I went back and read thru this thread and all I can say is I am glad we got Darnold but my optimism and expectations for this team are lower than last year and thats saying a lot. I do not see the plan that Mac is bringing to the table, I just don't. Besides his 1st round selections, picks that anyone on the message board could have made ,I think his drafts have been so so at best. We are debating on other threads who the QB should be on opening day but does it really matter who plays QB behind this pathetic O Line ? I have been hard on Macs philosophy of building the O line in the past and now with Darnold here Macs neglect of addressing the Line is even more glaring. The Linebacker position that I hated last year might actually be worse this year ! Bowels shows me little if anything as a game day coach or a disciplinarian and am sure he is a nice guy but he aint a good Head Coach , and his buddy that coaches the defense should not be here and is another very bad coach. I fear for any of our Qb s that have to play behind this line when the games count and in April I said maybe we win 6 games max and with what I am seeing now ( and I realize its still preseason) that 6 games might have been a stretch . we will see how this begins to play out in 2 weeks but I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling at all about this upcoming season or the brass in charge of us .
I think the big mistake the Jets made this year was keeping TB. It would be nice for Darnold to have a real head coach to learn from.
Turk Meant to tell you when I first read your thread how much I liked it. Spot on IMO. I need to keep that kind of reality in front of me as the team continues to mature. I believe above all that the core of our foundation is jelling nicely. There is, for once, great chemistry forming and competition across all the positions is strong. We still have a few weak spots and some of our top choices might not have panned out as expected, but in the aggregate under Mac leadership this team is starting to look respectable.
While I agree with your observations my biggest criticism of Bowles is pointed towards the defense. That is his strength and claim of fame yet he has generally under performed with the talent given. We can nit pick each individual player but I saw no real intensity nor any clever scheming to compensate for weaknesses. I'm a firm believer that he continues to cover up for his DC which in my opinion is woefully over his head. He needs to pull the trigger soon.
Not sure how we are worse than last year other than possibility at linebacker because of Davis's career year last year and he nor Williamson could likely duplicate it this year. Our secondary is a lot better than this year between the personnel moves and the fact that Adams and Maye are going into their second year. We also improved at QB and runningback. I'd even throw in defensive line there too. Shepard could easily outplay Mo's pathetic showing last year. So you're like everyone in that you're mad they didnt do more to the offensive line. For one, they did replace the worst starting center in the league and hired a better O-line coach. Not saying they couldn't have done more, but did you really want to overpay for like a guard that is in his late 20's/early 30's? Mac is no Idzik, sure he's had some failures, but I think his drafts have gotten better based on the talent hes been bringing in. We also have the most cap room in the league next year and we can continue to build this the right way.
Well we can agree to disagree. Mac's biggest blunder, as spear headed by Woody, was to salvage and not de-gut on year one that worthless bunch of moribund left overs from Tanny, Rex and Idzyk who squandered 11 of 12 picks in the biggest cluster mess ever. Tranny last years with his near term do-or-die experiments including Brett did nothing to build this team for the long run. Moving up for Sanchez was a joke. Hopefully Darnold will put that horrific experiment in the rear view mirrow the moment he starts for us. And finally we will build around him.
Mauldin.....The 2 safeties you would think with a year under their belt would be better and you would think the secondary will be better but Trumane Johnson is currently banged up and he was THE WEAKEST link on the Rams, so it remains to be seen what our secondary will look like. Its year 4 of Mac and although I like when most smart plans are implemented in year #1 it appears people are willing to let Mac start this in year #4 and I do not love what Mac has done in his drafts but I stray. No harm meant by this but I thought Mauldin sucked and easily could have been cut last year before the injury and these Linebackers don't instill any confidence in me, Im not in love with any of them and hate ( see Lee ) and a few others.If Our Pass rush sucks which I think it will I have no resason to believe our front guys can apply pressure then our secondary even IF any good will look bad. As far as Mac and the line,I am not upset that mac did not addresss it more this year , I have been on him since his first interviews year #1 regarding the O line and he always said he would build it this way and " not necessarily thru the draft " I hated it then I hate it now, this piece work of patching a line together blows ! I see other teams look vastly different in a year or 2 of new management but these Jets are not much better now then when Mac and Bowels took over 4 years ago. Yes we THINK we have THE QB and hope we do but this team still has so many holes ( we don't just need 1 lineman we could easily use 3 if not more these guys stink and are now plugged into a new line blocking system and Line coach ) that Im sorry I am not a believer in Mac.This team does not have a game changer on either side of the ball, no one that other teams have to pay attention to or that scares them. I am not in the CHAMP camp yet but I hate the coach and the Gm is losing me fast and I say show me results show me improvement show me wins,,,,I think this is going to be a very disappointing year and I pray all of our QB s can stay upright and alive , maybe I am wrong either way I will be here.
I respectfully think you are being too negative on your outlook of this team. While I dont believe we are playoff bound, it would be crazy if we took a step backwards. Perhaps if we do then you would get your wish and it is likely that we will clean house again. Had McCown not gotten hurt, we would have won 6-7 games last season during a year when everyone considered us to be worst in the league. We had holes everywhere then and some of those holes have been fixed this offseason. Going into the next offseason we have a narrower set of needs: o-line, edge rusher, and perhaps a #1 receiver/playmaker rb. It will likely be hard to address every one of those, but if we can upgrade 3-4 positions which seems reasonable, then I believe this team will be competitive in 2019 for a playoff run. Don't forget we have a ton of cap space and this isn't like past years where our team was good but we were a year away from cap hell.
I like him but his best picks fell into his lap. Only a moron could make the wrong picks given the answers to the test (Williams and Darnold).
This team is going nowhere with this OL and no edge rushers. I think the skill talent at WR and RB is better than the talking heads give them credit for but they're 100% correct when it comes to OL and front 7 on D. This team hasn't had a decent QB since Chad. They haven't had any pass rusher worth a damn since John Abraham who last played for the Jets 13 years ago.
Now that he has Darnold and doesn't have to try to prove he's the smartest guy in the room with dumb picks like Hack, Smith etc. I think he can turn into a good GM but he's nose blind to OL and edge rusher. Outside of QB and CB those are the most important positions on a team and he's totally screwed the pooch there. I want him to succeed, this off-season will tell.
I agree that the Tebow situation was completely mishandled. It didn't need to turn out that way. It seems like Tanny and Rex weren't on the same page, and Tanny made decisions that Rex didn't buy into and they didn't work together, so things fell apart. I think letting Brad Smith go was a catastrophic error. When he left, the pressure fell completely on Sanchez and he folded like a cheap lawn chair. Add to that the other players lost and not replaced (talent wise) and a train wreck was assured. In the end, to consistently contend for a SB you need a FQB, and the Jets haven;t had one in decades.Now they do, and now they have a chance to build for continued success.
I'm optimistic that we're FINALLY going in in the right direction, and that's primarily because they now have a FQB to build on. There are still massive holes on the OL and no pass rush which again will put too much pressure on the secondary, and of course the biggest hole is at HC. That said, if they can find answers to these issues this year, and Darnold doesn't suffer a career-threatening injury, they could start contending next year and for many years thereafter, so on that basis I'm trying remain positive.
