I know that after the prolific seasons posted by Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, many people are going to recoil at the idea I'm about to present, but I think it's something we should look very hard at. Brandon Marshall completely changed the complexion of this offense in his first year in it, taking it from a bottom 5 ground based system to one of the best passing offenses in the NFL. Yes, the change in success is also attributable to Fitzpatrick taking over for Geno and Gailey taking over for MM, but after seeing stretches of play with Marshall on the sidelines after suffering in-game injuries, I'm convinced that this year's offense would have looked only marginally better than 2014's had you taken him away. Think of how many times he bailed out bad throws or just won jump balls in the red zone. I think that in this age of the NFL, dominant skill position players may actually have become more important than dominant offensive lines. Look at the playoff teams from this year; only the Bengals and Panthers had even average lines, but every team featured explosive playmakers. I can even argue that unless you have an elite QB that transcends his supporting cast, your playmakers might be more important than your quarterback. The gap in the skill level between QB's 12-25 really isn't all that significant, but the gap in their production is usually governed by the skill position players they have to work with. Look at how Brady fared without Gronk and Edelman, Rodgers' step back without Jordy Nelson, etc. Meanwhile, guys like Josh McCown (Jeffery and Marshall, 2013) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (Marshall and Decker, 2015) have had career years when given the chance to work with dominant outside receivers. We can't let ourselves get back to the point where Chaz Schilens, Greg Salas and Jeremy Kerley are alternating as our #1 receivers. As much as we love Brandon Marshall, at 32 years old he's as much as a "stopgap" for the #1 receiver position as Fitzpatrick is at quarterback (I read an article today saying that he came to New York with a '2 year' retirement plan: nypost.com/2016/02/01/brandon-marshall-i-broke-down-nearly-retired-before-jets). Given that, we should be treating wide receiver exactly like we are treating quarterback, and finding a young receiver that can use the next year or 2 to develop behind one of the greats before taking over when he retires. I don't care if it's drafting Laquon Treadwell (speculation that he might run a 4.6-4.7 40 at the combine has dropped him into late 1st/early 2nd round discussion) or splurging a little bit in free agency for Alshon Jeffery (he's only 26 and his experience with Marshall could help) at the expense of losing a key free agent off of our roster, we need to roster a young, explosive receiver. If we don't, and Marshall retires at the end of this year, we run the risk of going into 2017 with a 30 year old Eric Decker and a bunch of secondary players, worse than where we started. Of course we could address that if it comes to fruition next year, but I'm an advocate of fixing problems before they arise, the type of foresight it takes to be a great GM. The benefits are two-fold: 1). The short term: one of the best 1-2-3 receiver combos in the NFL in 2016 2) The long term: a smooth transition to a WR who was already on the roster when Marshall decides to call it quits
Rebuild the offensive line.....priority #1 Find a feature running back, #2 an outside linebacker would be nice, compliment the emergence of Mauldin Receiver is actually one position we should be fine for the next year or so Marshall, Decker ... competition youngster .... return of Amaro
Definitely give Devin Smith another season to develop. If he is too fragile to play the game, which is a real possibility, then draft a WR in 2017 as a priority. Priorities this year should be OT, LB, QB, RB in some order. TE if the Jets feel Amaro is too soft to play TE in the NFL.
We need to go OL in the draft...We need a guy who can play LT and RT. Restructure D'Brick, Cut Giacomini, protect our QB
It's too much of a luxury at this point and we took a stab at it with Devin Smith. We can't afford to use another high draft pick this close to taking him. I firmly agree with you and the emphasis on skill players. But they're becoming more and more available. Antonio Brown, TY Hilton, Martavis Bryant, Allen Hurns, Allen Robinson, Jarvis Landry, Emmanuel Sanders, etc. Big time playmakers can be found in the mid rounds.
You definitely have a point, particularly about the GM fixing problems before they arise. The problem with that, however, is that a franchise has to be stable and have quality starters for the present before one can worry about taking care of future holes. You can forget Jeffrey. There's no way the Jets have cap space for him. For the present, the 2016 season, the Jets have a dire need for upgrading the entire right side of the OL, they need a dominant pass rusher, they need 2 RBs, and they need a PR/KOR. IMO a WR who is a PR/KOR is a higher priority than a future #1 WR. If they can't re-sign Erin Henderson, they will need to sign another ILB to replace Demario Davis in the starting lineup and probably will need an additional backup. Even if Amaro can stay healthy and win the starting TE spot, they still need another TE or two, and they need both Brick's and Mangold's future replacements. AFAIK there are only 1-2 excellent WR prospects in this draft Laquon Treadwell and Corey Coleman, and I'm not even sure how good a prospect Coleman is. Treadwell is a top-10 ranked prospect, and I don't see him falling to #20 even if he runs slowly at the Combine. The only way I see him dropping that far is if he is arrested for rape, assault, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, or worse. Overall, I don't think it's going to be a great draft for WRs. Marshall is so great largely because of his size and athleticism. There isn't a single WR in the top 10 ranked WRs who is 6'4" or taller, and only one in the top 25 (De'Runnya Wilson of Miss. St.). Michael Thomas of Ohio St. is the only player in the top 10 at 6'3" and I've never heard of him, plus am not thrilled with the prospect of taking another Ohio St. prospect. The rest are 6'2" and under. I could be mistaken, but I don't think this is the draft to be looking for a #1 WR. The Jets should have taken a topflight WR in 2014 when they had a golden opportunity and the draft picks with which to do it. For that matter, they could have gotten their QB of the future as well. (Eff you Idzik!) I'd love to see them add a great your #1 WR prospect, but I'm afraid that will probably have to wait until 2017.
I think Marshall has 2-3 years left, and Decker has 3-4. Paying another WR $10 million/year (i.e. Jeffrey) makes no sense right now given our current WRs, our philosophy, and our cap issues. We should be drafting WRs to compete in camp and continuously looking for high upside players, but we have other priorities that are more pressing right now (OL, LB, CB) so I don't favor using high draft picks on a WR. Besides, I doubt Treadwell will be available at #20.
Not this off-season, but next off-season they should look to the future. Hopefully Devin Smith becomes a good #2 receiver.
i could not possibly agree with you any more than I do. I said the same thing ad naseum in another thread and was told I was crazy.
I feel what you're saying ... but i dont see why we should be in a hurry to fix a problem we may not have for another 2-3 years.. next year for sure... especially if Mr. Softee (Dev Smith) continues his injury pattern and dropped passes. But since you bring it up, who do you have in mind?
CBS/Draft Scout has him listed as 6'2" and 195. If he's 6'3 or better, then he will have to fill out to the tune of another 15-20 pounds of muscle to even approach Marshall. How will that affect his speed?
Call me crazy but something tells me Eric Decker retires much earlier than he needs to. Smoking hot wife that makes a good amount of money is enough for any concussion prone NFL position player to retire. That's why we need Devin Smith to at least turn into some kind of formidable #3 or deep threat.
