Studs McCown - say what you will about his career and age, but the way he played in 2017 exceeded anyone expectations for him. He played in 12.5 games finishing 5-7 (not including the game he was knocked out of) with a team that was expected to win 1-2 games all year. a 2-1 TD to INT ratio and 94.5 QBR completing 67.3% of his passes. He was on pace for 3745 yards 23TDs and 10INTs Anderson - Went from UDFA 4th WR to number 1 WR in 1 season due to injuries and cuts. He exceeded all expectations proving to be a starter in the NFL. He was on pace for a 1000 yard season and lobbying for a pro bowl until mccown went down. Still he finished with 941 yards and 7TDs on 63 catches and showed improvement in his route running as well as an ability to go up and get the ball and make plays. he's also a huge deep thread logging in 17 catches of 20+ yards and 4 40+ yard TDs Kearse - went from a cast off WR in seattle to starter with the jets right before the season. 65 catches, 810 yards, and 5 TDs. He shown the ability to be the slot guy and play on the outside as well. him, anderson and enunwa should be a solid 3 going into 2018 Powell - Only RB on the jets to top a 4 YPC average. had 772 yards on only 178 attempts and 5 TDs in a shared carry offense. Also had a long run of 75 yards showing speed and the ability to break tackles also had 170 yards catching on 23 receptions putting him at 942 total yards. 2nd on the team behind anderson and his total 950 yards Lac Edwards - showed a big improvement from 2016 rookie year. he still shanked a couple but had a staggering 94 punts with a 46.6 average a long of 70 and dropping over 1/3rd inside the 20 Damario Davis - has to be out defensive MVP. Big credit to mac for getting him for pryor. led the team with 135 total tackles (97 solo) good for 6th in the NFL and led the team with 5 sacks and anchored the defense all year long being a 3 down LBer. How he didn't make the probowl I'll never know. The 5 Lbers wiht more tackles then him don't have his 5 sacks. matter off act no LBer in the top 50 in tackles has 5 sacks except nice williams with 8. he also had 13 TFL Darron Lee - I know he's not a board favorite and made some mistakes but took huge strides in year 2. despite being inactive for a game he still notched 94 tackles 3 sacks and 2 FF and 9 TFL Adams - the stats aren't impressive but stats alone don't tell the story of what adams has done this year. He's lined up as a CB, SS, and LBer in pretty much an equal amount of times. He's been playing 3 positions for us all year and playing all 3 well. He's also helped shore up the pass D and stop big plays as well as be an enforcer in the run game. His attitude and leadership is also off the charts. He's been everything we could have hoped for and more. sitll 83 tackles, 2 sacks and a FF isn't bad. he needs to work on securing INTs though. He could have easily had 3 of them Marcus Maye - The other rookie safety. again helped shore up the pass D and prevent big plays while being a hard hitter as well. He mostly played deep safety for us and notched 79 tackles a FF and 2 INTs. our Safety position seems to be locked up for many years with him and adams. huge improvement from 2017 Morton - for turning what was expected to be the worst offense in NFL history, into a average offense with a makeshift o-line, a 38 year old journey QB, a 2nd year UDFA WR and Seattle castoff number 4 WR as his starters. a 31 year old broken down RB, a rookie RB, and a RB who has always been cast as a back-up. somehow he made it all work Claiborne - was our only consistent performer at CB. he had a few bad games due to injury but for the most part played all year and played well. we couldn't have asked for more and we need to bring him back Duds Hansen/Stewart - yeah it's their rookie season so they have plenty of time to make plays and prove their worth but 2017 was a wash for both. they combined for 176 yards O-line - The guards were decent, as was beechum. Shell wans't too and at RT. johnson was a disaster and Center should be something we target for an upgrade ASAP. as a unit they failed to protect the QB and open holes in the run game. O-line is somehting as a whole we need to look to improve on D-line - Williams had a solid year despite low stats. ealy was nice as a late addition making some plays, but as a whole the d-line didn't perform great. They say games are won in the trenches and our performance on both lines show our 5-11 record. Wilkerson played himself off the team with his on the field and off the field actions Wilkerson - gets a special mention for his lack of doing anything. the highest paid jet in 2017 had 1 good game and had 3 games he didn't play in or not play fully in due to his off field actions. He gave up on himself and this team. He'll likely be gone soon Up and comers Maguire - showed some flashed as a rookie 5th round RB. good speed, good vision, can break tackles and overall looks like a steal Mike Pennel - looked good replacing wilk the past few games. good depth guy who could grow into a starter at some point Misses from the 2017 draft As much as i love maye, who wouldn't have wanted smith shuster? played in 14 games and had 917 yards, 7TDs and a long of 97. He also returned 9 kick offs one of which was a 96 yard TD. we was drafted 62nd overall and has all the looks of a number 1 WR from day 1. Him paired with anderson, kearse, and enunwa would have been great Dalvin cook - man did he look like a beast before going down with an injury. he slid in the draft and i know many here wanted him. he's going to be a top back in the NFL for a while Kareem Hunt - Drafted in the 3rd round and led the NFL in rushing his rookie season. very impressive Deshaun Watson - looked like a stud before getting hurt. houston found their QB for the future Bolles - had a great year at LT for the broncos
@SolidGoldBowles Excellent write up. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I agree on D-Line but O-Line held its own considering we had zero expectation. I agree on your studs but something about Lee makes me think he should receive a neutral grade.
I tend to agree with most of this. I'd add guys like Josh Martin and David Bass to the list of up and comers as well. If we play our cards right, they won't be major contributors next year but this year they stepped in and played pretty well.
Another "miss" from the 2017 draft - Ryan Ramczyk has been very solid for the Saints ... has played every snap and has played both LT and RT depending on the situation. The best lineman from this class. A lot of us expected good things from him.
The biggest miss other than Mahomes/ Watson was probably Kamara who the Jets were reportedly interested in.
Nice analysis and generally a positive Post Disagree: We had first Round selections that showed no IMMEDIATE impact because imo if you go round one I would expect only that Maye and Adams hardly any intercepts or game changing plays..feh Lee - A fourth rounder who does not live up to First round play..sure improving but he should not need to..feh Otherwise a Good Post and good job..thanks
