I think Bradway did a lot more long term damage than he is given credit for, and then Mac needed some time to get his feet under him. I’m still not confident in Bowles, though.
Culture change from the top down is the key to this success without question. Even when you look at the most questionable Mac moves (Revis contract, Big Mo deal, Fitz 2nd contract) they don't align themselves with his overall concept but it does have Woody's stench all over it, so I don't know how much blame we can even place on him. You really do get a sense of the culture change in the actions and responses from the locker room leadership. Leo picking up Darron Lee like a misbehaving child at the concert, McLendon taking on the outspoken leader of the D role, the offense as a whole really seems to have it all together and be quite mature, even Robby has been crazy mature and articulate in interviews this year. This is Pryor's response to the fake swing incident at Skins camp, Top notch response. Everyone is buying-in, drinking the Kool-Aid, all on board, feeling the hype, etc etc
I too am very optimistic about the future of a lot of our roster. But I also agree that Bowles may be the thorn in those plans. I see his absolute ceiling as a head coach being something of a Marvin Lewis which isn’t terrible, but is not going to take us into the promised land. Unfortunately that is his ceiling, reality is that he will probably never reach it.
How can you say that? Do you know what types of career jags of QB's Bowles has been forced to coach under since day one of a rebuild? Fitzpatrick? McCown? Petty? Hackenberg? Seems unfair to judge any Head Coach during a rebuilding process under those awful circumstances... And before you close the book on Bowles as if he's reached "full potential" I have a serious question for you. Do you know the overall records of some of the All-Time great head coaches during only their first 3 years as NFL head coach? Todd Bowles in order to be accurately judged and graded deserves this year and next year with an A.) Potential Franchise QB's in either of Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Darnold and B.) An offseason consisting of over 100M in available cap space come free agency. Then and only then can sonesom say that they know what Bowles can or "can't do" and then and only then can someone say that they've seen an accurate assessment in his head coaching potential. The man was given a crap roster & JAG backup QB's ever since he first arrived after a horrible ending to the Rex and Tanny/Idzik crap fest era. 2018 & 2019 Bowles and his overall potential as a head coach can be fairly judged. His first 3 years? Hah. Not a chance in hell.
Yep. If Sanchez had turned out to be good the other way woulda worked just fine too. With that team we'd probably have won a SB or two with him, we'd still be annual contenders and Mike Tannenbaum woulda gone down as one of the best GMs ever. All this "we're finally doing things the right way" talk is a bunch of bunk to me. If Darnold is the real deal AND can stay healthy it'll work then again just about any other strategy could work too.
I don't know about all that. Sanchez or no Sanchez the Tanny way is not working down in Miami. The man has not learned a thing and they are in serious cap hell (sound familiar) and they suck. And like the 2011 offseason they just had to purge it's roster of some really good to great players. The Tanny way with Sanchez looked promising after 2009 & 2010. Then 2011 offseason happened. Sanchez lost his WR weapons and we never recovered. Build through the draft and splash when the opportunities arrive. Maccagnan's emphasis on building a roster triumphs Tanny's and Idzik didn't know how to scout or spot talent to save his life.
Tannehill isn't his guy he didn't draft him. Why he hasn't been much more aggressive to find "his" guy is a mystery and VERY surprising to me. You're right his way hasn't paid off big yet in Miami. He seems to be operating much differently there than he did here. Here he was ultra aggressive to get that QB Brett then Sanchez. Ultra aggressive in free agency. Maybe it's the ownership there? Hey I'm not complaining. A passive Tannenbaum in Miami is good for the Jets.
Back-to-back AFC Championship appearances, three playoff appearances 2006, 2009, 2010 and heck the Jets had the most Pro Bowlers in the league in 2008 > MacCagnan hasn't won jack here yet. Absolutely nothing. Yet gets praised non-stop for doing things the "right way". Yeah Okay. If Sanchez hadn't busted we wouldn't be having this discussion. Mike Tannenbaum would still be here, he'd be a legend around here. Same goes for MacCagnan if Darnold is the real deal he'll be famous around here if not he'll be unemployed within three years. The results so far with him as GM IMO have been pretty horrible.
Tanny did a lot of good things that get overlooked now... made some great value trades like Kris Jenkins, Thomas Jones, Braylon Edwards, draft trades getting Revis and Harris, FA signings like Faneca, Woody, Pace, veteran leader acquisitions like Richardson and LT, and was pretty good at keeping key players in house. He was an aggressive GM, maybe too aggressive, but you can't deny those players had big impact. His plan though banked on Sanchez stepping up once other veterans stepped out, similar to the Steelers and Big Ben. However, he didn't have Big Ben. His firing was deserved after the unusual trade for Tebow, followed by doubling down guaranteed money for a struggling Sanchez. However, if Sanchez elevated like Big Ben rather than falling apart, it would be totally different story. QB selections make or break a GM, and in Tanny's case, his handling of the QB position is what broke him. Mac I have much more confidence in because he has been finding value late in drafts and UDFA, as well as waiver wire. Shows his scouting chops which is needed, and gives him leg up on Tanny. And I think he got a little lucky with Darnold falling to us, but credit him for the aggressive trade to put us in that situation. Idzik....ugh. That guy managed to get just about everything wrong. the 2014 offseason was as bad as possible.
It wasn't just his handling of the QB position. He traded up too often and missed too often, which left the team's talent cupboard bare, and with no depth. The bottom line is that he was never qualified to be a GM in the first place. He had zero experience in scouting and personnel. He was a bean counter and attorney. He relied upon the scouts that were in place and his HC for who to draft.
I'm probably one of the very few who thought bringing Tebow here wasn't such a bad idea. To be clear, I hate the wildcat. I think it's a momentum killer to take out your QB after a good gain and stick in a "running" QB for the next play. And lets be clear, the wildcat is only effective on short yardage situations. I understand why Sparano instituted it Miami. If you have a QB like Pennington with a limited throwing ability, you need to give the D something else to think about. It really wasn't necessary for Rex to use it here with Sanchez. Nevertheless, Rex did fall in love with it and used it effectively with Brad Smith. After they let Smith walk, they needed someone else to run it and who better than Tebow? The problem was they let too many other offensive players walk and Sanchez couldn't carry the load. As a result, instead of a season of 2nd, 3rd and shorts, we had a season of 2nd, 3rd and longs. So we rarely got to see Tebow and when we did, he was ineffective because of the long yardage situations Rex put him in. If the Jets had been able to move the ball like they did in Sanchez' first two years, I think Tebow would have had better success here. I still don't like the wildcat, but if you're committed to using it, having a guy like Tebow run it wasn't a bad idea.
They do tend to be horrible during a rebuild, 10-6 in the one season and a fucking a bottle job from Fitz v Buffalo cost us the play offs, same guy then fucked us the next season, you could blame Mac for bringing him back but I guess after his career record breaking year it was hard not to do it. Then last year was a total dump the vets and take what we get. So the results based put down of his abilities is flat out harsh imo, there is always a bigger picture to look at.
https://giphy.com/search/sam-darnold Jets posted them today, they are hilarious. Other rookie QBs did it too.
