Home > The Way We Hear It ~ ~ ~ NY Jets May 29, 2008 Mangini rolling the dice with Jets' defensive personnel Although his meticulously measured comments and overall persona fit squarely into the conservative category, Jets head coach Eric Mangini appears to be gambling with his defensive personnel, outfitting the unit with great athletes who come with questions. The acquisitions of NT Kris Jenkins and OLB Calvin Pace served as the first sign, as each is immensely talented but Jenkins comes equipped with weight and attitude concerns, and Pace has only one productive season to his credit. The second sign came with the first-round drafting of OLB Vernon Gholston, a college defensive end whose inspiring measurables and spurts of dominance were counterbalanced by concerns about inconsistency and the need to adapt to a new position. Most recently, Mangini has experimented with Justin Miller as the starting cornerback opposite Darrelle Revis in OTAs. Because of a severe knee injury that kept him shelved for the majority of 2007 and spotty play in his first two pro seasons of '05 and '06, Miller was largely an afterthought entering the offseason program. But as one of the fastest and most explosive players on the team, Miller has the physical tools that none of the corners contending for the open CB spot can match. > http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm
Rolling the dice? Every team has questions about players, Mangini probably believes he can coach up these players to eliminate the questions.
What would have been more of a gamble, picking up all these players or sticking with the same guys that helped lead us to a 4-12 season in '07?
Exactly, you can't just try to get 'solid' players all the time, or 'hold the fort' as Parcells liked to call them. The team needs some more speed and playmakers. They could just try another Kimo on the line, or another Hobson. You have to try to find some explosiveness. Sitting pat won't do it.
Yea I'm not sure the point of this. Unless you have an elite player at every position, you are going to have question marks. I don't see how he's gambling.
Its called overhauling the defense from the previous regime. Bringing on your own guys to play the positions. Yes they have questions, but reports have been more positive than negative. Measured risks would be a better term.
this reallly appears to be a guy who doesnt really follow the jets but was putting together an article about numerous teams. he doesnt really appear to understand some things that real jets fans and their beat reporters understand. justin miller was the #2 cb last year at points in the preseason. there is no surprise that he was working as such in otas. the other 3 are question marks undoubtedly, but so is just about 90% of the players in the league at this point. this was just a lame duck article without much knowledge behind it.
Well, the other way to look at it is that the Jets have imported as their primary defensive additions this year a 390 lb NT with a recent ACL injury, a linebacker who has had just one good season, and that in a contract year (Bryan Thomas anybody?) and the player widely considered most likely to bust among the top 8 players in the draft. I think the writer is on topic with his analysis, but I think the point is not that the Jets are gambling but that they are very unlikely to hit the jackpot on all three events or to fail on them. One of those three moves is likely to work out very well, one of them is likely to be average and one of them is likely to fail. It would be very much against the odds for all of them to hit or fail and so the Jet's gambles are actually just working the actuarial tables to find a player or two.
One thing people are missing about all of this...is that when you run a 3-4 scheme, basically 95% of your personnel is on SOME level a gamble. Only 7 teams in the NFL run a 3-4 defense...and those teams keep their impact players locked up(They pretty much have to). Only 2 major programs in college run a 3-4 D in Wisconsin and WVU. What that means is that when you're building a defense, and locating your impact players...you are making alot of theoretical projections and taking alot of "gambles" based on size, athleticism, awareness and past production.There's really not much else you can do...b/c their isnt the proven track record or objective stats to evaluate talent like there is in other schemes. All 7 of the the given 3-4 schemes have had to take gambles...if they paid off, they were groundbreaking... 1. Pittsburgh took chances on: Joey Porter, Casey Hampton, James Farrior, Mark haggan, Larry Foote and others...that came from different schemes 2. New England took chances on: Roosevelt Colvin, Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, Juinor Seau and even Adalius Thomas. 3. Browns took chances on: Kamerion Wimbley and now Shaun Rogers. 4. The Niners took chances on Manny Lawson, Patrick Willis, Nate Clements(some thought he wasnt physical enough for a 3-4) and now Kentwawn Balmer. ...and Now the jets have taken chances on Calvin Pace, Kris Jenkins, and Vernon Gholston to go along w/ the gambles taken on David Harris, Bryant Thomas, Eric Barton, Shaun Ellis and others who came from different schemes. This is all just the reality of playing the 34.
KJF, I usually agree with you all around, but drafting for a 3-4 team shouldn't be any harder than drafting for a 4-3 team. I had a really long post written, but my computer sucks. Maybe I'll rewrite it tommorrow. Maybe I'll rewrite it after I smoke this joint. Maybe I'll never rewrite it (mostly likely).
Interesting... Ya know what? I suddenly realized that... With this weird offseason and all the changes and the new players and the QB competition and all? This upcoming season has to be one of the most unpredictable and exciting in a long time. Yes, there is a good chance that the Jets will totally suck, be horrible, etc. Well, we Jets fans are used to that. On the other hand, there's this weird opportunity... The AFC East is not all that strong. The Patriots look more than a little bit vulnerable, the Dolphins suck as always, and the Bills are as unpredictable as the Jets (as usual). Then you look at the schedule: Cincinnati, St. Louis, KC, Denver, SF, Seattle--all teams with question marks. Just like the Jets. Anyhow, this looks to be very interesting. No matter what!
