Before I go into the core of this thread, I wanna reitterate something that seems to have been forgotten: When you rebuild an OL from scratch(like we did last year),specifically w/ inexperienced players(Regardless of talent level), there are gonna be bumps in the road. It's true that last season we had some decent success along the OL. But did you all really think that short term, having 2 rookies, now sophomores, starting at the 2 most important positions on the line and surrounding them w/ stop-gap veterans would not lead to at least SOME short term stumbles? Anyone who didn't expect it was kidding themselves. W/ that said, ever since Bradway has been involved w/ this organization...there has been this constant vibe of refusing to address OL depth. Seems like every year, we are screaming for depth to be added, and prospects to be developed, and instead we're left to hope converted UFA defensive linemen's magically turn into all pro's. Now look where we are. We had a chance this past offseason/draft to improve the OL. Granted Tannebaum was the one w/ the final say and last offseason took 2 OL in the 1st round.. but it was clear help/depth was still needed, and frankly nothing was done. It also seemed like this offseason Bradway had a greater say in what went on, and the result was again, shunning OL depth. I believe what we're seeing now will demand the FO to take action next offseason. I also believe Brick and Mangold will make it through these struggles as they were bound to occur. But I wonder if these struggles could've been slightly lessened if we had taken 1 or 2 more OL in this past draft. Is this the work of Bradway? And a bigger question maybe: Why IS he so opposed to drafting Linemen?
I dont think the issue was this past draft but prior drafts as well. Adrian Jones was a 4th rounder, remember and then Cavka was taken later. Some of the moves to the O-line was justifiable. Not paying Kareem, Fabini's back was shot, etc. Jones and Cavka were both taken in 04. They only thing that was really planned was getting Mangold to replace Mawae. The only real backup that had made a difference for Bradway was Goodwin. He wasnt starter material but was a decent backup who when played, the line stayed solid. The line wasnt addressed in the draft at all in the Herm/Bradway error... There were a total of 6 ol draft picks in that time with Kareem being the highest as a 3rd rounder. So essientally, we are still paying for it.
I agree. What I'm getting at though, is it appears this past offseason Bradway played a much bigger hand in things. As a ironic result, we again saw a cold shoulder to OL depth..whic obviously was still an area of need.
And now they'll have to scramble around to fix the huge hole on an already suspect OL. I dunno what they have in mind, but they better come up with somthing good, or they are gonna run out of QBs.
If Revis turns out to be really good then not addressing the OL in this year's draft may not be so bad. I guess we have to wait till the next draft for that. Having a really good CB in Revis and a good LB in Harris is going to help the defense a lot. But we used the sixth pick to get Bender. Who knows, he might turn out to be good. I think they should start AJ at LG. The most frightening thing is if Mangold, D'Brick, Moore, or Clement go down, the OL is going to be in very bad shape because there is no depth at all. Tannenbaum will try to get an O lineman or two by making a trade or picking someone who gets released and who is serviceable. We have no depth at all. I doubt Bradway decided to bypass the OL. He would have to overrule Tannenbaum and Mangini.
Faneca is a pro-bowl guard. Pitt will want probably a 2nd rounder or like a 3rd and 4th for him. Contractually he's more expensive than Kendall is. My guess, and its far-fetched, is that Tony Wise and Mike Devlin told Mangini they can mold bender and/or Clarke into a starter by Sept. 9th. Mangold's leadership will certainly take hold sooner than later, helping the line gel even more. This is not the ideal situation for the O-line, but there is still 2 weeks left. Lets pray for some consistency and protection to be established soon. ...And D'Brick has to get meaner, he's still plays like he being nice to his opponents.
you would figure that before the draft the FO had a plan of attack for it. with the players they took and the available cap space they should have def been bigger players in the FA market. there were some solid interior OL available, as well as the stop gappers we seem to get, and the fact that the FO did zero to make a play is upsetting. add to the fact they cut kendall, who was our best guard leaving us with nicholls state triple option tackle jacob bender to play LG is scary. when i read todays star ledger and saw this quote from bender in the "on the nfl" wrap up by kimberly jones..."it's different because i would come to the sideline and pete would say, 'you took this step wrong' or 'you did this' i was thankful to spend some time with pete and have him help me out. pete helped me a lot in transitioning to guard and im still learning"... for a mil more a year? are we seriously saying that was solid thinking? i mean, why not try to meet half way and offer up half of what he wanted? i can understand the FO trying to take a stand, but in doing so it hurt the team exponentially imo.
Just to throw this out there, but if we didn't trade up for revis or trade down for thomas jones we could have had at 25 a) Ben Grubbs b) Joe Staley at 37 a) Justin Blalock b) Tony Ugoh I personally love Blalock, Ugoh and Grubbs. Blalock is the guy I wanted. Now Revis and Harris should become studs but I'm believer that without the lines nothing else really matters. But a lot of good lines have been built through mid to late rounds and I had hoped the Jets would take two lineman somewhere in that draft to develop. I really do believe Bender has all the physical things you look for in a lineman. Just not the experience.
How many OL's did Bradway let slip away to other teams? Then made the statement that A Jones was going to be a star. Bradway never addressed the OL, think he believed you can stick any big body in there and it would work. Now this team is in trouble.
Don't forget Bradway let Kareem, Randy Thomas, and Kerry Jenkins all walk with no attempts of resigning.
Draft aside, is there anyone that's uncomfortable with Tony Wise? He sure had his days, but that's long gone, and his latest employment before the Jets was an utter failure. He's supposed to coach up the O line, but from what I see, he has done an absolutely poor job with D'Brick.
Yep it's Bradway's fault, of course when we played well last yer it was all tannenbaum but now that BOTH lines look like crap it's back to Bradway's fault Bradway ignored the Ol by drafting kareem, Tupe Peko, Goodwin, Jones & cavka(not his fault cavka got hurt) and digning Moore, Szott, Kendall, re-signing mawae & fabini, etc... it's becoming apparent we made a mistake drafting brick so high but he struck gold w/ Mangold and we knew the Kendall situation heading into FA and the draft and we ignord it. There is no one to blame here except Mangini and Tannenbaum. They still have time to salvage that situation for this year but they better get on the phones and swing a deal or hope a decent G gets cut.
and the only time we got hurt was after Kareem left but that was only b/c most of the OL got hurt. You don't overpay for G's or RTs and he wisely allowed those players to leave as we quickly recovered from Thomas, Jenkins AND Ryan Young.
Lets' look at this...............Kareem wanted huge money and the Giants were willing and overpaid for him bigtime. I believe Randy Thomas' offer by the Jets was in the same range as the Skins. Bradway's problem was not addressing the O-line by replacing players leaving and aging (Fabini) and relying on untested players (Sound familiar Tangini?). I remember clear as day, Bradway stating in a press conference "Adrian Jones is a great LT and our LT for many years to come". Bradway never wanted to pay the Money for a High draft pick on the O-Line. Herm has some blame in this as well, playing Fabini a couple of years too long, putting up with Mawae's crap in the clubhouse, believing AJ was the next best OT in the NFL. Clearly, Mr T addressed the O-line last year with Brick and Mangold. Most of us were screaming for more depth at the guard position in 07's draft, and that's even before Pete's tirade about his contract. In April, we all assumed Pete would be a Jet on Sept 9th. Brandon Moore and depth were the concern of many, including myself. I was disappointed we didn't get Grubbs or Blalock, but can't fault them for going after Revis and Harris, quality over quantity. It's impossible to address all the needs of this team with just 07's draft. I won't second guess Mr T's decision to move up on Day 1 to take Revis and Harris...both are going to be very, very good players. Two glaring needs were addressed......Corner and Run defense, I'm thrilled they are NY Jets. It's now time for the Jets' to address the LG situation ASAP...........the need to get a Vet in house. Mr T was lucky last year Mangold, replaced Mawae without missing a beat. D-Brick is still a ???.......the guy plays too soft and hasn't lived up to his #4 draft spot...it's a big year for D-Brick, he's got to show something in 07. There's plenty of Blame to go around......Bradway, Herm , Mr T. & Mangini....everyone has played a part. But it's now time to fix the problem.....the ball is in your court Tangini.
You admit that young linemen are going to have growing pains and not be immediate solutions but argue that we should have solved our OL problems by drafting more OL? Granted I would have been in favor of drafting more OL, but this problem, as you alluded to, needs to be solved with veteran depth. I believe the true problem lies not in Bradway magically pulling the strings in the background, but with the suddenly hot market for Interior Linemen. With Guards now making $7.0 Million per year it is difficult to pick up veteran help without severely overpaying.
With all due respect Kurt...give it a rest. Tanny is the GM and Tanny gets the accolades and the criticism. Tanny is a big boy he needs to make his own decisions and live with them. Please don't try to give him an easy scapegoat bc TB is everyones favorite whipping boy.
Tannenbaum acted like a ASS in handling the Fabini situation. THis was his first misstep in his tenure as GM. Revis will be a Probowl player and Harris looks like the real deal. The problem here is with the offensive line's depth compromised Tannenbaum was in no positio to play hardball wirh Fabini. The issue over OL depth can't be addressed until 2008 Freee agency or the draft.We may be in for a long year unless we get lucky picking a Guard off the NFL scrap heap.
Great post! I agree with quality over quantitity, and this team has/had many needs. Either way though, we still have to do SOMETHING.
There in lies our true enemy. Perception. I have seen a few posts on this subject that mentioned things like not paying interior lineman...or right tackles...etc. It may seem that some of the contracts to interior lineman were undeserved, but I think its old fashioned thinking to limit one's salary not b/c of there impact but because of the position they play. I did try to stay optimistic, but this lack of depth is glaring and our inability to shell out decent coin for a backup 3-4 DE but not a starting calibur guard amazes me, especially when you take into consideration the cap room we have. Guess we'll just have to outcoach the opposition to win b/c the talent just isn't there right now.
