Nothing Smith did isn't replaceable. Burress will have a better year than Edwards did last year Ellis will be back
Brad Smith is a luxury player. He's nice to have, but not having him won't kill your team. Judging Burress this early is the work of an asshat. If Ducasse isn't ready, Hunter is quite capable of filling in for Woody. Ellis hasn't signed anywhere yet....I wouldn't include him in your list.
You have to assume they think Woody and Ellis are no longer as good as what they have now or they would have re-signed them. Brad Smith was a loss and plenty of people reported that Tannenbaum was pissed they lost him waiting on scrabble but still not a big loss. Edwards is an unknown.
These things are so hard to quantify. For example, if Mark Sanchez takes another big step forward this year and becomes something close to the qb we expect him to be, then we are immediately better than we were last year. Or, what if Mo Wilkerson becomes an immediate impact player on our d-line? Etc, etc, etc. Things that look like significant losses now may be remarkably insignificant in a few months. And the same goes for expected gains.
Brad Smith was a great ST player, but very replaceable. The love for Brad Smith, a partime player, just amazes me....get over it. Some of you guys remind me like all the Leon lovers when he left. JoeMck, Kyle Wilson, Jermey Kerley and Cro will make up for the lose of Smith in the return game.
add in the fact that kick-offs have changed and I dont think its going to be as big a part of the game as it had been previously. Fact is whether it was chad morton, leon, or brad, we always had the best in the bizz, MW.
Leon was very different b/c we gave him away for nothing and leon was our best playmaker on offense in addition to being a great return man.
We did not give him away for nothing, we got value for a replaceable player coming off a serious injury who we were going to lose next year anyway. A 5th round pick is not nothing. I know, I know, we could have easily "gotten a 5th round pick another way for nothing"
A Player with a metal rod in his leg, not much trade value. Leon's future is limited, especially as parttime RB. Mike W's special teams have always been "special", I expect no difference without B Smith , just like we were fine without Leon.
I think Brad Smith will be missed more than most think. Yeah, he was a man without a true position, didn't have the "stats", and the JETS have had some good returners under Westoff, but fact was he was just a good versatile football player that made shit happen. A star? Of course not, but definitely a spark plug.
Leon turned down $5.5 million per season, which we already shouldn't have offered. This team is better off for it. His value as a kick returner is now further diminished by the new KO rules, and he was terrible as a RB last season. We are cheaper and younger at the position, which has enabled us to sign other players. I really don't see how anyone can wish we had retained him. EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm talking about the future of the RB position, NOT LT, with the younger statement.
Brad Smith - love the guy but let's not romanticize. He's a special teams ace in a league that just made kick returners less valuable and he ran the wildcat, a formation put in to ease the transition for a young QB. Meh Edwards - personally loved his play but his off field shit is a huge concern. he doesn't seem to be learning. meh Woody - wayne hunter was fine last year when he filled in. he'll be even better this year. Ellis - Mo is already doing well and while I think not having him witht he Jets is a loss I think they're trying to move guys a year early rather than a year late and if that's the case then i'm ok with it. Love the big cat though. Overall no big losses...or am i still missing something?
He could have been useful with the Wildcat, but we didn't really succeed with our Wildcat attempts last year... And with the new KO rule, and the need to free some Salary Cap, it made sense for him to leave.
