I look at how much of a huge role our past 3 draft classes played today, and you see how the Jets had success and came out with a win despite 20 penalties. Defensively, Wilkerson (obviously), Davis, Richardson, even Coples all played well and helped define our superior pass rush today that included 8 sacks and total 16 QB hits today. Offensively, we had Powell stepping up big today, Hill performing like we all had hoped he would when drafted, and of course Geno Smith. And even though Kerley didn't have that big of a role today, we all know how important he is to our offense. Overall, I think the Jets are having some good success in recent drafts and that is what is helping us stay competitive in a time in which "experts" once ranked the Jets 32nd in the Power Rankings. Wilkerson, Richardson, Coples, Davis, Hill, Geno, Kerley, Powell, etc. are showing good signs of progress and have the Jets playing like the competitors only the fans seemed to have known they could be. We didn't get much out of our 2012 draft class last year, so it is important to continue to see good play and progress out of guys like Coples, Hill, and Davis. The future for this team looks pretty damn good, and we have a HUGE off season coming up which will include plenty of cap space and an abundance of draft picks. This AFC East is looking like it will be real competitive for years to come, no more easy division titles for the Pats, this entire division looks good.
Good post. It's interesting that Tannenbaum was still in charge for two of those drafts and now much of that young talent is contributing positively. Too little too late, I suppose.
True, he also had some poor drafts as well though, which led to his demise. I look at why we sucked in the '11 and '12 season, and the fact that we have no members of our '08 draft class on the roster, in practice, no members of our '09 draft class left, and it took 3 seasons to get at least something out of the '10 class in Duccasse (at least for now he has played rather well) and it's easy to see why we sucked the past two seasons. It's good to have some productive draft classes and it has clearly opened the door for this team to be competitive when nobody else thought they would be. The best way to surprise the league is by having rookies and second year players step up big. Late round picks that step to become solid role players on the team are definitely nice and helpful in making a team competitive, Allen, and guys like Kerley (5th round pick) are good to see.
Yeah, it's amazing how the AFC East is so much better than the NFC East this year. The entire NFC East has 3 wins, and 2 of those were from division matchups where one team was going to win. On the other hand, two teams in the AFC East are 3-0, and each of them has as many wins as the entire NFC East combined. The Bills don't really look like they can win the division, but they don't look like a bad team. The Patriots-Dolphins games will be interesting, and if one team sweeps they other they'll probably win the division. I think the Jets could still wind up with a 9 win season and maybe get a wildcard berth, the defense is amazing and today showed that the offense can be very effective.
Awesome thread. 2011 in particular is the draft class that I'm looking at. I was thinking of making a thread about them after the Tampa game, but there are too many damn threads. But look at that class minus the embarrassment of trading two picks for Tebow. Lavonte David may have lost the Tampa game for his team, but how many middle linebackers do you know that can chase down Vincent Jackson with like a fifteen yard head start in the open field. That doesnt happen and the Bucs go up by 9 DeMario Davis is a freak, athletically. A lot of people didn't like that pick, and a lot of people are gonna pretend they loved that pick now. I like Harris and Scott (not Pace) but you can't have 3 slowass LBs on the same D and expect teams not to spread you out and exploit that. Stephen Hill is making tremendous progress. I'm glad, because he has all the ear marks of being a #1 receiver that can stretch the field. It's funny I joined this board right after the draft and Stephen Hill went from the next Megatron to public enemy #1 on here (maybe #2, after Sanchez and before Pace) because of his drops and busted routes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he doesn't have any drops this year right? Over 200 yards in 3 games. Im glad to see he's got Geno's trust, cause you can't cover him one on one. Antonio Allen continues to surprise me. Keep in mind this dude was a college linebacker, and a late 7th round pick. To me it seemed like a pure special teams pick that wouldn't make the roster, but to be starting at SS and consistently playing well in year 2, that's unheard of. Also, dude always seems to come up with a sack when they blitz him. Quinton Coples is a beast. His ankle injury was hard to stomache, because he had a monster preseason. Moving him to the edge was definitely the right move. Even though he lead the team (and all rookies, I think) in sacks, he wasn't getting on the field enough. Once he fully grows into his role he's gonna be a sack machine. 10+ every year. It's rare to get 4 impact players in one draft, even if you have extra picks. But the four guys we got totally makes up for giving away two picks for Tebow and taking Terrence Ganaway over Alfred Morris or Bryce Brown. But yeah, you're dead right... Look at all the busts before the past three years. Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene, Vernon Gholston, Kyle Wilson, Joe McKnight... All hyped up obvious picks. Then guys like Bilal Powell, Jeremy Kerley, Demario Davis show up on nobody's radar and turn out to be budding young stars. Something changed with our philosophy. Gotta shout out Muhammed Wilkerson. His senior year at Temple was my freshman year. He was the center piece of the best defense we ever had, and according to everybody who knew him, he's just a down to earth cool dude, despite being really the only coveted player EVER to come out of Temple. Jaiquan Jarrett was a member of that D too. He can play, Philly shouldn't have cut him looking at what they have now. The Owls are on the rise.
The person who has really stood out for me the last couple of games is DeMario Davis. With David Harris playing well also the Jets have a strong presence right in the middle of the defensive front. The linemen are having a great season also but it's the two guys in the middle that were the unknown factor going into the season and they have both played really well. If they keep this up all year, well the Jets might give us a December worth remembering.
The AFC East is undefeated when they don't play AFC East teams. Good call pointing out the LBs. THey have played well so far and limited 2 QBs who like to throw to their RBs and two very elusive backs in SPiller and Martin.
I agree with pretty much everything, except we took Ganaway after Morris was taken. That was a fantastic pick by the Redskins, he was completely unknown. That's pretty surprising, we were considered in the running for worst division like a month ago.
Davis has speed and can tackle. he took down Spiller or Jackson on a sweep to his left and just clobbered the guy behind the line of scrimmage.
it appears now that the inflection came in 2010, sans k. wilson.... what has helped is that the recent drafts have been deep in mid round talent so the possiblity of hitting on someone goes up. lets not anoint them yet but we are definitely seeing some results on the field - and ists not just at one or 2 positions - which has more than not been the problem with most past jet drafts.
shanahan does uncover these RB's later in drafts - not sure if its his eyes only but someone associated with him does it pretty well.
We also got an ok starter in Bohanon in the 7th round. I feel as he will be a stud in a couple of years. If we have a bad season win wise Rex should keep his job because of how young this team is.
Gotta love these types of players. Always around the end of the play, always making contact, always finishing plays.
Nothing makes me happier then to see the young guys having success. Call me a homer, but I feel it points to bright future. Hopefully we can play like this against other teams not called the Bills. I remember how excited I was after last season's opener vs the Bills.
I have no doubt Tannenbaum was fired because of the contract extensions he gave Sanchez and Holmes. There was no reason for either and both came back to kill us.
Oh my mistake. I thought Ganaway was a 6 and Morris was a 7. Still that pick (Ganaway) left me scratching my head. I feel like the jets just looked at his stats sheet and ignored his lack of speed, average size, bad instincts... College stats, especially when you're not playing in an SEClike division. He also had the benefit of playing next to RG3. I can't believe nobody drafted Chris Polk. I know he's got some kind of condition that makes him vulnerable to injury, but most analysts had him in their 5 after Wilson and Miller. Yet Marcus Lattimore (sad as his story is), who may never see the field again, goes in the third to a team with three good backs. I go to school in Philly and live on campus so the Eagles are all I hear about. I can't bring myself to take the title "Eagles fan", but I root for them in the NFC. Bryce Brown was a hell of a steal for the Eagles too. Never really played in college, but was a top high school prospect, over Richardson. And when Shady was hurt, he looked like a franchise back minus the fumbles. To me that's what you should be doing with sevens. Look for the guys who slipped through the cracks. Antonio Allen was one of those shot in the dark picks, and thank God because without him we are thin as hell at safety. I like Powell a lot. I think he has great instincts, I think he has great moves. But Im not entirely comfortable with him as a franchise back. Off topic but what happened to Chris I yesterday? Did he get hurt or did Marty just decide to pull him. I really had/still have high hopes for him. I think he's a great back that just got lost in NOs system. Hope he gets another shot.
I think Tannenbaum was fired because the team was going the wrong direction and the strategy used to correct last time, free agents and trades for expensive vets, just wasn't going to work with the age of the roster and the cap situation. He didn't have the track record that suggested he might be able to go with a youth movement and right the ship. If you look at the guys that were high on the Jets list and the guy they finally decided to hire, all of those guys were good for a youth movement without any high-priced talent additions alongside of the rebuild.
