Top 10 reasons to be CONCERNED about the Jets May 12, 2009 As promised, here's Part II of the 2009 preview: 10 Reasons to be concerned about the Jets: 1. No proven quarterback. Kellen Clemens has a 3-5 career record as a starter, and only one of the starts (a close loss in Baltimore in '07) could be considered a meaningful game. Rookie Mark Sanchez started only 16 games in college, albeit at a high level of competition. The point is, the Jets don't know what they're going to get from the quarterback position, and that's a scary proposition in the NFL. You've read a lot about Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan, both very successful as rookie QBs, but those were rare, perfect-storm situations. Flacco and Ryan started 26 and 32 games, respectively, in college - a huge help. 2. No No. 1 wide receiver. They have a very good No. 2 receiver (Jerricho Cotchery) and a handful of candidates for the No. 3 and No. 4 jobs, but the lack of a true 1 will have a major impact on the offense. With no one to stretch the field and/or draw extra coverage, the Jets will see more blitzes and more eight-man fronts, designed to choke the running game. It's hard to score points when your offense is operating on a 20-yard field, but that could be the case. I wouldn't be shocked if the Jets make another inquiry into Anquan Boldin before the start of training camp. And they will continue to monitor the Plaxico Burress situation. 3. Is there a blocking tight end in the house? The Jets are delusional if they think Bubba Franks is the answer. He hasn't played a full season since 2006, he's an old 31 and he didn't exactly light up the place last summer in training camp. He was dropping everything. But the front office botched the Chris Baker situation, and now it's paying the price. No matter what they say, Dustin Keller can't block. Nice receiver, can't block. It's hard to believe that a team with smashmouth intentions would fail to address such an important position. 4. A rookie coach. Rex Ryan has an impressive resume, a winning personality and good football genes, but he's never been a head coach in his life. There are bound to be some mistakes along the way, especially with game management. He's also had no experience on the offensive side of the ball, so it'll be interesting to see how he coordinates all three phases - offense, defense, special teams - into weekly game plans. Defensive-minded head coaches tend to be conservative on offense, and that's okay, but will that jibe with Brian Schottenheimer's vision for the offense? 5. Lack of depth - in a lot of places. The Jets are thin at tight end, offensive line, defensive line, inside linebacker and safety. Of course, that's what happens when you trade away draft picks. They've picked only 13 players in the last three drafts, and that catches up to a team in terms of the bottom third of the roster. They'd better hope they stay healhy, especially on both lines. 6. A shortage of edge speed. Truth be told, the Jets haven't had a speed rusher since John Abraham. Calvin Pace is a solid, three-down linebacker, but he's not going to draw two blockers. Neither will Bryan Thomas, who has had two straight subpar years. Vernon Gholston was supposed to have edge speed, but he plays about 2/10ths of a second slower than his 40 time. It looks like Ryan will have to manufacture sacks with clever schemes. 7. A short of long speed on offense. Other than Leon Washington, they don't have any home-run threats. WR David Clowney is a burner, probably the fastest guy on the team, but he doesn't have any pelts. 8. Unhappy campers. Washington has joined Thomas Jones on the "disgruntled running back" list. Recent history suggests the organization will eventually cave in. They gave Pete Kendall a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, trading him to the Redskins even though there was no adequate replacement, and they placated Baker by basically granting him free agency before he was due to become free. They pretty much did the same for Laveranues Coles. Washington is underpaid and, I suspect, will land a new deal before training camp. The Jones situation could be trickier. Will Mike Tannenbaum take a hardline approach? Will Jones try to shoot his way out of town? This one could turn ugly. 9. Learning a new D. Ryan's system is radically different from the Mangini scheme, and it will take some getting used to. Players say they're still thinking too much on their feet, not reacting instinctively. It's early in the process, very early, but it would be unrealistic to expect the defense to be as smooth and efficient as Ryan's old team in Baltimore. There will be growing pains. 10. Can anyone punt? There are no experienced punters on the roster. T.J. Conley, a rookie free agent from Idaho, has a chance. If he bombs, they'll sign a veteran for training camp. By Rich Cimini on May 12, 2009 12:40 PM > http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/jets/2009/05/top-10-reasons-to-be-concerned.html#ixzz0FOsQk42E&A
"By Rich Cimini on May 12, 2009 12:40 PM" <- probably what will garner the most attention. i mean, he's sort of a whiny vag when it comes to NYJ.
This is a follow up to his article "Ten Reasons to be Excited About The Jets". He wrote them on consecutive days.
Cimini is a douche. Half his list is total crap. Yeah, we really caved on Kendall and Baker. Idiot! BTW Kelly, nice avatar; Your best pic.
Overall its hard to argue with the weak points in our current roster. There are a lot of areas for concern. Its hard not to have any in a capped league like the NFL. There is also a lot to look forward to. This year should be a hell of a lot of fun at the least.
We'll get positivity from the beats write up until preseason... then they will probably change their tune until after the season starts. I think they had enough of looking stupid about rookie HCs for the Jets when Mangini got us into the playoffs in '06.
Thanks for posting the other side Ace! :up: These are the issues Ilike klooking forward to. Yes there are things to be down on, but our new attitude on both offense and defense is exactly what I like to see out of football. I've attended a few Ravens games with Family who live in baltimore. Its amazing how ifred up the fans get up about thier defense every game. Those guys are the true rock stars of that city. They are smash mounth players who go all and and its great to watch. I'm hoping for the same out of the Jets D.
i enjoyed that article no matter who wrote it and he is right on point on just about every point he makes. these are REAL concerns and as soon as everyone stops drinking the draft juice they will hopefully come to realize and look at these things as issues that will hopefully be resolved. it will definitely be interesting
I don't think anybody is being a homer, but the lists are stupid. On one he says our lack of proven QB is a negative, but on the other having a QB competition is a positive. What? If we have a proven QB, there would be no QB competition, right? On one the new attacking D is a positive, yet on the other having a new defensive scheme is a negative. Huh? We all understand the basic flaws of this team, but how can you argue both sides? He speaks out both sides of his mouth all the time. It's disgusting. There are a bunch more, but I don't want to bother. Yes, our WR situation is a concern, but are we really going to inquire into Boldin and Burress some more? Putting aside my doubts that that will actually happen, is it really worth mentioning? It's just filler. And the way he's on EVERY player's jock is disgusting. Leon is trying to get a contract, so let's call him "Leon King" and "one of the top playmakers in the league". Now I like Leon, but that's just going overboard. We didn't upgrade Kendall, so we caved? If we gave him the money, he would of said we caved. If we forced him to stay on our roster, he would of said we created a poor locker room. We kept Baker for the year then let him go cause we didn't think he was worth his reworked contract, so again we caved? I guess we caved when we let Coles go too. I just don't like the guy's commentary. Even his positives list is laced with negatives.
kenny i think you must underestimate the horror of not having a decent punter. especially for a team that is supposed to be about defense and running the ball. a good punter vs. a poor punter could very well change the jets record quite a bit this year. the thing is that really all of these points are valid, sure they can be looked at either way, but whats wrong with one guy having an argument with himself just like we argue with eachother on here every day.
nothing, and i know that a punter is important. i just felt that he could have come up with something a bit more pressing than finding a punter. i mean hodges wasn't anything special but he was decent, i'll assume that they are confident that someone superior to hodges will show up to punt.
