http://grantland.com/the-triangle/new-york-jets-running-backs/ TL;DR - Let Idzik play out this plan of his. Thoughts?
The 2nd post is what I was saying about the Jets. They won so many close games last year by such a small margin that the Jets came up on the right side of those games. Flip some of those scores around and the record is much uglier than .500. This year, 3 of the 4 losses were by a 1 score margin. They played a far superior and more talented squad in the Bolts this Sunday on the road, much like last season....we stunk it up on the road where we got our asses handed to them.
Really good article and I agree with much of what was said but I don't think the Winslow Jr signing was bad because he did help the Jets last year. No one saw his PED use coming, he's not the only one who juices up in the league and the Jets outside of Calvin Pace, did not really have this type of a problem. His whole Boston Market fiasco happened after the season when he was destined to be a FA so its fucking stupid to hold that against the Jets. Its Mehta stretching for the sake of stretching with more of his usual bullshit. But numbers wise, Winslow did help out the team last year. I am with the author that while it may be premature to say, I am less than impressed with Idzik's drafting and its tough for me to buy his draft mantra when he cuts someone like a Jalen Saunders who he used a high 4th round pick on. That's my real gripe with Idzik. Milliner needed at least 2 years to catch up with the NFL speed before we can really evaluate the kid fairly so I am not shocked with his up and down struggles in his young career, just wish he had a better slate of health without the injuries he carried over from Bama. I'm indifferent to John Idzik but I also know its short sighted to cut him after just 2 years. Once he gets his coach in, its fair game so if the Jets do bomb this year, its been 1 relatively successful year and 1 dreadful year so its a clean slate for Idzik.
Really great article and makes a lot of sense. I totally buy into the idea that it's idiotic to spend a ton of money to fight for a 9-7 season. Realistically, that is about the best the Jets could have hoped for this year. I do agree that last year's Jets were much worse than a typical 8-8 team. In some ways, last season is the worst thing that could have happened. The 8-8 record pushed us out of a draft spot where we could have gotten an elite player. It also preserved Ryan's job one more season which is only delaying the inevitable, next step in the rebuilding process.
I think most reasonable people on the outside looking in thought of the Jets as a 6-10 team. We were a 5-6 win team last year that got a SHITLOAD of breaks and somehow got to 8-8. This is ta well written article that has the Jets pegged for exactly what they are. A team that was in cap hell and is STILL working its way out of it. That comes in the form of shitty players for a few years until they can build through the draft. Can idzik do it? That has yet to be seen. However as fans, we all tend to look on the bright side thinking our team is better than it is. I know I always do. I look at this team as a potential 3-2 if we get 1 or 2 breaks. Even though we are better off long term being 1-4. and bottoming out. No matter how much we want to see them in the playoffs, they are no where near a superbowl team and probably need this to get any better. As Jet fans in particular it's hard to swallow because it seems like the same shit all over again and I agree. Would I rather have a team that's 3-2 and has some life, YES (as a fan.) As a realist, this is better long tem...and I fucking hate it.
Yeah, exactly. One more year of the same old shit...rebuilding, laughingstock of the league, fire the coach, etc. You just want to have some hope that things are headed in the right direction somehow.
Yeah, I was reading this too. Excellent article, makes the same points as some people here have been making, but coming from Barnwell, maybe more fans will take notice and stop whining about Idzik. While Idzik might very well fail in the long run due to bad drafting/luck/etc, I truly believe that his kind of approach is the only one that can get us a championship. As long as fans keep insisting on short term fixes, we will always be an also ran. So I commend him on not spending our cap on average or aging players to get a few more pointless wins this year. Much better to save that money for premium young free agents like Decker and our own guys like the D-Line, and land higher picks to increase your chances of landing those types of players.
IF, and this is a BIG IF, the Jets want to become Seattle East, they would HAVE to adopt a more developmental coaching staff...one that is focused on teaching and forming players.
This column looks awfully familiar. Like I've seen the same info stickied to the top of this forum or something like that. Hmmm. I dunno, either way, free agents in 2015: Demaryius Thomas Jeremy Maclin Dez Bryant/DeMarco Murray (neither will make it by the looks of things though) Michael Crabtree Suh Nick Fairley Cliff Avril Eddie Royal Kareem Jackson Sean Weatherspoon Jake Locker B.J. Raji Bryan Bulaga Rey Maualuga Brandon Spikes Brandon Flowers Nate Allen Adrian Clayborn Chris Harris Cecil Shorts Denarius Moore Torrey Smith Randall Cobb Not a bad year to have almost $60 mil to spend, huh?
That's all well and good but it ultimately means the entire success of the franchise hinges on our drafting. So far we've been hit and miss at best so unless we get some unexpected Pro Bowlers out of the mix we're basically left with a decent Milliner, a very good Richardson and a bunch of middling to garbage guys. It's too early to assess this years picks but I'm not holding my breath that Shaq Evans is going to light the league on fire next season. I think Pryor, Amaro and maybe McDougle will be NFL caliber players (doubtful on McDougle as a legit starter) but that's about as far as my faith extends.
every year it looks like there are going to be a load of good players hitting FA but between extensions and tags I bet not more than 1 or 2 of those players actually hits the street (other than perhaps the old ones living on a rep and looking for a final paycheck)
but that's the same with pretty much every draft for every team - almost no-one gets more than 2 or 3 decent players out of a draft.
The reality is that the steelers have been doing this before the Seahawks. They only pay the QB big money, and they have a philosophy that they draft for. The jets can do it, but I believe that rex and Geno are the pieces that have to be changed to make it work. The next HC is going to be an offensive minded guy who can manage the game on all three phases. And I believe they will draft another QB next year.
We don't know why Saunders was cut. We may never know the whole story there. It's not that unusual for a 4th round pick to wind up as a cut. It's not the norm but it does happen. On the Jets of the last 14 years it has been unusual to see a draft pick as a true cut the first season but it is not at all unusual when you look at the NFL as a whole.
Sure but if we are relying too heavily on that and not getting results we will be in bad shape compared to teams using a balanced approach.
The Jets will BE more balanced in the future b/c they pretty much have to spend money next year to reach the salary cap floor. I think one of the misconceptions is everybody looks solely at the starting 22 as the main indicator of where the team is at. But quality depth is extremely valuable & was a major deficiency under Tannenbaum. If there's one thing Idzik has improved it is depth. Jets are much deeper(albeit in some cases developmental types) at several positions including OL,DL,OLB,RB,QB & S. Even if you are loaded in your starting line-up..you still need some role players as well as some sturdy back-ups. This keeps up the urgency/competition in practice & helps you survive inevitable injury bugs during the season.
This was a good read. I'm really holding out hope that this is the case, that there is a long term plan in place and that they just can't admit it.
I don't think there is any suggestion that we will just rely on the draft? our problem was/is that we have had no luck in drafting or acquiring a QB - get that right and 99% of our problems suddenly seem to be a lot less of a problem.
