Those of you that know me around here now I am an optimist. But I'm really not getting what the media, and most fans, are getting at. Yes, the team is young. But 1-15, 2-14 bad? No way. Let's break it down a little. Starting with the defense... CBs - Claiborne, Skrine, Williams, Burris, Roberts S - Adams, Maye, Pryor, Gilchrist LB - Harris, Mauldin, Lee, Jenkins DL - Wilkerson, Richardson, Williams, McLendon, Simon I didn't list everyone, just those expected to get significant playing time. Sure, Richardson, Pryor, and/or Gilchrist may be gone by the time the season starts, but lets roll with this for now. If Claiborne stays healthy and Williams or Burris can be a competent #2, with Skrine in the slot, our CB's will be fine. With the addition of Adams and Maye, and rotating in our former starters, our secondary has the potential to be VERY good. Possibly one of the league's best. Our LB's are all young except for Harris, who can be a leader amongst the boys. I expect this group to take a big step forward this year. And if they do? Wow. We already know about our D-line. I do not see, if they stay healthy and play up to their potential, how many teams are going to sustain drives against us. The improved coverage and tackling in our secondary will make our front 7 dramatically better as well. I expect to see a few 3 safety formations as well if we keep Pryor, maybe swapping spots with a LB. Now to the offense... This is where the real questions lie. Can we score points? QB - McCown, Hack/Petty RB - Forte, Powell, McGuire WR - Decker, Enunwa, Anderson, Stewart, Peake, Marshall, Hansen, Patton TE - Sefarian-Jenkins, Legget, Bowman OL - Ijilana, Carpenter, Johnson, Winters, Beachum, Shell If our backs stay healthy, we should have above average to solid performance in the backfield. Our o-line should also be above average to solid. I think both units will improve on last year. TE will be utilized and improved in our new offense. The question marks for me are QB and WR. We have a lot of potential in our young WR's. I think a few sure fire starters will rise above in TC and preseason to give us a very solid group. I expect Stewart to be a real weapon on end arounds and YAC. The QB situation. I could see this going two ways. McCown wins the job and manages the game. If the rest of the team stays healthy and performs as described above, there is no reason he can't lead us to 9-10 wins and possible playoff berth. Now, if Hack or Petty win the job outright and turn into the franchise QB we have been looking for, the ceiling is higher. Why can't this roster make a playoff run? Why do so many analysts think we are doomed to a 1-4 win season? I just don't see it, optimism aside. This team is NOT that bad. Certainly better than last year. Anyone else agree?
I think the reason is multi-layered The have NO clear cut Starter at QB The WR core, while showing promise, is littered with late round picks Our LT is shaky at best the defense was awful last year in most aspects and that's just a quick list
I agree the talent level on the roster is not bad. Average to above average with the exception of QB and a pass rusher. I think the issue is three fold. One is the QB. If we start Back or Petty then 2 to 5 wins is a possibility. Two people have amazingly short memories here. If we win the last game everyone here is predicting super bowl but lose one or two games and there are mass suicide threats. Three, people here really want a franchise QB and want one of the big 3 coming out next year and many are already hoping we will tank the year for the QB. The reality is we are not that bad and likely we will not be picking top 10 next year despite many hopes that we can finally land a franchise QB.
The team was atrocious last season and won 5 games. We aren't getting the number 1 pick, nor is the front office developing some conspiracy to aim for it. Sorry to burst a bunch of bubbles, but we're probably going to go 6-10 and perpetuate the mediocrity rut we've been stuck in. I don't know why people are expecting any different.
It's a tough schedule and at this point these young players who we are relying on (Adams, Maye, Anderson, Lee, Burris, Shell, Johnson, etc) The chances of all of these guys working out is slim. Also our depth is awful everywhere outside of DL. McCown can be OK, but at 39 he can't stay healthy anymore.
None of the backs are guaranteed to be around for the full season. Forte and Powell have both been beat up and both are either post-prime or headed there. McGuire is a rookie and we don't know what he'll do at this point. The offensive line is mediocre although there are no turnstiles in it that are obvious at the moment. Combine that with the current set of backs and it's likely the Jets will have trouble rushing the ball if that's what they do as the primary plan. Traps and draws and play-action will work but that's not a full-scale rushing attack. The QB's are likely to have even more trouble than they should given the realities above. On defense I'm in agreement, this is not a tanking team's standard defensive alignment. It's going to come down to the LB's and whether they have matured or not and if Harris has one more season at his established level or whether he steps down again like he did a few seasons ago. Finding a couple of solid CB's in the mix available is also a key but the LB's are a must. As soon as I saw the safety picks I upgraded the Jets chances to the 4 win plateau because having a solid middle to the defense covers a lot of flaws elsewhere. Hopefully the Jets can still find a path to one of the top QB's that does not involve trading away several future 1sts but that path just became a lot trickier.
Well sure if you take all those many ifs and turn them into yes than we can do some damage. Problem is there is something called reality and the reality is many of those ifs that you turned into strengths are not gonna work out. I don't see 1-3 wins bad which is the problem. I more likely see 4-7 wins bad which will be the worst kind of bad we can have.
If this is in the wrong thread, I apologize, but please tell me where there are 6 wins, let alone playoff contention??? Sun, Sep 10 @ Bills Sun, Sep 17 @ Raiders Sun, Sep 24 vs Dolphins Sun, Oct 1 vs Jaguars Sun, Oct 8 @ Browns Sun, Oct 15 vs Patriots Sun, Oct 22 @ Dolphins Sun, Oct 29 vs Falcons Thu, Nov 2 vs Bills Sun, Nov 12 @ Buccaneers Sun, Nov 26 vs Panthers Sun, Dec 3 vs Chiefs Sun, Dec 10 @ Broncos Sun, Dec 17 @ Saints Sun, Dec 24 vs Chargers Sun, Dec 31 @ Patriots I only really see "likely" wins against the Browns, Jaguars and split with the Bills. And I have no confidence those are even more than a 60% shot. I don't share other fans' optimism.
Seriously, though, can you confidently say, we will beat the Browns this year? Each day that goes by I see MAYBE 2 wins
This is a 2 to 3 win team at this point of the season due to us having no real qb on the roster. Maybe Hack is that guy, maybe Petty improves in the offseason we will have to wait and see what they can do without Fitz sucking away valuable reps. People act like the Browns are an instant gimmie game. Unlike the Jets the Browns played hard all year and should have beaten the Jets but collapsed it typical brown fashion late in the game. Jags have way more talent on their team and its unknown what Coughlins presence will provide them. The Bills for all their flaws have a brand new coach and will have a new GM. That team will be frothing at the mouth to grab their first win. I look at the schedule and see every game as a L due to our offense and this is perfectly fine for this year. The draft showed the Jets are in total rebuild mode and are flooding the roster with young players. The selections scream that Woody has given the green light for a few developmental years in order to get this team operating as a consistent contender. Just sit back and don't stress, for once we are not trying to build a contender on quicksand and trying to build it on a solid repeatable foundation.
The thing we have to stop doing is assuming the worst which is what happens alot for this group in '18. We are playing alot of young guys and if Adams or Leonard Williams or some other player highly depended on is injured then expect the #1 pick next year. Our depth behind those players is not going to cut it. On the flipside in '15 we had almost not critical injuries and that can definitely help win a few games in today's NFL. This team is going to be playing with next to no pressure. They are looked at as bottom feeders. Only way is up. Last year the locker room was full of players who gave up. We have alot of leaders and giving up half way through the season won't cut it. We also picked up a few proven coaches that I feel will not take the Sh*t that ruined the jets year last year. As much as there is alot of things to look at negatively there are some changes that counteract some of them that no one really cares or wants to look at. Imho.
did you notice that everything you said was best case scenario? while most everyone else is worst case scenario the truth lies somewhere in the middle. cbs are ok, safeties are both young and you cant expect both of them to come in and be ronnie lott on day 1. lee hasnt shown he can take on a block or defend the run, harris is ANOTHER year older. jenkins has potential mauldin is probably a middle of the road starter. dline didnt play up to their capabilities at all last year. do we just assume they will pick it up and are sure to be as good as they can? thats a toss up. the offense sucks big fat balls. i mean let me restate that the offense blows
I think that winning 9-10 games and making the playoffs is definitely out of the question, and is in the province of fairy tales and make believe. It's just not reality. In order for that to happen, Hack or Petty would have to start and play like an experienced veteran. That almost never happens with young QBs. Prescott did so last year, but look at the team he had around him and the veteran CS and stability the Cowboys had. The stars aligned and everything went well for them. I'd be willing to bet that he will struggle this year, and/or that if he hadn't played last year, and the same thing happened with Romo getting injured and he started for the first time this year, that he wouldn't play as well as he did last year. You're forgetting that Morton is a rookie OC. He's been around, he's smart and worked under great offensive coaches, but still, more than likely there will be hiccups. There will be things that he forgot to address or his method or timing of installing plays will need improvement, or he will design plays that won't work with our players. The OL has to build chemistry with Beachum added to it and Wesley Johnson there full time, and that's if there are no injuries. If he wins the starting position, how will Shell play at RT? Will he show that last season was no fluke and continue to improve, or will he struggle, perhaps mightily and be exposed. If Ijalana wins the starting position at RT, then that will mean 3 new starters on the OL and further adjustment. Forté doesn't have much tread left on his tires, and if memory serves me correctly his ypc last season wasn't very good. He's older, probably slower, and more injury prone. Powell was so good late in the season the last two years because he was fresh, not having had a lot of touches during the early part of the season, and defensive players on other teams were tireder having played more snaps. Powell got more touches in 2015 and wore down. The same thing could happen this season with more touches. If Powell is going to stay fresh, then McGuire has to contribute early and often. I'm not counting on much from Forté at all. ASJ is suspended for the first two games. Can the Jets count on him after that? Is he determined now to work hard, improve, and maximize his talent, or is drinking and just getting by still more important to him? Even if his attitude has changed and he works hard, can he stay healthy? Leggett's a good prospect, but he will have some pressure on him. While I saw Clemson play a lot, I didn't see every game, and never heard coach reports from how hard he practiced. Evidently, he doesn't always work hard or play hard. If so, will that change? If not, then we may not get as much from the TE position as we hope. I have little or no hopes from any of the other young TEs on the Jets roster. Stacy Rodgers is still the Jets DC and Bowles still the HC. Have they learned anything at all? Will Bowles still insist on isolating his CBs if/when they don't have the ability to successfully do that? Will he continue to play players out of position? Will his game plans be flawed? Will he show any ability to make adjustments? Will the players be prepared and ready to play each week? Will the mental errors continue? Will Mo have fully recovered from his injury? If so, will he come to camp in tip-top shape and determined to return to his playing level from 2015? Will he still have attitude problems and lack of respect for his coaches and teammates? How about Richardson? Will he be a cancer in the locker room? Will he play well just rotating at 3-4 DE and perhaps the 3T position in a 4 man front? Will Lee have continued to improve, especially in coverage, and his play move up another level? Does Harris have anything left in his tank? If not, who will step in and fill the void? Can Claiborne stay healthy? Can Burris win the #2 spot, or will it be a revolving door? How much will Pryor play, and will he show any improvement in attitude or play? Will he finally start wrapping up when he tackles? Will he take better angles? There are a TON of questions regarding this team. IMO for the Jets to win over 5-6 games, almost everything will have to work out and the CS will have to show vast improvement over the last 2 seasons. Even with a lot of players with high character and leadership ability, it can all go to shit if Bowles doesn't have his act together and hold players accountable from day one. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He needs to put his foot up their asses beginning in OTAs and send a clear message that things are gonna change around the Jets. No more being late to meetings, no more sloppy play on the field, no more not being ready to play, no more missed tackles. It all starts at the top, and I'm not convinced that Bowles is either willing or capable of making the changes/growth that this team needs. I think even with young players like Adams and Maye making great individual plays on their own, the team will be hard pressed to win 4-5 games. I can see them winning no games if Bowles hasn't learned anything. They have a tough schedule and there are no gimmes. Cleveland's Hue Jackson is a good coach. Cleveland still has Isaiah Crowell at RB, Joe Thomas at LT, Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman at WR. They have a pretty good OL and some other good young players. They have Jamie Collins at OLB. In the draft they added Myles Garrett and David Njoku. Jacksonville added Fournette,Cam Robinson, and other good players. They have excellent receivers in Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, and Marqise Lee. They have excellent young defenders in Myles Jack, Dante Fowler, Jr., AJ Bouye, and Malik Jackson.
Thank you for the bitter dose of reality some of these fans need.2-3 wins and further cuts to the fat of the roster and pruning the young talent. a 2-3 win season in a rebuild year can still be productive in the sense of creating a solid roster of young guys and evaluating young talent
Big questions for this season: 1. Can we get decent QB play or at least limit turnovers? 2. Who is going to move the chains and score the TDs that Brandon Marshall would have? 3. Can our offensive line do any better than last year? 4. How do we get any pressure on opposing QBs? I think we need good answers to at least three of those four questions if we are going to compete. Avoiding injuries (Decker especially) is also crucial.
This thread is a nightmare, sorry I can't even fathom the thought of winning any more than 2 or 3 games......seriously We need to lose out to eventually win out If you want to spread some optimism come back in 2018 after one of the Cali boys is passing for us
I personally do not care about young QBs and turnovers. I think they need to have them to learn from them. Ideally, I want my young QB makes just as many positive plays as negative ones. The issue I always had with Geno was that he was for the most part a net negative. For Hackenberg, my expectations are even lower; I just want him to have his mechanics fixed to the point where the only thing we need to worry about is the occasional pick and not ground or air mail balls. He had a year and 2 off-seasons, that shouldn't be too much to ask.
