Imma bright-sider...especially during this time of year. JoeD saw Sam Darnold for one season, and even with Sam's 6-2 finish, he knew Sam would never be 'the guy', and shipped him out. I think JoeD came to a similar conclusion on ZW. But his options are limited. He can't ship Z out. He's kinda stuck with him. Last place finish and worse QB in the league is NOT what he envisioned for his star draft pick. JD's only hope for a lucrative 2nd contract is to build an offense so talented it thrives with decent but not great QB play. I think this explains Joe's switch from building thru the trenches to taking the best top talent he could find. The Giants' draft of Thibs and Neal is exactly what he'd have loved to do, solidify both trenches for the next decade. But after ZW's play last season, he's a bit panicked and went in a different direction. I think he came to the same conclusion with Saleh too. Last place finish is NOT what JD thought he was getting with a top defensive HC. Again, JD is panicking a bit. Garrett Wilson, Brice Hall, Jeremy Ruckert. Best WR, RB and TE he could draft to 'help' ZW as much as possible. The oline will have to do. Sauce Garner, Jermaine Johnson, Michael Clemons. Best DB and Pass Rushers he could draft. Saleh needs help...big time. I think if Zack Wilson and our defense had held their own last season, JD would have finished his work in the trenches. But his 6yr contract is now a 2yr contract and 'win games now' seems more urgent than finishing what he started in the trenches. It happens with every re-build.
Winning six out of eight games is no small feat when coming back from illness or injury. No matter what else JD does, this bold decision and going with Zach at number two overall defines his legacy here. If Wilson isn't the guy and Darnold manages to turn things around JD comes out looking pretty bad. He tore the team down to the bare studs and we have suffered through the aftermath. I just hope he is right.
Not sure you love Sam so much. The decision was an easy one. The team stunk, Sam had not played well and he was due money the Jets could spend elsewhere. Starting over with a QB on a rookie contract was the correct and easy move. If if if- The chances of Sam turning it around at this point are slim and irrelevant. I mean the Panthers looked to get rid of him under every rock and then drafted a QB. I hope Sam does turn it around but that ship has sailed and has nothing to do with Joe D's legacy other than it was the correct move.
What the hell are you talking about?? JD saw Sam for TWO seasons. And during the second one, JD saw the Darnold led Jets win 2 fucking games while Darnold himself was absolute trash.
With all due respect, this is one of the worst posts I have ever read on this forum. zach may or may not turn out to be all that is hoped for........time will tell. however, no way does JD think at this point in time that Zach can’t be the guy. No way does JD want to ship him out. JD put plenty of draft capital into the lines, next phase of rebuild is playmakers......JD is right on schedule.
The bulk of your post is reasonable and I agree with a lot of it, but again, the use of the "blind faith" label is annoying. Isn't it also "blind faith" in the belief that Zach is going to fail? Because simply using numbers to support that assertion isn't any more valid than "blind faith" when you simply look at them separate from context. And the continued pointing to what White and Flacco did, asserting that they did much better "with the same team" is also misleading. It was NOT the same team. By the time both White and Flacco came in MLF had figured out that he needed to be upstairs, and he also started getting a clue about what would work and not work, and the OL began to gel, as well as almost all the skill pieces were available for duty. These conditions were NOT true for Zach's first stint, and then when he returned after the injury weren't either. I don't know why this is so hard to understand. It's true that as big a believer in Wilson as I've been all along that I was disappointed that he somehow didn't overcome all of these obstacles and string together a few 300 yard, multi TD games. That said, when the defense put him in holes that mandated passing and abandoning the run game (such as it was), I don't think any QB could've done that. It's maddening for me to know there's all this potential in him and for it to have been squandered by things outside of his control. But now he has the weapons, an improved OL - assuming injuries don't decimate us like they have - and a more experienced CS, so if he's the FQB I think he is, he should prove it this year. If he doesn't, at least the foundation of a good team will be in place for the next guy.
He does not have to be Aaron Rodgers next season just be getting better. 3,000 + Yards 20-10 int would be considered on his way. Unless Wilson, Moore, Mims, Davis and Berrios come out running and gunning then we can be the east coast version of the greatest show on __ .
When I see what GB is doing with Aaron Rogers, shipping out Aaron's top weapons and using those draft picks all on defense, saying "Look, Aaron is a great QB and is capable of using the weapons we give him". I think if JoeD thought ZW was an above avg QB capable of winning with the weapons he had last season (Corey Davis WR1, Elijah Moore WR2, Crowder, Mims, Carter RB) he would have stayed in the trenches, at least in the 1st round especially after taking two good FA TEs to round out the offense. BUT....Joe obviously felt based on Zack's rookie season that Zack needed much more help to succeed. Joe couldn't wait until the later rounds to pick up a few more weapons. Joe felt Zack really needs top, 1st and 2nd round weapons added to the fold to have any chance. ie....Zack ain't no Aaron Rogers. I'm happy as anyone with the weapons Zack has now. It was inevitable that JoeD would go that route sooner or later. But I think Zack's play last season just made it 'sooner'. If Z has a 2nd season similar to his first, it would be all over. JD had to act NOW!
Those stats might not reach Aaron Rodgers but it would represent a season with over twice as many touchdowns and almost twice as many yards. That's a lot to ask for
Very interesting take… We can agree that our 2nd year QB currently isn’t the same as a 22 yr vet and future HOF. You mentioned shipping out top weapons -plural- but I can only find one top weapon who was “shipped out”. Indecently, do you think GB had a choice in the matter? What trench player do you propose JD should have drafted at 10 and who would he have replaced? (I assume you mean OLine bc we did in fact address the trenches in the 1st). TBH, if I held the same opinion as you do of JD I’d probably be a darksider. Don’t listen to the other posters, it’s ok to be 12 or drunk and it’s a blast to be both.
I'm a tweener I guess. I want to be on the sunny side of life when It comes to the NYJ but I find they leave me In the darkside of life 90% of the time. With that said... I'm all In on things right now, the direction of this team for example, JD and the CS, etc... I think our roster Is exceptionally improved. I don't think I've seen a NYJ roster look this good In a VERY long time. I still anticipate our dumb fuck owners to ruin everything sooner, rather than later. I want Zach Wilson to be successful and be our FQB that we NEED. I have my doubts though, I wasn't overly impressed overall with, Wilson. However, he showed me some things In that Tampa Bay game and onward to reconsider my hard nosed stance as well. I'm still very unsure on If I truly believe Wilson Is the right QB for this team, I'm hopeful though. Obviously the QB position Is a very important position on any team. If Wilson fails, so does this team. There Is no excuses now. He needs to get It done. ..and I hope he will. As far as rookie QB's struggling and that It's normal. Sure, I agree.. The same can be said about rookie QB's that struggle and bust out of the league though, even more so actually. It happens far more than not. I'm excited for this team to take the field for the first time In a long time. This Is the first time In a long time that I've had true hope going Into a season. So... I'm rooting hard for our team to succeed. I'm cautiously optimistic though.
I think you can squash your owner concerns. Jd got a 6 year contract and the hierarchy changed, neither are small feats. Those concessions show me the owners are committed and nothing JD has done has made Woody second guess that. I believe that at this point if Woody insisted JD make a bad move, he’d quit. With the job JD has done so far, he would get the next available GM job in a heartbeat. If JD gave in and made a bad move, that’s his legacy, and he knows this.
At the end of the day. The owner has the power to intervene and meddle In any aspect of this team. This has been proven time and time again.. The absolute moronic decisions over the years have left me with nothing but trust issues from a fandom stand-point. We have won a total of 6 games under JD, this season will be telling and In my experience as a fan of this team, ownership has (again) proven time and time again, they are capable of asinine decisions, even when good intent Is clear. Until we are consistent winners, year In - year out. There Isn't a chance In hell I would squash that concern about these owners. One hired Adam Gase, the same man that was clearly out of his depth with our division rival. In the same year he was fired, we hired him. Tim Tebow was affiliated with the other. Amongst many, many, many more things that has turned this team Into a circus several different times. Yeah.. I'm gonna hold tight on that concern a little longer. Thanks.
Good discussion! And again, I think my point of view is actually very much aligned with yours….I maybe have a little less confidence in Zach than you do, but not a Grand Canyon sized difference really. I find our views are most typically aligned when I go through these boards. ok so that being said… my blind faith comment wasn’t necessarily referring to you specifically…it was more generally meant as there are plenty of posts and comments that just excuse all the bad play away and ignore the fact that the stats were shit. That’s all. I get the reasons why…including all of the items we’ve all talked about…shitty OL play, lack of weapons due to injury, plenty of drops by receivers, new coaching staff learning on the job. All valid. I get it. And on top of it…he was a rookie coming from a smaller program where he didn’t face NFL level competition every week…he didn’t come from the SEC or Big 10. I get it all. Which is why I have hope he can improve. I like the post above where it was like let’s see maybe 3500 yards, 20 TDs to 10 picks, let’s see a couple 300 yard games or a couple multiple TD games….stuff like that. That’s what I want to see. For all the reasons noted above, he didn’t come close to any of that. Not even close. Not one game. Yes he played well against Tampa. Yes he cut down on picks. All good stuff. But he needs to do better. And for being the second overall pick, I expected better. Not every game. All rookie QBs outside of Marino struggle a bit or a lot. It’s to be expected. anyway…here’s hoping he shows he belongs this year…
You hold on as tight as you want, buddy. IDK if you’re a tweeter as much as bi-polar/suffer from PJSD. In your first post you cautiously mention how things look better and and things are heading in the right direction… your second post if full of bad memories and the fear of repeating past mistakes. I want to give you a hug and tell you it’s going to be ok. It’s not your fault.