It goes without saying that the New York Jets are a mess. And with the news of GM Mike Tannenbaum's firing Monday, it will now be someone else's mess to clean up. But how did the Jets descend so rapidly from a team with back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship Game to their current state as a 2012 sideshow? The poor play of Mark Sanchez is at the forefront of their issues, but the roster has been on the decline for three years now, and this season's rock-bottom fall was much more predictable than many will acknowledge. Looking back at the past few years of personnel decisions by the Jets, there were far more misses than hits. And when taken as a whole, it is quite an indictment of Tannenbaum's moves -- particularly when you consider the ability of the rival New England Patriots to sustain themselves atop the standings year after year. The talent decline in New York stemmed from an organizational philosophy that put them in "go for it" mode rather than building the team in the mold of other successful NFL franchises. The two constants with the best regular season teams, as well as recent Super Bowl winners, is the presence of a franchise quarterback paired with a roster that is built through strong drafting. The Jets have neither, and the results have manifested in a 6-10 record. Look no further than the 2009 and 2010 drafts that netted only seven total players. The Jets' strategy over the last four years resembles that of a big market baseball team trying to build around established veterans rather than youth -- rarely a winning formula in the NFL. The opposite is true of the Patriots, whose strategy of trading down and accumulating draft picks allowed them to build one of the youngest, most talented teams in the league through their drafts from 2010-2012. [+] Enlarge Rich Schultz /Getty Images Mark Sanchez has been at the heart of the Jets' problems in 2012. Of course, quarterback Tom Brady is the one constant, but their influx of talent the last three years includes tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, cornerback/free safety Devin McCourty, linebackers Brandon Spikes and Dont'a Hightower, offensive tackle Nate Solder, running back Stevan Ridley and defensive end Chandler Jones. While New England used a patient approach built around youth, the Jets neglected their future in order to build around high priced veterans in a win-now approach. Well, "now" has come and gone for the Jets, and the moves they made from 2009 to 2011 have finally come back to bite them. Neglecting the draft Every NFL team is going to miss on some draft selections, but the Jets gave up so many picks that their misses have become magnified. Between 2009 and 2011, the Jets had only 13 draft choices compared to Patriots who had 34 selections. That gave the Jets eight fewer picks than the standard NFL allotment of 21 over a three-year period. Their strategy of neglecting the draft for veteran players decreased their margin for error and put pressure on the organization to hit on nearly every pick. They didn't. The Jets were already short on picks coming into the 2009 draft, and the Sanchez trade further depleted their lot. They came away with only three players as running back Shonn Greene (third round) and guard Slauson (sixth round) joined first-rounder Sanchez. Greene showed some promise toward the end of his rookie season, but his alarming lack of ability to make defenders miss in 2012 has him ranked 23rd out of the top 24 qualifiers in our Elusive Rating, which measures a back's ability to avoid and break tackles. Slauson is the only member of the 2009-2011 draft classes to grade positively in our game charting (explained more here) this year, as he graded at plus-2.9 as part of a surprisingly solid offensive line. After the light draft in 2009, the Jets added only four players in 2010, effectively taking two years to accumulate the usual one-year allotment of seven players. The first round netted cornerback Kyle Wilson who has failed to live up to his draft position, grading at a combined minus-10.4 over the last two years. Second-round guard Vladimir Ducasse has failed to crack the starting lineup, only playing 432 snaps in his three years. RB Joe McKnight was drafted in the fourth round but he's yet to become the explosive third-down back New York intended with the selection. He only has 128 touches in his career, though he's returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. In the fifth round, the Jets picked FB John Conner who is known more for his nickname, "The Terminator," than his nondescript 576 career snaps. He is no longer on the Jets' roster.
New York was finally close to having a full set of draft picks in 2011, though they were missing their second rounder due to the Antonio Cromartie trade (more on that later). They finally hit on a pick in first rounder Muhammad Wilkerson, who has established himself as one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in the league. His 11.3 Run Stop Percentage ranks third at the position while his 6.2 Pass Rush Productivity (which measures how often a pass rusher generates pressure on the QB) ranks ninth. The third round netted massive DT Kenrick Ellis who has flashed potential as a run stopper but he's only a small part of New York's defensive line rotation with 287 career snaps. The Jets took another shot on a running back in Bilal Powell in the fourth round, but after being used sparingly as a rookie, he's only averaged 3.9 yards/carry this year with an Elusive Rating of 21.6. In the seventh round, the Jets drafted QB Greg McElroy who has one start in two years and is unlikely to be a part of the future as starter while fellow seventh rounder Scotty McKnight never saw the field. The Jets had an uncharacteristic eight picks in this year's draft, but only three players have seen significant playing time this season. It's too early to draw definitive conclusions, but DE Quinton Coples' Pass Rush Productivity (PRP) of 8.2 ranks third among 3-4 defensive ends while second-round WR Stephen Hill appears to be a work in progress after dropping six of the 46 passes thrown his way. Third-round LB Demario Davis will have a chance to start next season after showing some promise on his 298 snaps. The rest of the class has only played a combined 76 snaps this year. With limited resources in the draft, the Jets have simply missed on too many of their selections. The decision to draft five running backs over a four-year span is a curious one, while they've failed to address a gaping hole at outside linebacker, where they have been unable to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks. The trio of Calvin Pace, Bryan Thomas and Garrett McIntyre earned negative pass rush grades this year with Pace the biggest culprit at minus-16.7. He's picked up only 28 pressures on his 311 attempts for a PRP of 7.0 (14th out of the 19 qualifiers). New York has not drafted an edge rusher since whiffing on first rounder Vernon Gholston in 2008, whose Jets career consisted of a mere 17 pressures on his 293 pass rush attempts over a three year period. The players from the 2009 to 2011 draft classes should just be entering the prime of their careers, but New York's reliance on veteran players during that time period has left the roster devoid of young talent. Building through trades April 25, 2009: Traded defensive end Kenyon Coleman, defensive back Abram Elam, quarterback Brett Ratliff, 2009 first-round pick (17th overall) and second-round pick (52nd) to the Cleveland Browns for 2009 first-round pick (5th overall: Mark Sanchez) Andy Lyons/Getty Images Trading up for Sanchez was bad, but extending him was an even worse move. The aggressive trade to make Sanchez the quarterback of the future was the biggest blunder of the last few years. While many will point to his "leading" the team to two AFC Championship games, it's difficult to give him credit for quarterbacking a team built on a strong running game and top notch defense. He's never posted a positive PFF Grade in his four years in the league, and his resume that includes the two AFC Championship games is not enough to overcome his inept play as the Jets starter. Perhaps even more egregious was the Jets extending his contract before this season to include $20.5 million guaranteed for this year and next, making it even more of a financial disaster as they try to move on from him as their starter. October 7, 2009: Traded wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Jason Trusnik, and a third and fifth round picks to the Cleveland Browns for Braylon Edwards Edwards had some positive moments in New York as he averaged 16.8 yards/catch including some big playoff catches, but he only lasted a season and a half on the roster before being brought back this year as a street free agent. March 4, 2010: Traded a conditional third-round pick (eventually turned into a second-round pick) to the San Diego Chargers for cornerback Antonio Cromartie It would be unfair to call Cromartie a complete bust, but he did little to justify the trade in 2010 or 2011. His first season in New York saw him rank 38th in Yards/Cover Snap (the average number of receiving yards allowed to his coverage assignment when he drops back into coverage) at 1.20 while surrendering seven touchdowns (second most in the league). He's shown his improvement over the last two years as he moved up to 21st in Yards/Cover Snap at 1.06 in 2011 before peaking this year as Revis' replacement, ranking ninth at 0.93. Still, his top performance came a little too late, as the original intention of the trade was to have two shutdown cornerbacks for the Jets' man coverage scheme, but he still complemented Revis well enough to take the Jets' defense to the next level.
April 11, 2010: Traded a fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Santonio Holmes The best trade of the bunch, Holmes was a relative bargain for a fifth-round pick, despite his pending suspension to start the 2010 season. That year he ranked ninth in the league in Yards/Route Run at 2.10, but that number fell to 1.14 in 2011, good for 44th out of the top 45 qualifiers. He only saw action in four games this season before going down to injury. While the risk was low, the Holmes trade was just another example of the Jets turning to a veteran presence rather than drafting and developing players at the position. [+] Enlarge Debby Wong/USA TODAY Sports The Jets spent more vital draft picks on sideline fixture Tim Tebow. March 21, 2012: Traded fourth and sixth-round picks to the Denver Broncos for Tim Tebow and a seventh-round pick Sacrificing picks for a player backfired again as Tebow only saw the field for 76 snaps resulting in 39 passing yards and 94 yards on the ground (3.1 yards/carry). He is likely to be released in the offseason as the Jets once again wasted potentially valuable draft picks. Building through free agency Bart Scott, 2009 It's hard to criticize the Scott signing as he's been a productive player for the Jets for the majority of his tenure. But when we look at the current state of the roster, Scott is no longer the same player who topped our run stop rankings in 2010. Currently he's the second worst tackler among inside linebackers, missing one of every six attempts and his dwindling athleticism is evident when asked to play in space. LaDainian Tomlinson, 2010 The Jets brought in Tomlinson with the expectation that he would pair with Greene to provide the necessary 1-2 punch for their run-first offensive attack. What they got was an aging running back that was unable to make defenders miss, ranking 26th in Elusive Rating at 19.9 in 2010, before playing only 423 snaps in 2011, his final season. David Harris, (re-signing) 2011 The Harris signing is not in the same mold of the others on this list as it's generally good business to lock up the young, core players on the team. But Harris' production has not come close to matching his $13 million cap number as he's never ranked higher than 12th in Run Stop Percentage and he's currently 20th at 8.4. Harris's minus-11.7 grade ranks 44th out of 52 inside linebackers. Washed up in the shallow end Unlike any other professional sport, roster depth is of utmost importance for success in the NFL. The Jets did a nice job of building their starting lineups for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, but negligence on the back end of the roster finally caught up to them in 2012. Whether it's the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants winning Super Bowls during injury-riddled seasons, or the Patriots overhauling their roster with young players in recent years, the blueprints have been established for teams that build their rosters through the draft. And it's clear that the Jets weren't reading that same blueprint. For the Jets to compete on a yearly basis -- and pull out of this nosedive -- it will take a philosophical change that relies on their picks in April, rather than making splash moves through trades and free agency. http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/stor...nnel-moves-caused-new-york-jets-rapid-decline
This is crap. The pats have had far more misses than we have in the Draft. They aren't talented on defense at all, they've shown that. They have Brady and thats makes all the difference. Edwards was a good pick up and for the price so was Holmes. We just didn't get talent behind them that's the problem. Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Not sure if you read the article, but the article asserts that New England has had almost double the draft picks...so they can afford mor emisses. And obviously Brady makes up for misses far more than anything else. The Jets need a quarterback more than anything.
Obviously a lot of doom and gloom from the article, but I liked how they called Wilkerson one of the best 3-4 DE in the league already. Also had very high praise for Coples in his rookie season, saying he ranked in the top 10 in a few categories. Was surprised to see Slauson rate out by them as an above average Guard. I didn't think he was that good.
It's a lot easier for the Patriots, because they already have their elite QB. See, I agree about trading away too many draft picks and whatnot, but the Patriots are notorious for surrounding Brady with cheap young WRs, and Brady still gets it done. They aren't like the Jets who missed on a franchise QB, where every other piece is so much more critical. They can draft almost anyone at RB and WR, considering the talent at QB. They suck however, at building defense. As long as they have Tom Brady and a strong oline, they will contend, regardless of the other pieces.
