I'm going to miss Vilma, but, for the same reason I want Chad gone, I am not going to sit here regretting letting Vilma go. He simply was not made to play 3-4 ILB, and keeping him aboard was not helping the team... Now, if I had my way, we would never have made the switch to a 3-4, but that's an entirely different debate... Vilma and Chad were our defensive and offensive leaders in the 2004 season- a very enjoyable one in which to be a Jets fan. For that, and everything else they contributed to the team, I commend them. I appreciate everything both of them did for the team while they were still contributing effectively as team leaders. However, the time has come where neither man has the physical tools to succeed within the systems our coaches have put in, and therefore, it makes no sense to fret over losing them
Vilma was a great player for the JETS during the days of the 4-3 D. Great work ethic, positive & dedicated team player. The only guy I really felt like I ever missed was Jason Ferguson when he left for Dallas & James Reed took over his spot at DT in the 4-3 D. Didnt miss Abraham........probably wont miss Vilma........definitely wont miss Robertson.
Agreed, and that is what frustrated me most about Vilma. He would get run over on every run that was directly at him. I think it was the KC game, the first game of the season in 2005. The game that Herm had dinner with the KC brass the night before the game (ugh). There was one drive that KC ran the ball right down our throats. They did not even pretend like they were going to pass. They just lined up and ran down the field. They scored a TD on that drive. We could do nothing to stop them. Vilma, our all-star future pro-bowl ROTY middle line backer was on the field, but the Jets were still nuetered on that drive. The whole stadium knew what was coming. It was embarrasing. And that was in a 4-3.
dont matter...he didnt want to stay here anyway, he would have been out of new york the second he contract was up
vilma was good but how is this guy that good, he was a one system guy, really good in the 4-3, sucked in the 3-4, that speaks at very high volumes about the guy
No it doesn't. He played his whole high school and college career in a 4-3, and his first 2 seasons in the NFL in a 4-3 where he was Rookie of the Year and made a Pro-Bowl his 2nd season... So he couldn't fit in a 3-4 since he's never played it, and that speaks very high volumes about the guy who is way undersized for a 3-4 and isn't at all familiar with it? Come on.
He would've been perfect trade bait if he was still here. Oh, right. They DID trade him. For a bucket of crawfish, a free Hurricane in any bar on Bourbon St., and a "I Survived Katrina (the stripper, not the Hurricane)" tshirt.
Harris will make you completely forget Vilma. Let's just hope Jonny returns to form in New Orleans and that conditional pick next year winds up being a 2nd rounder.
I don't think you get my point. Four years ago and up until this year, 2008, our defense and players were set-up for a 4-3 system. Mangini insisted playing players out of position or playing a player, like D-ROB, as a NT. Now that Mangini has most of the players in their proper position for the 3-4, let's see if he's succesful, he should see a marked improvement. To say the 3-4 is better(Flexibility, Confusion) than the 4-3 and allows "coaches to coach" is a very short-sighted statement. The type of defense a team runs is predicated on their personnel, not what is better. Square pegs in Round holes was Mangini's problem in a major part of the Front 7 the last 2 years. I'm not saying the 4-3 is better, it was better for Herm, he had the 4-3 players.......it's all about your players. Herm had the players available for the 4-3. Don't think for one second the 3-4 is better 4-3, every situation is different, neither one is better than the other, again it's all about your players. Mangini did and unsuccessfully (D-Rob, Vilma) shove the 3-4 the past 2 seasons down our throats, IMO a mistake.
I don't think it was a mistake at all for Mangini to play us in the 3-4...it's not like we would have been better in the 4-3 and it's just lame to label anyones defense with just one front anyway...well at least the ones hoping to be the better ones...
Ok just a question for all of the people saying that Harris will make us forget Vilma, why couldnt we have kept them both and play them both on the inside? surely there are 2 ILB spots in the 3-4, so why couldnt we use them both?
I agree. It was not the bye that made us better. It was replacing Vilma with harris that did. Wrong player for the right system. I wish him good luck but I will not even think about him once until I see him play with the Saints. No matter how good he is, he was not the same player in the 3-4. And if he plays real good don't we get another pick? Getting anything for someone coming off knee surgery that you can't use was another great move by Mike.
All that pouting about square pegs in round holes and some still want Vilma back here. I loved what the guy did for us, but when business needs to come first in the NFL - so be it. Football is a business 1st, Sport 2nd. If he was brought back for this season and was healthy and still couldn't cut it in the 3-4, then the uproar becomes why didn't we dump him for picks and draft someone who can play in the system. Think it through people.
I don't think you get my point. Even in the 4-3 this defense was not great and needed key cogs... They STILL needed a Massive body in the middle. People act as if this was the Steelers Defense or some great defense that was tinkered with.. Fact is it was a defense in transition no matter what! Would the Defense have been a better as a 4-3 at 1st - Possibly, maybe but, I'm certain that the final product When this team is ready to contend will be much better as a 3-4... This team wasn't winning a SB in the 1st few years with Mangini anyway so if we want to talk about force feeding something - I think the 4-3 is what would have had have been force fed long term. Drob is a Major injury risk with a contract coming up... Do you pay this guy? Again, you STILL need a wide body expensive guy next to him... THIS is the guy you build around... NO WAY do I pay him long term with those knees - No way do I regret not building around a guy like this. Then Vilma - Every coach from the Parcells tree wants versitile players especially LB's - Vilma is NOT that player... He's a 1 trick pony. I saw a quote where Bellichik laughed at the notion that a MLB in a 3-4 needed to be protected - He basically said EVERY player wants to be protected and get all the glory..... Who doesn't want to be the guy that all the tackles flow towards????? You want to build a defense around 2 guys that play well given everything else around them is perfect...2 Injury risks? BAHHHH, the Jets are building a defense of versitile players that If done right, can withstand injuries and not have every player rely on everything else being perfect around them - Players that can swap positions on the fly and not miss a beat. So, who are the other great 4-3 players that should have forced a 3-4 coaching staff to throw their playbooks out for??? Brian Thomas? Barton? Hobson????? DAMN.. This wasn't the 85' Bears that some dumbass came in and changed around.. This was a bend but, often break defense that had bloated stats due to mediocre offensive play - a defense maybe a blip above average that again, STILL needed pieces and transition regardless. If this was a Championship defense I'd be right with ya... But, you don't think this staff thought long and hard about which defense they could transition to easier and which defense would in the end be the better defense? I've seen a lot of football and a lot of Jets football and I've been a Darksider of all Darksider for many years But, I have a ton of faith in this staff right now and their knowledge of defenses and I think telling these guys that they should have paid Drob huge money and built around Vilma and Drob and stuck to a 4-3 is pretty off the wall retarted. IMO.
