At this point I wouldn't replace Saleh. He did well all things considered. Replacing him would be like replacing Bowles with Gase - it would mean everyone, and especially the QBs, having to learn a whole new system. We'd be starting over virtually from scratch. A bad idea.
Yeah, I can understand that. Luckily Zach is headed into a much different situation Year 2. Same Head Coach. Same Offensive Coordinator. Same system. Hopefully won't have mono. No Adam Gase. So he should have a better Year 2 than Sam did. I get being in Show Me Mode though. I think Zach will show you, but time will tell. Yes. Probably better. The Patriots may have another dynasty on their hands with Zach at QB. Mac Jones would have struggled on the Jets too. The cool thing is we can watch these guys play in Year 2 and Year 3. They will settle that debate for us. No doubt Mac Jones had the better roster around him this year though. That is why the Patriots won 10 games and the Jets won 4. Not head to head QB play of Zach and Mac.
I'm not so sure Wilson would've been better than Jones in NE. Simple and basic was always the thing Jones did better than any other QB in the class. He fell because he has less upside than the rest of them but he was always the best at doing what NE asked him to do this year.
I don't know. I like Saleh. Yes, the wins were not there, but I think he has brought a positive energy to the franchise. 2022 will show if the message is working or not. Harbaugh and Daboll make sense, not sure about Pederson though. The way things ended in Philly last year were Joe Judge ugly.
Let me preface this by saying if keep LaFluer. That said, I wouldn’t be opposed to a Flores/Fangio combo. Regarding rookie QB’s, maybe Lawrence. Maybe!
What's the point? Assuming this thread is all just an exercise in the hypothetical... Isn't that what a bunch of guys here said back in April? Not just said for themselves, but some were actually pissed off that everyone did not share their enthusiasm. So tell us - are you more or less excited than you were last year?
I’m not so convinced in Saleh but very pleased with Lafleur so I wouldn’t trade Saleh for any of the current coaching candidates. Most are unknowns anyway and those that aren’t unknown I wouldn’t want. It’s clear as day with QBs, Zach is a better prospect than any QB in this upcoming draft. I feel pretty good about the big 3 Jets in JD, Saleh & Zach, now we just need to build rest of team.
You are getting responses that are pretty funny. Suddenly the Patriots offense is stacked just so we can feel better about Mac Jones outperforming Zach Wilson by a wide margin. The answer is No. The answer is probably incomplete because Wilson woulda carried a clipboard behind Cam Newton, but if he played its a no. Look at NE's skill positions folks and honestly try to tell yourself they have more talent than the Jets. Their leading pass receivers are undrafted free agents
The point of the thread was simply this: I looked at the list of potential head coaches for 2022 and the QB's in the 2022 NFL draft and felt happy that the Jets did not have to worry about them. They have a Head Coach in Robert Saleh and a QB in Zach Wilson, who I feel would be at the top of each list if they were available in 2022. Just wondered how others felt and if they agreed or not. Definitely more excited headed into 2022 than 2021. I was excited headed into 2021 as you said, but I expected some tough times too. I still expected to win 7 to 10 games, and that did not happen, but I think it definitely can in 2022. Pending on how Joe Douglas attacks free agency and the draft, my expectations could be even higher than that!
That is not how football works. They have a great running game, a strong offensive line, and a top defense in the NFL. That kind of complimentary football is ideal for a rookie QB, not to mention having one of the best Head Coaches ever. Zach had better WR's when they were healthy in Corey Davis and Elijah Moore, but that is it. The run game was hit or miss, the pass protection was hit or miss, the defense was atrocious most of the year, and he had a new Head Coach and a new Offensive Coordinator learning at the same time he was. If you can't see all of that, and somehow think Zach was in a better position than Mac, I can't help you understand.
This reveals the mindset of you guys. (Not just you Noam but several people) The data we have on Zach suggests he would've been benched in NE by week 5, if not sooner. The Mike White experience was very revealing. Suddenly a young backup gets his first start ever and runs the offense far better than Wilson. Then Josh Johnson came in and ran it better than Wilson. Even Flacco threw for 292 with two TDs and a 101 QBR. Basically everyone that got a chance ran our offense better than Wilson. Stating Wilson is better than Jones when he wasn't even better than his 3 backups is a fantasy. Jones finished the season with a 67.6 completion rate, 5th best in the league. In the mean time Zach struggled with missing screen passes for a while, and finished near the bottom in completion percentage. To suggest Wilson would have ran NE's offense better than Jones, moreless by a large margin, is simply a fantasy with no real world data to back it up. He would have been benched for Hoyer, or maybe even Stidham.
This isn't the right way to think about it either though. The Patriots are not run the same as the Jets. If they drafted Wilson and Belichick felt he was not ready, he would have went with Cam and let Zach learn. Once Belichick felt he was ready, he would be unleashed on the league. That is how I feel about it. Mac did a fine job this year, so there is no guarantee Zach would have done better, but I would rather have Zach going into 2022 than Mac. I like Wilson's future and ability more. As for the Mike White, Joe Flacco, Josh Johnson talk, it doesn't matter. Clearly Zach has been learning and progressing the last few months. I took the Bengals and Colts games as a sign that Mike LaFleur's offense works. Zach was just having rookie pains and learning everything. That turned out to be true, as he has continued to get better down the stretch. For the 2021 season, Mac did a better job. He was on the better team, but he still gets credit. I just would prefer to have Zach Wilson. I think he is more where the NFL is going. You can still win with Mac though and I think the Patriots will.
I find it a bit funny that you would worry about having the team run, and quarterbacked by any different guys on your list but rather than be worried about the incumbents, you're even more excited than last year. In retrospect was your excitement warranted in light of winning half or less games than you expected? At what point during the season did you run out of excitement? And if you were excited enough to expect 7 - 10 wins in 2021 how many wins will it take to rationalize your heightened excitement going forward?
Ralebird never takes a stand on anything so he can deny everything. Then criticizes everyone for having a positive outlook. He does not want people fired but says they are doing a bad job, If they are doing a bad job why would you want to keep them? I agree with your take but only time will tell.
The Mike White was not revealing, the kid had a good game against a bad defense. The Colts were playing prevent after a big lead. Lets not forget that Lefleur got a lot better when he went into the booth. Flacco is a better barometer but you are comparing a Superbowl winning QB to a rookie and it shows that Zach needs to get better( Surprise, Surprise). This season was always about Zach progressing and guess what he did. Do I think he would have progressed fast with Knapp and a better o-line,Yes. The fact remains he did get better and gave us reason for hope in the future. If the kid sucks next season and is in the bottom of the league we will then have a problem.
Regarding Saleh, I was hoping he would replace his D coordinator after 2021. When your team finishes dead last in total defense, it is not ALL on the personnel on the field (which stinks). Maybe Saleh might take over the play calling next year for the defense. Anyway, if the defense remains terrible, I hope Saleh does not cling to his D coordinator the way Bowles did year after year of pathetic defenses/playcalling.
Carl Lawson went down in the Pre-season. Then Becton Week 1, so after that my expectations dropped. After the Broncos game, I felt the team was definitely in a learning season. I was fine with that too. Still enjoyed most games. As for 2022, it just depends how the team looks. They could look great and go (7-10) and I will feel good. Or they could look bad and luck their way to (7-10) and I would feel disappointed. 8 wins or more is definitely a success in my eyes. Yep, that is the truth! Time will tell. I truly feel the team is in a good place with Robert Saleh right now though. Just need to keep building up the roster. Yeah, agreed on that. Jeff Ulbrich was terrible and deserved to be fired. I get it was a learning year for everyone but it is pretty clear he is a bad defensive coordinator. Funny you brought up Todd Bowles and Kacy Rodgers because I said the same exact thing! Hope it is not a similar situation, but looks like it could be.
