There's no message that you could send Wayne Hunter that would change the fact that he's over-matched on an NFL field. The only message that he's likely to get from this move is that the FO has appropriately lost confidence in his abilities as an NFL starter. If Hunter were a younger player who was a prospect to play again there might be some value in telling him he's just not good enough by trading for a replacement. As it is this was likely just showing him the handwriting on the wall. He shouldn't be on an NFL roster at the age of 31 given his skill levels and I'm guessing by this time next year he won't be.
I really don't think Hunter's problems have anything to do with anything that could be solved by just working harder. He was a backup for 9 years. He's simply NOT starter material, and neither wishing nor hard work is going to change that.
What message? You suck? Didn't the entire world send him that message all year long last season? Ah, I got it: we will replace you in the next off-season regardless of how you do this season. Right?
How about you have legit competition for your spot now, you either work your fucking ass off to keep your job in TC, or you are replaced. That way if Otah wins the job outright (which from a pure talent standpoint, he should) and then gets hurt in the season, Hunter will be the best WFH we could possibly have to play as Otah's replacement. Or god forbid Otah isn't very good after his injuries, or gets hurt early in TC, then Wayne will be in the midst of working even harder than he ever has in his life to make sure he keeps his job. People were bitching we needed to bring in a big-name backup for Sanchez so it would force him to compete like a crazy SOB, well this is the same thing, except for Wayne Hunter. In the Sanchez-Tebow competition, Sanchez isn't really in a competition, all competent Jets fans know that. In the Hunter-Otah battle, it's an open competition that if anything is slanted to the new guy Jeff Otah.
well nobody has commented on anything, but I seriously doubt they will come out and say that. I agree with you, but they will mask it as a competition because whether we like it or not, we need Hunter to work harder than he ever has this TC. Otah's chances of being healthy all year are pretty limited in my opinion. We need Hunter to be as prepared as ever to take over when the inevitable Otah backslide happens. Hell if Otah is perfectly healthy all year long, then having an extremely prepared Hunter for our 3 TE packages, and as depth god forbid something happened on the other side to D'Brick. Because let's be honest Hunter is a very athletic big guy, far more so than any OT we have on the roster except Brick. Which means that if Brick goes down, WH would be on the blindside, not Otah...
Again, I really don't think that Hunter's problem is that he didn't work hard enough! He just doesn't have the talent to be a starting RT in the NFL. Nine years of being a backup ought to have been an indication of that to somebody among the Jets' FO/coaching staff. Furthermore, not having "competition" isn't Sanchez's problem, either. Not being able to read defenses is. Sanchez-Tebow isn't really a competition like Orton-Tebow wasn't really a competition, and if Sanchez doesn't play lights out to start the season, he'll be watching Timmy from the bench sooner rather than later.
There is no indication I have ever read about that suggests Hunter's problems were that he was not trying hard enough. You can't blame lack of experience or training, either. He just doesn't have the skills to succeed as a starting NFL tackle. I also do not think Sanchez's problems are a lack of effort. Lack of effort in not reading defenses??? That makes no sense. Doesn't spend enough time reading film? That's not what is said about him. THe one thing I must add is that if Tebow does see the field, I doubt it is for long. He sucks worse than Sanchez. McElroy, baby.
Hunter's main problem is his lateral quickness. He gets beaten around the outside so easily. Then he tries to compensate and gets beaten inside. Sanchez's problem were also definitely decision making and making his reads. I'm hoping that a simpler Sporano defense fixes that. Its alot more likely then Hunter fixing his problems.
I'm with you on this post, my thoughts exactly. There is no negative to this deal at all. Either Otah is better than Hunter or he at least pushes Hunter to be better because he knows he doesn't have an automatic spot on the team. Even if Otah does get hurt it still means we have depth at the position as Hunter can fill in for him while he's hurt and vice versa if Otah is healthy and Hunter gets hurt.
While I totally agree with you on Tebow, keep in mind that Tony Sparano will keep trying the same thing over and over even if he doesn't get particularly good results. That was what got a lot of fans in Miami on his case. I could see the Jets sticking with Tebow simply because the coaches aren't willing to give up on their belief that some kind of college style run-option offense can work in the NFL on a regular basis.
Rule of life: 1. You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken shit. 2. You do not win Kentucky Derby on a donkey. 3. Motivated, hard-working and experienced WFH is... still WFH at the end of the day. Q.E.D. That said: 1. NFL offense is a lot more complicated than what we usually talk about here. Ever since the evil genius Bill Walsh implemented this weekly (and seasonal) structure of offensive preparation, it's gotten way beyond any laymen's comprehension. 2. So what do these offensive coordinators do during the week? It's easier said than done; a. they analyze the strength and tendency of incoming defenses. b. based on the strength and tendency of the opponent, they tweak the protection scheme to neutralize opposing defense. c. plan the play chart (makes decisions during situational football much easier) d. (if they do this) script the sequence of the play. Do you want to know how deeply Walsh went? He even timed the ETA of the ball from 5 step drop to 35 yard downfield for Montana. (It's different for every QB by the way.) And practiced it repeatedly; This way, once the QB (= Montana) read the defense, and saw a crack, he knew exactly how long it would take to get the ball to the designated spot, and whether his receiver can beat the nearest defender with it. (I am pretty sure this is rather universal in any WCO; I don't think Schottenheimer did anything like this however.) 3. Thus, you can say execution this, execution that or whatever. At the end of the day, inept protection schemes and offensive ineptitude says that the coordinator has lost his battle against the opposing defensive coordinator (or if the head coach is offense-geared one like Sean Payton, then you can say his HC lost it.) I say this for a various reasons. The OC is responsible for a. the protection schemes. b. offensive planning c. training the offensive crew with relevant drills and exercises. Yes, all three fall on the OC. 4. In case of this colossal mutant clusterfuck that was Jets offense for the past half decade, there was Callahan looking over as the OL coach - but then I actually have to doubt as to whether that was the only role Callahan played. Schottenheimer was indeed handed a raw deal with WFH starting and Woody retiring; and Callahan failed with biblical proportion when it came to the OL performance. (with WFH and Ferguson etc) 5. I am putting the failure of WFH on Callahan, not Schottenheimer, since - well, unless he is retarded beyond recognition, if he knew how deficient WFH was, he would almost always have featured RB or TE on the right side. If the coaching staff didn't realize how deficient WFH was, either their assessment is completely fucked up, or their training regime is fucked up beyond any redemption. I am inclined to think that, Schottenheimer didn't know to the full extent how much WFH just sucks. My blame on Schottenheimer is that, he should have provided more protection for WFH and Sanchez with TEs and RBs - not because he could coach WFH up. That responsibility (and failing to report the deficiency of WFH consequently) goes straight to Callahan; in a sense, it is Callahan who sabotaged the team, since it is more than likely that Tannenbaum inquired about WFH during the off-season, knowing Woody will retire. I doubt if Schottenheimer had anything bad to say about WFH after the stretch of a few good games; it is Callahan, who failed there.
hold on a minute! lets not forget the gm. ozzie newsome was able to bring in guys to fix the ravens ol during last summer as fa s. scott paoli in kc just brought in a healthy fa ot. so, you can include tanny for blame whether you think schotty or callahan is primarily to blame for hunter.
This is where I would put most of the blame. It may very well be that the coaches complained about Hunter, but the FO didn't do anything about it. Perhaps FO took the same tack as many fans here, "well, Hunter did okay at the end of 2010", he can be okay for the entire 2011 season. Maybe they were counting on Ducasse to step up. Notice, as bad as Hunter played in 2011, the FO wasn't willing to expend a draft pick on an OT in the 2012 draft (there was nothing really in FA, and the Jets probably couldn't have afforded one if there were any decent guys available). That says that RT remained low on their priority list. Maybe they were hoping Ducasse would step up this season. I don't think that Ducasse moving over to play guard, the completion of OTAs and minicamp, and the Jets taking a flier on Otah are just coincidence. It may very well be that the light bulb has finally gone on in the GM's office that yeah, Wayne Hunter is NOT a starting caliber RT.
The mess is really the Wayne Hunter/Vlad Ducasse mess at this point and I think it's pretty clear that there were multiple inputs that were critical. The Jets scouting department signed off on Ducasse as the future at RT. Bill Callahan signed off on Wayne Hunter as the present at RT. Mike Tannenbaum gave both opinions much more credence than they deserved. The Hunter contract was absurd any way that you look at at. Backup players turning 30 should never be paid like starters. In truth they should never be on the roster. Keeping them goes against the grain of getting rid of a player a year too early instead of a year too late. If they're turning 30 and they weren't good enough to start before that they're already a year too late. Wha we saw last year out of Hunter was what happens when you keep a player a year too long. We got our noses rubbed in it because he was also elevated to a position where the decline in his skills could not be hidden.
And then of course they allowed his contract to be guaranteed without apparently even trying to negotiate with him. It really is shocking how badly the FO has handled the OL. If they get super lucky Otah will contribute and pull their fat out of the fire, but it seems a big gamble at this point.
