More importantly our number 1 and number 2 recievers have a wonderful relationship with Fitz. He and Kaep throw veyry different balls. A happy Marshall is usually a productive one and...an unhappy Marshall is very disruptive
Considering the much tougher schedule, the lack of cap space this year with which to address holes/needs, the Mo and Snacks situation, Brick and Mangold being a year older, and this being a weaker draft with not many chances for us to improve our team speed, not far. We may be lucky to be 8-8 this season. We could conceivably play better, not beat ourselves with mistakes and have as bad a record as 6-10. It all depends upon what happens with the Mo, Fitz, Snacks and Brick situations, if we have any cap $ with which to address some needs and how the draft falls. In addition, I think the weather will play a part. We all know that Fitz's arm isn't that strong. If the weather in November-December reverts back to the more normal cold and blustery conditions or if Fitz goes down with a serious injury and Geno has to play, our record could wind up even worse than 6-10.
I agree very much with this analysis. Therefore, if the Jets have an opportunity to acquire a young QB, who has as part of his resume 1) displaced a veteran QB drafted in the first round, 2) led a team to a 12-4 record his first year as a starter, 3) led a team to a SB appearance, something no other Jet QB has done since The Flood, 4) has a strong arm which is needed here in the N. East, it would be prudent on the FO to consider the Kaepernick acquisition as a serious upgrade to a key position. The Jets will still have a very solid defense and that goes a long way to winning football games. Any upgrade to the offense should put the team in a better position to make the playoffs and go beyond.
Sorry, but I can't agree with you regarding Kaepernick. IMO he isn't half the QB Fitz is even though he has a stronger arm. Fitz has a higher football IQ (and probably general IQ as well). Fitz is a better leader, more accurate, has a quicker release, and runs usually only when there's nothing there. Kaepernick runs at the first sign of trouble. He isn't very accurate. If the Jets can't re-sign Fitz and can sign Kaepernick to a reasonable (cheap) deal, I'd be ok with that, but I certainly prefer Fitz.
Kaepernick had success when his team was stacked at almost every position. He's not the type of guy that makes other players better. Teams know how to shut him down now. Mark Sanchez went 11-5 with the Jets one year, team records can be deceiving. Alex Smith is better and if stayed playing that one year they could have gone all the way. Fitz is a much better fit for this offense than CK. You don't just let a guy like that walk when he's taken the role of leader and the team has embraced him the way they have. The Jets haven't had good solid leadership at the QB position in years.
You do if he wants ridiculous money, and anything more than $11 million per year is ridiculous for him.
I will say that Gailey probably would be able to get Kaepernick to play at a higher level and fix some of his issues, but the big question is would it be enough?
Enough for what? You have already stated that you don't think Fitz is good enough to get us to the next level. Kaepernick is a guy who has gotten his team to the next level and beyond. So I don't understand what your expectations would be for Fitzpatrick vis-a-vis Kaepernick. I don't see the downside. Yes, he had problems in SF, but that was a team in a lot of turmoil in the last two years, so that has to be considered in his evaluation.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I don't think Fitz is good enough to get us to a SB, and I don't think that even with improvement Kaepernick would be as good as Fitz. He'd probably be better at hitting Smith or other receivers deep, and would be as good as Fitz running the ball, but would he avoid the rush and still look to throw the ball, or would he always look to run? Would his accuracy, decision making and reading of Ds improve enough to be as successful as Fitz last season? No, I don't think so. I meant good enough to keep us at least competitive this season. I'm not judging Kaepernick based on last season, as I didn't keep up with SF so don't really know how he played or what happened there. I've never been that high on him. I was somewhat interested when he came out of college, but never cared for his play that much in SF. He played for a great HC who is also great with QBs in Harbaugh, and certainly improved, but imo not all that much. Would he be better than Geno, Sanchez or most of the other stiffs who have played QBs over the years? Yes, easily. But I'm not sure that he would ever be good enough to lead a team to the SB sans a great coach like Harbaugh. Will Bowles and Gailey prove to be as great as Harbaugh? Perhaps. One thing is for certain...if we can't re-sign Fitz and wind up trading for Kaepernick, I'd be rooting for him like crazy.
All excellent points. Is he the greatest QB I've ever seen? No, but I think his upside is better than Fitz, who in my mind is a game manager, albeit a good one. Just think the Jets need something more, and short of drafting one, I think Kaepernick has the ability to be more than a manager.
Who is left at QB if the 49ers trade Kaepernick and their first for Wilkerson, though? Are they really going to build through Blane Gabbert? They can't even draft an early QB because they wouldn't have a 1st in this scenario, so it seems incredibly unlikely that they would opt to rebuild AND trade their 1st just to sure up the Dline as the offense is practically non existent. Maybe they would, but it would be a dumb idea for them, IMO.
Hahaha. I'd be okay with that if we got NEXT YEAR's 1st! You know it will be a top 3 pick with Geno starting!
Ordinarily 10-6 is good enough for the playoffs, just wasn't good enough this particular year. So Fitz can get us to the playoffs, no question. Can he get us to a SB? If you get in as a WC, that means you have to win 3 straight games against the top teams in the league just to get to the SB. That would be a very tall order for a QB with Fitz' skill set.
I think most all of us agree that Fitz isn't the franchise answer for the Jets at QB. The question is: how do we get that QB?
