I’m tired of defense

The ol’ Todd Bowles adage. “He needs good corners to run his system!” - every defensive coordinator ever.

I always felt like it was easier to build a good enough defense through parts and pieces here and there paired with a good scheme then offense. The Chiefs defense is a good example - two first round picks and one high paid player. They guys walk after their rookie contracts all the time (Charvarious Ward, Juan Thornhill, etc.)

The NFL also has good mercenary defensive coordinators that are available every year. Wade Phillips (retired), Jim Schwartz, Vic Fangio, Steve Wilks, Brian Flores, etc.

 

it seemed like the team was obsessed with spending first round picks on the defensive line for a long time - Richardson, Wilkerson, Coples, L Williams, Q Williams and how many of them earned second contracts with the team or lived up to their billing?

 

I'm hoping the Miami Dolphins are starting a new trend regarding how teams draft and build their offense as a priority.

 

I empathize with your POV. I've been saying this for years. That said, if we hired an offensive minded HC and drafted primarily "O" players, and continued losing even you would soon say, "Enough!" and likely decide that an offense-first philosophy doesn't work either.

What will work?

A total commitment to building a team identity, one that doesn't accept mediocrity, a "one and done" playoff appearance as "winning". While you can build this identity leaning on defense, IMO in today's NFL favoring scoring, I think offense is the way to go. But however you do it, you have to adopt the "Lombardi Philosophy": "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". As I posted in another thread today (40 Years Ago), the Jets abandoned their old AFL style of play and tried to adopt the NLF style and they killed their identity. Ever since then, they've been floundering. I firmly believe they need to return to their AFL "aerial circus" roots, coupled with a good, tough defense, and above all, a refusal to bow to no one. When Namath issued his guarantee, that epitomized their refusal to think of themselves as less than the best. For those who weren't alive then, he took a lot of shit for being cocky...that's not what "true" NFL players did. Ironically, his "cockiness" was the key to their beating the "unbeatable" Colts. And yet, after Werblin sold the team, Hess abandoned that identity and tried to get the Jets to be "NFL approved". They've been wandering in search of an identity ever since.

It's long past time to return to their roots. Get rid of the conservative, defensive philosophy and adopt the wide open, gambling style of Ewbank and Namath. Hire the best offensive guy possible as HC and commit to given him the best pieces to build with. With what they already have on the defense, they can go a few years without any major investments. Assuming Rodgers stays, and can remain healthy, you have a top QB for a year or two. draft a QB to be groomed under him, and let him sit and learn! And invest heavily in building the best OL possible. That's a realistic formula that can be achieved right now, assuming they fire Saleh and hire the right offensive minded HC.

Or they can continue polishing their image as the SOJ.

 

Let me first start by saying I watched two games on Sunday. Giants v Pats and Eagles v Bills. It's so clear just HOW important getting the QB position right is. Furthermore, over 50 QB's have started an NFL game this year which is wild.

I know Aaron will be back and 2024 will be better than 2023, seriously, it can't get worse. But, how much longer he plays is TBD. Tom Brady is clearly the exception and I just can't say A Rod at 40 won't be prone to any more injuries as he has shown these last few years.

In terms of the draft, I can't say we will be in the Caleb/Maye running but we should have first crack at the next set of QB's. We will be picking inside the top 8, maybe even the top 5. At some point we will need to address QB and for the long term. Again, 2024 will be fine but what if Aaron Rogers retires? We can sign a Baker Mayfiield type band aid but what will that truly accomplish?

We won't be picking inside the top 10 if A Rod is giving us a full season so how are we going to address this? Trade multiple first round picks for somebody? The time is now to draft a QB. We HAVE to go QB in Round 1 imo. Furthermore, I would continue to draft QB's in Rounds 3-5 as well and develop. IE Jordan Travis if he falls, etc.


NFL is 1000% about QB play. Teams would kill to have Becton, Tippman, and AVT and freaking clowns like Morgan Moses, George Fant etc. start elsewhere.

 

Not just DL, either, but almost exclusively interior DL. It's like we're allergic to doing the right thing. Not only do we target the wrong side of the ball, we target the less impactful part of a unit on that side.

 

Disagree. interior DL is the most impactful unit on the defense. They are the closest to the backfield and QB

Sauce Gardner can be largely ignored for a whole game. Q Williams cannot be ignored for a single play that he's out there

 

The problem with that though is are you (the Jets I mean) all in on winning now with Aaron Rodgers or not? They kind of committed to going that way already and got like... the worst luck of an outcome that was physically possible but you need to make a stand with your strategy at some point rather than half measures. With no 2nd round pick if you draft a QB prospect this spring your basically giving an even more aging Rodgers absolutely no help whatsoever while at least theoretically every other team is getting even younger and stronger.

Due to contract commitments you don't really have the option at this point of saying "well that AR thing really didn't work out either lets just try something else" You kind of have to keep pushing down what very well may be the wrong path but try to make it work.

I think a lot of this years debacle is just plain unbelievably bad luck. You lost your superstar QB immediately, your 2nd best WR that you really needed just randomly decided to retire, and about 46 OL guys got injured. If those things didn't happen the Jets would probably be making hay right now.

 

I think this year has proven that is a failed strategy

 

In general, the further away a position group is from the ball, the more important it is. I don't know if that was always true, but evidence points to it being true in the modern game due to how pass-focused offenses are. QBs, WRs, and CBs are the most important players in the game. Ignoring Sauce means ignoring one of the WRs on a given offense. That is hugely impactful.

There have been some good efforts at replicating the WAR stat popularized by baseball for football, and these are the findings of those efforts.

Can read more here: https://www.researchgate.net/public...AR_Modeling_Player_Value_in_American_Football

 

wow I disagree with that premise but thanks for the study, when I have time I will read and consider

 

On both sides of the ball the game is still largely won and lost up front. They are the most important players on the team. DL most important on defense and o-line most important on offense.

I'm sick of incomplete teams. Great QBs don't win SBs, great rosters win SBs. The QB is just an important part of an overall roster.

I'm sick and tired of QBs who take all our resources and prevent us from building a complete team. Sam plus 3 seconds. Zach at #2 when it was team building gold, Rodgers and his contract and demands. Its continually our investment in the QB position that keeps us down. You don't go all in for a QB with a crap o-line. You got to have some type of stability or its a waste.

 

A good offensive line is also the best way to get a young QB through some early struggles their first couple of years.

 

Player for player, I think it's intuitively clear that WRs are more important than any single OL.

If you could waive a magic wand and add either Tyreek Hill or Justin Jefferson to our roster or Lane Johnson/Trent Williams, who would you choose? Assume they're all the same age also.

There's also quite a bit of evidence that having a good OL is more about having no glaring weak spots along the line rather than superstars at any spot. The studs can help the guy directly next to them, but there's not much they can do if you have to start a disastrous guy elsewhere. That guy is still going to get lit up, and one guy breaking through the OL is almost as bad as two breaking through. The QB is impacted either way and he's not twice as impacted if 2 guys get through vs. 1.

Long story short, you can add average guys to your OL in the mid rounds and have a good OL overall. It's a lot harder to find a JJ/Hill in the mid rounds.

 

Let's face it... the Jets suck at evaluating talent. And I mean everywhere... front office, coaches and players.

We'll have to get through the Rodgers years and then another rebuild is upon us.

Rodgers may get us a playoff game or two if our defense stays put... but what then?

Joe Douglas has shown little in being able to build a winning franchise. His head should be on the chopping block.

Three+ years and nothing to show for it except a 40 year old broken QB and a bunch of his washed-up buddies.

I could just puke.

 

I think the Jets are living proof that your magic wand example doesn't work. I honestly don't think Garrett Wilson is that far off from Tyreek Hill or Justin Jefferson. He is nearly as talented and if he played for Miami he probably has similar numbers. His talent gets wasted with this offensive line and QB

I do agree though that they need to start thinking of OL as a unit more

 

Wide receivers ain't shit without a quarterback that can get them the football.

 

I know everyone is upset and yeah we suck and as a whole this offseason was a bust. rodgers went down 4 plays in, lazard sucks etc
But we did build 1 hell of a defense. I think there is a bad jets bias because we've had many years with good defenses but very few with good offenses so we tend to discount it. look at the chargers that have kind of done the opposite. their fans are in the same boat but opposite because their defense has sucked for whatever and it's wasting their offense. in the NFL you can't really build a "complete team" there are going to be sacrifices. the chiefs sacrificed offense to build a defense so they don't need to score 40pts a game to win. the only way to build a complete team for a few years is to hit on a late round QB where you are only paying a couple mil because otherwise QBs are too important and too expensive to allow you to build complete teams around them. then if they go down, your pretty much screwed