I thought we would build upon what we improved on last year via The Draft and that was the OL. Look at the schedule and if we have 8 wins thats to be expected. We overacheived last year. So next Draft we can expect to go OL,(QB?) which puts us a year behind because we did not solidify the OL this year. We should have put our focus on the OL because thats where SBs are won.
Couldn't have said it better myself. I have been talking about the OL most offseason. I watch the OL, it is kind of my thing, and I am telling you, it is going to be a big problem in the run blocking. Clement is great against DL if his feet are planted. If he has to move his feet to push DL to open up run gaps, he is horrible. Moore is a disaster. Mediocre technique and he is a walking penalty. And if Kendall gets traded watch it get even worse. And we all need to be praying everyday that there are no significant injuries to the starting OL. Because the Jets would be totally and utterly screwed. Jones? Smith? Bender? Blanton? Really?
I agree with you on the OL being a huge part of winning. I think the Jets are just in a rebuilding year and we need to deal with that. I'll reserve judgement on whether we'll get where we need to until I see the next offseason and draft. If they're like this years moves then it's already over.
There were no 3-4 DT's available in free agency, and the only one available in the draft, Soliai, is no less a project than Pouha. Speaking of Pouha, if he is indeed healthy this year, you can expect him to share time with Robertson, who will be better going into his second season as a 3-4 NT. There were some nice DE's in the upper portion of the draft that might be able to play in the 3-4, but the FO was high on Coleman, who IMHO will be the full time starter opposite Ellis, and a good one at that. At OLB we picked up a situational pass rusher in Bowens that can split time with Hobson, and Thomas could easily have his breakout year. At ILB we brought in a true run stuffing 3-4 guy in Harris. Harris does not have "bad knees". 3 years ago he hurt his knee. 2 years ago he needed to have it drained. Last year his knee was fine but he had some issues with a high ankle sprain, for which he missed hardly any time. Harris will push Barton for the starting position. Even the darkest of darksiders have to admit the front 7 should be a little better. That's the worst case scenario. More than likely we should see significant improvement. The OL is another story. Unless Bender is a training camp stud and replaces Moore at RG, our running game will struggle again, regardless of Thomas. Adding Andruzzi would be nice for depth, but I don't know. I don't see it being any worse than last year, but there isn't much upside at this point either. Would I trade drafting Harris for Beekman and Soliai? Probably. But there's a reason Beekman and Soliai slipped to the fourth round, rather than their pre-draft 2nd and 3rd round grades on many sites. Obviously 32 FO's all know something we don't.
