You make some excellent points. I have been an NFL fan for many years. I was fortunate enough to see the Jets win the Superbowl over Don Shula and the Colts. What I have observed is there is more than 1 way to win in the NFL. You mention for example the importance of Tight Ends, but what if a team had 4 explosive wide receivers? How many defenses have 4 secondary players that can cover 4 great wide receivers? Offensive weapons come in many forms. What about Deebo Samuel of the 49ers who is a receiver/running back? Having said all this, I think it comes down to the construction or architecture of a team and finally the execution of said construction or architecture of a team. This leads to the following concepts. 1. Successful drafting of players is obvious. Getting the best talent and adapting the team to that talent is key. I also think there is some luck in the draft. 2. Staying healthy. Nothing can derail a team faster than injuries. I think this is an area that most teams tend to overlook. 3. Comming up with a game plan and its execution that week. Players need to be prepared and have confidence that the game plan is achievable. 4. GM and coaches need to be on the same page with a plan and vision that has a chance of being successful. 5. Last but not least, luck and outside forces sure play a role. Officiating for example is an outside force beyond a team's control. The way the ball bounces is another example. Weather and playing conditions may favor one team over another. On the subject of QB, obviously, not all QBs are talented the same way. You would not want to run read-option a lot with Brady for example?
I think we do not know yet. There is a possibility he will be as good or better. Zach is a better athlete.
I think you hit the nail on the head. To build a team there is no singular answer, there is no singular strategy. There needs to be a plan, there needs to be solidarity between HC and GM, and there needs to be a legit QB. To win with that team you need a coaching staff who can develop a game plan, make adjustments, and communicate all of that and effectively prepare their players.
We all hate him but Jamal Adams was exactly the type of player you describe. So we had a player that flew to the football, sometimes even too aggressively, and was big on installing that mentality but they traded him away. So far we got a guard for it
Adams was an All-Pro, so yes the Jets could use more defenders like him. Was trading him ideal? No, but it did make the best of a bad situation, and I also believe the offense is the priority in the rebuild so if Adams turns into 2 high quality players and at least one of them was offensive, it works for me. The 49ers are still the blueprint for the success of these schemes, so OL, DL, and a sideline to sideline Mike are still my top priorities. There are a few players at other positions that I can accept just because of how good they are, and also I know that you can’t fix everything instantly.
I agree there are different ways to be effective but I think it's pretty clear what the most effective way is. Get a good QB who's mobile and surround him with a ton of weapons on offense. Build an elite DB unit on defense to counter teams trying to do the same thing as you on offense. Some teams have success doing things differently than this but the teams that are most consistently good follow this blueprint.
In the last 3 years teams who have made the playoffs 2/3 season are SF, TB, LAR, SEA, GB, NO, PHI, NE, BAL, KC, BUF, PIT What do those teams have in common? Mobile QB? Some. DB investment? Some. Pass Rush? Some. Elite QB Play? Most. But honestly all of these teams have their own strengths, their own star players. But they all share a marriage of HC and GM, a willingness of the GM to work within the requirements of the coaching staff and their scheme. Shanahan and Lynch Arians and Licht McVay and Snead Carrol and Schneider LaFelur and Gutekunst Payton and Loomis Roseman and Pederson/Sirriani Belichick and Himself Harbaugh and DeCosta Reid and Leach McDermott and Beane Tomlin and Colbert These are some of the best GM/HC marriages in the NFL. I could be wrong but I hope I'm right... Douglas seems to work well with Saleh and has hit on a bunch of scheme fitting, coachable players for the offensive coaching staff in particular. This is my single largest point of optimism for the current staff.
You can't win if you can't score. Watching ZW run for his life behind that putrid C/RG combo we had was rough. We need upgrades everywhere. 1. WR1: Trayelon Burks, Drake London, David Bell? 2. TE: FA and Draft. Njoku and McBride? 3. Starting OL and Depth. Not everyone makes it through a year. We need OL in round 3-5 too. Linderbaum and Cade Mays? +FA 4. RB1A. Mike Carter is too small to carry the burden. All of this has to be addressed with ideally getting a DE with the top 4 picks we have.
I think this speaks volumes to the fire them all crowd. The Jets have not had a coach last longer than 5 years in the modern era or have had GM last more than 6. Neither of those tenures was the coach and GM consistent.
It’s true but these aren’t all true marriages as you’re alluding to. A lot of these GM’s were in place well before the head coach or vice versa (Tomlin/Colbert, Arians/Licht, Loomis/Payton, etc.). The Bills, Packers and Seahawks are probably the truest representation as to what you were getting at.
Successful coaches and GMs stick around. Keeping a shitty GM and coach isn't going to get you anywhere other than continued losing.
0 of our coaches or GM's have gone on to be successful GM's or coaches elsewhere. If anything our problem has been that we kept them too long, not that we fired them too soon.
I didn’t mean they have had be hired at the same time, I just used marriage as a term for, I guess, blissful unification? It doesn’t matter if a GM or coach has been there for a while as long as those two understand each other and work together in the way I described.
I’ll throw my two cents into the mix I can’t stand the continuity for continuity’s sake argument. It’s a total falsehood. pointing to successful coaches who have been there a long time is confusing cause and effect. The reason they are there for a long time is because they are good, not the other way around. In the 70s maybe…someone like a Chuck Noll had time to build the Steelers, but in todays league…it doesn’t take even 4 years…Sean McVay had the Rams in the Super Bowl soon after he was hired. zac Taylor has the Bengals in the AFCCG in year three. In todays league with the passing rules and free agency, it shouldn’t take 5 years to turn it around. keeping a bad coach longer is not going to make him a better coach. Does anyone think Gase would be better if only we kept him another three years? Come on… can a coach learn and improve over time? Of course he can. But that’s not gonna turn a shitty coach into a very good coach. Marvin Lewis had like a decade…he never got much better…he was a good not great coach and never won a playoff game. seriously…this argument is just nonsense to me. on the other point…I fully agree that the GM and HC need to be on the same page. Their goals need to be aligned. Can’t have shit like we had with Rex and Idzik with a win now hot seat coach paired with a long view GM. Will never work. They both have to be aligned not only in goals and timetables, but more importantly with the scheme and player vision. Can’t have shit like Gase and Mac when Gase wasn’t even in the draft room. That shit will never work either. for now, it seems like JD and Saleh are on the same page with scheme and player vision, and it showed in the rookie class which overall did pretty damn well. Here’s hoping the second JD/Saleh draft does as well
