I don't think Walls is a downgrade to the Cromartie of last year. The fact is Cromartie was one of the worst corners in the NFL last year. He was getting routinely beat like a drum. Now maybe that was because he was hurt and/or his increase in age. Either way, there is no guarantee that he'll ever be the player he was in 2010-2012 again and he'll certainly never be 27 or 28 again.
That's not true. First of all not every move is made to directly make the team better, some are made to get better leverage, and some are made to ensure the team is not put in a bad position. Making comparisons like Revis to Milliner are not good comparisons. Idzik traded Revis to avoid becoming strangled by his contract. Milliner is a talented CB who had some rookie struggles. We got a 1st round pick who developed into the DROY out of the trade as well. Cromartie to Walls may not be a downgrade at all, considering Walls is young with upside and Cro is old and struggling with injury. You can't compare Cro coming off a great season with Cro coming off a bottom CB in the league season, it is just nonsensical. Harrison and Richardson are good players, better than Coples starting at end and Ellis as NT, Wilk is better than last year too so our entire D-Line has been improved. Our WR corp has been improved since then, it is obvious that a top 3 of Decker, an improved Kerley, and Nelson is better than Holmes coming off injury, Stephen Hill, and Kerley. Your whole argument is twisted and backwards, and it's like you're cherry picking unrelated stats to back up a pre-conceived notion that the Jets haven't done enough in FA this year. He did replace Landry, with Landry. Less athletic maybe, but we have another year of him under contract.
Long term issues with contracts are no doubt about it significant. And putting the signing of Vick aside, since the discussion last week was before that signing, the question I thought was whether the talent on the roster was better or not than this time last year. You say comparing Revis and Milliner is not a good comparison. Yes it is. Don't go for the flim flam that Richardson replaced Revis. That is a stupid argument. Milliner replaced Revis, and he is not as good. You are making argument far too esoteric to fit your argument. Quite simply, Milliner is a downgrade. If I was convinced that Cromartie in the coming year will be just as hampered by injury as last year, I would agree that letting him go to let Walls play is not a downgrade. But since I believe Cro will be in better shape, it is a downgrade. (ftr I do not expect thet Jets to leave the cast of characters at Cb alone, so there's that. But right now.... The point is a move has to be made, or it is a downgrade.) While the DL is overall better, and that is great, other parts of the team are in slow decline. The OL in particular is in need of rejuvenation. Core players like Ferguson and Mangold are a year older. Bench talent obtained last off season is unproven. Colon coming back totally does not impress. Winters was awful last year, and it remains to be seen whether he improves or not. I was not for signing Howard, but the change out there is at best a sideways move. Linebacker is also no better than last year, and Harris is also a year older. Among Harris, Ferguson and Mangold we can't keep expecting them to continue performing at their top level. As for wideout, I liked the Decker signing and thought Nelson played above expectations. But let's not go crazy there. He only had 36 receptions, and technically was not a move made in the off season, signed during the season. I don't think he's really starting level quality, either. Whether the Jets should have done more in FA this off season or not, I think it far from clear that the roster is improving. Now, add Michael Vick, who I believe is an upgrade over Smith, and that helps. On a pure talent level, the Jets are a better team than before the signing. But surely you would also agree the medium to long term picture with him is not very clear, either. Of course the Jets are not done with their off season, and may make some more helpful moves. I just don't see overall improvement in the talent level. Not yet, anyway.
You can't compare this team in March to last year's regular season roster. At this time last year we didn't have Milliner, Richardson, Smith, Winters, Bohannon, Ivory, Nelson and some others. We (the fans) had no idea what we had in Snacks. Compare last year's team in March to this year's team in the equivalent period. Then let's compare the opening day roster. Let's keep comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Who knows who we'll get or who will step up between now and September.
I can see ne tanking when Brady retires, picking up highly rated qb and sealing our fate for the next twenty yrs. Our current talent is irrelevant until we get a qb. Is it geno? Don't think so......
Every CB in the league is a downgrade to Revis. I'm not making any claims about Nelson other than that he and Kerley and Decker make a better 1-2-3 than Holmes and Kerley and Hill. That's all I'm saying. I think Antonio Allen is a year better so I think our safety group is better than this time last year. Don't forget we didn't have Ivory on our roster before the draft either, so that's an upgrade. Winters is an upgrade to Vlad as well, so I'd say O-Line is a wash. Lets just compare starters from right now all the way down the line, from today and from before last years draft. QB: Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, David Garrard--->Michael Vick, Geno Smith, Matt Simms RB: Mike Goodson, Bilal Powell, Joe McKnight--->Chris Ivory, Mike Goodson, Bilal Powell FB: Lex Hilliard--->Tommy Bohanon WR: Santonio Holmes, Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, Clyde Gates--->Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, David Nelson, Stephen Hill TE: Jeff Cumberland, Kellen Winslow--->Jeff Cumberland, Zach Sudfeld OT: D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Austin Howard--->D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Breno Giacomini OG: Vlad Ducasse, Willie Colon, Stephen Peterman--->Brian Winters, Willi Colon, Will Campbell C: Nick Mangold---> Nick Mangold NT: Kenrick Ellis, Damon Harrison--->Damon Harrison, Kenrick Ellis DE: Muhammad Wilkerson, Quinton Coples, Antonio Garay--->Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, Leger Douzable OLB: Calvin Pace, Antwan Barnes, Garret McIntyre--->Quinton Coples, Calvin Pace, Antwan Barnes ILB: David Harris, DeMario Davis, Nick Bellore--->David Harris, DeMario Davis, Nick Bellore CB: Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls--->Dee Milliner, Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls, Ellis Lankster S: Dawan Landry, Antionio Allen, Josh Bush--->Dawan Landry, Antonio Allen, Jaiquwan Jarrett I think we are better at QB right now, better at RB, better at WR, better at OG, a wash at TE, OT and C. I think we are better at NT, better at DE, better at OLB, better at S, worse at CB, and a wash at ILB. If you are comparing the roster now vs before the 2013 draft, we are undoubtedly better even though I think it's a stupid comparison. A much better question when talking about FA is are we better than the last day of the regular season. Here is the comparison. QB: Geno Smith, Mark Sanchez, Matt Simms--->Michael Vick, Geno Smith, Matt Simms RB: Chris Ivory, Mike Goodson, Bilal Powell--->Chris Ivory, Mike Goodson, Bilal Powell FB: Tommy Bohanon--->Tommy Bohanon WR: Santonio Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, David Nelson, Stephen Hill--->Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, David Nelson, Stephen Hill TE: Jeff Cumberland, Zach Sudfeld--->Jeff Cumberland, Zach Sudfeld OT: D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Austin Howard, Oday Aboushi--->D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Breno Giacomini, Oday Aboushi OG: Brian Winters, Willie Colon, Will Campbell--->Brian Winters, Willie Colon, Will Campbell C: Nick Mangold--->Nick Mangold NT: Damon Harrison, Kenrick Ellis--->Damon Harrison, Kenrick Ellis DE: Muhamad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, Leger Douzable--->Muhamad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, Leger Douzable OLB: Quinton Coples, Calvin Pace, Antwan Barnes--->Quinton Coples, Calvin Pace, Antwan Barnes ILB: David Harris, DeMario Davis, Nick Bellore--->David Harris, DeMario Davis, Nick Bellore CB: Antonio Cromartie, Dee Milliner, Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls, Ellis Lankster, Isaiah Trufant--->Dee Milliner, Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls, Ellis Lankster S: Dawan Landry, Ed Reed, Antonio Allen, Jaiquwan Jarrett, Josh Bush--->Dawan Landry, Antonio Allen, Jaiquwan Jarrett, Josh Bush Guys in bold were FAs, so if they are on the team Idzik made moves with them. I think QB and WR were our worst units by far, and they are both improved. I don't think we are worse off at really any position, so we did exactly what we expected Idzik to do. We addressed the major problem corps in FA (WR, QB) and now we will go into the draft without major pressures to take any particular position, and the ability to target BPA getting good value and in effect making our team better with every pick.
Its to early yet to do this,I honestly expect us to sign some more FAs and atleast 1 trade.I predict 3 more free agents.1 Saftey,1Cb,and another WR.Right now I feel like we are the same exact team we were last year .1 Wr doesn't mean the problems solved
It's definitely too early to do this, but it's just in response to the many people saying Idzik hasn't made the team better. I don't think we'll sign another safety, and honestly I kind of doubt we sign a CB or WR. If we do sign either they won't be in line to start, and honestly I think it's more likely any other signings that they make will be after the draft.
The Jets are definitely better off right now than they were last season because there's at least some chance the offense will be competent for the first time in 3 years. There was no point last year or leading into the season when it looked like the offense was going to be improved. Holmes had screw-foot, Kerley was a slot receiver and Hill was a walking disaster area. At least this year you have Decker who is a good receiver, Kerley as the same slot receiver going into a contract year and David Nelson who is 5x the player Hill is as the fallback on the other side. The defense became dominant on the line last year and that more than makes up for losing a pair of dominant CB's watching TE's and slot receivers beat them regularly.
After this draft, we will be a better team then last year. Improvement on 2nd year players, better offensive weapons, and another year of the defensive line coming together.
Idzik has to save some cap room to lock up Mo Wilk. It's nice we're now in a position to carry unused cap space into 2015 and beyond. While I'm concerned about the CB situation, this team is otherwise in much better shape overall than it was at this time last year.
Adding Vick greatly improves the talent level, I would agree. But he is problematic in a few respects, including lack of dependability, not being even a medium term solution, and how he might affect the Jets' ability to map their future at Qb. But he is clearly an upgrade over Smith, so that does change the assessment somewhat. Overall, though, the rest of the roster is not improved over the Jet roster last off season before Revis was traded.
If I'm Idzik id seriously consider moving up in the draft,I have a bad feeling the Giants have the sights set on Ebron at num 12 pick.They have no TEs its one of there major holes.If that happens then I guess we take a WR or Saftey
I dont want to move up. Theres plenty of talent deep in the first round. Trading more picks when we need depth at a lot of positions and giving up the chance to really hit on late round picks isn't a good idea. My opinion at least.
No, if you're Tannenbaum you panic about one player getting taken too early and give up draft picks to get him because you're peeing your pants like a preschooler that Big Blue Brother or the Patriots will take him first. If you're Idzik you are treating the draft like your lifeline and not wasting picks to move up in the first round for a tight end.
I agree. Just because I think Idzik has been too lethargic in FA doesn't mean you fix that by trading up to get a TE. The lack of action in FA has made it even MORE critical to fill holes in the draft, and you don't pursue that strategy and need by trading up.
The pertinent question isn't really whether the team is improved over last year. It's whether the team is improved relative to the playoff contenders in conference, since winning the division is optimistically a 20-1 shot. The answer is that I don't think the team is relatively improved, or at least not much if so. Given the actual spending so far and near misses on a big DRC contract and Jackson deal still potentially hanging in the balance, I'd say Idzik could have done more by approaching his spending strategy on other players at other positions earlier on. Given that wasn't the case, at least he is getting in the hunt on guys like Vick and Jackson. Even if they bring their own baggage and/or create new problems with the existing roster, it is certainly better than doing nothing.
I wouldn't trade up in the first round but I might tack on some combination of our 4th-7th round picks to trade up in the 2nd or 3rd. If you pretend Jackson gets signed and Ebron is landed in the first, it would be a big deal to land a premium guard in the 2nd, that would be a pretty complete offense right there. Or if Jackson isn't acquired and Ebron isn't there, maybe draft best WR 1st, ASJ 2nd, and trade up the 3rd into late 2nd to land best remaining guard. With 4 good comp picks the last 4 picks really don't mean much. There won't be roster spots for close to all those guys. I wouldn't say trade up in the 2nd or 3rd automatically, but it should definitely be an option depending on who is sliding and who has already been drafted. You could always plan on just culling out 4 or 5 of the 11 picks that don't flash enough in training camp, and hope that you find a gem or two right away with a late pick, but you could also just be a little more selective with the comp picks and trade up late rounders to ensure you get a quality starter in position of need with your 2nd or 3rd. Both are valid strategies.
