Oh, now the story is Slauson ran as fast as he could away from the team? Yea sure seems like it, huh? You can't make this stuff up. Only Jets fans... only Jets fans.
No good GM would take this job without getting to pick his head coach and personnel department. If he isn't making those key decisions, then who is? The clueless owner. This message from the fans is aimed at one person, and that's Woody Johnson. The banners and the billboards are about Woody Johnson's failure as an owner. Not his entire tenure, just the way he set things up the past two seasons. Idzik agreed to that doomed to failure set up. Idzik set himself up to fail when he took the job. Woody set the organization up for failure when he made the key decisions after firing Tannenbaum. Everything starts at the top. Since the owner can't be fired, you target his terrible decisions. The way he went about hiring Idzik was a terrible decision. Terrible decision making at the top trickles down the organization. This is a direct message to Woody Johnson that says you need to stop what you're doing and reevaluate your own decision making process. You need to take the time to educate yourself on who the best GM candidates are, then hire the best person to run the organization and give that person complete authority to make all the personnel hires. Keeping Idzik just because he had no say in personnel decisions when he was hired gives Woody Johnson a free pass.
So, you think he's making the same amount as he was in Seattle? How did agreeing to keep Ryan at Woody's insistence make his job more challenging? The answer is it did not. You are being silly.
The issue relates to why the Jets ended up with Idzik rather than someone else as the GM. I thought that was obvious.
It's more about not having a true FS to man the back end of the Cover 2. That was true last year as well although with Milliner available and Ed Reed (who still knew how to play FS just had slowed down some) the Jets Cover 2 at the end of the year was decent. I think the biggest failure in terms of personnel this year was not identifying a FS and making sure they could do the job. Half the big plays the Jets have given up this year are because the FS was either non-existent or got beat to the spot when he was supposed to be providing over the top help. This is partly Rex blitzing a lot but it's also partly that the Jets don't have a true FS at this point. Calvin Pryor isn't a FS at this point and probably isn't going to turn into one. He might be a very good roamer in a Polamalu-type role but Polamalu has always had a FS sitting behind him in the Steeler's scheme. Pryor, Landry and Allen all essentially do the same thing. In a high-end Rex defense that's not a problem because Rex doesn't use a deep FS most of the time. He got rid of the FS he had when he came in the door in Kerry Rhodes.
Milliner is a project at best, Idzik drafted like he was high. Rex had a say once again, and it backfired. Time for a change, clean house.
So after spending high picks on Millener, Pryor and McDougle in the last two drafts, we still need more help in the defensive backfield? That's a firing offense.
The report card isn't out yet on Milliner, McD and Pryor and to say it is is dumb. Most scouts had Milliner and Pryor highly rated and they would have been selected in close proximity to where the Jets chose them. And McD was thought to be a good player and prospect who fell due to injury. So what if all of these guys end up being 5 year plus starters for the Jets if not better. And chances are pretty high this is going to happen. Fireable offense? Poppycock.
I don't think the Jets would have been a .500 team with average CB play. They needed average QB play and average CB play and the QB was more important. If the QB play had been good the Jets have 6 wins right now and are solidly in the race. They're 30th in the league on offense and the defense has been given short fields to defend all year long.
Milliner and McDougle are on IR. I just don't think you can take the situation in the defensive backfield as anything other than 2 of the Jets 4 most valuable DB's are out for the year and there's a cluster of safeties who all want to play the position the way Rex wants it played in his normal defense not in a Cover 2.
I think I said QB play in my post. I am with you on that. I think their defense has been average but looks worse because they do not score. Newspapermen and some fans are obsessed with CBs. I see a lot of good teams out there with just okay corners. Without injury, our CBs would have been okay
