Similar to how the Ravens and Steelers always seemed to have elite defenses for years. Of course, the Ravens and Steelers built a strong culture around their team that defense always came first and both teams always invested in their defenses. Thankfully we have Rex who in his first few years here has done just that, invest heavily in the defense and set up a defensive minded culture. That's why it's imperative that we keep Rex, not only is he a defensive genius but he has a great eye for drafting defensive talent. Similar to how the Patriots draft a player because he's "a Patriot or Belichick" type player, we need the Jets to look at talent and say he's a Rex Ryan guy. But the Steelers and Ravens also had Hall of Fame players and consistent pro-Bowlers up and down their line-up. Fortunately we have a bunch of young Pro-Bowlers type players ourselves. The Sons of Anarchy up front, we have the veteran, quiet, consistently great David Harris in the middle and Pryor who by the looks of it has the make up of an star Safety. And we have two guys who have a lot of potential in Coples and Milliner. And the best thing about those guys? They're all young and were drafted by the Jets. Now, if the Jets hit on a pass rushing Linebacker in the draft or Free Agency then I think we're set. The secondary is a tad-bit weak but if Pryor and Milliner hit their potential then I believe we're set. Imagine if we kept Revis? Jesus............ What do you guys think?
It's easy to think that, but you can't say what if. I think we are closer than ever to having an elite defense. Olb could use an upgrade, but it's not a dire need. Cb is the same way. For all the bad cb talk, I have faith that AA, & Dee could both be legit #1 guys very, very soon. I think we are finally at the point where we don't really need to even draft defense, because if we have a potential weak spot, we have already invested something there.
Honestly I think we already have a consistently elite defense like those teams you mentioned. Our defensive ranking has started to slip in the last 2 years but that, like you mentioned, has to do with the Jets replacing some older players with younger ones. 2009 - 1st 2010 - 3rd 2011 - 5th 2012 - 8th 2013 - 11th 2014 - 1st ( Lmao, for atleast a game) And that is considering the fact that in those 5 full seasons the defense would be on the field for an average of 35 minutes every game because the offense was so crappy. Personally I like comparing the Jets with the Bucs of the mid 90's to early 2000's. Here's their defensive rankings. 1997 - 3rd 10-6 1998 - 2nd 8-8 1999 - 3rd 11-5 2000 - 9th 10-6 2001 - 7th 9-7 2002 - 1st 12-4 (And a Super Bowl win) Essentially when Dungy came in (Like Rex) they brought in a ton of new guys on defense and became a great defensive team, but over time it started to erode and they had to retool and restock. They also fired Dungy so they could bring in an offensive mind in Gruden and then won the Super Bowl. We kept Rex and when and got Marty, but essentially it's the same idea. I don't think we threaten to win a Super Bowl this year, but with another year of experience for everyone on the team and some more players brought in, I do think they will threaten next year.
we are a stud CB and stud OLB away.....i know they dont grow on trees but IMO the jets have whiffed big time on the LB part. we have really never had that stud OLB/DE type that offenses absolutely had to account for. its a dang shame because we currently have our best DL in 3 decades and its a wonderful opportunity to garnish it with a monster at LB.
Some of the pieces and improvements I'd like to see to take the next step would be continued development and flourishing of DeMario Davis, an impact pass-rusher at OLB opposite Coples (unless he becomes one), Dee Milliner taking his game consistently to or above his December 2013 level, and waiting to see if Antonio Allen has found a new position to thrive at or if he needs to go back to safety - in either case, I'm excited about him. Maybe most of this falls into place in 2014 or maybe it takes another year, more seasoning and new additions, but all in all, IMO it's not unrealistic to think that this can become a consistently elite defense in the next year or two.
One player. That's it. An edge rusher that can consistently get pressure would make this defense elite. Think Cameron Wake. Someone like that.
Obviously a stud OLD and CB would improve the D; stud players at any position make a team significantly better. But we don't even need studs at those positions, just guys that are good and consistent.
We already have an elite defense. We had 1 or 2 bad yrs but other then that under Rex it's always been a good defense
Jets are currently ranked #1 in pass D and #1 in Run D for 2014 ---------------------------------------------------- Definitely a good start to being an elite D in 2014
It is almost impossible to be consistently elite in today's NFL. If you get young elite talent and build around them, they become too expensive to keep. We have two players from the 2009 squad still on D. Two. I really believe that the reason the Ravens D played at such a high level for so long was the presence of Ray Lewis. He was a transcendent player that led by example and made his teammates pay their best every down. A once in a generation player.
If being consistently elite means #1, top 3 or to 5 every single year, I'm not sure that really attainable in this day an age of free agency and rules geared towards offensive success. Seattle has had a nice run lately but their rankings the last 5 years are not that much better than ours. Considering some of our blunders in the FO the last 5 years I agree that we have consistently fielded great defenses, if not elite.
The Jets have made most of the transition from a back end dominated defense to a core front 7 dominated defense. The odds on being a consistently good defense over time have gone up as a result of that fundamental shift. Assuming we can keep the big guys and add another LB I think the Jets are pretty likely to be a top 10 defense for several years. Being able to stop the run has always been the #1 requirement for being a great defense. If you can do that you've got openers in the conversation. If you can't do that then you're not going to be able to control the game state and you're not going to be able to get off the field consistently and you're not going to be a great defense. The thing people forget about 2009 and 2010 is how much trouble the Jets had getting off the field on defense when they really needed too. They were playing a platoon system both years that relied heavily on having the right players on the field to stop the run and the pass. So they'd bring in the nickel back and suddenly Tom Brady would switch things up and run at them until the game went over. They'd get stuck with a primary run defender like Pouha or Scott on the field and the weakness would be exploited by a QB who knew what he was doing. This defense has nobody in the front 7 who has to come off the field on 3rd down. It has nobody in the front who comes in on passing downs but is weak against the run. That makes it a fundamentally sounder defense than the blitzing smoke and mirrors things that Rex was running in '09 and '10 before he found his linemen.
I like this defense a lot. If I had to say anything we definitely need that stud pass rushing OLB (hopefully Coples can be that guy). And it wouldnt hurt to have another corner.
If the guys we need to take a step up, take a step up. That would be a good start. If that happens then we're a year or two away.
