Excellent points and post! With that said, I'm curious...what are your thoughts on the needs for trading for/signing a veteran backup QB?
I don’t believe in needing a backup QB as a “mentor” but the Eagles (when JD was there) proved having a quality backup is important if your starter goes down. I’m not going to pretend to be a talent evaluator or know if Morgan/White could win in our QB friendly system. I suspect we’ll go through TC and if those two are struggling we’ll make a move at that time. Edit: I looked up Nick Mullins just now. He went Undrafted and didn’t play a game his 1st year. His 2nd year he came in when Jimmy G and CJ both went down and he was serviceable. If an undrafted Mullins could win in this system, I suspect our 4th and 5th round QB could also be serviceable in a pinch.
This is exactly right. The sky is the limit for this Jets team even in 2021. Expecting them to be (3-14) or (4-13) is ridiculous to me. A lot of bad things have to happen for that to be the case. This team is capable of much more. I think (7-10) should be at the low end of record predictions. Yeah, we will disagree about this because I think they are definitely going to sign or trade for a back-up QB. To me, Mike White is not the answer and James Morgan is a 4th round QB, who is basically a rookie, because of how things were handled with Covid last year. Unless Morgan impresses people to a level where they think he has starting abilities, I feel you have to bring in a veteran. QB is the most important position in sports. It is borderline irresponsible of Joe Douglas to not have a solid back up. The hope is Morgan develops into that role, but I think it is too early to give him it right now. I hope he impresses and earns it, but why not allow him to compete with a veteran in training camp to do that? I think that is how the team views it too but maybe not since a move has not been made.
Personally, I would probably bring in Mullens as he has experience in the system and replace White. Morgan was drafted so he’ll get a pass with the new staff most likely. I would also consider Foles if (more likely when) he gets released. I can’t see Chicago keeping him, but stranger things have happened…who knows, Dalton could be traded if another team loses their QB… I would be hesitant to go into the season with Morgan and White as our backups, unless they really look decent in preseason work. I get we aren’t a Super Bowl team (we’d be having a way different conversation), but there is still an offense to run and learn…we’d still want competence there if for nothing more than to help develop our other offensive guys, especially our receivers.
With C.J Mosley returning I have us featuring a top 10 Defense under coach Saleh with both Carl Lawson (DE) and Quinnen Williams (DT) absolutely feasting within a 4-3 D-Line. And with Becton/Vera-Tucker leading our O-Line I absolutely love this offense even with a Rookie QB in Zach Wilson; while featuring players in Corey Davis, Denzel Mims, Elijah Moore and Jamison Crowder within a passing attack and an electric Michael Carter coming out of the backfield @ RB (way more deadly than 2009's Offense under Rookie Sanchez where we were forced to run the ball 30+ x per game). I have us going 11-6 and a Playoff birth. @ Carolina = Win. vs. Patriots = Win. @ Denver = Win. vs. Titans = Loss. vs. Falcons = Win. @ New England = Win. vs. Bengals = Win. @ Indianapolis = Loss. vs. Bills = Loss. vs Dolphins = Win. @ Houston = Win. vs. Eagles = Win. vs. Saints = Loss. @ Miami = Loss. vs. Jaguars = Win. vs. Buccaneers = Loss. @ Buffalo = Win. 4-2 within our AFC East Division. I'm fired up about this 2021 team within a brand new Robert Saleh led culture just as I was heading into 2009's season within a Rex Ryan led locker room .
Mullens to the Eagles, so they may really just be rolling with James Morgan or potentially trading for Foles. I am fine with it, as long as the Jets brass is. Eagles QB room is kind of odd too with Hurts, Flacco and Mullens now.
It is possible that the Jets are placing the emphasis on the coaching staff to teach rather than relying on a vet QB. I personally would have preferred that we signed Mullens, but it is what it is.
Yeah, I think that is what @NCJetsfan has been thinking too. Let the young guys like Morgan and White get a chance in minicamp with as much reps as possible. If one steps up, great. If not, get a guy like Foles in here by Training Camp.
There is no reason he Jets cannot be competitive this year. If the pass rushers we brought in work out this team will be competitive. To me there are two things holding us back this season 1. The strength of our division (There is not a bad team in it) 2. Rookie QB. If Zach plays to a mid tier level QB and the pass rushers show up the Jets will be in the hunt. It will then come down to wining close games and injuries. We forget our Defense looked solid after Williams was fired and we added a lot of talent. The Jets offense was so bad last season it made the defense look worse than it was. The Jets added enough talent to compete now the talent needs to show up on the field.
Potentially. Just odd that they seem like they are not sold on Hurts, yet passed up Justin Fields. Now have Flacco and Mullens as other options. Not a great situation to me. Yeah, agreed. Great points, @cval. I'm fine with outsiders having low expectations on the Jets, but I think they will surprise a lot of people this season. The people that act like they will be similar to 2020 crack me up. This will be a completely different team. Top to bottom.
What a concept! What a refreshing change that would be to have a CS than can actually teach and develop players, rather than having to go the panic route and always sign older, expensive vets continually, and then the young players they draft rarely developing/panning out.
and Agreed. What strikes me is that they are pretty much almost completely different types of QBs, so if injuries happen, they will potentially have to make dramatic changes to their offense to accomodate for the different QB. Hurts is very mobile, can hurt teams with his legs. May be better on short and intermediate passes than long (I haven't studied him or seen him enough to know about his arm strength, etc.) Flacco is a pure pocket passer, not that mobile and better on long passes than short. Mullens is more mobile than Flacco, but I don't think can hurt teams with his legs, is relatively inexperienced, and not very accurate.
I'm really excited to watch Carl Lawson in a 4-3 Defense rushing QBs as a 4-3 pass rusher from the edge; and not since #94 John Abraham have I been this anxious to watch a Jets pass rusher from the outside. Carl Lawson is a freak and last year he ranked #2 in QB hits with 32 (only behind T.J Watt's 41). He even had more QB hits than Aaron Donald (28). Also put up 44 QB pressures. Heading into his 5th year @ only 25 years of age he's ready to feast. I couldn't care less about how many QB sacks he records and that's because as long as he's pressuring and hitting QB's from the edge, it's going to become Quinnen Williams who becomes physically unstoppable on the Inside. and thnx God for coach Saleh because Quinnen Williams is born to play as a 4-3 DT (and even though he dominated as a 3-4 NT last year, it was criminal for QW to have ever been lined up as a space eating NT to begin with). Quinnen Williams was compared to Warren Sapp coming out in terms of quickness and explosiveness and heading into his 3rd year we'll finally be able to witness his Warren Sapp type of potential (Sapp was a DT within a 4-3). Warren Sapp's first 2 NFL seasons (1995-1996): 31 games. 78 tackles. 12 QB sacks. 2 forces fumbles. 1 fumble recovery. Vs. Quinnen Williams first 2 NFL seasons (2019-2020): 26 games. 83 tackles. 9.5 sacks. 2 forced fumbles. 1 fumble recovery. Very similar numbers but QW's first two seasons have been more impressive than Sapp's first two seasons and that's only because what QW has been able to do as a NT is unheard of; next year as a 4-3 DT he's going to absolutely dominate with Aaron Donald type of domination. • Watch QW in a 4-3 D as a 4-3 DT (where he's always belonged)... Kid is unstoppable (we've got ourselves a Franchise-Cornerstone defender).
I have kept my expectations low for Carl Lawson because the Jets have not had great luck with pass rushers since John Abraham, but he certainly looks the part and the potential is there. It would be great if he had a double digit sack season and was actually a disrupter on defense. The Jets need it.
Speaking of a bright future? PFF just came out with their Top 25 Players under the age of 25 (yesterday). And guess what? The Jets have two of them! • 19. DL QUINNEN WILLIAMS, NEW YORK JETS (23 years old). It took Williams some time in college to put together the kind of spectacular season that made him such a coveted draft prospect, and his NFL career looks to be following a similar trajectory. His PFF grading improved significantly in 2020, and he came away with 20 more pressures and defensive stops than he did as a rookie. Williams will be a dominant force if he can take a similar step forward going into Year 3. • 22. LT MEKHI BECTON, NEW YORK JETS (22 years old) Becton's first season might have been something spectacular had he not been bothered by injury all season. A player some questioned as a draft prospect, Becton looked perfectly at home playing at a high level in the NFL, giving up just 15 total pressures across 412 pass-blocking snaps. With a fully healthy season and a better quarterback behind him, Becton could be in line for a big year. Full article (below): https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-top-25-under-25-2021-nfl-season Awesome read.
Yeah, I would say John Abraham. I guess Calvin Pace was pretty good, but I expect Lawson to be better.
