K here's Part Two of the Fan-who-has-a-cushion-for-when-he-sits-on-the-window-ledge while he despairs on his beloved team...
Getting back to the topic of the O-Line in general - like a snowball rolling down hill, things seemed to just get worse as they went along. If Joe Douglas wasn't already bald, this past season would have completed the process for him. George Fant - he who thought he could leverage his one Career Year into Trumaine Johnson-like level of $ commitment from the Jets - went down and looked horrible on P/P after he came back. Sorry Georgie, no Big-Bucks for you. Then Mitchell, our 4th round diamond-in-the-rough, gets injured-then-IR. Then AVT.
And don't get me started on Laken Tomlinson and Duane Brown. Not as advertised, and I'm not laying malicious intent on them - I honestly hope they gave it their best effort. But David... (sigh...) - Father Time Catches Us All. And yeah, i think their agents saw the Jets & JD super-vulnerable after the injuries and shark-tanked their negotiations, raking in the bucks, because they knew JD didn't have many options left to fix the O-Line implosion.
Laken (40mil, 27mil guaranteed, 13mil/year) and Duane's (20mil, 9mil guaranteed, 10mil/yr) contracts are killers. Laken especially did not live up to it. His contract is comparable to Zach Martin/Cowboys (ranked the #1 guard in the league 2022) contract, and Zach is elite. Laken is easily a couple of levels below that.
Duane has all the heart in the world that a GM could wish for in a player, but his tank doesn't seem to have much left.
And Joe, because of the injuries, because of the timing of the injuries (so close to deadlines), had to pay more to get these guys onboard. Heck, even Ozzie Newsome (who readers on this stack know I have on the altar of Greatest-GM of the past 20 years, and Joe sat at his side for 15 of them) had to do this in his career as GM. All GM's do. So, NO - I do not fault JD for the underperformance of the Guards he brought in. He did the best he could under the limits of available free agent talent at the time, and structured the contracts in the best way to not hang a Laveon Bell/Trumaine Johnson-like albatross-of-a-contract around the Jets necks affecting the mid-to-long term.
If you wanted one sentence that I would describe Joe Douglas' handling of free agency in 2022? Here it is:
Joe Douglas did not McCagnan the NY Jets 2022 Free Agency spending.
That in itself is a significant victory, especially as we move towards signing Quinnen, keeping Quincy and Huff, signing a Derek Carr.
But now we're talking about the Offensive Line performance, actually Lack-Thereof. Are my observations above the only or best explanation for this problem? Nah... what about the coaching?
Offensive lines (and TE's, too...) using Zone Blocking look, when effectively executed, like a "cohesive, single unit" working together. When an OLine is really doing this well, it makes the Dline and LBers seem almost "disjointed/discombobulated" in their response/reaction. Even for we fans watching on TV, we can see the difference. A well executed ZB scheme looks like the O-Linemen are controlling the Line of Scrimmage. The O-Linemen must also have good communications between themselves - I mean... how else can 5, 6 different individuals effectively execute their assignments to look like they're working TOGETHER as a cohesive unit if they don't have good comms?
But the Jets didn't have a good ZB scheme. They looked like an accident in progress, especially these past few games.
How much of that is coaching? How much of that is lack of playing together (we had, what, something like 10-12 different OLine starting combinations this season...)?
How to fix? Get different coaches? Extra practice amongst the o-linemen?
K, enough for now - will save other thoughts I have for a possible later reply. Stuff like once teams figured out ZW couldn't effectively throw the ball, they started stacking 14 (yeah, i know only 8 or 9, but it "felt" like 14 guys to me...) in the box, and other things.
Jan 9, 2023·edited Jan 9, 2023Liked by David Wyatt-Hupton
DW-H, Nice breakdown of the biggest issues. I would have liked to see this team knock the Dolphins out of the playoffs as the Lions did the Packers! Disappointing again....... They came in flat on offense. The OL was the biggest problem. Too many pressures!
1. Coaching Staff: It's hard to put too much blame on the coaches when the biggest issue was a QB who regressed, OL injuries, backup QB injuries......... Stay with the same OC and like you said find an experienced QB coach ( RIP Coach Knapp ).
2. Finding the right QB: I would like to see them re sign Mike White and go after David Carr.
3. Fix the OL: Laken Tomlinson is staying. He won't take a pay cut. His cap hit is 18,000,000 next year and 14,000,000 in the 2024 season. Kudos to his agent for getting that deal. He will laugh at JD if asked to take a paycut. There is no leverage there.
4. ZW: Trade Zach if we get an offer too good to be true and draft another QB otherwise try to develop him.
5. Cap space: I agree with cutting Corey Davis and Carl Lawson unless they restructure to team friendly deals. I think we have to keep Whitehead since he is the best Safety on the team. I think if he's paired with a very good free safety it could work.
That's my 2 cents for what it's worth. On to next year.
7-10 is disappointing, but the Jets were in a ton of close games and played meaningful games game in December. Believer in the Shanahan system, because of the success of SF, which in turn is the reason why MLF should be retained. The Jets need to fire WR Coach Miles Austin, John Benton, and QB coach Rob Calabreise. Looking for a veteran Passing Game Coordinator, two candidates , Gary Kubiak, who retired in 2021, long time Wide Zone Coach, who could support Mike, as well as the QB’s. Second candidate is Darrell Bevell , currently with the Dolphins ( counting on Miami to blow that staff up ) long time coordinator and QB guru. Replacing Benton is questionable, but I don’t think the Offensive Lineman have faith in the guy, communication wasn’t great, and need someone to resurrect Tomlinson.
Jets will dedicate their second and fourth round pick to the Offensive Line. Re-sign McGovern on a Front loaded 3 year 27 million dollar contract, Re-Sign Herbig , 3 years 15 million, AVT moving to Right Tackle.
My QB, is Jacoby Brissett, but Jimmy Garapolo at a discounted price, would be a popular move, and increase the job security of Saleh and JC
Lawson on defense and Corey Davis , along with Berrios will be cut for Cap purposes, Big Turnover at WR with Davis , Berrios & Smith leaving but Irvin Charles will be your sixth WR because of his ST ability. Mims will have his prove it year under a new WR Coach.
This year will be my 60th year rooting for the Jets. It has been a painful and heartbreaking experience. The seasons of joy and happiness have been totally outnumbered by seasons of incompetent ownership, terrible performances, imbecilic hirings, and some of the worst luck you can imagine.
Too write paragraph after paragraph about Zach Wilson would be inhuman. You can sum him up in one word, “BUST”. Let’s leave it at that. Until he proves otherwise, his name will be on top of the “ All time Jet draft busts.” plaque. I’m sure Vern “ the Ghoul” Gholston and Blair Thomas thank him for taking over the top spot on the plaque. That plaque en scripted with such wonderful failures, Roger Vick, who, Quinton Coples, Dave Cadigan, Mike Haight and the “ Louieville Slugger himself, Calvin Pryor. I’m sure Christian Hackenburg is overjoyed that Zach has been inducted into this very prestigious group at the quarterback position.
Most people say and that includes fans that the Jets can’t develop quarterbacks.
Tell me what Saleh and his staff have to do with Darnold, they never coached him. The same with Gase, he never coached Sanchez.
Maybe the problem is clueless ownership when they hire a HC. What is the fascination with hiring defensive coaches as HC. Since Parcells, they have hired Groh, Edwards, Mangini, Rex, Bowles,Gase and Saleh. Aside from Gase, all defensive coaches. How many offensive coordinators have Jet quarterbacks have had to deal with during those tenures. Too count Gase as an offensive coach is offensive since his playbook was Peyton Manning’s without Manning running it. Sorry but Clueless Chris Johnson calling Gase, a brilliant offensive mind just solidifies the fact of inept ownership.
One thing about Zach’s development, last year to help him, they brought in his personal quarterback coach, John Beck. I’m sure Zach’s parents paid him thousands over the years, I’m sure the Jets paid him nicely also. If this guy is such a quarterback guru, why does Zach still throw off of his back foot without planting his feet. Why can’t he complete a simple 5 yard swing pass. The Jets are due their criticism but is it possible, Zach can’t. Maybe someone should ask his guru.
This past season has to be the most depressing season this team has ever had. To be 7-4 and competitive in every game then like switching a switch, become so incompetent is baffling.
To the fans who say, I’m not mad, we weren’t picked to win 4 games, we got better. My response is screw you, NFL football is a now sport. When the opportunity is there you go after it. Because you won 7 games this year doesn’t mean you won’t falter next year down to 4 wins. This was a total collapse, even defensively.
Too me the loss in New England destroyed this team. They had the opportunity to change what fans have thought about this organization for years, incompetent. A win was first place, a win would have put the Pats in last place in the division. A win might have guaranteed a playoff spot.
Unfortunately the Pats coming off of a bye, gave Belichick time to come up with a defense that totally shut down the Jet offense. His blue print has been used by every Jet opponent since then and quite successfully.
The elephant in the room, Zach and his famous “NO”.
Since that day, this Jet team has not been the same. Where’s the swagger, where’s the emotion.
Also since that day, teams have stopped throwing at our corners, our linebackers and safeties can’t cover why throw at Sauce and Reed.
Check out game stats, most receiving damage is being done by tight ends and running backs.
To my fellow Jet fans, January is here. You know we will win the free agency super bowl and maybe the draft super bowl line we did last year. But right now looking at all the problems that beset this team, Douglas has an almost impossible off season coming.
Shhhhh, hopefully that is the Johnsons keeping quiet this week. Because once they start, all bets are off.
David, excellent work as always, wasn't expecting a review so soon after end-of-season (still hurts...), but yes, getting a rearview mirror look at the season, so quickly after the end of the same, is the best antidote for a hangover.
So, onward... this is part One
Overall Progress - absolutely yes. Occam's Razor: ask any Jets fan at the beginning of the season, "would you sign up for 7 wins and having games in December where there'd be a chance to make the playoffs?" - you know the answer to that. And technically, we played meaningful games into January. Something to build on, and I can't wait to see Breece Hall and AVT back with Derek Carr running the offense.
Jets Offensive Offense - seeing Garrett Wilson give it 100% makes me think, "where are the other receivers?". Moore, Davis, Mims, Uzomah, Conklin, or the Backs? I don't have the all-22, so I hope you can get a better view on that, and post a later note on this - but could all these guys have been covered all day long? Or maybe it was a team decision, get the ball out to Garrett as much as possible, to help his OROY chances? If that's the case, then I'm onboard with it; I honestly think Garrett is Justin Jefferson V2.0.
The problems with the Offense, aren't the playmakers, but the foundation - the Offensive Line and the QB spot. And I'd say the play-calling, too - but I honestly don't know how limited MLF must have been with the personnel/performance shortcomings he had to scheme around. But yeah, would have been nice to see more Draw plays, passes to Backs in the flat, more quick slants - and would have been nice to see MLF fix the problem with the Screen Pass - it seemed like as the season progressed, defenses were locking down that option... so I think there must have been something that opposing D-Coords saw in the tape, let them prepare for it so effectively.
Offensive Line - there's only so much shave-and-a-haircut, band-aid you can put on the O-Line - there were just too many injuries to critical personnel we needed to step up. I'm going to focus on one injury in particular - Mekhi Becton.
Ok Mekhi (hope you're reading this, too...) - you went from "highway 77" (Baldinger's view based on your rookie season where you were road-grading/pancaking DLs on a regular basis) to steadily approaching Gholston V2.0.
Not in attitude; I'm pretty sure Mekhi wants to be that dominant guy again; but he thought he could do his medical rehab "@ home" and didn't - he showed up at beginning of camp this season maybe pushing 400# - and commentators whose opinions I respect/rely upon, like Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms (you know, guys that might know a thing or two about what they're talkin' about because they were PLAYERS...) were commenting on how out of shape Becton was. And yes, Becton did "crash diet" himself in the interlude between voluntary camp and mandatory show-up, so the media commentary simmered down from "he looks like crap" in voluntary's to a wait-and-see. Well, that didn't pan out; he got hurt and the rest is history. Gee, I wonder what not embarking on a year-long, devoted RESHAPING of one's body and LEGS could have done for Mekhi? I mean imagine, if along with rehabbing from his first injury (a dislocated kneecap and injured MCL), if someone, Oh, I don't know... like guys who write his PAYCHECK... would have nixed his "i'm fixing this at home, guys - trust me" bullshit and instead short-leashed him to 1JD with daily monitoring/guidance for not just the rehab, but for losing weight? Ya think maybe Coach is having 2nd guess thoughts on this, especially since Mekhi immediately went down in 2022 when his "surgically repaired right knee" went to shit again?
Does one have to be a doctor to understand that rehab means that body part is now weaker than it was before the injury? Or that yes, it can get as strong, maybe even better than before, but it takes not only time to heal (Mekhi had a whole friggin year, both times now) - BUT... also needs a disciplined and consistent strength rehab as well?
I strongly believe in Mekhi's case, he needed someone - anyone... most of all HIMSELF... to realize that he can't play at 380# anymore, at least not for a couple years (a rough layman's estimate of time, admittedly...) - and structure his rehab accordingly. And STICK WITH THE PROGRAM, TOO! Him coming to voluntary ballooned up to near 400# sure-as-shit showed the world that he wasn't too disciplined on that aspect.
Coach, JD (if you're reading this) - his surgically repaired shit-knee, now twice under the knife, will be even weaker than before his first injury. Please tell Jet-Nation that you're not going to let Mekhi manage his rehab like you did the first time - cause that sure-as-shit worked like a charm, didn't it?
JD, Coach ??? --- Can you not simply tell this child of a man, "bud, we're going to fix this in the way we think best. we're keeping you in 1JD for the duration of the rehab, and your rehab will be not just medical for the knee, but weight/strength program because we're gonna get you down to 320 pounds. Why, Mekhi, are we insisting on this, on taking a direct lead on this for you, despite the fact that you don't like being treated like you can't do this yourself? Because you already tried that route, and look how it turned out."
"OH, by the way, Mekhi, if you're wondering if we can do this... well, we can. We have 18.4 million-plus reasons (including almost 11 million which you got up front just for signing the paper...) that justify our taking WHATEVER STEPS WE DEEM NECESSARY to ensure our INVESTMENT has the BEST CHANCE to PERFORM at the level we expect."
So yeah, I call Mekhi dangerously approaching the level of Vernon Gholston V2.0 level-of-bust territory. Not because of attitude; Gholston did nothing, never tried improving, just felt like he deserved anything he wanted because, you know, he was a "first round pick". No, Mekhi, you're not that, at least not from the public face you've presented (and your "Big Bust" shirt... well, That'll Show'em, Eh?). But words - and shirts - are easy and don't mean nuttin' if you don't back it up on the field.
I knew today’s newsletter script before you wrote it. Lots of things to consider. For me today I want to ignore the elephant in the room ( the offense and everything associated with it like MLF, John Benton and mostly the whole QB situation for another day. Because that’s a whole other topic. For today I want to touch on the defense, what? Why the defense? They gave up 9 points. Yes, that’s true. But watching this game was I the only one who got super frustrated watching us get gashed yet again by the opponents running game? Hey, we played against a JV QB. Shouldn’t we have expected Miami to run the football to make life easier for their rookie undrafted QB? The major problem I keep seeing is the undisciplined failures to set the edge and the poor angles by the LB’s trying to fill. And Mosely has to be the most overrated player on this defense. Yes he makes a lot of tackles. But as the MLB he’s supposed to. That’s how a 4-3 defense is designed. To funnel everything back inside. Half of Mosley’s tackles don’t happen until the ball carrier is 8 to 10 yards down field. Where are the tackles for loss? Where are the impact plays? I can’t tell you how many times I saw JFM and Bryce Huff crash down inside and give up the edge for big gains. Late in the game Huff crashes down and Miami picks up a key 3rd and 5 easily running around the edge he eagerly gave up. Quincy is another one who kind of runs around a lot with no apparent direction. He makes some nice plays but he misses a lot of tackles with the poor angles he takes.
S Janab and Steven B are making excellent points here! This Saleh has no clue what he's doing. How many times and games has this team come out flat and not ready to play, especially these December games that everyone wanted the team to be in? How did this look? And how many more years is Joe Douglas going to get to finally build a reliable solid offensive line? Douglas in his 4 years is 20 - 46! Are you kidding me? And believe me, no body should count on and trust Zach Wilson to be a starting or even a backup QB! These combines, and personal QB workouts, are a waste of time. I can throw the ball accurately to WRs during these workouts, across my body, behind my back, whatever, and this QB always looks good! Put this same QB in a pass rush, blitz whatever on them and then see how this QB can try to handle this type of a situation? It sure shows that Zach Wilson can't?
Where was Q these last 2 games? No sacks and did he have any pressures? Now he's looking for a big payday. I hope this doesn't turn into another Muhammad Wilkerson fiasco.
I fall on the "on balance, get rid of Saleh and MLF" side of things more than "get rid of them at all costs", but I struggle to see material success with this staff.
The caveats on their side are obviously the injuries and poor QB play, but for me they failed harder at the things in their control.
For me, this is the big leagues and to have one of the 32 jobs that exist in this industry in the whole world, you need to have done all of your learning before you got here. You can't be making your mistakes and figuring out what works in this league while you're on the clock. Too many directions they went in initially had to be overturned after failing on the field and the subsequent negative feedback. Starting Wilson on Day 1, usage of Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore, situational usage of Quinnen Williams, personnel sets, inevitably miserable opening offensive drives/quarters, selection of Flacco over White at the start of the season, not benching Wilson during the 10-3 Patriots game, the flip-flopping on QBs, appalling in-game time-management. Consistent bad execution from the players is a coaching issue.
Reacting to things well when they go bad is great, but some things you plan to do off the bat have to work, otherwise you just don't have a knack for this.
In MLF's favour, I recognise there have been games when receivers have been wide open but not sought, but then going back to some of what you have written this season about complimentary play from different units, were the drawn-up routes consistent with the pass protection Flacco/Wilson was likely to get and how they were expected to react under pressure? Were the decisions to run when they did and pass when they did optimal?
Zach Wilson is terrible/played terribly, but again for me it's on the coaches who were with him from Day 1 to have evaluated him properly from the first moment he walked into the building and seen that he wasn't ready to start from Week 1. Moreover, they should have had a read on him being at the stage of his development where spectacular failure on the big stage from the start would do more harm than good, like if you put a 15 year old kid that can throw 95 with no secondary stuff in front of Major League pitchers the confidence hit from getting shellacked would be almost always be more detrimental to someone with that level of maturity than a grown man who has been hardened by 4 years of college and a year of being in the pro environment.
My ultimate point is, when the team is healthy again and in a position to make a genuine run, has this coaching staff shown that they are able to maximise a situation? I haven't seen it.
Question for David / anyone, is there an example in the last 10-15 years where a Head Coach was forced to jettison their guy at a coordinator spot for someone else and it worked out? For me, this is Saleh's guy and who he thought was the best person for the role. If he is allowed to carry on but with new offensive coaches/OC, isn't that telling you that Saleh can't be trusted to make decisions without being supervised or second-guessed?
When there is a owner who doesnt demand excellance. He doesnt really care about winning, or require measuring sticks of progress or a playoff mandate for whoever he hires, the results will always be the same. There is no porgress this year. They went backwards - again. Firing the offensive staff as sacraficial victims in a old Tarzan movie accomplishes nothing. The whole staff has to go and be replaced by a proven head coach (Payton, Harbuagh). As far as the draft - whoever is drafting needs to take all thise picks and go after Lamar - that will fix one problem. Woody should demand it.
K here's Part Two of the Fan-who-has-a-cushion-for-when-he-sits-on-the-window-ledge while he despairs on his beloved team...
Getting back to the topic of the O-Line in general - like a snowball rolling down hill, things seemed to just get worse as they went along. If Joe Douglas wasn't already bald, this past season would have completed the process for him. George Fant - he who thought he could leverage his one Career Year into Trumaine Johnson-like level of $ commitment from the Jets - went down and looked horrible on P/P after he came back. Sorry Georgie, no Big-Bucks for you. Then Mitchell, our 4th round diamond-in-the-rough, gets injured-then-IR. Then AVT.
And don't get me started on Laken Tomlinson and Duane Brown. Not as advertised, and I'm not laying malicious intent on them - I honestly hope they gave it their best effort. But David... (sigh...) - Father Time Catches Us All. And yeah, i think their agents saw the Jets & JD super-vulnerable after the injuries and shark-tanked their negotiations, raking in the bucks, because they knew JD didn't have many options left to fix the O-Line implosion.
Laken (40mil, 27mil guaranteed, 13mil/year) and Duane's (20mil, 9mil guaranteed, 10mil/yr) contracts are killers. Laken especially did not live up to it. His contract is comparable to Zach Martin/Cowboys (ranked the #1 guard in the league 2022) contract, and Zach is elite. Laken is easily a couple of levels below that.
Duane has all the heart in the world that a GM could wish for in a player, but his tank doesn't seem to have much left.
And Joe, because of the injuries, because of the timing of the injuries (so close to deadlines), had to pay more to get these guys onboard. Heck, even Ozzie Newsome (who readers on this stack know I have on the altar of Greatest-GM of the past 20 years, and Joe sat at his side for 15 of them) had to do this in his career as GM. All GM's do. So, NO - I do not fault JD for the underperformance of the Guards he brought in. He did the best he could under the limits of available free agent talent at the time, and structured the contracts in the best way to not hang a Laveon Bell/Trumaine Johnson-like albatross-of-a-contract around the Jets necks affecting the mid-to-long term.
If you wanted one sentence that I would describe Joe Douglas' handling of free agency in 2022? Here it is:
Joe Douglas did not McCagnan the NY Jets 2022 Free Agency spending.
That in itself is a significant victory, especially as we move towards signing Quinnen, keeping Quincy and Huff, signing a Derek Carr.
But now we're talking about the Offensive Line performance, actually Lack-Thereof. Are my observations above the only or best explanation for this problem? Nah... what about the coaching?
Offensive lines (and TE's, too...) using Zone Blocking look, when effectively executed, like a "cohesive, single unit" working together. When an OLine is really doing this well, it makes the Dline and LBers seem almost "disjointed/discombobulated" in their response/reaction. Even for we fans watching on TV, we can see the difference. A well executed ZB scheme looks like the O-Linemen are controlling the Line of Scrimmage. The O-Linemen must also have good communications between themselves - I mean... how else can 5, 6 different individuals effectively execute their assignments to look like they're working TOGETHER as a cohesive unit if they don't have good comms?
But the Jets didn't have a good ZB scheme. They looked like an accident in progress, especially these past few games.
How much of that is coaching? How much of that is lack of playing together (we had, what, something like 10-12 different OLine starting combinations this season...)?
How to fix? Get different coaches? Extra practice amongst the o-linemen?
K, enough for now - will save other thoughts I have for a possible later reply. Stuff like once teams figured out ZW couldn't effectively throw the ball, they started stacking 14 (yeah, i know only 8 or 9, but it "felt" like 14 guys to me...) in the box, and other things.
CGVet58
Jets 4 Life - Indomitable/Never Quit!
DW-H, Nice breakdown of the biggest issues. I would have liked to see this team knock the Dolphins out of the playoffs as the Lions did the Packers! Disappointing again....... They came in flat on offense. The OL was the biggest problem. Too many pressures!
1. Coaching Staff: It's hard to put too much blame on the coaches when the biggest issue was a QB who regressed, OL injuries, backup QB injuries......... Stay with the same OC and like you said find an experienced QB coach ( RIP Coach Knapp ).
2. Finding the right QB: I would like to see them re sign Mike White and go after David Carr.
3. Fix the OL: Laken Tomlinson is staying. He won't take a pay cut. His cap hit is 18,000,000 next year and 14,000,000 in the 2024 season. Kudos to his agent for getting that deal. He will laugh at JD if asked to take a paycut. There is no leverage there.
4. ZW: Trade Zach if we get an offer too good to be true and draft another QB otherwise try to develop him.
5. Cap space: I agree with cutting Corey Davis and Carl Lawson unless they restructure to team friendly deals. I think we have to keep Whitehead since he is the best Safety on the team. I think if he's paired with a very good free safety it could work.
That's my 2 cents for what it's worth. On to next year.
7-10 is disappointing, but the Jets were in a ton of close games and played meaningful games game in December. Believer in the Shanahan system, because of the success of SF, which in turn is the reason why MLF should be retained. The Jets need to fire WR Coach Miles Austin, John Benton, and QB coach Rob Calabreise. Looking for a veteran Passing Game Coordinator, two candidates , Gary Kubiak, who retired in 2021, long time Wide Zone Coach, who could support Mike, as well as the QB’s. Second candidate is Darrell Bevell , currently with the Dolphins ( counting on Miami to blow that staff up ) long time coordinator and QB guru. Replacing Benton is questionable, but I don’t think the Offensive Lineman have faith in the guy, communication wasn’t great, and need someone to resurrect Tomlinson.
Jets will dedicate their second and fourth round pick to the Offensive Line. Re-sign McGovern on a Front loaded 3 year 27 million dollar contract, Re-Sign Herbig , 3 years 15 million, AVT moving to Right Tackle.
My QB, is Jacoby Brissett, but Jimmy Garapolo at a discounted price, would be a popular move, and increase the job security of Saleh and JC
Lawson on defense and Corey Davis , along with Berrios will be cut for Cap purposes, Big Turnover at WR with Davis , Berrios & Smith leaving but Irvin Charles will be your sixth WR because of his ST ability. Mims will have his prove it year under a new WR Coach.
This year will be my 60th year rooting for the Jets. It has been a painful and heartbreaking experience. The seasons of joy and happiness have been totally outnumbered by seasons of incompetent ownership, terrible performances, imbecilic hirings, and some of the worst luck you can imagine.
Too write paragraph after paragraph about Zach Wilson would be inhuman. You can sum him up in one word, “BUST”. Let’s leave it at that. Until he proves otherwise, his name will be on top of the “ All time Jet draft busts.” plaque. I’m sure Vern “ the Ghoul” Gholston and Blair Thomas thank him for taking over the top spot on the plaque. That plaque en scripted with such wonderful failures, Roger Vick, who, Quinton Coples, Dave Cadigan, Mike Haight and the “ Louieville Slugger himself, Calvin Pryor. I’m sure Christian Hackenburg is overjoyed that Zach has been inducted into this very prestigious group at the quarterback position.
Most people say and that includes fans that the Jets can’t develop quarterbacks.
Tell me what Saleh and his staff have to do with Darnold, they never coached him. The same with Gase, he never coached Sanchez.
Maybe the problem is clueless ownership when they hire a HC. What is the fascination with hiring defensive coaches as HC. Since Parcells, they have hired Groh, Edwards, Mangini, Rex, Bowles,Gase and Saleh. Aside from Gase, all defensive coaches. How many offensive coordinators have Jet quarterbacks have had to deal with during those tenures. Too count Gase as an offensive coach is offensive since his playbook was Peyton Manning’s without Manning running it. Sorry but Clueless Chris Johnson calling Gase, a brilliant offensive mind just solidifies the fact of inept ownership.
One thing about Zach’s development, last year to help him, they brought in his personal quarterback coach, John Beck. I’m sure Zach’s parents paid him thousands over the years, I’m sure the Jets paid him nicely also. If this guy is such a quarterback guru, why does Zach still throw off of his back foot without planting his feet. Why can’t he complete a simple 5 yard swing pass. The Jets are due their criticism but is it possible, Zach can’t. Maybe someone should ask his guru.
This past season has to be the most depressing season this team has ever had. To be 7-4 and competitive in every game then like switching a switch, become so incompetent is baffling.
To the fans who say, I’m not mad, we weren’t picked to win 4 games, we got better. My response is screw you, NFL football is a now sport. When the opportunity is there you go after it. Because you won 7 games this year doesn’t mean you won’t falter next year down to 4 wins. This was a total collapse, even defensively.
Too me the loss in New England destroyed this team. They had the opportunity to change what fans have thought about this organization for years, incompetent. A win was first place, a win would have put the Pats in last place in the division. A win might have guaranteed a playoff spot.
Unfortunately the Pats coming off of a bye, gave Belichick time to come up with a defense that totally shut down the Jet offense. His blue print has been used by every Jet opponent since then and quite successfully.
The elephant in the room, Zach and his famous “NO”.
Since that day, this Jet team has not been the same. Where’s the swagger, where’s the emotion.
Also since that day, teams have stopped throwing at our corners, our linebackers and safeties can’t cover why throw at Sauce and Reed.
Check out game stats, most receiving damage is being done by tight ends and running backs.
To my fellow Jet fans, January is here. You know we will win the free agency super bowl and maybe the draft super bowl line we did last year. But right now looking at all the problems that beset this team, Douglas has an almost impossible off season coming.
Shhhhh, hopefully that is the Johnsons keeping quiet this week. Because once they start, all bets are off.
hello David and hello Jet-Nation,
David, excellent work as always, wasn't expecting a review so soon after end-of-season (still hurts...), but yes, getting a rearview mirror look at the season, so quickly after the end of the same, is the best antidote for a hangover.
So, onward... this is part One
Overall Progress - absolutely yes. Occam's Razor: ask any Jets fan at the beginning of the season, "would you sign up for 7 wins and having games in December where there'd be a chance to make the playoffs?" - you know the answer to that. And technically, we played meaningful games into January. Something to build on, and I can't wait to see Breece Hall and AVT back with Derek Carr running the offense.
Jets Offensive Offense - seeing Garrett Wilson give it 100% makes me think, "where are the other receivers?". Moore, Davis, Mims, Uzomah, Conklin, or the Backs? I don't have the all-22, so I hope you can get a better view on that, and post a later note on this - but could all these guys have been covered all day long? Or maybe it was a team decision, get the ball out to Garrett as much as possible, to help his OROY chances? If that's the case, then I'm onboard with it; I honestly think Garrett is Justin Jefferson V2.0.
The problems with the Offense, aren't the playmakers, but the foundation - the Offensive Line and the QB spot. And I'd say the play-calling, too - but I honestly don't know how limited MLF must have been with the personnel/performance shortcomings he had to scheme around. But yeah, would have been nice to see more Draw plays, passes to Backs in the flat, more quick slants - and would have been nice to see MLF fix the problem with the Screen Pass - it seemed like as the season progressed, defenses were locking down that option... so I think there must have been something that opposing D-Coords saw in the tape, let them prepare for it so effectively.
Offensive Line - there's only so much shave-and-a-haircut, band-aid you can put on the O-Line - there were just too many injuries to critical personnel we needed to step up. I'm going to focus on one injury in particular - Mekhi Becton.
Ok Mekhi (hope you're reading this, too...) - you went from "highway 77" (Baldinger's view based on your rookie season where you were road-grading/pancaking DLs on a regular basis) to steadily approaching Gholston V2.0.
Not in attitude; I'm pretty sure Mekhi wants to be that dominant guy again; but he thought he could do his medical rehab "@ home" and didn't - he showed up at beginning of camp this season maybe pushing 400# - and commentators whose opinions I respect/rely upon, like Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms (you know, guys that might know a thing or two about what they're talkin' about because they were PLAYERS...) were commenting on how out of shape Becton was. And yes, Becton did "crash diet" himself in the interlude between voluntary camp and mandatory show-up, so the media commentary simmered down from "he looks like crap" in voluntary's to a wait-and-see. Well, that didn't pan out; he got hurt and the rest is history. Gee, I wonder what not embarking on a year-long, devoted RESHAPING of one's body and LEGS could have done for Mekhi? I mean imagine, if along with rehabbing from his first injury (a dislocated kneecap and injured MCL), if someone, Oh, I don't know... like guys who write his PAYCHECK... would have nixed his "i'm fixing this at home, guys - trust me" bullshit and instead short-leashed him to 1JD with daily monitoring/guidance for not just the rehab, but for losing weight? Ya think maybe Coach is having 2nd guess thoughts on this, especially since Mekhi immediately went down in 2022 when his "surgically repaired right knee" went to shit again?
Does one have to be a doctor to understand that rehab means that body part is now weaker than it was before the injury? Or that yes, it can get as strong, maybe even better than before, but it takes not only time to heal (Mekhi had a whole friggin year, both times now) - BUT... also needs a disciplined and consistent strength rehab as well?
I strongly believe in Mekhi's case, he needed someone - anyone... most of all HIMSELF... to realize that he can't play at 380# anymore, at least not for a couple years (a rough layman's estimate of time, admittedly...) - and structure his rehab accordingly. And STICK WITH THE PROGRAM, TOO! Him coming to voluntary ballooned up to near 400# sure-as-shit showed the world that he wasn't too disciplined on that aspect.
Coach, JD (if you're reading this) - his surgically repaired shit-knee, now twice under the knife, will be even weaker than before his first injury. Please tell Jet-Nation that you're not going to let Mekhi manage his rehab like you did the first time - cause that sure-as-shit worked like a charm, didn't it?
JD, Coach ??? --- Can you not simply tell this child of a man, "bud, we're going to fix this in the way we think best. we're keeping you in 1JD for the duration of the rehab, and your rehab will be not just medical for the knee, but weight/strength program because we're gonna get you down to 320 pounds. Why, Mekhi, are we insisting on this, on taking a direct lead on this for you, despite the fact that you don't like being treated like you can't do this yourself? Because you already tried that route, and look how it turned out."
"OH, by the way, Mekhi, if you're wondering if we can do this... well, we can. We have 18.4 million-plus reasons (including almost 11 million which you got up front just for signing the paper...) that justify our taking WHATEVER STEPS WE DEEM NECESSARY to ensure our INVESTMENT has the BEST CHANCE to PERFORM at the level we expect."
So yeah, I call Mekhi dangerously approaching the level of Vernon Gholston V2.0 level-of-bust territory. Not because of attitude; Gholston did nothing, never tried improving, just felt like he deserved anything he wanted because, you know, he was a "first round pick". No, Mekhi, you're not that, at least not from the public face you've presented (and your "Big Bust" shirt... well, That'll Show'em, Eh?). But words - and shirts - are easy and don't mean nuttin' if you don't back it up on the field.
Lose the effin weight, Mekhi - prove me wrong.
K, the rest is part Two... TBD...
I knew today’s newsletter script before you wrote it. Lots of things to consider. For me today I want to ignore the elephant in the room ( the offense and everything associated with it like MLF, John Benton and mostly the whole QB situation for another day. Because that’s a whole other topic. For today I want to touch on the defense, what? Why the defense? They gave up 9 points. Yes, that’s true. But watching this game was I the only one who got super frustrated watching us get gashed yet again by the opponents running game? Hey, we played against a JV QB. Shouldn’t we have expected Miami to run the football to make life easier for their rookie undrafted QB? The major problem I keep seeing is the undisciplined failures to set the edge and the poor angles by the LB’s trying to fill. And Mosely has to be the most overrated player on this defense. Yes he makes a lot of tackles. But as the MLB he’s supposed to. That’s how a 4-3 defense is designed. To funnel everything back inside. Half of Mosley’s tackles don’t happen until the ball carrier is 8 to 10 yards down field. Where are the tackles for loss? Where are the impact plays? I can’t tell you how many times I saw JFM and Bryce Huff crash down inside and give up the edge for big gains. Late in the game Huff crashes down and Miami picks up a key 3rd and 5 easily running around the edge he eagerly gave up. Quincy is another one who kind of runs around a lot with no apparent direction. He makes some nice plays but he misses a lot of tackles with the poor angles he takes.
S Janab and Steven B are making excellent points here! This Saleh has no clue what he's doing. How many times and games has this team come out flat and not ready to play, especially these December games that everyone wanted the team to be in? How did this look? And how many more years is Joe Douglas going to get to finally build a reliable solid offensive line? Douglas in his 4 years is 20 - 46! Are you kidding me? And believe me, no body should count on and trust Zach Wilson to be a starting or even a backup QB! These combines, and personal QB workouts, are a waste of time. I can throw the ball accurately to WRs during these workouts, across my body, behind my back, whatever, and this QB always looks good! Put this same QB in a pass rush, blitz whatever on them and then see how this QB can try to handle this type of a situation? It sure shows that Zach Wilson can't?
Where was Q these last 2 games? No sacks and did he have any pressures? Now he's looking for a big payday. I hope this doesn't turn into another Muhammad Wilkerson fiasco.
I might try to restructure Lawson - sounds like he had a 2nd surgery he was recovering from
https://twitter.com/Connor_J_Hughes/status/1612516064708943893
I fall on the "on balance, get rid of Saleh and MLF" side of things more than "get rid of them at all costs", but I struggle to see material success with this staff.
The caveats on their side are obviously the injuries and poor QB play, but for me they failed harder at the things in their control.
For me, this is the big leagues and to have one of the 32 jobs that exist in this industry in the whole world, you need to have done all of your learning before you got here. You can't be making your mistakes and figuring out what works in this league while you're on the clock. Too many directions they went in initially had to be overturned after failing on the field and the subsequent negative feedback. Starting Wilson on Day 1, usage of Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore, situational usage of Quinnen Williams, personnel sets, inevitably miserable opening offensive drives/quarters, selection of Flacco over White at the start of the season, not benching Wilson during the 10-3 Patriots game, the flip-flopping on QBs, appalling in-game time-management. Consistent bad execution from the players is a coaching issue.
Reacting to things well when they go bad is great, but some things you plan to do off the bat have to work, otherwise you just don't have a knack for this.
In MLF's favour, I recognise there have been games when receivers have been wide open but not sought, but then going back to some of what you have written this season about complimentary play from different units, were the drawn-up routes consistent with the pass protection Flacco/Wilson was likely to get and how they were expected to react under pressure? Were the decisions to run when they did and pass when they did optimal?
Zach Wilson is terrible/played terribly, but again for me it's on the coaches who were with him from Day 1 to have evaluated him properly from the first moment he walked into the building and seen that he wasn't ready to start from Week 1. Moreover, they should have had a read on him being at the stage of his development where spectacular failure on the big stage from the start would do more harm than good, like if you put a 15 year old kid that can throw 95 with no secondary stuff in front of Major League pitchers the confidence hit from getting shellacked would be almost always be more detrimental to someone with that level of maturity than a grown man who has been hardened by 4 years of college and a year of being in the pro environment.
My ultimate point is, when the team is healthy again and in a position to make a genuine run, has this coaching staff shown that they are able to maximise a situation? I haven't seen it.
Question for David / anyone, is there an example in the last 10-15 years where a Head Coach was forced to jettison their guy at a coordinator spot for someone else and it worked out? For me, this is Saleh's guy and who he thought was the best person for the role. If he is allowed to carry on but with new offensive coaches/OC, isn't that telling you that Saleh can't be trusted to make decisions without being supervised or second-guessed?
When there is a owner who doesnt demand excellance. He doesnt really care about winning, or require measuring sticks of progress or a playoff mandate for whoever he hires, the results will always be the same. There is no porgress this year. They went backwards - again. Firing the offensive staff as sacraficial victims in a old Tarzan movie accomplishes nothing. The whole staff has to go and be replaced by a proven head coach (Payton, Harbuagh). As far as the draft - whoever is drafting needs to take all thise picks and go after Lamar - that will fix one problem. Woody should demand it.