See, here's the thing. When you've reached true darksider status, your optimism is immediately quelled by the expectation (or realization) that the Jets will somehow screw it up.
I think even a darksider can look at a situation objectively and come to an optimistic conclusion. It is only when subjectivity is introduced do we get SOJ. I like to keep the two separate until such time as when subjectivity overtakes objectivity.
FWIW I been hammering the "losing Eric B was a prime partial reason suspect' drum all year with KC's offensive struggles, and was pretty shocked it took as long as it did for anybody to even start considering that factor (instead of just simply blaming the WR room that was minus Juju but plus the better talent in Rice). I also don't think anybody really disputes that having a good QB can be a critical piece of the success equation. Just that the combination of having both can/does matter in a lot of cases. Here likely being one of them. Where trying to overlay the success a now declined 41yo Rodgers saw in GB on to our team, while viewing Hackett as some type of equal or interchangeable piece with the missing Matt LaFleur in that success puzzle, amounts to a huge reach. Especially after what we've seen out of Hackett in the last 2 seasons since he's ventured out from under the wing of a good offensive mind like LaFleur. Beyond the 26 empty calorie TD total Rodgers threw in 2022 (which is where 95% of the "he still has it" crowd seem to both start and stop at with such evaluations) there is nothing in the tape or underlying metrics from 2022 rationally suggesting he should be expected to play at a higher level in 2024. So again to me this take that Rodgers, who at 41yo is now a zero MVP vote getting pure game manager type QB looking to cut down on the increased amount of picks that came with that decline, won't need better support system around him then a guy like Hackett is just an extremely shallow one. One that likely gets exposed from the very first time that sideline is required to make an in-game adjustment to what is likely a fairly poorly designed/run offensive game plan to begin with. Building an offense on top of a foundation of denial isn't going to work.
I am not entirely sure I follow the whole of your post - all I was trying to get across is that I don't see the season as being a non-starter because we have Hackett - I think it pretty much all comes down to how Rodgers performs - if he plays well we will enjoy a reasonable amount of success and if he doesn't then we are screwed - and whether its Hackett or Lefleur or anyone else calling the shots I don't think will make that much difference - it's all about Rodgers performances.
Sure, even the darkest of us can look at it objectively and have optimism, but the difference lies in when that optimism starts to fade. For a darksider, it doesn't take long, we don't wait to see the results before losing hope. Call us negative, call us paranoid, call us whatever you want, we haven't been wrong yet. And that sucks.
Nice post. I would like to share your optimism but, to state the obvious, it really depends on ONE PERSON this offseason--JOE DOUGLAS. Forget about his other prior screw ups (drafting Becton in round 1 and Zach #2 overall), Douglas IMO had a TERRIBLE offseason in 2023. Look at all the asinine decisions: 1) Biggest error of all, giving WR Allen Lazard a $44M contract--the guy was an undrafted free agent, then mediocre on the Packers for years. Douglas gives the biggest contract of any free agent receiver WTH????. Lazard stunk in 2023. 2) Signs another free agent WR Randall Cobb-- I know he is trying to appease Rodgers, but nobody else wanted Cobb. He stunk too. 3) Signs ANOTHER free agent WR in Hardman, who stunk and was quickly moved 4) Restructures the contract of TE CJ Uzomah. WHAT???? Uzomah is a blocking TE, who didn't do squat for the jets in 2022. Douglas then RESTRUCTURES Uzomah's contract (?) to spread his cap hit out by adding voidable years--Joe, you are supposed do that with GOOD players, who you want around for years. Unsurprisingly, Uzomah absolutely stunk in 2023, capped off by his great effort against the Raiders--two holding penalties (one of which costs us a TD), and to top it off he dropped a sure TD near the of the game. Worthless 5) Douglas had the chance to cut worthless and always- hurt DE Carl Lawson with no cap hit at all, but instead brings him back for what, about $9M?? WTH. 6) Douglas foolishly gets no reserve QB other than Zach, the worst rated NFL QB the previous TWO years, and of course Tim Boyle who will probably be out of football next year. 7) After getting Rodgers, Douglas relies on 100 year Duane Brown to be his starting LT to protect Rodgers. Brown misses a cut block 4 plays in, and Rodgers is out for the season. Brown misses most of the season after that--great investment, Joe. 8) And of course AFTER resigning edge rusher Lawson, Douglas foolishly uses the #1 pick, on McDonald, ANOTHER edge rusher, when we already have 100 of them. They even keep a healthy McDonald INACTIVE on game day for some early games because they are so stocked at that position. When was the last time a team drafted a non-QB at 15 overall, and made him a healthy scratch is year 1????? Dumb shit. Say what you want about Keith Carter, Saleh, Woody, Rodgers, etc., the key to 2024 is Douglas pulling his head out his butt, because he could not have screwed up the jets more last offseason if he had tried.
Optimism and pessimism are not objective measures, they are emotions formed from both objective and subjective input. You wrote of things falling into place which is a totally random forecast - things need to be actively put into place and experience has shown the Jets time and again fail to control that part of your scenario. That's not to say that won't change but relying on such change to be accomplished on its own is unrealistic, as the current management and staff have shown.
You forgot starting the offseason by using the OC as a scapegoat for your failed #2 pick.... and replacing him with someone worse
The whole of the post is that it would again be fairly ignorant (imo) on our end to over-simplify down next year's offensive approach into "just needing Rodgers to play well". That ignores the sharp 2022 career decline an aging Rodgers took into being pure game manager only level QB talent who turned the ball over too much. It ignores the fact we now have a 2 year running sample size of Hackett being terrible trying to stand on his own 2 feet. It ignores the fact you are basically starting from a point of being historically awful at something and the surrounding general need to at least reach an improvement level of being adequately good to get you where you want to go (the playoffs). With a fresh, smart, and properly grounded in reality offensive approach we can win games in 2024 with a clearly declined Rodgers who is no longer good enough to replicate what we are now seeing a 1st starter like Love do when given the same tools. We are not going to win enough games throwing an offense out there that is essentially built from the ground up on denial. Winging it on a misplaced belief we have a league better QB who only needs to be "play well", and letting everything ultimately hinge on a guy who nobody actually believes is good at his job, is not going to be the turn-things-around answer. The Jets are just taking a trade that should of never happened to begin with, and making it worse by not even surrounding the guy they sacrificed so much to bring in with the right situation to succeed. If you can't even protect Rodgers from himself here it's more logical in the big picture to just cut him atm and start the full rebuild now.
I was trying not to dwell on the past but what the future could be. Yes, Douglas has made mistakes but many of the these you mention are 20-20 hindsight. For example: if Rodgers hadn't gone down, Lazard and Cobb may have been key performers. Nevertheless, more important than the things he did that he shouldn't have, the things he didn't do that he should have, like providing an adequate backup QB, hurt the Jets worse. Since neither you nor I have the power to fire him, the best we can hope for is that he returns to form, as in the 2022 draft, because he did bring some good young talent to the team.
2022 is his only good draft. IMO, he wasted #1 picks in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Douglas is gonna have to hit a home run this offseason, because he may be job shopping next offseason if he doesn't.
I don't necessarily agree that the picks were wasted. I have no problem if a guy is taken at the consensus spot in the draft but doesn't turn out, as Wilson did in 2021. That's football. Becton in 2020, was a consensus top OT and I feel he still has something to contribute, but maybe not at LT where he was pressed into service. The jury is still out on 2023. I think McDonald will turn out fine. He finished the year strong and Tippman got valuable experience.
I can defend the Wilson pick. QB was absolutely the right position to draft and Wilson seemed like as good a choice as any. Becton and McDonald were indefensible though. Wirfs was clearly a superior prospect to Becton and with McDonald we didn't even select a guy on the right side of the ball. The McDonald pick should've been a WR. There were 3 available at the McDonald pick that contributed meaningfully to their teams this year. We shouldn't be forced into taking a WR or OT in the draft this year, but we are because we whiffed on the Becton and McDonald picks. Our team looks totally different if we have Wirfs and Flowers/JSN/Addison. We'd be free to trade down to take a guard or take Bowers and have 2 tier-1 WRs and a tier-1 TE.
I always enjoy reading your posts. They are well thought out and well written. I disagree with what you wrote here but honestly, I'm kind of tired of reliving past history, not that there's anything wrong with it, I just prefer to look forward at this point. Douglas and Saleh are returning whether they deserve to or not. If either of them make a move I don't like, I'll be posting about it. I think we have a very strong roster right now and if we can get good QB play, I think we'll have something.
Ugh, thought I would chime in. The only reason I can see us not replacing at MINIMUM Downing and Carter is that Aaron (not an Aaron hater, love that he's here but not ignorant of his ego) wants to show that he can single handedly elevate a dead last offense to top 10. It's not happening, even if we sure up the line and add another WR, the coaching on the offensive side of the ball has horrific. The product they put on the field was borderline unwatchable, the fact that NOONE is being held accountable is unreal. There isn't another team in professional sports with this amount of loyalty to a broken staff, 31other teams would have cleaned house on the offensive side. I am a sunshiner through and through but there has to be a line, has to. Disgusting, sad...
