Im glad our season is "over" despite being 2-2. I guess we should quit, I guess the Falcons should quit to, I guess the Packers should quit, I guess the Ravens, Browns, Bengals, Texans, Bills, 49ers all shout quit to. Im happy overall where we are at, we could have been better, we could have been worse, but we still have a lot to look forward to these coming weeks.
One thing I can say about Geno is that whenever he doesn't look bad he actually looks good. He makes big plays. As opposed to looking either bad or mediocre as was mostly the case with Sanchez.
Geno's in a much tougher offense/circumstances than Sanchez's rookie season. MArty is asking Geno to do a ton(much of which he isnt ready for)
Ok, so after some thought this is where I'm at. The Jets are rebuilding critical areas of the team this season. Part of that process is taking real chances on people and seeing if they can hold up or not. Some people are going to pass the test, some people are going to get released or allowed to leave as free agents in the off-season most likely, some people are going to be incomplete at the end of the year but with not enough data to know if they're going to pan out or not. That's just what it is. ok, now on to individual people who stood out mostly in a bad way. Geno Smith has a tremendous amount of potential. That's obvious from watching him when he is on, which is not often so far, or when the opponent is off which is also not often so far. What he's going to do with that potential is anybody's guess but we're way too early in the process to be making assumptions here. It's been a long time since the Jets have had a QB with Smith's raw ability. It's also a long time since the Jets have started a QB as raw as he is. We're just going to have to wait and see on this one. Vladimir Ducasse is a turnstile at LG. Watching him escort his guy to Smith several times last night was painful to watch but definitely not as painful as it was for Smith. Ducasse is just too slow of foot to be a good offensive lineman. He doesn't have the quickness required to pass block against a shifting front. It's a nightmare watching him trying to handle a blitzing LB inside. The Jets may not have better alternatives than him at the moment but they really need to consider their options here. D'Brick and Mangold have both looked subpar at times this year also. It's killing them having to cover for the LG as often as they've had to do this. Darrin Walls got beat up a bit in the second start of his career. I didn't watch him all that closely so I have no real opinion of his ability other than 2 starts and age 25 makes it too early to judge him. The Jets secondary is ok at this point. It would be better if Milliner was healthy and playing well but it's not a huge achilles heel by any means. Without the turnovers last night the Jets would have been ok. Dawan Landry is good. I know that doesn't come through all that well because of the role he plays but he is a good safety. I'm enjoying watching him as much as I liked watching his brother last year. Tight Ends have 9 catches for 94 yards against the Jets so far this season. Teams are going outside to do the limited damage they are inflicting through the air. Marty Mornhinweg is calling the same game with Geno Smith that he would be calling if he had a vet in there. This is either tough love or the reality that Geno does not have an open-ended commitment from the organization. I think this is the right call. Geno probably does not have much more than the rest of this season to take the job. The Jets really need to know if he can handle the pressure of being a big time QB in NY. If he improves in the near term the Jets may still have a tough call to make in the draft next year. If he doesn't improve the call will be easy. The best scenario is that it just clicks for him in a few games and he's the obvious choice to lead the Jets into the opening window. That's what force-feeding him is all about. Finally, this is a rebuilding team. 5 to 8 wins most likely. We knew this already but the facts were heavily reinforced by the game we just saw. Going off track in a rebuilding season is a bad idea. The Jets need to continue doing what they are doing and resist the urge to make a trade for a vet to shore things up. There's nobody they could acquire at this point who would likely turn this into a strong season. Look at the young guys. Sort them out. Throw the ones that don't work out over your shoulder and look at some more. It's a tried and true formula.
This does not have to be a rebuilding season. As in years past all we needed was an average QB and we'd be in the playoff hunt. If Geno can't stop the turn overs and MM insists on play calling that might be beyond this rookie then we might as well give Simms a look and start looking for a FA as one becomes available. To repeat, average QB play puts us in the playoff hunt. I'm not at all in favor of throwing this season away.
You're dreaming. Stephen Hill has a concussion. Santonio Holmes tweaked his hamstring (on top of the recovering from the foot thing.) Kellen Winslow is an injury waiting to happen. The Jets running backs are a solid player, an injury case and a head case. The offensive line is in disarray. This is not a playoff team unless everything clicks just right. Geno could start going gang busters right now and an injury or two would take the Jets right out of the hunt. It's just not there. The overall talent levels on offense are not there and many of the players are dealing with other issues as well.
Brad, I know you don't like using top 10 picks on an OG. I wanted Warmack because I saw in him an NFL-ready rock. And looking at King Ugly getting schooled by Chandler Jones and the Pats running stunts 2 weeks ago, I still wouldn't have minded a Warmack-Richardson 1-2 punch in the draft. Overall though, I agree with your assessment and have on several occassions pointed out that this current roster is still full of holes and question marks in a number of areas.
I agree with pretty much all of that. Ducasse was looking somewhat promising through the first couple of games but the insane amount of penalties and continued turnstiling shows that he's just a bust in all likelihood. He isn't smart enough and doesn't have the technique, sadly Willie Colon hasn't been much better. I'd like to see the team acquire the best available guard in free agency and draft another one somewhere in the first three rounds. That should be great bang for the buck for the roster. I did watch Walls closely again and he gave up a lot of big plays yesterday. It was obviously too much to ask him to step in out of nowhere and be a consistent shutdown corner, but at least he kept his receivers more or less covered and forced them to make good throw/catches to burn him. He was in the ballpark but it remains to be seen whether he can develop the killer instincts to actually get in there and break up passes consistently. I'm still optimistic that between him and Milliner we might end up with a good solid cover corner between them by next year. It would be great if that pans out because we're one ballhawking FS away from having a fairly complete secondary if that's the case.
1. Peyton started his career really rough. By that, I mean he started his four game series with 3 AFC East teams, and they all made it to playoffs, including 12-4 Jets. Only Saints didn't make it to the playoffs that year. So I will see how the first four teams Jets faced this year fare. 2. For every Peyton Mannings, the league is littered with Kyle Bollers and David Carrs. With that turnstile OL ahead of him, let's see how far Geno gets. I will just leave it at that for now. Just, know that, it is absolutely dumb logic to bite your tongue on this turnover issue SIMPLY because Peyton did so and so in his rookie season. -------------------------------------------- That said: Jets are not a playoff bound team. Period. There, I agree with your assessment. Jets OL is in disarray - their both guards need replacement, and RT needs a replacement as well. You really aren't going anywhere with this OL protecting your QB. or opening up holes for your RB. We all know, by now, how Jets lack play makers at OLBs, Ss, WRs, TEs and RBs, so I won't go there.
In the future, please add exclamations points. Also, use the word "loser," but spell it "looser." You're sending the whole board into culture shock.
