That's what I was saying last year. I was lobbying for keeping Braylon and letting Santonio go and running the ball more. For the type of offense we want to run, we need receivers that play well off play-action. That generally means they have to be good blockers because otherwise, the defense knows you're passing. I would actually release Santonio, bring in Braylon at the minimum, trade Dustin Keller and sign a TE and draft another TE. Pure ground-and-pound.
Here I am in agreement with you, particularly in regard to this real world consideration. I was merely pointing out whatever trade value he has will be gone by next year due to his contract situation. But yes, current management for better or worse knows they risk being gone without a good season, now.
Well, if the Jets are dead-serious about trying to win a Super Bowl next season with no bullshit and no false hopes and no attempts to sell PSL's getting in the way they probably do something hyper-logical but unintuitive in the process this off-season: they trade Darrelle Revis for a lot of value and they make the Kyle Wilson pick either work out well (Super Bowl prospects) or fail (no prospects.)
Either that or you end up trying to force a run play knowing you have inadequate blocking from the TE. Good point.
If we get rid of him, here are a list of free agents, not a whole lot out there. Jermichael Finley (going to be franchised) Fred Davis (likely to be resigned by Redskins) Martellus Bennett John Carlson Jacob Tamme Scott Chandler Kellen Davis Visanthe Shiancoe Jeremy Shockey Joel Dreessen Daniel Fells Bo Scaife Leonard Pope Randy McMichael Alex Smith Dante Rosario Kris Wilson Donald Lee Reggie Kelly Anthony Becht Stephen Spach John Gilmore Justin Peelle Billy Bajema Tory Humphrey
I'm not crazy about the idea of trading Revis. Corners can last a long time, Rex loves having good corners, and finding good ones can be tough. That Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis trade worked out really well for Denver.
If we cut him we save $9 mil against the cap. I would think that Sanchez is going to agree to a pay cut if he wants to keep wearing Jet green.
Some really good points there. Don't see Keller as a long-term solution as TE in new scheme & quite frankly I don't think his receiving skills are elite enough to justify his inability to block. At the same time, I do think he'll be on the roster next season. When you change schemes, sometimes you just can't put the ideal player @ every position right away. So you're stuck w/ some stop-gap players to plug into holes temporarily. I'm viewing Keller as one of these temp players for one season as the Jets focus on filling in other positions. Even if the Jets land a solid TE that fits their scheme better, they'll still be stuck needing a 2nd TE on their roster.
Keller is a beast that is losing Millions because he has Sanchez throwing to him. If he leaves it will haunt us for years!
Denver made the playoffs twice with Bailey and then dropped out of the competition and Shanahan was fired eventually as a result. I know people disagree on this point and that it is particularly disagreeable given that the Jets best player by far is an all-time great CB, but CB's really don't do much to move a team's position in the standings. This isn't a theory of mine, it's out there and the data is easily minable on it. Cornerbacks are supporting players, not core players, and teams that have a lot of value tied up in the cornerback position instead of the middle of the defense tend to miss the post-season a lot more often than they should. If cornerbacks were core players then Rex Ryan and Darrelle Revis would have had the Jets in a couple of Super Bowls at least by now given that Rex probably uses CB's better than any other coach and Revis clearly plays the position better than any other CB.
If this happens, then I don't want to hear any "we believe in sanchez" bullshit. Why trade a guy who led the team in receptions. Basically, a foreshadowing that we WILL get rid of Sanchez.
IMO, Keller has always been way over-rated by fans (not up there with the Westermans, Ratliffs, Clowneys, Woodheads of the world, but close), he's an okay player who doesn't have any parts of his game that are special. I'd get what ever we could get for him before his walk year. You have a bigger stronger guy in Cumberland coming back and you pick up some other low priced FA who is a much better blocker and can catch the occasional pass...
Some team would get a good TE for the first 4 or so games of the season. Keller is way too highly rated by our fan base.
First of all historical data is not much help in understanding CB values since the league is more pass happy than ever, and also more common are wide receivers who can run up big yardage, take over games and make zone defenses look foolish. It remains true that a CB capable of playing single coverage on the opponent's best wideout allows the rest of the D to do more things. The problem for the Jets D is easily found elsewhere. Imo the single biggest problem is the LB's as a group are too slow and do not rush the passer well. The Jets also, like most of the rest of the league, have trouble covering big TE's as receivers. It should not be necessary to get rid of Revis in order to address those shortcomings.
Understanding Keller has been Sanchez's leading receiver I think has led many up until this past year to overlook his shortcomings. This past year has been different, partly because missing the playoffs makes you look around more for where the team fell short, but also for a specific situation. This past year was unfortunate to have Cumberland go down in pre-season, and then we end up seeing Mulligan, who actually rated out pretty well as a run blocker, make too many stupid penalties. The fans sitting home gnashing their teeth at Mulligan then ask why he is out there, and it's Oh yeah, Keller is not good at blocking. Meanwhile players like Gronkowski are better receivers than Keller and can block better. As a result the fans have a better understanding, and this has hurt Keller's rep.
