Ryan has a 4 year contract. One sure way to torpedo his coaching tenure with the Jets would be if Favre comes back. Let's face it, Favre is done. He has had one good year in the past 5 and is going to be 40. There will be no improvement. If he comes back and is given the job, we can look for a repeat of this year - mediocrity, turnovers, etc. More importantly, the Jets lose another year of development for the QBs on the roster or a year to resolve the Qb issue long term. So if Favre comes back, 2009 becomes a lost year. Then in 2010 the Jets are right back on the "who is the QB" treadmill. If Ryan has to go with a young QB and all the growing pains that go along with it, you can expect a regression for the offense. Then in 2011 Ryan will be in the 3rd year of his contract either with a young QB who is the future, but with pressure to win in his third year. Worse, the Jets may have found out that in 2010 that Clemens and Ratliff and Ainge are not the answer and have to go back to square one at QB - draft or some 2nd tier free agent (top tier QBs don't hit the free agent market often). Then Ryan is playing the third of his contract with another major question at QB. Bottom line - if I'm Ryan I tell Woody I want to build "my team" and that team does not include Favre. Favre simply cannot help Ryan. He can only hurt. The Jets need to find their future QB in 2009, whether that QB is on the roster or in the draft and play him immediately. Then in a year or two, when the team has matured, the defense has gelled and picked up the new system, the team will be a contender. Let's face it, Flacco was only the the third rookie QB to start a conference title game. First year QB's don't win championships. Ryan needs to get this QB thing sorted out and the only way to do it is to play someone young. Lastly, bringing in a free agent does not help this situation. Derek Anderson is a one year wonder and will require a monetary investment that may blow up in the Jets face, Leftwich is a journeyman (an unlike Testaverde has played for and been dumped by good teams, not bad teams that negatively impacted his performance) as is Grossman.
I disagree. I think you're overestimating the importance of one player, even the QB. Reasons: 1) The defense will find a way to get off the field on third down. No more running a prevent defense to watch them give up one 3rd and 15 after another. 2) The defense will create turnovers with the pressure they apply to opposing offenses. Keep in mind that when the Jets actually were attacking the QB earlier in the season, Favre looked brilliant... 3) Favre looked brilliant because the offense was under less pressure, had the ball more, and was able to run more. 4) This offense, led by Brett Favre, is at its best when Jones / Washington are getting a majority of the touches, and using the pressure they are creating on the defense to creep up to open things up for Favre to make plays. 5) Part of the end of season collapsed had a lot to do with the Jets constantly running two shit plays in a row, then repeatedly forcing Favre to have to make a play on 3rd and long. Favre is not at the point of his career where he can be relied on the way the Jets were trying to rely on him for the last 5 games of the season. So... while I agree the Jets could definitely upgrade at QB, and not getting hit with his cap figure would be great... I disagree with the notion that Favre is a built in failure. If Favre plays, I still expect the Jets to succeed and exceed their performance this past season.
Get rid of Favre and move on. A new Stadium and a new attitude adjustment. If Ryan is the no non-sense guy he claims to be then get rid of the dead wood. His best days are behind him and Ryan has to think about his best days which are ahead of him.
Unless the Jets find a Tom Brady in the draft, there's no better available option at the moment. Who else do we have? Clemens? He's horrible. Ratliff? He's getting hype because he threw 2 passes to a WIDE OPEN Clowney in PRESEASON. Gimme a break. There's no one in FA that I'd have much confidence in either.
i agree entirely. the defense was shit last year in the last 6 games. not just favre. remember that football is a team sport? favre cannot change a team. it has to be an entire team to playing well to be successful. also, favre has had a year to learn the playbook, he clearly didn't know the playbook last year which is why you saw him throwing the ball where no receivers were, and throwing it right into the secondary. miscues, miscommunication, and lack of consistency in the play calling all had a negative effect on the play of the entire offense. WHAT WAS KEY: Keeping Callahan, and Westhoff. Hands down excellent decision.
We aren't developing a QB. If it isn't Favre it will be David Carr, Lelftwich, Garcia.... Personally I wouldn't mind them bringing in Carr and giving him a shot at the job.
the jets should make the cuts to get under the cap assuming favre does come back. clearing out the deadwood can only help. then, if he retires, that's an extra $13 million to play with, to bring in a player or two that ryan likes.
Ryan does not have a rebuilding job here, and he is not a coach that needs to be married to a QB. If Favre is here, we'll go for it next year, if it is someone else, then we will go for it with whoever.
I dont want to get into the whole Free Agency thing but I would sign Byron Leftwich to compete with the QB's that we have on the roster. They say that they like Ratliff so lets see what he can do and Clemens in my opinion didnt look that bad in 2007. So let them compete with a guy like Leftwich. Leftwich has a slow delivery but he has been sucessful. Plus he would come cheap. I would give this guy a shot to compete for the starting job.
I totally agree, and I would not draft a QB or sign a free agent QB. I would give all 3 of our QBs an extensive look in preseason and all things equal would go with Ratty. Brett R. has progresses miles from his days as a shotgun QB in college while Clemens still looks nervous in the pocket (which is something that is hard to shake). The last thing I want to see is Favre or Jeff Garcia--It's time to develop a QB, and they already have three candidates who deserve a decent shot at it.
So why didn't it take Pennington a year to learn the playbook? Or Flacco? Or Ryan?? That argument is BS. Favre can and did change the Jets, for the worse. Yes it takes an entire team to be successful, but when the QB throws it to the wrong jersey twice a game and puts the ball on the carpet once a game, plus no longer has any arm strength, he hurts the team . Add in that he is paid $13 million. The Jets need to take a hit and develop a QB next year or they will never get off this 9-7 or 8-8 treadmill with over the hill or retread 2nd tier QBs that nobody else wants.
Whether Favre plays or not, we're drafting a high ranked qb for the future, so Favre playing has nothing to do with Ryan's progress. It just means that we'll have a good qb to lead the offense for a year and allow the new draftee to learn from the best.
I think its telling that in his introductory conference, Ryan said he hadn't seen the last couple Jets games. The things he was saying about Brett Favre, going up and down the field, how anybody would want him as their quarterback, don't apply to the Brett Favre that we saw here in the last five games. Hopefully once Ryan watches that tape, he won't be so enthusiastic about another year with Favre at the helm. Ultimately Im hoping that all the supposed enthusiasm over Favre year 2 is really just aimed at getting him to retire rather than being released. The front office showed in the coaching search that theyre sensitive to what the fans are saying and thinking, and if they thought Schottenheimer as HC would ruffle a few feathers, they must realize how furious people will be if Favre comes back next season.
How do you know there is no better option? We do know that Favre is not the answer. There's a big gap between Brady and the Favre of 2008. We just don't know what Clemens or Ratliff has. Clemens played behind a horrible team in 2007. Favre played behind a good team in 2008. I don't think Clemens looked worse than Favre did in the last 5 games of the season.
There is no worse qb in the league than Kellen Clemens. We could find high school qbs better than him. Mark my words, he will not be in the NFL following pre-season.
The worst thing we can do is start Brett Favre at QB in 2009. Rex Ryan's style and gameplan are built around the offense not making mistakes and letting the defense cause turnovers.
