I heard the question posed on the radio this morning. How many of the Jets players would you consider to be top 5 in the league at their respective positions? Zero? Mayyyybe Mangold can get there? Certainly no one else that I can think of. Jones and Coles I think would land somewhere in the top 10-15 at their respective positions. No one on defense could even be considered top 10, but mayyyyybe you can put Kerry Rhodes there. HOpefully Harris and Revis can reach elite NFL status, but that remains to be seen. Basically, this team is supremely undertalented right now. We need a couple of stud players!
How many top fives in the league does Detroit have and how many did they have when Kitna said they would win ten games and everyone laughed at him? It really doesn’t matter how much talent this team has with Mandoofus at the helm at (until now) Chad behind the center.
Exactly... Most teams have 1-3 players, tops who are in the top 5 in the league at their positions.... We have two 'maybe's in Mangold at C and Rhodes at S, a few 'almost's, with Coles and Cotchery at WR and Jones at RB, and one, 'top 3' with Washington as our KR.... That's good enough for me... We're undertalented for a team running a 3-4 scheme defensively, but overall, we're not too much more or less talented than most other teams in football....
I'd grade Coles/Cotchery top 15 receivers, Mangold in the top 15 (he dropped a few notches), Rhodes top 15, Wright/Smith Top 10 in ST. That's it. After one game, I'd like to say that Harris is up there but it's a bit premature.
Yeah, but look at some other good teams (excluding NE and IND).... Pittsburgh.... They've got Polamalu, Faneca, Ward maybe, Casey Hampton maybe, Willie Parker.... Anyone else at the top of the league? Giants? Osi/Strahan, Pierce, Burress, maybe McKenzie? and that's about it.... The difference is we don't have stars... But talent wise, most teams are pretty even in the NFL.... Except, of course, these two ridiculous teams squaring off this Sunday
These are the reasons why I wasn't looking forward to this season. We scare no one. We need a QB in NY and a real stud. If it's Clements then great, but if we are in the position to get a guy who can really make things happen then pick him. It is sad that we have to go back over 30 years where we had a QB to be excited about. Players make things happen, not coaches. The Jets need playmakers and even though I wanted Vernon Davis over D'Brickashaw, I understand why we went for the D'Brick. But please get some studs on this team. I don't think a defensive coordinator is losing much sleep defending against us. Especially since Pennington can't throw a ball further than a receiver.
I wouldn't call him mandoofus just yet, at this point I seriously think he's playing for the draft....we know we can't win this year, and we really need the draft help. Also, our schedule will be easier next year if we really suck ass this year. In terms of talent, I really don't think it matters as much as coaching. Forget New England this year....think back to the old Pats. They never had a ton of playmakers, stars, whatever. They had great coaching, and a great O-line and D-line (not to mention Tom Brady). WR's and RB's are overrated. All these shit RB's work on the pats cause their line, and last year they nearly won it all (again) with NO NAME WR's. Learning from the Pats, the Jets need to do a few things: 1) Fix the damn line, on both sides of the ball. We need protection on O, and someone to stuff the middle on D. I say we use a first 2-3 picks solving this problem. 2) Trade Vilma, he's too valuable to be wasted in the 3-4. I love the guy, he's prolly the best player on our team, but he belongs in the 4-3. 3) Name Clemens the starter for the rest of the season. We know Chad's not getting us anywhere, and we need to see if Clemens is the answer....cause if he's not, we need to address that issue right now. What else do you guys think we need to do?
It's about using what you have to it's full advantage. This is very reminiscent of our beloved Herm teams where we had players NOT being used to their full potential making them seem "Worthless". Back Then we Had Lamont not being used, Moss being used as a 1 dimensional player and Cotchery riding the pine. Now we have Vilma in a 3-4 Kellen was on the bench and T.J. getting used sporadically. The whole square pegs > Round Holes theory comes into play just like it did back then. It's one thing to implement your scheme, it's another thing to force it and not have the right personnel. In the case of the latter, it may seem as though the talent level is lower than it actually is.
The Jets have legitimate bottom 5 talent at this point. They may draft really well over the next few years and just get back to where you need to be to compete on a game by game basis. This, BTW, is not darksiding, it's just a statement of fact. The Jets have not a single area of the team where their talent is superior. Opposite that state of affairs are real weaknesses in both lines and in the linebackers.
If you consider all facets of special teams the Jets talent is not superior. Washington is a great returner as was Miller. Nugent and Graham are both above average at this point. Brad Smith and a few others on the coverage teams are looking good as well. Despite all this the Jets rank 31st in opposing kickoff returns, allowing 27.9 yards an attempt. They're allowing 10+ yards a punt return. Right now the Jets special teams ranks in the middle of the pack at best, and this despite having a brilliant game-breaking kick returner.
Well considering the Jets barely average a score a game and the first kick off by Hobbs went for almost 200 yards that average is skewed. Take out Hobbs and it is probably 18 yds per kickoff.................. We probably have the least amount of Kickoffs in the league..........Well I would not be surprised if that were true. BTW that was sarcastic. Our special teams with the exception of Leon is not so special this year.
That's not really true. Their talent level was still really high... it was just distributed more evenly. I'm not sure how much of that is coaching, unless you're talking about the team development/draft side of coaching. That's what they addressed two years ago (the O-line), and it hasn't worked out (yet). I agree. Agreed... but I think that's already happened, even if there hasn't been an explicit statement saying that the change will be a season long one. Exercise a modicum of patience. I like the direction the Jets have been moving in, in terms of personnel decisions. The results will follow. Honestly, I think last year's surprise success was more curse than blessing with regard to the long term goals... this team needed a fairly radical overhaul, and last year slowed that process.
Smith has been a very good lead blocker on kick returns too. For a guy that used to be a QB he shows a lot of toughness. He's just a football player, doesn't matter where he plays. Love this kid.
Yes, as archaic as this phrase is, here goes: "It doesn't matter how many top-5 players at their respective positions we have on our team!!!!" - The Rock.
We are no better and no worse than average talentwise in the league. Now having the right players for the job is another story. This thread really did seem to start out with a darkside mentality. It is true that we don't have that "gamebreaker" who will put us over the top, but we need to focus on our overall level of play before we go after that guy...and he may already be on our team and will show up once we begin executing like we know how. Terrell Suggs wouldn't hurt either.
Poor man's Hines Ward. Maybe a middle-class version if he gets an opportunity. Brad Smith will be where Jerrico Cotchery was going into 2006 next season. He needs the same chance to play.
I'd say the Jets have middle of the pack talent. You don't do as well as they did last year without it. Talent isn't everything. the '01 Pats were far from the most talented team in the league. Yet they won. Indy was arguably the most talented team in the league for years, but only won last year. The Jets have enough talent to compete. They are not playing well. Something is wrong, I think, and it's not strictly talent. Sure, the O-line is a problem....honestly, I don't know if the problem is a lack of talent. I think it is a combo of talent and whatever the blocking scheme they are using is. It seems to me that the opponents know what the Jets are doing on the line and are able to exploit them and confuse them. Either way, the Jets are certainly not playing to the level of the talent they do have.
