Russell Okung is going to be 30 in Oct next year. He solves nothing unless the Jets get lucky and he lasts for a few years at a high level of play. Even then he will be dropping out at the same time the window opens up if one opens. He's the kind of signing you would make if LT was the last piece of the puzzle, not the first building block you have to find. He's played 16 games exactly once in his career and he's 29 years old. Sound familiar?
Yep, I am not on board with going after him, and I really think the Jets need to embrace the rebuild. A thought crossed my mind though, assuming we rid the team of more veterans that have high cap hits, wouldn't it appear obvious that Bowles is a dead man walking, and perhaps Woody is ok with that as he would retain Maccagnan and allow him to handpick his own coach after the 2017 season. If we suck bad enough, we may even be in a position to draft Darnold. I just feel like the Jets look to be ready to really embark on a legitimate rebuild, if that's the case, I have a hard time seeing Bowles doing well this season.
I don't know that it was so much guts as stupidity. Namath was a "can't miss" prospect. Huarte was an excellent prospect. Taking those two was enough. With the two wasted picks used taking Schweikert and Roberts, the team could have taken position players that might have had them in better position to continue winning SBs.
Why so hostile? He isn't the typical Pats troll who comes here. He has been respectful and has shown good knowledge. As far as I'm concerned he can stay as long as he wants.
I basically agree regarding Okung, but the reality is that more than likely (unless the Jets wind up with Ramczyk, Bolles or Garcia) they aren't going to solve the LT position problem long term this season, and even if they wind up with one of those three, the chances of his starting this season aren't that great. The reality is that Ijalana is not good enough to be the starter for the entire season, and the Jets NEED to sign a FA LT to keep their QBs upright, healthy and on the field. Maybe we can sign Beachum, but if not, otherwise, we're going to be signing older LTs who will be stopgaps for a year or two.
Totally agree. They'll take the easy way out by going BPA which will surely be another defensive player.Given how bad the pass D was last season...I guess it is justified. You simply can't have offenses scoring at will on seemingly any down like that. But make no mistake...it is virtually impossible to build a dominant defense in today's NFL...going D early may make the Jets slightly less putrid and slightly more competitive...but it doesn't do anything to make them more of a winner. Maybe behind closed doors Bowles "gets" this..but based on everything he says publicly & his overall in game philosophy...he is completely out of touch w. where this league is going & will continue to lean on this silly "defense first" crap. While I'm excited that it appears Woody is finally on board & committed to a true rebuild/youth movement...I'm simultaneously disappointed that we have such a clueless stick in the mud as head coach
Two things to consider: 1. You're talking about "sacrificing" 25% of your picks that are likely to produce a starter at some point in their career. 2. You really can't put an exact percentage on what percentage a QB contributes to your offense, but in broad terms, you can say that the entire offense hinges on his play, certainly more than a 25% contribution. So, worst case - the QB you pick doesn't pan out - you're still ahead of the game. I would take that gamble.
It sure wasn't stupidity! Werblin knew that with a fledgling team and league, he had to build a winner, In essence, he had to "go all in", or fold. It was desperate, but not stupid. I wouldn't say the Jets are quite that desperate, but frankly they're close. Not that Woody cares, he's still making money, so from his POV, I don't sense desperation at all, so that's why I don't see them pulling a Werblin and drafting multiple QBs. Frankly, if I didn't have to worry about whether my team was going to fold, I wouldn't do it either. But I sure would draft at least one highly rated QB every year until I hit, unless I really believed there were no QBs that could be the FQB. I know most here, and most draft analysts don't think there are any FQBs in this draft, but I disagree FWIW.
I'm not so sure that Woody - or Macc - are in "total rebuild" mode. We'll have a better idea when we see, if anyone, they sign as FAs.
I think our new look offense could feature a 3 RB rotation and look something like this: QB Petty / Cheap Veteran / Hack RB J Charles or ADP / Forte / Powell WR B Marshall or Decker / Enuwa / Peake / Anderson / J Marshall / Smith TE OJ Howard / Cheap Veteran / ASJ LT Reilly Reiff LG Carpenter OC Forrest Lamp RG Brian winters RT Shell
Namath was also drafted by the Cardinals (12th overall) Huarte was drafted by the Eagles (76th overall) Schweickert was drafted by the 49ers (29th overall) Roberts was not drafted by the NFL. There was an extreme likelihood that most of those guys would go with the NFL team. For example, Gale Sayers was drafted 5th overall by Kansas City, Dick Butkus was drafted 9th overall by Denver, and Craig Morton decided it was better to back up Don Meredith in Dallas than to back up Roman Gabriel in Oakland. Those AFL teams all had to hedge their bets. Amazingly, the Jets landed all 4 to contracts. Namath and Huarte made the roster. Roberts hung around in some fashion for a couple of years before being traded to Miami. Schweickert was pretty sought after (drafted 28th overall and 29th overall in the two drafts, 2nd team all-american), but I can't find diddly about what happened after draft day.
This team would maybe make the playoffs, but not get to the SB, and we would be crippled for years with cap problems and likely loss of draft picks. If that works for you, go for it, but I'm sticking with the "SB or Bust" plan.
It was totally a desperate move, but imo it was stupid to take Schweikert and Roberts. Schweikert I can almost underestand, but not Roberts. 4th and 7th round picks were worth something in those days. In the 4th round of that draft, right after the Jets took Schweikert, the Chiefs took Otis Taylor. Three picks after the Jets took Roberts in the 7th round, the Chargers took Jack Snow. Both were excellent WRs, and would have given Joe Willie more targets to throw to. Looking at the names of other players taken in the draft from the 4th round on, I don't recognize most of them, because I was still pretty young. Regardless if there was no one there, I still think taking 4 QBs was dumb. If he was afraid Namath would sign with the NFL, I can understand hedging his bet by drafting Huarte, and maybe a case could be made for Schweikert, but not Roberts imo. EDIT: TwoHeadedMonster reminded me that the NFL was drafting the same players and there was the fear that players would sign with the NFL rather than the AFL. I had totally forgotten about that. That makes it much more reasonable and understandable to have taken 4 QBs.
Last year's team was a nightmare for any head coach. Aside from Leo Williams the best players on the team all had major issues that only emerged in-season. Darrelle Revis went from good to terrible in one off-season and he was saying that he was having issues as early as camp. Reporting to camp out of shape and then telling reporters that he was "old", I mean I can't imagine how any coach is supposed to react to that as it is happening when the guy is guaranteed $23M more over the life of the contract, all in the next couple of years. Mo Wilkerson signed a huge deal coming off an injury and then had a big off-season - partly injury based and partly because nothing that he had done in the past suggested he was a $17M a year player. If he'd repeated his average season so far it still would have been disappointing given the expectations you usually have for a player at that compensation level. Brandon Marshall got off on the wrong foot early in the season and then began a widely publicized feud with a young player, leading him astray as well as contributing to the perception that Marshall was losing it. Eric Decker was banged up early in the season and then gone for the season. Sheldon Richardson basically followed up his two suspensions by taking the unusual step of making his conduct in the locker room an issue and then following that up by poking the team in the eye repeatedly near the end of the season. Nick Mangold, one of the cornerstones on the team for a decade got banged up early and then was gone for the season. Ryan Clady, a guy traded for to fill a huge hole got hurt and played poorly and then halfway through the season he was gone as well. The QB? Well that was a rotating clusterfuck all off-season and it continued into the season as well. I get that Bowles had a bad year but Bill Parcells would have had to: a) cut half the leaders on the team to make an impression on that locker room - like $70M worth of cuts. or b) tear his hair out and wait for the off-season to ditch the guys when the money wasn't so bad and start over again. The wheels were coming off the wagon starting in February last year with Fitzpatrick managing somehow to hold out even though he wasn't under contract and the Jets kept steering off the road from there. Almost none of the problems on the Jets last year were related to things Bowles caused. Most of them were ticking time-bombs that the organization had either ducked for a couple of season or inflicted on itself through a very bad free agent period in 2015 - the kind of period that tastes good until you realize it is cotton candy and it is almost gone and it's only a season later.
That's a great point. I had forgotten about that. That makes taking 4 QBs much more reasonable. Thanks.
I assume that ADP = Adrian Peterson, and he's not going to sign with the Jets for a a small, non-guaranteed contract, nor Charles for that matter. Likely they'll cost a LOT. Reiff also falls into that boat, though maybe not as expensive, still will chew up cap room. And your "cheap Vet QB" is also going to cost you cap space. We're talking about probably three years of limited cap room to make any real changes, meanwhile the team you listed will be rapidly going downhill due to age/injuries, and it's really not a SB-caliber roster IMO.
