Enough with all the irrational analysis following an emotional loss. :breakdance: How do you fix the Jets -- nothing much is going to happen in the short term (i.e. this year). You dance with the girl you brought to the prom. Going forward, here is the approach they should take: 1. Fix the O-line. They are just not good enough, and the current backups (Why they picked Vlad is a mystery) aren't either. Come the draft, targeting front line big men to pair with Mangold should be a top priority. Also, grabbing a good veteran free agent would help -- look as the success the Pats have had with Brain Walters. 2. Bring in a viable back-up QB to actually compete with Sanchez. There is no way they are giving up on Sanchez yet -- he's only in his 3rd year -- Hell, Aaron Rogers spent 4 or 5 years waiting behind Farve. What Sanchez needs is someone to push him, a real viable back-up, not a 41 year old and a 7th round pick, so he knows he has to improve or he will get passed up. Again a 3rd round pick (or perhaps even a 2nd) on a good college quaterback might light a fire under Sanchez. A top quality quarterback coach would also help, given Schotty clearly is not making a difference. 3. Make up your mind about an offensive philosophy. Although I don't think Schott's playcalling is 2-fold worse than anyone else's (Sure he's in the bottom half), the problem is the offensive is sphizophrenic -- are they ground and pound or are they big time playmaker recievers that need the long ball. If you're going for a strong ground game, why spend all your resources on outside playmakers like Holmes and Plax. They need to decide on a philosophy and stick to it with the personnel choices and draft picks that will support it -- trying to do both is spreading the resources too thin. 4. Add speed to the defensive backfield. Safety play across the league is down, so you can't just blame the jets. Everyone is looking for safeties -- look at the Pats, Eagles, Saints just to name a few. So making a strong effort there in the draft and the free agency wire this summer is critical. The current safeties are not as bad as people make them out to be, but they need at least one front-line guy to increase the speed and cover ability.
All good thoughts. I'd add in the need to make a clean sweep of the offensive coaching staff. The Jets offense has been consistently mediocre now for the last 6 seasons minus a 10 game span when they had a healthy Brett Favre at QB playing to prove that the Packers made a mistake in forcing him out for Rodgers. I don't trust anybody in the caoching staff on that side of the ball at this point. They're mostly holdovers from the previous failed regime or guys brought in to patch flaws in the holdovers. Get rid of them en masse and bring in a fresh perspective.
Comparing Sanchez and Aaron Rodgers in the same sentence undermines a lot of your credibility. Rodgers was sitting behind a living legend. Yet he was so good and compelling in practice that the coaches were fine letting the legend walk to give Rodgers the start. And he has taken off since then. Sanchez is a borderline NFL QB. And I mean borderline as borderline-qualified. He is best served as a 3rd string back up, which is where he will be come 2014 when his ridiculous contract is up. He is not a starting caliber QB. It's amazing to me that Tebow has been so ridiculed and scrutinized in 7 or 8 career starts but Sanchez "needs time" after 40+ games as a starter. How much more time does he need to learn to actually go through progressions?? He can't do it. He's a one-read QB. He's not NFL starter ready.
I am sorry but we like the irrational here, haven't you noticed? We just don't have time for rational thoughts any longer. Hold on while I press the panic button.
I agree with all the points. Oline is a disaster right now, no viable backup QB, and much needed help at safety and OLB.
@NJBeliever I didn't compare Sanchez and Rodgers at all in that post. I said Favre was really motivated to play well that year because the Packers had forced him out for Rodgers.
--Sorry about that. My comment was directed at LSU Tiger. (first day in the forum so making some mistakes).
Stacy Kiebler is fucking divine. And yea, good post. Especially agree on getting someone in here to compete with Sanchez.
With all due respect, this is completely off. He's been tied for 10th all season long for TDs. His completion ratio is garbage, yet he's 17 for Yds/G (and middle of the pack for total yards as well). If we approach it objectively you can say Mark Sanchez is currently average, or barely above average. If you take into account the non-existant pass protection, the continued use of short slant passes and an OC who is about as flexible with his plays as granite ... I think Sanchez is "fine". The biggest issue right now is we have an O-line that can't protect our QB or create holes for RBs. Fix that and our OC and that's an excellent start.
I didn't mean to compare Sanchez to Rodgers -- that would be idiotic. What I meant to say is that you can't give up on a 1st round quarterback that is 4-2 in the playoffs in his 3rd year. Many quarterbacks take some time to grew and learn the pro game. That's not to imply that Sanchez will ever "get it", just that you have to give him time to prove that or not. I think by the end of a quaterback's 4th year, or mid-way through the 5th year, you pretty much know. After 4 full years at the helm, the quarterback should have experienced enough defenses to be able to read patterns and make adjustments. If Mark has not improved by the end of his 4th year, you have to start over if there are better options available to the team (there may not be). But you can't do that in the middle of year 3 based on at least the flashes he has shown in the past two years. It's certainly not a good stretch his own right now, but its still to early to write him off at this point. He needs to get better though, for sure. And he's certainly no Aaron Rodgers.
Sanchez was never a top tier QB but he still had his moments where he played well. Now his confidence looks just shot and he's pile of goo waiting to melt. But the issues around the Jets look to be personnel related. Except for the 3 corners who are still (starting with Revis), the rest of the team seem to have taken a step back. Oline, Dline. Not what they used to be...
Agree on fixing the OL and improving the Safety position. Disagree on Sanchez- I think you have misdiagnosed the issue. His problem is not a motivational one, it's lack of talent to play QB at a high level, or even an average level, on a consistent basis. He's plenty motivated to do well, seems like a stand-up guy, never blames anyone else. He just...sucks, and his regression in year three is ominous. Until the Jets have a QB who can consistently play at a high level, they will never win a SB. If I'm them, I am all over the Colts in trying to pry away Peyton Manning should he become available.
That's number one. Two, Draft the best BIG Pass Rushing OLB you can find in rounds 1 and 2. Bring in a RT via FA. Find a Safety. (Personally, I think Given Maybin's size and speed you could make him an improvement over Eric Smith in one offseason) Keep the current Skill Personnel. (Retain Plax.) And...Finally...Rex needs to question/tutor Pettine HEAVILY during the off-season. He's Rex's protege, but...lets face it...He's not mini-me yet.
If you're going to say stuff...at least know what it is you're talking about. Sanchez has NOT regressed. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SancMa00.htm He's PROGRESSED, in spite of the Offensive coaching staff. And once again, compare Pennington and Favre in their next year after escaping Schottenheimer.
And, this years sacks are more painful than last year. Some have been just brutal. Namath/Ben Davidson brutal.
Slauson and Hunter will make a good backup materials actually. (Hunter needs to take a pay cut.) Moore should hang the cleats, meaning Jets need to draft 3 quality OLs to boot. No. I am not sarcastic about this. Slauson is basically freeloading between two pro bowlers - that's why his fuck ups are not magnified. Back up QB is ... a back up QB. If you need him to light a fire under the incumbent starter, you are in trouble already. No. You can skip this part. Jets do need better offensive coordinator AND better QB coach - that would fix the problem better than the back up material you mentioned. To go with ground-and-pound you actually need a big, tall target with speed to stretch the field. Recall how Irvin complemented Emmitt Smith, and how Smith in turn complemented Irvin. That goes hand in hand - you need a top tier WR. You have to have means to neutralize stacking up the box - or you need to run veers and options. With that in mind, you need to look at the other personnel groupings. In ground-and-pound, first of all Holmes is a very good #2 at most. He does not demand double team attention like Edwards did. He will be very effective once he can get in space - meaning someone has to take the attention away from him. He cannot make things happen by himself, if the defense is keying on him. Dustin Keller is a square peg in a round hole. He doesn't belong here. He cannot block a 80 year old grandmother if his life depended on it. Moreover, he is not tough enough to withstand the abuse at the LoS and go up in the middle of the traffic to catch the ball. He is a downfield threat. To fix the problem, Jets should bring back Edwards (provided he is healthy; if at all, he IS a proven commodity here.) and draft a TE that goes along with the ground-and-pound philosophy. Keller should be, unfortunately, shown the door. He does not fit here if Jets do not change the offensive philosophy. Jets LB corps in general lack the speed. This is why only two LBs are every down backers. Jets need a stud pass rushing OLB, and another DL who will command double team. If Jets can exert pressure with only 4 men rushing, then Rex will be able to do a lot more with the rest. And Jets need top tier safeties as well.
Rex and Pettine have been together now for a decade. They already think very much alike and that's why Ryan brought him over to be DC. The problem with the Jet's defense is that the front 7 is not dominant and they get next to no pressure on the QB unless they blitz from the secondary.
