We've had one of the best defensive lines in the NFL since 2013 and no playoff appearances to show for it. If it's time for a philosophical change then so be it.
I see some of you are still confused on how a 3-4 defense works. Comments like "Our D-Line didn't generate enough pressure on the QB" make me cringe. Go back in time to our NY Sack Exchange (Salaam, Klecko, Lyons, and Gastineau). Now imagine Gastineau was out for the season and he was never replaced. The Jets just played with 3 lineman instead of the usual 4. If this happened, they'd be lucky to get 10 sacks on the season (versus the 66 they got with all four playing side by side). You would NEVER expect 3 guys rushing 5 Offensive lineman to have much (if any) success. They probably wouldn't be much good in run support either. Now enter the era of the 3-4 defenses. If you replace those 3 guys (who averaged 260-270 pounds) with 3 NEW guys who average 300-350 pounds, you could force all 5 offensive lineman to stay home to try and slow down the beasts for 3-4 seconds. But that leaves NO offensive lineman left over to account for the 4 Line Backers. At least ONE LBer should always have a clear lane/shot to the QB. This is what makes LBers the darlings of a 3-4 defense. We HAVE the 3 very large, very athletic animals up front to demand attention from all 5 O-lineman. And we have one VERY large, VERY athletic man in the middle who can shed dbl teams and kill the ball carrier. What we DON'T have are the 4 very fast LBers to take advantage of our 'out of this world' d-lineman. We have 35 yr old Pace moving in slow motion on one side with an over-sized Coples on the other side. Going into 2016 we DO have a young Mauldin and a young Reilly who both showed good flashes last season coming off the edge. With Coples gone (and hopefully Pace) we MAY have a much more potent front 7 that can actually pressure the QB. Of course we'd like to replace Reilly with Von Miller, but that ain't gonna happen. We MAY see Macc draft another pass rusher to compete with Mauldin/Reilly. Either way, Macc knows he HAS to come up with a pass rushing threat or his horses up front, including his #1 pick last year, are wasted and he might as well dump them all and go back to a 4-3.
I don't know who you were quoting in the first line, but I did say something yesterday that despite the talent on the DL, the "ability to get to the Qb" was not impressive. To be clear I was not assigning relative blame to the DL compared to the LB's, or for that matter the scheme used or what alternatives might have been better. I was stating a simple fact that most, if not all, fans here felt despite the talent on the DL, the overall ability to get to the Qb was not that impressive. I hope a statement like that is not what made you cringe. Also the point about Von Miller, which I also raised, was not at all intended to suggest the Jets could get Miller. THe point was that Miller and Wilkerson are players of roughly comparable value and price, and that with the other current Jet players, I would argue an OLB of Miller's quality would be a better match, given that someone like Douzable could be more in the mix, than Coples and Pace were at OLB. And yes I also am encouraged by Mauldin, but don't see the CS depending on him to be the sole solution at OLB this off season.
Your comments were indeed the inspiration for my reply but not directed towards you. You actually get it, despite your comment about our front 3 not getting sufficient pressure on the QB. Too many fans just see the first round draft picks and big names up front for the Jets and just assume that should be the end-all of our front 7. But with a 3-4 D, our front 3 are just the beginning. Just because the Jets have focused so many resources on the front 3 doesn't change how a 3-4 defense actually works. You get it, but many fans don't. So when you make statements about the lack of sacks by our front 3, it just adds to the confusion so many fans seem to have. I think you and I both agree. Our front 3 are set. Now it's time to get the LBers to finish this up and compete with Denver for the top D.
take a shot. I assume you're one of the fans who think because our front 3 are top players at their positions, they should be racking up 50-60 sacks every year. go....
Part of the situation is that the Jets did not always play a 3-4 (who does, btw? But that's a digression). And players rotate, given the situation. And also that some wonder if the situation of having four top linemen as the Jets had (I also like Douzable, as you might have guessed, but would not call him "top") was one where they SHOULD have been using primarily a base 3-4. The point where we agree completely is in looking at the team's roster going forward, the Jets have to find a way to get more pressure from the OLB's. How one does that and bring back both Wilkerson and Harrison is a real question, and to the extent bringing both back makes it more difficult to upgrade OLB, there is a problem with that approach.
Muhammad Wilkerson easily is a top 3 interior pass rusher in this league, that is for ALL defensive lineman. I only rank Watt and Aaron Donald higher. No doubt about it. Sheldon is highly regarded and Leonard has the potential. Wilk when healthy will get you 10 sacks a season. Your issue is that you continue to classify the Jets as only a 3-4 defense when in reality, they run many different formations and packages. If you were go to back and watch each snap from the season, I bet you the % of the Jets running a 3-4 defense on a passing down isn't as high as you think. They run plenty of 4 man fronts and our Jet defensive lineman can adapt from the 3-4 to the 4-3 with no issue what-so-ever, so the idea of dumping them all to go back to a 4-3 would be incorrect. Mo, Sheldon and Leonard can all play defensive tackle in a 4-3 set-up in a 1 gap system. They can play on either side as well [you ALWAYS want a good edge rusher to compliment the power rushers]. Mauldin first came from a 4-3 defense so he's your edge rusher on either the right and left side. The Jets still need more edge rushers to make the defense complete. That's your 4 man front right there however. You can include Reilly in this convo too. Another issue here is the Jets don't have linebackers really for the 3-4 or the 4-3 and you can easily argue the Jets are closer personnel wise towards running a base 4-3 as opposed to the base 3-4. Jets lack cover linebackers, Jets lack that side-line to side-line linebacker that can fly all over the field. Our lineman are extremely versatile, you have to think outside the box and not look at what 3-4DEs do because our lineman aren't limited to just the 3-4, they can adapt and play in any scheme. If Snacks were to leave tomorrow, the Jets could make up ground easily by running a 4-3 instead of a 3-4 and having 2 DTs play inside instead of the monster nose tackle. You also have Deon Simon, a young NT w/ promise in the 3-4 defense. The thing also is that Bowles wants that flexibility to run ANY front he chooses. The match-up dictates the formations. The Jets shouldn't say goodbye to either the 3-4 or the 4-3, but have the personnel to do what Bowles wants. The 3-4 blitzing is very confusing to some QBs as well, so it's good to have the availability of running both fronts. This is when the Jets actually run a 3-4 on a passing down.
True true. And fans also see what looks like 4 down lineman and assume we're in a 4-3. We're not. We just don't have the DEs to play a 4 man front. At least not in passing situations. Bottom line is we NEED a LB core that can take advantage of our front 3. We NEED a Von Miller or JJ Watt or Lawrence Taylor coming off the edge. Until then, meh. That's probably why it's OK to trade Mo if we can turn that trade into a top pass rushing LBer. That would do more good than having 10 Wilkersons on the team.
