I oculd have sworn we signed him and he retired that same offseason. Maybe I'm thinking about a different O-lineman.
Dave Szott was one of the keys at the end of 2002. He was hurt early and came back about game 9 and the Jets just took off, with the offense really clicking.
You're thinking about the guy they signed who retired in TC. Then he came back with somebody else and played ok. I can't recall his name though.
Tom Nutten I believe was his name. I think he came out of retirement a year later and played for the Rams for two years too. And I also believe that Szott was either a coach or something else in this organization a few years back.
Yeah that guy. Whoever he is. That bastard. For some reason I have been cursing Dave Szott's name for a few years for no reason. Edit: NUTTEN! Thanks, Twin.
The point of my post was not that I really missed Becht or Brady specifically, but that the use of two TEs along the line seems to be a staple of today's elite teams, and that the Jets don't have one of those players right now. Becht and Brady were flawed, one dimensional and frustrating. But they were also very good at blocking for the quarterback and helping to open holes for the running game. When they were here, along with our better O-linemen, the Jets enjoyed their most successful decade in history (in terms of wins). Obviously, the main focus for improving this team in the offseason needs to be around acquiring stout, mean, productive linemen. (A subject that has and will continue to get plenty of discussion in the coming months.) This thread was just an attempt to look at the problem's of 2007 and figure out what else can be done to fix things. Take a closer look during the playoffs and see if there's validity to my observations.
Now the thing is, why couldn't we keep Becht around as a backup TE to use in run blocking situations? No one said he had to be the starter. This is how you get that team depth.
