, I believe the acquisition of Brandon Marshall will turn out to be the best move Mike Maccagnan made this offseason.

Daryl Richardson may surprise us

Chris Ivory saw the bulk of the carries and overall snaps when the team ran 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills, but I was a bit surprised to see that Daryl Richardson was second to Ivory in snaps. He is a quick, shifty runner who had some success in St. Louis a couple years back, but he is not the guy I expected to emerge as the second option in a crowded backfield. A guy next to me noted that Bilal Powell fumbled which could have impacted the carries, but it seemed to me that Richardson was getting more looks prior to the fumble anyway. It is something that bears watching going forward, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Stevan Ridley’s health.

Brian Winters and James Carpenter are the leaders in the clubhouse to start at Guard

I did not get a chance to watch many of the individual linemen drills, but whenever the offense ran drill that required the offensive line, Winters and Carpenter worked exclusively with the first team. With the contract Carpenter received in the offseason, it was a given that he would be one of the starters, but there was a major question mark coming into camp regarding who would start opposite the ex-Seahawk. Oday Aboushi, Jarvis Harrison, and Dakota Dozier saw reps with the backups, while Winters worked exclusively with the first team. It is way to early to say that Winters will be the starter, but it is evidently his job to lose.

Geno Smith has progressed

Geno Smith was the bright spot of the day’s practice in my opinion. Virtually every throw he made was right on the money, and his overall demeanor has changed significantly since I went to camp last year. In 2014, Smith was a quiet, almost emotionless player on the field. Yesterday, however, he seemed very loose, interacted with some fans, signed autographs (which is the first time I have seen him do so in the multiple times I have been to camp since he was drafted), and appeared to take on more of a leadership role. He took the time to take rookies Jake Heaps and Devin Smith aside, and seemingly offer words of encouragement as he embraced the two players when the conversations concluded. Hopefully Geno has turned the corner and is ready to lead this team to success in 2015.

The 3rd Tight End job is wide open

Kellen Davis looked very shaky throughout the day. He looked very stiff and clumsy when running his routes, and he led the practice in drops. Steve Maneri had a similar issue, looking very uncomfortable running routes and catching the ball, but he held on when the ball was thrown his way. The wildcard here is Wes Saxton . I do not know much about him, but is routes were crisp, he made some nice catches, and he simply looked better than the other two tight ends vying for that last spot. In a pad-less practice, there are no full speed rushes so I could not get a good read on how good of a blocker he is, but he was definitely the best offensive threat of the three TEs. With two receiving TEs in Cumberland and Amaro, the 3rd spot will likely go to the best blocker and I did not see nearly enough blocking yesterday to pass any sort of judgment on that aspect of their game. This is a competition that will likely be decided against live competition in the preseason games.

Bryce Petty is the weakest of the QBs

Bryce Petty appeared to be the worst of the four QBs, plain and simple. He was overthrowing WRs and bouncing passes against no defense, and then made a few poor decisions and bad throws in the team drills. He has a lot of work to do.

Fans can be ruthless

I know what Sheldon Richardson did was inexplicable, but fans of the team he plays for should not be berating him during practice. The last thing a guy like him needs right now is to be kicked while he’s down by the fans that should be trying to pick him up when he needs it most. Shouting out “What are you, high?” as one fan did when Richardson jumped offsides is completely unnecessary. Fans made other audible remarks about Richardson, as well as other players. There is no place for that in my opinion — if you really are a true fan, you should not make such asinine remarks toward the players you are supposed to be rooting for.

The defense is scary

I really do not need to elaborate on this one — this unit is going to be fun to watch.