No, I'm being realistic. In the third round, we can definitely find a 34 end that can rotate with Devito, Gilbert/Pitoitua/Dixon, and Ellis.
YEs, but the counter to that is right now, Sanchez has to very good skill players, who he has spent alot of time whit developing chemistry. Whats better, a chep player or a pricy one that is on the same page as our young QB? One of the two needs to be retained at least. This is a group that will continue to grow and provide a lot of the offense if kept together. I would rather go younger on the defensive side and retain the established talent on offense.
That you can do. (Getting the starting OLB in the first will also be tough but that's another question). How are you keeping Ellis?
In our style of offense, Holmes and Edwards are incredibly more important than Dustin Keller. If he doesn't step up his game in 2011, he'll be gone. The Jets will bring in a cheaper alternative at the position that can actually block. Keller is a mismatch waiting to happen, but he's the third or fourth option on a lot of plays.
A reduced pay level for a 34 year old end, that will see reduced playnig time due to his body that is breaking down. Your handing him a chance to finish his career as a Jet and win a superbowl. There are plenty of good reason why he would resign here.
Will you stop. No I don't WANT to downgrade at WR, I just think it's the place where we can most afford to take a hit. My preference would be to lose one of the receivers, yes. I think we would have fine depth at the WR position with Cotch at #2 if we were able to bring in a cheap #3 WR. What kind of slap dick player do we have at ILB behind Harris? I never said our D sucks. I think the shelves are pretty bare though, especially with young starting caliber talent. As of right now I'd put Revis and Wilson into that category, no one else. Scott is solid, Leonhard isn't anything special, Pace hasn't been all that great and may be on the downside of his career. Harris and Cromartie aren't currently under contract w/the Jets. The defense has been neglected through the draft since Tannenbaum has been here. That's easy to see when you look at how much starting caliber young talent we have on D. I agree it will take a while to completely rebuild the front 7 but as of right now I think we're not in good shape on the defensive side of the ball. Are any of those guys really starting caliber? I don't know. Yes he's good, let's see what he can do with some real talent.
Not necessarily: it's a pretty top heavy class. The top level guys like Von Miller, Robert Quinn, and Aldon Smith will obviously be gone, but a high caliber player should fall to us, even at 30. I have the following guys ranked after the "big" three: UCLA's Akeem Ayers Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan Pitt's Jabaal Sheard Oklahoma's Jeremy Beal UGA's Justin Houston Arizona's Brooks Reed More than a few of these guys will be available when we pick. We also may be able to trade back and get one of the in the middle of the second. He's an old man - I think he'll come back on a cheap contract.
I agree there's some talent available at OLB for 3-4 teams, but it's a very different question whether those players are going to be able to contribute a ton as rookies on a playoff caliber team. A lot of those guys are college DEs who are going to be dropping back in pass protection for the first time; there will be big learning curves.
I do forget about the #6 pick we took on defense because it turned out so miserably. Let's face it though, we need to double down in the draft.
...can't stop...especially when I disagree (you should know this already) ILB in the 3-4 is a plug-and-play position. Bart Scott is incredibly under appreciated because David Harris gets all the tackles. I guarantee if we upgrade the defensive line through the draft and free agency, we could plug a halfway decent free agent into Harris' spot and see similar production. Harris is a very good player, but he's not worth 9 or 10 million dollars...especially to a team that has tons and tons of cash invested into their quarterback. I could care less if Ryan keeps bringing in veterans if the defense keeps playing this well. Do I want to get younger and faster in the front seven? Hell yes, but I understand that building around Mark Sanchez is much more important for the future. Scott plays his role perfectly. I wish he'd take a bit of a pay cut though. Pace was overpaid - I never really understood that move completely. Leonhard is an overachiever. The safety depth chart will probably get a face lift this off-season. No, it hasn't been. We just drafted a bunch of shitty players like Eric Smith, Anthony Schlegel, Drew Coleman, and Vernon Gholston when Mangini was running the show. 2006: drafted four defenders. (Eric Smith and Drew Coleman are sadly still around) 2007: drafted the best corner in the league and David Harris 2008: Gholston and Lowery 2009: Zero players...only three picks...all three are major contributors on offense though 2010: Kyle Wilson So he's draft nine defensive players through five drafts. I'd also like to include draft pick trades like Antonio Cromartie and Kris Jenkins. The defense hasn't been neglected, we just missed A LOT under Mangini. Under Ryan, we'll always field a solid defense - it's just what he does. I'd love to see us upgrade the front seven, but it's not going to happen right away. I believe we can make major strides this year though, especially at DE and OLB. No one knows. ...I just have faith that Ryan and his staff will develop some of them into players, especially Gilbert and Teveseu. Hopefully we'll bring in some "real" talent this off-season.
let's be honest... our defense is ordinary besides Revis. There is no eye popping/elite talent besides Revis. Rex's scheme, and coaching has brought the best out of everybody. We can take a hit there. Paying Harris, and Scott tons of $$ is crazier than paying Revis, and Asomugha. We need both WR's for a long time IMO. Sanchez having the same targets is very important. If we franchise anybody it should be Harris for a trade. The most we could get would be a late 2nd I think, but doubt it.
your pointing out our holes on D, and advocating creating another one at ILB. 3-4 OLB and ILB prospects are not really plug and play. although i think OLB is actually harder, as most of these guys play 4-3 DE in college. how many OLB picks have been busts lately? a fair amount. and we only have 2 picks right now to rely on. If we can get trade value on a WR, we should do it. we'll still have 2 talented WR's, and can find a journeyman or start developing thru the draft. Look what Steelers managed to do with that position this year. Defense first.
3-4 ILBs are either battering rams or two-down run stoppers. David Harris is a two down run stopper - we'd be able to find a cheaper alternative. I never said 3-4 OLBs were plug-and-play - they have to be developed. Defense first? They drafted Ziggy Hood in the first round in 2009 and Lawrence Timmons in 2007. Woodley and Worilds were a second rounders. Other than that, they've won games with a bunch of veterans all over the place. Polamalu was mid-first rounder 8 years ago. Casey Hampton was a first rounder 10 years ago. Almost their entire front seven is built of aging vets: James Harrison, James Farrior, and Larry Foote, Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith, and Chris Hoke are all 30 years old or older. Pittsburgh has an aging defense. Actually, outside of guys like Woodley, Timmons, and Hood, they have a very old defense. Plus, their secondary is pretty bad and it's not deep at all.
my point was look at what the Steelers did at the WR position. They let go of Holmes, and rebounded fine with some speedy receivers. We can do the same. you can't lock up all of your money at the WR position. we are not that type of team, nor should we be.
To take the Steelers analogy further, they went 3-1 w/o Holmes and Ben right off the bat. The reason is that they invest their cap regularly into Oline and D. I guarantee that will continue to be their focus as the D is getting old, and the Oline desparately needs a T. We are built more similar to that team than we are to a QB centric team.
They got rid of Holmes because he was a douche bag - they really had no choice. He was also replaced by an elite talent at the position: Mike Wallace. Let's face it, Wallace was a huge steal in the third round - he's probably the NFL's fastest player. It's easy to give up a player when he has horrible off-the-field problems and you have an incredible talent waiting behind him. We are becoming that type of team - Rex Ryan said in his end-of-season presser that this squad will be built around Mark Sanchez. You pay a guy $50 million dollars to hand the ball off.
Weren't the Jets unwilling to ship Harris to the Broncos in the Marshall trade proposal? If i remember correctly Harris was the point of contention. Seems like a guy you would be willing to pay a lot of money to
The Willis - Electric debate is proof why trading back and picking up more picks is paramount this year. The Jets need a 2nd and two 3rds this year. The front 7 can be handled by doing so.
