If you're talking about Geno, I don't buy it. Everything we've heard about him is what a hard worker, student of the game and driven to succeed he is. Besides there's no way he could be worse than Sanchez who has yukked it up on the sidelines rather than huddling with his teammates or talking to the OC, and even ate a hot dog.
I never questioned his work ethic anywhere in my post so no idea why you bring that up, At least Sanchez held a clipboard when he was benched.
good post mezzavo. i agree the scouting dept has to improve. I know Idzik has already made some adjustments. we'll see how that goes i guess. getting better at drafting is critical. also agree about giving the combo of Idzik, Rex, and Marty some time on this rebuild. I don't see a need for new coaches, new philosophies needing new personnel. it would only dig us deeper in the rebuild process, and i don't see the coaches as being the problem. we have a very experienced defensive mind, and offensive mind, each which know how to teach and motivate. i would potentially upgrade a couple position coaches though. TE and WR, along with OG and S, are top priorities for FA and draft (besides QB). we don't have to get top tier FA's. we need too much for that, so i'd prefer many mid to low tier FA's. I like Hill as a QB vet. we need a vet who can actually play, and potentially even win out the job whether we draft another QB or not. I'm not sure who that is yet, but Hill is someone worth looking into. One thing I'll add... we've drafted a lot of Dlineman which is now paying off. it's time to start drafting Olineman now. Draft 1 every year in the first 3 rounds. they started this year with Winters. take another Guard this year, and bring in either a G or T for competition and depth.
So much is going wrong right now. I think its asking to much to put it on Idzik's shoulders. This is going to take a cleaning of the house.
Rex has been a dead man walking all season. I think Idzik probably decided last summer to cut him loose. The two main reasons he is still here are salary and why bring in his new guy to take the heat for a bad season? Barring another lucky run to the playoffs, I expect a press conference on the 30th announcing that the sweater is gone.
Again, I do not see any area of tangible improvement in this Jet team compared to last year other than DL, which one would have to expect given the draft picks spent there the last few years. Can any Idzik supporter describe how they think he has helped the team so far?
Lets take a look at Idziks moves now that its week 13 in the season.I havent been that high on him Mike Goodson-Signed to a three year 6.9 mil contract.Missed the first four games due to drug problems then got injured and put on IR. Kellen Winslow-A one year contract.He looked promising early on but hasnt done a thing since his 4 game suspension for peds Dee Millner- Drafted with the num 9 overall pic he has been a joke so far David Garrard- Injured Resigned ,Still trying to figure out why hes on team Chris Ivory-Traded for a 4 th round pick ,He has been the lone brightspot on offense the last few weeks .Good move,love the way he runs Josh Cribbs-A solid signing due to the fact our kick return game was a joke.He is now on IR David Nelson-Solid move ,He has made some plays for us Antwan Barnes- He was looking like a really good signing early on before he went on IR Willie Colon-Probably leads our team in penaltys.A good stop gap guy decent signing Sheldon Richardson-Drafted with the 16 th pick from Tampa has proven to be a great pick and will be a beast for us Geno Smith-drafted in the second round, terrible pick,never wanted Geno Dwan Landry- A decent option for depth but not a good full time starter Ed Reed-Hasnt won a game he played in since The Superbowl.I liked it at first but its ruining Allens development.Bad Move so theres Idziks first year in a nutshell,he tried to work with what little cap space we had.Im excited to see what he does with actual cap space and bad contracts in Holmes and Sanchez
Studs Sheldon Richardson Chris Ivory Question marks Antwan Barnes Dee Millner Mike Goodson Josh Cribbs Scrubs Geno Smith Dwan Landry Ed Reed Willie Colon David Nelson Kellen Winslow
You can't bring up Nelson and Salas and Sudfeld and the like because they're street players at this point. Guys that are likely to spend the rest of their careers bouncing around before they finally get to the point they can't catch on anywhere in a year or two. Sudfeld might avoid that fate with some real luck but Nelson is already there and Salas is right on the cusp of it. A lot of this season has been about finding temporary stop gaps. The strategy clearly was to have a deep draft in 2014 and very possibly 2015 as well. The Jets have a bunch of veteran free agents that might get them comp picks in 2015 if they didn't sign too many non-cut replacements. Austin Howard, Jeff Cumberland, Willie Colon, Calvin Pace, Kellen Winslow, Ellis Lankster, any of those guys who gets signed somewhere after their contract expires after the season could produce a comp pick in 2015. It's unlikely that they get more than a couple of picks out of the group but who knows?
Sheldon Richardson. Barnes was a great addition before his injury. He had no money to spend and still filled some holes at LB and safety. He fixed some serious coaching issues. Kept ones I atleast thought he should and hired MM. With no money to spend and the previous administrations scouting department what did you really expect from him in 1 offseason?
I wasn't sure in your post if you were referring to Geno with your sideline demeanor comment. I know you didn't mention work ethic explicitly, but think sideline demeanor would be related to his character, work ethic, football intelligence, caring about winning, etc. Perhaps I misunderstood your intent, but it sounded to me like you were saying that Geno (or whomever) didn't care and was pouting because he was benched. As for Sanchez, he may have held a clipboard once he was benched, but when he was starting, his sideline demeanor was awful. I don't recall ever seeing him huddle with his OL, WRs, or OC or looking the least bit concerned even when the team was behind and he was playing poorly. In fact, I would see him yucking it up. I'm sure Geno is probably frustrated with his play, the lousy blocking by the OL, the lousy receivers he has to work with, the number of injuries they've had, and quite possibly the poor way he and the offense has been handled by Rex. In addition, he has probably hit the rookie wall. So if his demeanor is less than desirable, I would think it would be due to the fact that he cares, is proud, and is having a hard time dealing with the situation. I can live with that.
You may be right that Idzik decided when he took the job to fire Rex, but the reason Rex is still here is that Woody would not allow Rex to be fired before this season.
Off the top of my head, following are the positive moves that I think that Idzik has made. 1. The no-nonsense approach he has brought to the team. He has brought a real football approach to the GM position and the team as opposed to the clueless bean counter. 2. He reigned in Rex's mouth and actions, thus helping to remove the circus atmosphere. 3. He did about the best anyone could have done in trying to clean up the cap. 4. He approached the draft in a logical fashion. He knew he couldn't fill allt he holes this year. He did the best he could. He didn't panic, reach for players, waste picks trading up for prospects Rex, the scouting dept. or he loved. He went BPA. Even though they liked Geno, he resisted the temptation to trade up for him. He stayed put and got great value with the Geno pick. 5. He brought in a number of FAs who have helped the team: Barnes, Colon, Winslow, Landry, Salas, Sudfeld, Nelson. 6. You might criticize him for not knowing about Goodson's character, but he was cheap, has speed and playmaking ability. Negatives (as I see them) 1. Signing David Garrard rather than Jason Campbell, Josh McCown or Bruce Gradkowski. 2. Signing a washed up Ed Reed. That said, in all likelihood, it was probably Rex who wanted Reed rather than Idzik, but at least Idzik did it in the safest, smartest way. 3. He missed on Peterman. To his credit, he didn't try to disguise it as many, if not most, GMs would. He cut him. Remains to be seen: 4. The 2013 draft. It's way too early to tell, but Richardson is the only stud so far. Geno has shown flashes. Milliner's improving, but has been very shaky as has Winters. Time will tell. In his defense, he had to work with the scouting people who were on hand that earlier regimes had brought in. 5. The new scouting and personnel people he brought in. Their track record with their previous teams wasn't stellar. 6. How he handles the CS following this season. Will Rex stay or be fired (will Woody allow Rex to be fired?)? If he does fire Rex, with whom will he replace him? 7. How he handles FA and the 2014 draft. IMO, the last two will be the biggest determining factors in what kind of GM he is. I never wanted Idzik. There were other GM candidates with more personnel experience that I thought were better options. Some removed themselves from consideration because Rex couldn't be fired. Others were interviewed, but Idzik was hired. So far, I think he has done a solid job. I hope he will continue to do well. He is a rookie, so will hopefully grow on the job and get even better. Even experienced GMs make mistakes (as we all do).
It is not about expectations, mine or otherwise. The point is he has produced very little so far. On balance the team imo is no better than last year's, and arguably worse in several areas. I mentioned earlier that the DL was one corps on the team that is overall better. But you would expect that given all the draft picks spent there. Overall this year's draft has produced Richardson, some question marks, and some likely failures. Given that the Richardson pick itself was in part the product of an extra first round pick coming on the Revis trade, even that production is problematic. And the spectacle of having two of his top three picks be benched multiple times does not inspire confidence, either. While it is too early to call him a failure, and he will clearly get at least next year to show what he can do, I think anyone but a FO homer would have some concern right now.
the 2014 draft and the QB situation will define this guy. The QB from Oregon and Baylor are going back to school. The Qbs from Georgia and LSU - torn ACL and will now be viewed as damaged goods by many until they prove otherwise. So 4 QBs are not in the same spots the QB heavy draft has changed. He needs to go heavy skill player -- fill holes. Who will be the QB in 2014? Who do you target in 2015?
I don't think it premature to say that if Mark Sanchez is the starting qb on opening day next year, that John Idzik will properly be viewed as a catastrophic failure as GM.
I would be shocked beyond belief if Sanchez is even a part of the team next year. I think he's gone the minute the season ends.
I would too even though I prefer a mobile QB over an immobile one. He's just too good to pass up if they can get him in the 3rd or 4th round.
You draft a kid with a banged up knee you need a veteran on a 1 year stop gap. You can't have geno smith backing up a peg leg rookie QB. Still believe the best option is Sanchez for that stop gap...has a lot to prove, will be playing for his career, knows the team, has always said the right thing. His dead money will hit the cap if he is on the team or not. I think he could be had quite cheaply with a chance to start.
