CJ Conley will be a terrific punter. Just needed time to mature again last year. I like Weatherford and felt comfortable with him, but he was never going to be a Pro-Bowler. Brad Smith and other special teamers are replaceable. Westoff is not. Past KRs: 2010 Brad Smith 2009 Leon Washington / Brad Smith 2008 Leon Washington (ProBowl) 2007 Leon Washington (3TDs!) 2006 Justin Miller (2TDs and ProBowl) 2005 Justin Miller Between Cromartie, McKnight, Kerley, Wilson, Lowery, and Revis, I am confident we'll have another dynamic returner emerge.
Yeah, because Marlin Jackson started all 16 games. The Jets had the luxury of taking the BPA and have him learn behind two top 10 corners. He looked fine at the end of the season.
I think we'll run the ball well this year but I'm not sold on the passing attack, yet. The defense should be awesome, as usual.
The one thing I'll say about the receivers is that Ryan came out and said that there's no real pecking order among those Top 3. He said Mason should see a lot of work out of the slot, but I don't think that'll prevent the team from running different looks to fit the situation and bring Kerley along. I'd say Mason draws closer to 70% of the snaps out of the slot in 3 wide formations. I can see him being split wide at times as well. LT won't perform at that level again, but he did so more out of need than anything else. I think he'll make solid contributions in a more limited role and McKnight and Greene will more than take over the rest. Numbers might be deceiving as the ball is put more into Sanchez's hands, but I think as a unit we're in a better place. I have concerns about the D-Line early on, the depth at linebacker (not much different than last year), and ST. Other than that, I feel great about this team provided it stays healthy.
Who are CJ Conley and Westoff? And yes, KRs have lost some of their importance this year, so I'm not as worried about that as I otherwise would be.
He also spent a lot of time at a position he's not ideally suited for. The praise for him this offseason is even better given that fact.
First off, his name is TJ Conley, not CJ. Second of all, Chris Bryan has apparently been kicking his ass in camp (no pun intended). So far, Kerley has been the most impressive returner in camp. Westhoff loves him and it sounds like he'll be returning both punts and kicks for us this season.
I dont think we are as good on offense as last season due to the unfamiliarity of Sanchez and his recievers. Still haven't addressed the pass rush unless they're counting on the rookies to make an immediate impact? I pray i'm wrong but i'm thinking we are not as good as last season.
Seeing as Rex has stated that he expects our rookies to make an immediate impact, I would say yes, I think that they are counting on Wilk and Ellis to make an immediate impact.
Is this team better? We'll know when the season begins. But I would say they aren't worse than last year. With so much continuity I can't see this team taking steps back. Will they win the division? Pretty tough when only the Jets and Browns beat them during the regular season, and then the Jets again in January. Rex challenged the rest of the league for a reason. Even if the Jets sweep the Pats, it still might not be enough to win the division. I find that ridiculous, but its the truth. If the Jets swept them last year the Pats would have been in first. Fuck everyone else in this league - they suck.
We had a very mediocre at best O last year. Hard to see with another year of continuity on the OL and Sanchez with another year under his belt that are O isn't significantly better. We have lots of talent at WR and running back and Edwards for all his talent was a terrible route runner. Plaxico and Mason are going to bring not just talent but descipline to routes which should help Sanchez tremendously.
Rex said he's playing with a lot more confidence in camp right now. He did get snakebitten last season, it happens. His slump-buster was Buffalo. He and Stickland will do well, and they can both blitz.
Good points TG. Can it be...a really good off season thread. I agree, bottom line is that this team has no excuses to come out of the shoot flying compared to last year.
I don't know about the receivers part. If we are looking at the comparison to last year as a whole, we must add in that Holmes did not play the first four games, and had to get a comfort level up to speed during the season as it progressed. Cotch had to deal with injuries, and that carried over into this off season and what appears to be a factor in the decision to let him go, leading to the Mason signing. Even Edwards had not been with the team a whole season as of the start of the season last year. In short last year was hardly one where you would say continuity was the hallmark. On the other hand this year you might reasonably argue there's even less. I would say there is even less. Even if as I hope Mason despite his being older shows more durability than Cotch, and Holmes shows even greater comfort with MS, it will clearly take some time to have Plax and Mason get in synch. As for other parts of the team, I don't intend here to survey all of it, but I am concerned that Tomlinson being a year older may show as well. Will Green pick it up? I really don't know. Retaining Cro and getting Leonhard back makes the secondary one area where the year to year increase in experience and cohesiveness should mean that the secondary is one part of the team that is likely going to be at least somewhat better. Ellis's departure makes the DL a question mark at least in teh short term. We shall see...
Yup. I said the same thing last year this time to my buddy who was bitching about losing Leon. You can go back even further to the Chad Morton Days. Even Cotch was running back TD's as a rookie. Westoff will plug in anyone with athletic ability and make him a top 5 return man in the nfl.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyj/2005_roster.htm By the way, does anyone think we're going to be better than this team? Got we were terrible. Thank you Tanny.
