Lee can't play inside backer until he learns how to cover someone. For all the flak about his size and concern about his ability to get off blocks it was actually his terrible play in open field coverage that was the issue not so much standing up at the point of attack in the running game. early in the year teams absolutely killed us, especially on 3rd downs, going after Lee in coverage. Then he was injured and missed a few weeks and it wasn't so bad over the middle. When he came back Bowles played him less in coverage but sure enough teams had their eyes on the few moments when he was in coverage!!! - - Like in the first NE game where we had a real shot at victory, led 17-16 and had NE in 4th and 4 for the game. Brady saw that Lee was in coverage again, knew he couldn't pass that up, and took advantage with the 4.5 yard pass in the flat to White. Ball game. Lee has to get better. His coverage was a real disppointment and cost the Jets a couple games on its own. I was encouraged when we got him because a lot of these smaller middle linebackers are creating headaches in the passing game for QBs with their speed and sneaky ability to create turnovers. I thought we were getting that. nope. not in 2016 at least
It wasn't working cause you had Mo playing the role of an outside rusher. Leonard Williams, I thought did an excellent job, but imagine if Mo was inside with Leonard and Mo took on some of those double teams opening things up for everyone else? You can't have Mo rush the passer all of the time on the outside against tackles. He's 300 pounds and had a bad ankle [in which you def blame Mo as he wasn't in shape / ready to play]. Jets need more edge speed. Players still aren't being put in the best situation to win matchups. I thought Bowles would fix that.
Wilkerson is never going to blow past people but he wasn't even getting push. He was being stoned at the line. With the type of player he is and the money paid he ought to be able to push into the backfield from time to time. He also wasn't out on the edge too much. They put him inside, outside, strong side, weak side, mixing it up, it didn't matter he was terrible. And at the beginning of the year teams were doubling Wilkerson probably because of reputation. But teams did their homework. Eventually Leonard Williams was facing more double teams and Wilkerson was getting pushed around 1 on 1 by guys who he has no business allowing them to do so against him. -- Obviously I would kill for a dynamic edge rusher but like I said those guys don't grow on trees. They are very hard to find. Even if we have one we screw it up -we had one in Abraham and we traded him for a center.... but you should be able to generate pressure just fine with the players we had. It was set up for nickel 4 man fronts in the passing game!!!! - your nose serves as the anchor while Williams, Wilkerson and Richardson all push straight into the backfield. Then the QB has to move around and gets pushed into mistakes with the extra DBs flying around in the defensive backfield and the occasional blitzer. But the defensive line didn't get any push and the secondary had breakdowns all year
Every-time I saw Mo on passing downs, it seemed he was lined up against a tackle for the most part. He got no push, and he definitely wasn't in football shape either. He was less explosive then I remember. He never had the quickest step, but for a 300 pound lineman with freakish long arms, he was pretty decent at getting off the snap. I wish we could get some more information in terms who lined up where in terms of %s, but there's not a chance in hell you could make me sit through the 2016 Jets season again. Everyone seemed to hate Abraham towards to end though, which is why he was traded. Hopefully Mo can return to form and do what he does best, cause that will truly benefit Williams too. It still remains a mystery on why we couldn't generate pressure on 4 man fronts. Jets definitely need to find some speed.
I agree. I don't think his size prohibits him from playing inside. His coverage definitely needs work. I think he will learn and improve. He has the athleticism and ability. If he doesn't improve, then he wouldn't function well as a strongside LBer trying to cover TEs and RBs on the outside, either.
I disagree that we screwed up with Abraham. He dogged it, and only played hard on occasion. If he had a hangnail, he didn't play. He thought he was a lot better than he was, so he didn't work hard. They absolutely did the right thing in getting rid of his deadbeat ass.
back in the early 1970s, baltimore colts gm joe thomas was quoted as saying : " you can never have too many of those guys ( pass rushers).
However the Jets have to really have a plan. The Cleveland Browns got nowhere fast when they decided to build the o-line as the priority. They got a couple of great offensive linemen in the process but they were still the Cleveland Browns. The Jets need to find the QB, the LT and the #1 WR as priorities. Robby Anderson is not a #1 WR and Quincy Enunwa is an h-back with strong receiving skills. The other guys are either old, injury prone or major question marks at this point. I like Charone Peake a lot and Jalin Marshall has some real upside but they're complete unknowns in terms of where they'll wind up. 2 more fumbles early next year and Marshall is going to get nailed to the bench. Parcells would cut him. Parcells might already have cut him at this point because of ball security issues.
I kept reading that Peake had some real speed but they never used his length downfield. You are right, no number 1 receiver. QB? Brett Favre now would be better than the options presented to them for this year. Don't like Marshall. Don't like fumblers. There was nothing unique about his pass catching: in fact, I expected more YAC from a guy like him. I figure find an LT and get an edge guy. Preferably in the draft. So they will still be useful when that QB falls from the sky a year before Armageddon.
I just think we need to get away from this "defense first" mentality all together. It's been what?10-12 years of this? 4 defensive head coaches...however many high draft picks...and where has it gotten us? We've had our share of top 10 units but what does that mean? Well watch the games..not much. Dominant defense is the thing of the past. 3 & outs are extremely difficult to count on as are Turnovers despite what our HC might think. Sure you need to be solid & have some horses in place..but it's more about being disciplined,making your tackles, eliminating big plays & standing tall in the red zone. Elite offenses are too good at breaking down scheme..you aren't gonna stop playmakers from getting the ball unless you're commiting a safety over the top depending on circumstance. Enough of the chirade. Build an offense that can outscore people & let the rest fall in place
I generally agree with your post but Tom Brady vs a rookie MLB is a complete mismatch. 10,000 snaps seen in an NFL game vs maybe 200?
Defense first has been the entire two decades since Parcells took over. The first two picks each year since then: 1997 - James Farrior LB, Rick Terry DT 1998 - Dorian Boose DE, Scott Frost S! 1999 - Randy Thomas G, David Loverne G 2000 - Shaun Ellis DE, John Abraham DE 2001 - Santana Moss WR, LaMont Jordan RB 2002 - Bryan Thomas DE, John McGraw S 2003 - DeWayne Robertson DT, Victor Hobson LB 2004 - Jonathan Vilma LB, Derrick Strait DB 2005 - Mike Nugent K!, Justin Miller DB 2006 - D'Brickashaw Ferguson T, Nick Mangold C 2007 - Darrelle Revis CB, David Harris LB 2008 - Vernon Gholston DE, Dustin Keller TE 2009 - Mark Sanchez QB, Shonn Greene RB 2010 - Kyle Wilson CB, Vladimir Ducasse T! 2011 - Mo Wilkerson DT, Kenrick Ellis DT 2012 - Quinton Coples DE, Stephen Hill WR! 2013 - Dee Milliner CB, Sheldon Richardson DT 2014 - Calvin Pryor S, Jace Amaro TE 2015 - Leo Williams DT, Devin Smith WR 2016 - Darron Lee OLB, Christian Hackenberg QB That's 40 picks and 25 of them have been on the defensive side of the ball and only 15 on the offensive side. Of the 20 players taken first in the draft 15 have been on the defensive side and only 5 on the offensive side. Some of the picks were just flat out incompetent. Selecting a QB in the 3rd round with the intention of converting him to S. Selecting a guy with a bone on bone condition in his knee with a top 4 pick in the draft. Selecting a K in the 2nd round, selecting a T from UMass in the 2nd round, etc. However the odds on building an offense that can compete in the NFL when you go 20 years and your 1st round picks on offense are Santana Moss, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold, Dustin Keller and Mark Sanchez are really low.
Jesus that list is depressing. To make it worse we used 2 1st rd picks to get that bone on bone condition We also traded a 1st for doug jolley before wasting a 2nd on a kicker Just brutal a histort of ineptness
I guess the best way to put it is that among the Jets 1st and 2nd round picks only three that were on the offensive side of the ball remain on the roster, those being Nick Mangold, Devin Smith and Christian Hackenberg and at the moment it looks like the odds any of them will be on the roster in 2019 are extremely low. There's a point at which you have to ask: how could things be any different given the level of investment the Jets have made on offense over the years? This is an engineered failure of the highest order.
I'll never be sick of blitzing defenses so long as they are effective. What you need to ask yourself is, "Is the strategy I am using effective in controlling the amount of points the opposition puts up?" Points allowed is the ultimate tell tale sign of how well your defense is performing, not yards allowed. The Jets philosophies are very clearly not working and I think it all boils down to the HC. He doesn't utilize players correctly. They are not held accountable for their mistakes. I say fire the HC and start anew with someone who is competent and ready to work with the talent the Jets currently have on defense. The Jets have a great DL. So utilize a lot of 4-3 fronts. Thereby keeping your most talented players on the field and playing at the position they are most likely to be successful. But besides the DL, this team needs a lot of work. They definitely need linebackers and secondary. But I digress.... Back on topic, so long as the Jets can utilize their players correctly and have talent to work with? If blitzing defense holds the opposition to 17 points per game? I'd have to say that is a wise strategy to be using.....Otherwise, the CS needs to at changing things in order to be most effective...
Yards and points are both flawed. Yards for the reasons you mentioned, and points can only tell so much when the offense keeps turning the ball over in its own end.
It almost seems like they are afraid to stick their neck out w. offensive talent...especially skill. They'll take OL...sure..but anything involving route running/ball carrying/eluding defenders/catching/throwing.....they just completely avoid & fixate on this "defense wins championships" mirage...which has failed over & over again.
The head coach has always been on that side of the ball over the last two decades. That makes it more likely you'll break ties in the draft room towards his choices and the Jets have always done that. The GM has always been a weak link in the organization since Parcells left town. Bradway was a scout, Tanny was an accountant, Idzik was more rounded but still a cap guy and Mac is basically a scout. None of them were able to put a lasting stamp on the team because the head coach has always had more input on who got drafted than he should.
