In 1976 the Montreal Expos named Karl Kuehl as their new manager for their struggling team. At the initial press conference, I think he shocked everybody when he shrugged "I don't know how high we will go in the standing." The Expos fired him before the season was over. Lesson--Management and coaches HAVE TO talk up their team, no matter how bad, lest they could lose their job. As fans, we can act differently. Nice post.
I agree with everything you said except your first sentence. NYJetsO12 is not a douchebag. He's a good guy. He's just frustrated and jaded like many of us. With the Jets' history, I can't really blame any Jets fan for his or her mental state regarding the team. It's a wonder we're not all in an insane asylum. I lost it with the Jets 3-4 years ago. I had to take about 6-9 months off in order to regain a healthier perspective and more hopeful, positive outlook.
He could be, but it should be far from decided. He was thrust onto the field last year with little or no reps with the first team after having missed a chunk of the season. The Jets could have and should have started him earlier vs an easier opponent, but no, they had to keep starting Fitz. Even when they did finally start him, they gave him little or no chance to succeed. His first game, the offensive game plan was overly simple. The rest they basically just had him throwing deep. By then the OL was in shambles from injuries and he or any other young player would have stood no chance of succeeding.
Maccagnan might not have been the person making the actual selections but as a Scout(2000-2010), Assistant Director, and then the Director of Scouting(2011 - 2014), Maccagnan and his team helped build and rebuild the Texans. Again, it's a team collaborative effort, not a 1 man show. During his stint as Director the Texans, the talent level helped fuel the best seasons they ever had(2011&2012). As far as GM's and Mac as our GM, he now has a few years under his belt and considering his resume, I'm actually comfortable with the rebuild in his hands. It is still early as this season will be big in terms of evaluating his first draft. Considering that very successful drafting would have Rookies contributing in their first years, Maccagnan has provided that and then some. Having been hired January of 2015, I personally give him a bit of flexibility when looking back at that years draft. 2015 may have only produced Leo Williams as the only primary starter but immediate rookie contributions were made by Devin Smith, Mauldin, and Deon Simon. 2016 saw 3 primary rookie starters in Lee, Jenkins and Edwards and immediate rookie contributions by Burris, Shell and Peake. Considering all the above mentioned minus Leo and Lee were picks in rounds 3-7, the proof is there that not only can Maccagnan find immediate contributors in the draft, but that he can find multiple contributors and find them in late rounds. Then add the UDFA's. These trends you can also spot by looking at the Texans Draft Team results during his years there. As Director 2011-2014 12 starters found in rounds 3-7 10 of the 12 picked in rounds 4-7 7 of the 12 picked in rounds 5-7 Prospects picked in rounds 5-7 averaged 40 games played with the Texans. Scouting under Maccagnan, the Texans found more starters in rounds 4-7 then rounds 1-3. He might not have come from a winning team but many a deep talented team has underachieved. Hopefully that does not happen to our Jets. This year will be a big year not only for the players but for Bowles and Maccagnan.
It's fine that you have faith in him. Don't have a problem with that. Contributions of those listed above aren't impacts, and I could argue that many of his Jets draft choices haven't had the impact that one would expect at the spots where he took them. Nevertheless, we're talking about his ability to build a winning football team and all I'm pointing out is his credentials to do that are not evident. I hope he is successful, but I'm not betting the farm on it.
Other GM's passed on studs such as Williams & Adams. I'm just thankful that our GM, was smart enough to not become the next GM to pass on Williams & Adams. That is all. D.Lee also led our team in tackles before getting banged up.
That's true .. the players did fall to us , and he could have passed on them just as the other War Rooms did.
I get you, it's a matter of opinion as I think he does. I mean who's floating around out there with a better resume that would realistically come aboard? Immediate impact players are seldomly found outside the first and occasionally the second round. The most teams can expect from even most rookie 1st rounders are just contributions. IMO, we could have seen more if it weren't for injuries. I think we shouldn't evaluate a draft until year three.
That's where his background as a scout and as a talent evaluator came into play. BPA. Best talent available. Whatever you wanna call it. There was no way our GM wasn't taking Leo & Jamal. No funny stuff. You draft those kids on defense. I'm an FSU fan. The ACC is fully loaded with talent. But nothing compares to the SEC. It's no coincidence that our 1st 3 draft picks were all SEC kids from LSU, Florida & Alabama (Adams, Maye, Stewart). Our GM & front office scouted the SEC and scouted the SEC hard. Our final draft selection, a 6th round pick, was another kid out of the SEC. Derrick Jones. Ole Miss. Cornerback. I'm enjoying this front office thus far.
I'll have to respectfully disagree with you. Rooting for your team to purposely lose is, in my estimation, the very definition of a loser's mentality. Do you really believe that a team will miraculously turn it around after tanking? I want players on my team that care about winning every game. There are countless examples of teams that turned things around, and reached the league's upper echelons, without throwing complete seasons down the drain. Better drafting and personnel management will go a lot further towards bettering our future prospects than putting all of our eggs in one basket in the hopes that a highly drafted quarterback turns into an All-Pro. Dallas, Seattle, Green Bay, New England the list of teams that found their elite QB outside the top of the draft equals or outweighs those who did. What if Sam Darnold is Ryan Leaf? Or Josh Allen is no better than Sam Bradford? I'd rather root for the Jets to win every game and leave the vicissitudes of the draft as only one element of our future success.
Funny because over the weekend... I had this same thought before coming on here and reading this just now... I asked my friend.. "why can't Hack be our guy moving forward? Why can't we compete? why the hell do we feel we HAVE to tank? I kinda want to see us give it all we've got.." I said those exact words... glad to see it's not just me. I was all on the #SuckForSam bandwagon and we haven't even had training camp yet.. shame on me. I JUST WANNA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!!! lol. I want to see all the things you listed above as well.. our young guys look promising. I also want to see Todd Bowles coach like he has a clue... I want him to want to win now.. last year he was just weird. good post home boy!
Talk is cheap. Paper forecasts are the same. The main reason why we're all so pessimistic about our chances is really based on the team's history. Young players never seem to step up..whatever CAN go wrong usually does, etc,ETC. That said..There is a clear path of ascension for this coming year's Jets team. There are more than enough talented youngsters,wherein if a few step up the jets could have a very good if not great season. I'm not buying the media's "The Jets let go of too many veterans to have success". If anything the Veterans were holding them back to begin w.! It's young man's league. Nearly every team sacrifices a little on field discipline in exchange for explosive, dynamic game flow. I understand no NY media outlet is gonna go out a limb for Jordan Jenkins,Brandon Shell or even Leonard Williams for that matter. But if even a 1/4 of the jets Young corps have an ascension...the league wide sentiment regarding this team will be like night & day. I like the demeanor players are showing this off season albeit superficial. Seems like we haven't heard this type of clarity in a long time. Maybe it all means nothing & they go on to 1-15 like many are projection. That said this year seems different. It seems like the despair of last season causing such an uproar w. we long timers has finally gotten through to Florham Park. The players seem disciplined,focused & oddly enough confident. This season could finally lay the ground work for a future we are all starved for..and maybe lost hope sometime around Victor Cruz playing Ebenezer Scrooge in 2012.
Great post. I do understand the pessimism coming from the pessimist Jets fans aka the "Same old Jets Fans", and to counterbalance the feelings generated by reading such posts, I feel obligated to insert some optimism into my own paper forecasts. I believe we need a balance of both, as it would be quite a boring site if we didn't have the two. Though at the end of the day, it all comes down to on-field execution. For years now, The New York Football Jets have looked, played and felt like a collection of older veterans similar to Redskins teams of the past, always playing within a window of opportunity. IMO, the team never had a personality, better yet a culture of its own as it would change every few years. Never was a personality seed planted that grew along with the players, eventually blossoming into a winning plant. The last personality the team had, to me, stemmed and took shape from Rex Ryan. The personality I interpreted was that of an ex-con, who prior to serving his prison term was rough and dangerous, and now turned a new leaf. That leaf being ground and pound defensive football. The culture is changing .. Maccagnan is planting seeds of positive, hungry/eager to play, competitive leaders. He's removed most of the old alphas, opening up the locker room to a core group of young players on both sides of the football. I'm eager to see what the personality will be that develops.
I'm still very skeptical of Maccagnan and here's why. It's true what you say about the old regimes' love of defensive football, but has that really changed under Maccagnan? Most recognize that you can't win consistently by continuing to build up the defense and neglect the offense. The most successful teams over the last 20 years have had strong QB performance. Yet Mac's three drafts all produced defensive players in the first round. In addition, let's examine who has been tagged to play QB, the most important position. In year one it was Geno coming off a terrible year. Year two, it was Fitzpatrick, a perennial backup who had a better than average year after fortuitously being pressed into service, but reverted to form year two. Now we are in year three and the QB stable consists of another perennial backup and two untested roster guys. In all three years he has had the chance to upgrade the position either through the draft, trade or FA, but chose not to. I think it's safe to say that in Mac's two years here, QB performance has been mediocre at best and we're looking at a third year. So my question is: does he truly understand the relation of strong QB performance to winning football? So far, I haven't seen evidence of it.
I look at like this. You can't address everything at once and given what the team had when he took over, IMO he made the right moves on both sides of the ball his first year and was awarded. In fact, we had the best offensive season practically ever. After Mariotta and Winston, the talent level dropped significantly, but he took one of the better QB's left in Petty. Geno was still seen as having promise at the time. Last year, the most talented QB's went first and had to give up the farm to get, and to be honest I'm glad we got Lee over Lynch and no GM, even the Cowboys GM, thought Prescott would be Proscott. Hackenberg, you really can't evaluate until he has the reps and plays in the regular season. Given the circumstances, I'm fairly pleased. Weapons were added this year and I think we will be adding more to the offense next year.
I totally get that people want to believe he's doing the right thing. However, there's no winning until the QB problem is resolved and I don't see a plan for that. He can say it will be an open competition, but looking at the contestants doesn't give one much hope. You can say it will be addressed in the next draft, but you don't know for sure. I'm like Cuba Gooding in the Jerry McGuire movie: "Show me the money!"
I am not sure it's fair to criticize mac for not giving us an answer at qb when I am not sure there has been an answer available to him. Going in to '15 starting with geno felt like the right thing to do considering the state of the franchise at the time, going with some one other than fitz would have been a very tough sell in 2016 and I can't think of who that someone should have been. Taking a qb this year might have been an option at 6 but they all were questionable first rounders who weren't better prospects than Adams and certainly wouldn't provide us with a better option for this year. I've been on record as saying mac isn't close to as good as some here make him seem but i am not sure you're being fair to him with this
When this is the case, the problem isn't which players they have, it's an ORGANIZATIONAL problem. It's a lack of a coherent vision from the top on down, leading to wrong hiring choices. I will say that I think Woody finally realized this when he hired consultants to help him find a GM and HC, but he screwed that up by panicking and hiring a HC before the GM, and then blurring the lines of accountability, To me this is on ongoing, systemic problem, and regardless of who they sign to work/play for them, this will undermine the results. In looking at the results of Macc and Bowles so far, I have to say that this dynamic has affected their performances. If you look at their respective resumes prior to coming to the Jets, although rookies in their new jobs, their knowledge and work ethic predicted better success than they've had so far. I hope that somehow this year they'll have learned enough to put it all together and overcome the inherent dysfunction I mentioned above, but given that nothing has changed regarding this dysfunction, I remain skeptical. My belief is that it's going to take the hiring of strong, deeply knowledgeable, and successful President of Operations to come in an build a new organization from scratch. And I probably won't be around to witness it. In the short term, I'll hope that Macc and Bowles can overcome the "curse" of this dysfunction.
The most successful teams don't have the HC reporting to the GM. They either have the GM as a caddy for the HC (Seahawks, Patriots) or the same blurred lines of accountability (Steelers, Giants, Packers) that the Jets have. In many cases they have an official other than the owner who is above both the HC and the GM in the hierarchy precisely to allow them to microtune the org chart when necessary, lopping GM and retaining HC at times as the Steelers have done twice in the last generation. It's a myth that the standard is the owner hires the GM who then hires the coach. Some organizations do that but we don't really want to be the Browns now, do we?
