I figured you knew who Mac had drafted, and my response was not intended to be critical. While it's true that with the exception of Mangold and Brick, the Jets have pretty much ignored the OL, at least as far as using high draft picks on it, my point was that what previous regimes did has no bearing on what Mac has done as if it's a continued part of team philosophy, or will do. I see that kind of thinking on here all the time, and imo it's flawed. I think one can only look at what a team does historically in the draft or FA if they've either had the same GM and scouting dept for a long time, or have an owner like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder who runs the show. For a team like the Jets, where they've had 3 GMs in the last 5 years, and 4 over the last 10 or so, philosophies change, needs change, priorities change with regimes, so it's hard to speak of any kind of any overriding philosophy or approach. Like you, I believe in this regime, and think Mac will do whatever is necessary to build a winning team. While his basic philosophy is to try to use lower round draft picks and develop them, I believe that if it is a glaring weakness and hampering the offense, or endangering the health of his young QBs, he will alter his philosophy (at least in the short term) to build a solid, dependable OL. With two good young QB prospects, a group of excellent young WR prospects, excellent young LB prospects, a great DL, and an excellent secondary, there are not a lot of other needs that Mac could prioritize over the OL. TE and RB are needs, and possibly another CB, but I think that the OL will definitely be the priority in the offseason. Hopefully, Clady stays healthy, has a great year, and will be back so the Jets won't have to start a rookie at LT next season. It would be great if they can get one and give him a year or two to develop behind Clady. Perhaps he would start at RT for a year or two and then move over to the LT spot once Clady retires or leaves. I think they'll also look for an OG, and maybe a RT as well.
Karmas a bitch Now we have real OL problems Yes it will be addressed after this Season But what do we do NOW??? Please let's dump some more $ into this Defense The FO better hope some decent players are cut by the rest of the league b/c we are in deep Doo Doo
Sign Brian Shaw and Hafþór Björnsson, coach 'em up and roll 'em out with Hackenberg in 2017. . ; ) RG: Brian Shaw, 6' 8" 395 lbs. (earned basketball scholarship to Black Hills Univ.) RT: Hafþór Björnsson, 6' 9" 406 lbs. (former basketball player on D2 Icelandic National Team) these boys have skills
I'd like to see them bring in Jahri Evans and Geoff Schwartz for workouts. Either would have to be an upgrade over Dozier and Wesley Johnson, and maybe over Winters too.
Hoping that Connor Hughes (Jets beat writer in NJ) is right about Brian Winters in todays mailbag; http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2016/08/mailbag_are_jets_interested_in_geoff_schwartz_why.html I will say this: Winters is going to surprise some people this year (as much as a guard can surprise people). He has had a very nice summer, and earned praise from Bowles as one of the team's most improved players. He has taken a big step forward, and is far from the liability he was his first two years in the league. I watched the preseason games sporadically this month, --- from what I saw of Winters, it looked to be the same old, same old. Hope I am completely wrong.
on thew whole, winters isnt terrible. hes actually very good in space after pulling ... hes usually beaten a few times per game, like most o-linemen his problem is that his fuck ups are the epic, turnover causing, getting a qb decapitated variety ... when he whiffs, he doesnt even remotely slow his guy down winters has to learn how to cut those huge blunders out or it wont matter how much hes improved in other areas
I hope he's right too..but I remember Rex touting this guy as being most improved as well. He seems to be a bit of a "Teacher's pet"..and it hasn't stopped since Bowles arrival. From what I've seen in preseason...I agree w/ others..he still struggles w/ engaging blocks & anchoring in pass pro. Now..if you wanna say...the good things he does(Blocks on 2nd level,pulling,quickness off snap, enforcer) outweighs the pass pro...fine, Every OL needs an overachieving mauling type. Winters can be that. But you better have someone next to him at RT who IS a good pass protector & can compensate for what Winters lacks. Right now I don't see that.
Maybe this isn't the right place for it, but I think it's important to take a second and reflect on the value of the James Carpenter signing last year. A lot of people ignored it at the time (I know I assumed he was just a filler), and some folks even trashed the signing. How much worse off might we be today if this thread were about both sides of the line? *still keeping my fingers crossed that Clady can stay healthy. Being around Dee Milliner and Devin Smith won't help.
I think Jet fans are looking at Winters through green eyed glasses. I have not seen anything from this guy that warrants all of this optimism. I also take what TB says with a grain of salt, why would he have to even bring up the fact that Winters is improved? It's because he already knows what most jet fans know, Winters sucks. He is not going to bury him in the press and I wouldn't expect him to, but there is no need to make those statements unless he is trying to make Winters feel good about himself and give him a boost of confidence. I want Winters to succeed and become a pro bowl player, but sometimes the CS will accept a veteran with weaknesses and hope he does not get anyone killed. If you don't believe it, remember Wayne Hunter? He had no business being on an NFL roster, yet he started for the jets and almost got his QB injured on many occasions. CS's make mistakes and I believe they have made a mistake by accepting what they have in Winters.
Your point about RT is the way I see it too. I'm worried about RT right now. Qvale and/or Ijalana are under the gun as a starter and that could compromise the right side. Last year with Fitz the unit as a whole was good. But the RT right now is the immediate question and more of the concern.....visions of Wayne F. Hunter...... They need to get more athletic at either RT or RG at some point, for starters. A RT would have more impact I would think in the short term I wouldn't go by anything Rex said or relate Rex's use of Winters to TB. I'm not buying Bowles having any kind of loyalty or attachment to him either. He may trust Winters more than the other options, nobody has displaced him, but there is no way TB is gonna play somebody at the expense of a better player and winning. Mac and TB are not the ones who brought him in either. He was bad in the beginning, but's it's not unreasonable to think that he's improved some. He was improved from year one to year two. He's a good run blocker and at getting out to the next level. He's a mauler. Slauson was bad in the beginning and ended up having a good career and we missed him. Some of these guys develop over time
Yes they make mistakes. They are human after all. As far as accepting what they have in Winters, that's a matter of opinion. The Jets only had so many draft picks and so much cap space this offseason. There were more holes than could be fixed. What's more important depends upon one's priorities, but I like the ones that Mac and Bowles have had to date just fine. I'd much rather have a potential stud LB who can cover over the middle, has sideline-to-sideline speed, who is solid vs the run and can blitz, and a potential franchise QB than a new RT and new RG. All our needs weren't getting fixed during this offseason. If they had fixed the OL, someone else would have been complaining about the WR position, or LBs or RBs. They did the best they could do. The D was closest to being fixed. We now have a solid young core that should be together for years and always have this team competitive. Good to great LBs and QBs are harder to find than OL. If Geno had been able to make the CS feel confident that we didn't need Fitz, then perhaps they could have used that money to bring in some upgrades on the OL too, but he wasn't. QB is the most important position on the team. Sometimes CSs just have to make the best with which they have to work. Is it ideal? No, certainly not. But I'd rather have the players we have, then not have some of them and have different players at RG and RT.
I don't think it will happen, from what I understand he has good upside, however It just may be too much for him to take on at this point in his development. He played on both sides of the line in college, LT and RT, how the jets will use him still to be determined.
I haven't posted in a while but I'm surprised nobody has put this idea out - feel free to roast it if you want - why aren't we cutting Giacomini? He's not very good and we would save $5mm for the year and best case scenario is we get 10 games out of him anyway. By that time he may have already lost his job to Qvale or Ijalana. Then we are stuck paying $5mm to Giacomini as a backup or as a weak tackle. Thoughts?
I think that this is something that might become an option after tonight's game. Both Qvale and Ijalana should get a nice long look tonight. Hopefully they both rise to the occasion. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Im sure the majority of the posters are ok with this years draft, however don't forget that it might not have turned out that way if Mac got what he wanted. If I remember correctly, when Tunsil started to drop, It was rumored that Mac was trying very hard to move up, if that was the case, then his priority was the oline. The draft turned out the way it did because he could not make a deal, what it would have taken to move up probably would have prevented the jets from getting Lee and maybe Hack or Jordan Jenkins.
I don't think that Mac trying to move up means that he values oline (he's pretty much said the opposite of drafting oline early). I think that it means that he values value. Tunsil(a premier talent) was sliding so Mac was trying to get in on the action. The cost was too high so he stayed true to his plan. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Good point. I had forgotten about that. I do believe that Mac plans to fix the OL as soon as possible. I applaud him for investigating what it would have taken to move up and take Tunsil, but sometimes the best moves a GM can make are the ones he doesn't make. If he had given up a lot to move up for Tunsil, I would have understood and applauded the move unless it had cost a King's ransom, and then would have wondered if it wouldn't have been better to stay put and address other needs. That is one of the things I really like about Mac. He investigates every angle and his eye on a number of players in every draft. He isn't like Tanny who fell in love with players and had to have them come hell or high water. Mac does the best he can with the hand that is dealt. He lets the draft come to him. He doesn't get too aggressive and try to force things. Look at how our roster is shaping up. I have supreme confidence that Hack or Petty will develop into a quality starter if not a true franchise QB, that the OL will be fixed next offseason, and that for the next 5-10 years, the Jets are going to be a team to be reckoned with each and every season. I will be very surprised and disappointed if we don't wind up winning at least one, if not several SBs in the process.
Good point. That said, I think Mac is willing to spend a high draft pick on his LT. He knows how important that position is. I think Mac was doing due diligence to see if the cost was reasonable, both in terms of value and in terms of addressing the LT spot. I can't remember if Brick was already gone at that point, but if not, it was pretty certain that he would be shortly, and I don't think Clady was here yet (but I could be mistaken). If Clady was here and played well, then Tunsil could have started at RT for a year or so until Clady was ready to retire. If Clady struggled to regain his prior form or couldn't stay healthy, then Tunsil would have started at LT almost immediately. Ultimately, the price was too high to move up, and Mac knew the team had too many other needs to give up too much just for Tunsil.
