You want me to point out the roster holes? I mean really? Instead lets look at it this way. Having a serviceable player at a position is not the end game. Having a great player is. Through the draft you get great players in the first 3 rounds, and especially in round 1. When you have a weak roster and you get a chance to pick up 2 extra firsts and a 3rd for moving down to pick 12 you take it. And that's just the start of building a playoff team. We weren't close enough to competing to rush into another top 3 QB.
I think the roster is extremely young but I wouldn’t call it weak. I’m a Jets fan of 35+ years; I’m acutely familiar with entering a season knowing my team has one of the worst rosters in the league, too familiar in fact. I don’t see a ton of glaring holes. I thought CB was going to be a massive weak spot and that hasn’t been the case. Like with most teams there are areas where we can improve but holes? I don’t see it. This team wins more games w/ a veteran CS and QB. I attribute our record more to inexperience than talent. Just my humble opinion.
How many Super Bowls has Justin Fields won for the Bears by the time the Jets give up on Zach Wilson in this hypothetical scenario? Just kidding. It's an interesting question. You are saying everything else panned out but the QB position. That would be a pretty strong team. If Douglas has built a strong team, maybe he signs or trades for a veteran QB instead of drafting one. If the team continues to lose, then I think the GM should go out the door with the QB. Hopefully none of this hypothetical situation plays out though. I believe in Joe Douglas and Zach Wilson.
Yes the coaching staff has done a poor job preparing us. But we also aren't that good. Here are my holes going forward. Guard Center Tight end Safety Edge and yes - Corner. They are servicable but haven't faced a good passing offense yet. Its doubtful they can become playoff corners and at least one should be depth for a genuine great corner. Next year add: Tackle with Moses being a FA and no depth, and Becton being an injury question mark. LB with our assorted grab bag and Mosley's contract ballooning. WR with Crowder and Cole becoming FAs that wont return, and Mims likely wont want to be here much longer. So that leaves RB, DT, and QB, and we may be in the process of ruining our QB right now. Which brings me back to my original point. We weren't ready for a top 3 QB.
WLB, right guard, center, virtually all receiver positions are unproven, tightend, both safety spots, two/three corner spots although we're all pretty much in agreement that the youth movement there was expected. Next year, Moses is a free agent (vacant RT), Maye + Joyner are free agents (Ashtyn Davis with the most experience at safety on the team), Crowder, Cole, Jarrad Davis, Fatukasi and Berrios are all free agents as well. There are plenty of holes that either need to be filled or a youthful player to step up and fill.
That's possible! I actually do think the other QB's could play a role in determining Joe Douglas' fate though (if Wilson were to fail, which he won't). Like how is Trey Lance doing in San Francisco? How is Mac Jones doing in New England? How is Justin Fields doing in Chicago? Even how is Sam Darnold doing in Carolina? If all or most of them are doing great and Zach is doing bad, I think that would be a really bad look for Douglas. By the way, I think it is really funny how Wilson won Rookie of the Week last week, and then this thread is made the following week. Shows ya life is tough and ever changing in the NFL!
Our definition of hole differs. Next year is irrelevant IMO as JD has an off season to address it. Wasn’t Davis signed to fill the WLB spot? Aside from CB (I’ll add back up QB) I don’t think the consensus was that those other spots were “holes” coming into the season. Seems like your list is all based on hindsight and current performance.
TBF this thread is less about Wilson and more about JD. Wilson super fans can replace Wilson w/ Saleh if that will make them feel more comfortable. The main point is should JD lose his job over one miss at a crucial spot.
Does it matter? His biggest signing has a long injury history and was supposed to be what makes the defense tick. Surprise - he got hurt. We instead bypassed signing any real offensive line help (Villanueva + Kevin Zeitler were good enough for Baltimore but not us?). Matt Feiler seems to have a good PFF grade and the Chargers are in the bottom tier of sacks allowed. There are more offensive lineman out there and instead lucked into Moses late in training camp and signed Feeney who the Chargers fan base rejoiced leaving and we won't even put him on the field. My biggest gripe is with the free agent neglect of the offensive line. We rolled into the year with the same starting offensive line, Moses who was let go for a rookie on a team trying to win the division + a trash backup (Feeney) and a rookie offensive guard. We have one of the worst rushing attacks in the league again. Meanwhile teams replace 4/5 positions all the time with mid-tier free agents and improve. This will be the second consecutive offseason that we have a bunch of free agents including one year players that we have to replace.
One thing for sure JD won’t be packaging up picks to move up to get a QB next year, even if ZW falls apart. No way. ZW is the QB for at least through next year and after UNLESS JD or the new GM gets a veteran QB who beats out ZW. folks here covered the main areas OL, TE and Safety. We’ll see how Lawson returns next year if he is anywhere where he last played. I think JD did ok but several picks in 3rd have questionable. Somebody mentioned Zuniga and Perine and you have to throw Davis in too. Davis was pretty bad last week.
Again there’s a distinction in my mind between areas for improvement and holes. The latter implies a gaping void and an area unaddressed. It may not have been to our liking or satisfaction but JD did address the oline. He’s certainly put more premium resources there than at CB.
Depending on how the rest of the season develops, I would make an argument that the need for a top tier #2 receiver should be on the list. Davis is a mid tier #1 at best, and I think having a solid second option would be benefit Davis and Wilson. So far Keelan Cole hasn't cut it, I know he missed the first 3 games, which is why I say depending on how the rest of the season develops will determine how much of a need this will be. Maybe Cole will turn it around as the games go on and show he can be a legit #2 option, but until then I think the Jets need more than Davis and the 7 Dwarves to get it done, we have guys not playing to their strengths trying to fill a hole at the position.
He addressed the TE position with Kroft, and tried to sign Jonnu Smith. I don't fault him for not taking a TE in the draft (he did sign Yeboah as a UDFA) with all the other holes we had, but I still consider TE a hole. IMO Kroft is a good #2 or #3 TE, but not a starter. Wesco is hardly being used and supposedly this is the same offense as SF where the FB is an important position.
Did you expect Davis to be good after missing mini-camp, OTAs, TC, preseason and the first 4 weeks of the season, and only practing one week, especially since he was considered a project when drafted last year?
