Not many by any stretch but this is a start: Darnold Herndon McGuire Anderson Adams Maye Williams Luvu Roberts
Hopefully, the defensive players you mention will flourish under a new coach and new D coordinator. The Packer game again showed us that no lead is ever safe under Todd Toilet (and there are some who think other teams might want him as D coordinator next year--HA!).
Don’t forget the DE Anderson ......the Jets have some nice pieces . Again that #1 WR - whoever it is - would make Robby and Q that much more effective . A solid blocking TE ( Jesse James ) would make Herndon even better . A stud pass rusher ? He would elevate the play of the Williams and Jenkins of the defense ........this is going to be a very interesting off season .
Lee is the biggest enigma on the roster ......I don’t know what to make out of him. He was drafted for his speed basically . Then they decided to put him inside where I don’t think his size fits very well. He finally started to make some big plays this year but has a tendency to disappear . Is he out of position ? Is he undersized ? Is it the scheme ?
Luvu and McGuire are ok players, but not essential core type talents IMO. The both can and should be upgraded. Sam and Herndon look like Gems from this past draft. Adams and Williams very well should be the core of a defense, but this defense is down right awful for all the resources spent on it. We desperately need a edge rusher that strikes fear into the other team and an infusion of talent all along the offense.
There is no reason to replace McGuire or Luvu. Supplement, sure. Add better players at the position? Definitely. But the are both productive young players who are only going to get better.
I disagree, both of them are just guys and not really productive at all. Despite our Oline issues both Crowell and Powell averaged more than 4 yards per carry. McGuire is coming in at 3.1 right now. I don't see him as an explosive runner and he is definitely not a guy that scares opposing teams. Luvu is better than what we had last year, but he is not a great edge guy. He's also not the type of guy that strikes fear into opposing offenses. He plays the most important position on defense in today's game and is only ok at best. He is not powerful enough to set the edge well on running plays and is not a guy teams need to double team or game plan for. We really need an dangerous edge rusher on this defense.
The guys that I think are the legit "young core" are: Darnold Herndon Adams Anderson The rest of the guys mentioned are fine young players, but the four above are the guys I consider to be the high ceiling "core"
I think you’re underrating McGuire. He’s shown to have a nose for the end zone and while he’s not a 25 carry a game back his versatility in running and catching is pretty good. If we had a true bell weather RB he’d be even more value change of pace. And Luvu is just going to get stronger. He’s already one of the only guys making plays in the backfield and putting hits on QBs and he wasn’t even expected to make the roster this year. He’d be a really nice piece with an edge rusher to contend with.
I think you may be overrating both of these players based on their play against some subpar competition (GB and Buffalo). I want to see these guys make big plays when the games matter, not garbage time, meaningless action in December. I think Darnold, Anderson, Herndon and Adams are the only real core guys here. Luvu easily replaceable and McGuire maybe sticks around as a change of pace guy like you said.
I admit I’m biased because I like rooting for Jets. I loved Luvu at Wash State, stayed up many a night watching that POS Luke Falk fall apart but Luvu and Hercules we’re in on every tackle. I’m hoping a full year in a system and strength training and he becomes a solid rotational guy. I truly believe we haven’t scratched the surface on McGuire. Maybe he’s finally healthy and that’s why he’s playing better. He made some plays against Houston and I still think he’s underutilized catching passes out of the backfield.
