David, I like the idea of a guy like Agnew. He checks all the boxes for a first time GM. Excellent background and he’s not just another retread! The fact he’s popular is a bonus. As for the Jets drafting a safety with a likely top 10 pick 🤔 I would be shocked. I usually advocate for the OT position because that’s been a problem here for a long time. But this is a much better DT year than OT as many of the top OT prospects are being projected as better Guard then tackle prospects. There are half a dozen DT’s that have high first round grades. Agnew being a former DT would be a guy who recognizes that. You put an impactful run stuffer next to “Q” and he could become lethal to opposing offenses.
The more I read about him the more I'm absolutely convinced that he's the right man to lead us forward. Lots of success scouting, lots of respect with NFL circles and it's his current work under Holmes that intrigues me. Having seen what it takes to turn a franchise around from start to finish, he ticks all the boxes. By all accounts he listens more than he talks and with his experience in the league, he's relatable to a lot of players. But at the end of the day, he seems to be able to sniff out players who are playing this game for all the wrong reasons, and I think we have a few of them on this roster.
Who would that be, Ron? Thankfully, there aren't too many of those guys out there, and AFAIK, none were good enough to be seriously considered, but maybe my memory/knowledge is faulty in that area. At any rate, I hope that you are wrong. I hope that Woody will hire the best qualified candidate, and then stay the eff out of the way.
Sounds good. I'd say that if the Jets can't find a great quarterback prospect early or an offensive tackle, then draft a bigger than average defensive end and a run stuffing defensive tackle that also can press the pocket one or two picks later. I don't think Joe Douglass needs to go, but Ray Agnew could be a good pickup. But how much will ownership interfere with his personnel choices ?
While the Torch and Pitchfork Brigade clamor for an executive that has done it all, built a great foundation, a winning team and won a Super Bowl but is relatively young , unfortunately that individual doesn’t exist.
The accolades about Agnew are very impressive but does Woody know who he is.
Based on the Johnson’s methods of hiring, their hires have been made because of a phone call ( Peyton Manning) for Gase, a non football head Hunter ( Idzik) and trusting an ex NFL GM Charlie Casserly to search for a GM. Unfortunately Casserly was only interested in giving his 25 year coffee gopher a GM job. Casserly’s con job turned into the worse reign of error in Jet history, Mike Maccagnan, the worst GM in Jet history.
Just remember Woody never interfered with Mr. Coffee. So it takes a special talent to screw up a franchise.
It takes total incompetence to draft a Christian Hackenburg, Darron Lee or to give free agent Trumaine Johnson 44 million or Le’Veon Bell 60 even Moseley over 80 million, it takes a special GM to be so disastrous.
MacCagnan’s greatest quote, was after Mahomes showed what he was capable of, was asked why he took Jamal Adams when he could have drafted Mahomes. He said “ we knew Mahomes was a special talent but we wanted to see Christian develop “
There you go, you wonder why this organization sucks.
Agnew sounds like he could be the guy to resurrect this smoldering pile of 💩.
He also might be too smart to work for “Interfering Woody”
This popped up on X yesterday.
Definitely sounds like a Woody move because he thinks he is a trend setter.
In 4 Months.... Crystal Ball
Bears ~ Kliff Kingsbury
Cowboys ~ Bill Belichick
Jaguars ~ Ben Johnson (GM Mike
Disner)
Jets ~ Mike Vrabel (GM
Catherine Hickman)
Raiders ~ Drew Petzing
Saints ~ Aaron Glenn
Hickman is a 35 year old Canadian that’s a good start.
Catherine Hickman (nee Raîche)[1] (born 1989) is the assistant general manager for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). She previously held the position of vice president of football operations for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. She has also held front office positions with the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.
Catherine Hickman? Seriously? I’m not sure NY is the right atmosphere to introduce the leagues first ever female GM. If it succeeded it would be hailed as the boldest move in NY sports history. But god help us if it flopped. The fallout would be brutal and would add to such misadventures as Kotite,Gase, Idzik,Mccagnan and even the “butt fumble😂!
IMO she's too young (35) and doesn't have enough experience with the right NFL teams. She was with the Eagles for 4 years, and this is her 2nd year with the Browns. If she had more proven experience, then I'd be more inclined to think that she could be a good candidate, but as it is, I would have zero interest in her.
I'm more progressive in most things political and cultural, but not in football. For some reason it brings out my conservative and perhaps "sexist" side. I don't like all the female reporters. Maybe I'm wrong and they know as much as the men, but imo they come across too confidently acting like they know so much, and most of them are very young and very attractive, so I have a hard time believing that they have spent that much time following and learning about football. Then again, some of the male reporters are idiots, so maybe, the women reporters are just as knowledgeable or at least have more common sense.
I have to admit that the owner of the Lions has certainly done a great job, but that said, her family has owned the Lions for forever, so she grew up hearing, following and learning about football and owning and running a football team and I would imagine that she's at least in her mid-40s if not older, and has the wisdom of age and experience.
The Browns have woefully underachieved the last couple of seasons, and the CFL isn't the NFL. Maybe if I read some really good quotes or facts about her term with the Eagles, I could become more interested, but why did she leave there?
Still, you're right that this seems like a Woody move because he loves publicity and being on the back pages of the NY rags. God help you all if that's who he hires.
Steve, I think she will get an opportunity somewhere in the near future. I just don’t think it will be here. The environment here being the main concern for me but the fact that Woody is an idiot tells me sho won’t even be a consideration. Woody’s big name fixated so he’s probably gonna go after some retread that failed elsewhere 😂
I really like Hickman and do think she'll become the first female GM, but does she tick more boxes than someone like Agnew for a team like the Jets who need a complete reset? Not for me. I'm looking forward to her getting a shot, but can't see it being here under this current ownership group.
How does she have the qualifications? She's only been an assistant GM for 2 years. We don't know what she did in Philly, and the CFL isn't the NFL. Unless or until, I read a lot of facts and quotes about her (or for that matter, any other potential MG candidate) like David presented regarding Agnew, I don't see her as being qualified or the right person at all.
Thanks David - in this dark Jet season of many - you provided some hope. I have said nuermous times the past few weeks: "I'm a Jets fan, I'm proud to be a Jets fan and I will alwasy be a jets fan".
Interestingon Agnew - hope he gets a call. Any thoughts on Todd Monkin for head coach ?
Think he's right up there at the top of the candidate list. Love his experience at both the college and NFL level, love what he's doing with the Ravens which shows he's still got an innovative approach despite being close to 60 and having all that experience to rely on. Monken and Ben Johnson are my top two picks right now.
Would bringing in Agnew give us a leg up on getting Ben Johnson? No idea, but it won't hurt. But pairing Agnew with Monken would be extremely appealing.
My hope is at some point Woody Johnson just gets tired of the losing and is forced into a new approach. Maybe his potential place in government for the next 4 years will convince him to hire an Executive VP/GM candidate who takes full responsibility for the operation.
In a nutshell, imo that's the only hope that Jets have (that Woody will get tired of all the losing, realize that he doesn't know squat about football, and step back and let the GM or Exec. VP he hires run the team.
Being an NFL GM is a huge job. I would rather Woody hire an Exec. VP to oversee and run the overall football operation. Then that man would hire the GM, who would focus solely on the draft, FA, player personnel (both collegiate and pro), contracts, and trades. Even though JD had some top lieutenants, I think he was hurt by trusting them too much, and perhaps he was spread too thin at times, even with his lieutenants. For the Exec. VP job, I think it would have to be a successful and experience former GM or HC from a winning team. This would be someone who could give the team long-term stability, as GMs can come and go, as can HCs. This would be someone who would pick schemes for the team and those schemes would remain constant even if HCs and GMs were replaced, so that present players wouldn't have to learn new schemes, and there would be continuity and stability.
Perhaps instead of having team Presidents who are real estate men, attorneys, bean counters, or marketing people, have him be a football man so that football would be the #1 priority, and let some underling handle the marketing and all the other subsidiary crap. I think that has been part of the problem with the Jets. Their #1 focus hasn't been on the success of the football team, but rather on all the marketing and sales.
Question to Adam B.......about Joe Douglas! He's been here 5 1/2 years and his overall record is 30 - 63? How is he still employed here? Really! He's not the best at anything in my view! Becton and Mims first 2 draft picks, and how did that go! Douglas is terrible. Had zero experience as a GM! Get him out of here!
The Jets, once and for all, need to hire an experienced GM that has that invaluable knowledge and has had success, and good luck finding this person, and then let this person hire an OFFENSIVE minded experienced HC! PERIOD! End of story..........
David, Great newsletter today. You certainly make a compelling argument for hiring Agnew. He definitely sounds like he would be a great GM with all his experience and his vision for spotting players. I'd want to read similar write-ups about other prospective GMs, if for no other reasons than just doing due diligence, and for the fact that Agnew might want no part of Woody Johnson and the Jets. Even if he did/does, that doesn't mean that Woody would be smart enough to hire him and to agree to step back and let Agnew run the team. Sadly, I just don't see Woody ever doing that. He's arrogant and dumb, which is a lethal combination. In addition, the Jets are a rich man's toy, and unless he gets tired of playing with the toy, or has thin skin and gets tired of all his criticism in the media and from fans, I can't see him either selling the team or stepping back and letting the guy he hired do the job. After all, at the time when he came back from England, JD was running the team (thanks to Chris), and doing a pretty good job. We don't know exactly when Woody started meddling, but we know that he eventually did. Chris may be even dumber than Woody, but he's smart enough and/or humble enough to know what he doesn't know, and he let the guy he hired to do the job, do the job without meddling (as far as we know).
One thing about Agnew scares me. He sounds like he could be EXACTLY what the Jets need and have been looking for. Why does that scare me? Because he could draw me back in to being a fan, caring about the team, and continuing to spend too many hours a day, reading, posting, and thinking about the Jets. I'm truly ready to move on. If Agnew is the real deal, I hope that Woody will have the wisdom to hire him and step back and let Agnew run the team without any interference, no matter how tempting. I hope that for all of you and for all the long-suffering Jets fans. You deserve it! Hopefully, if he's hired and turns things around, I'll be strong enough to draw some satisfaction and joy from it, but not be sucked back in.
I have to disagree with this. I don't know anything about Kokinis, and I like Monken a lot, but imo the HC needs to focus solely on the play of the team, NOT on all the other aspects of the football operation, and in Monken's case, if he is the HC, he needs to focus on building a strong offense and developing a young QB. He doesn't need to be focusing on all the other crap, and nothing about his background even remotely suggests that he should be given final say on personnel. I'm sorry, but that is just out of left field, and I think would be a disaster.
That's the point of the GM as an advisor. They would work together, but Monken would have the final decision on personnel. It's how Seattle worked their front office in 2010, when they hired Pete Carroll and John Schneider, and they went to the playoffs nine out of 13 times and consecutive Super Bowls. What in Carroll's background suggested he'd be good in that role?
Seattle went to the playoffs that many times largely based on 1-2 drafts. Carroll was not that great an evaluator of talent. Also, Carroll had NFL HC experience and had resurrected the progam at USC. That gave him the necessary clout to demand that. Monken doesn't have that kind of background, experience, or clout, nor should he.
You also didn't address the point of Monken needing to focus on fixing the offense and developing a young QB, rather than overseeing the whole football operation. That would be the main point of hiring an OC, not to have him oversee the whole football operation. That is the major point of my response.
I would never be on board with hiring Monken or any of the OC candidates and making them VP of Football Operations. That would be a HUGE mistake imo and is definitely NOT the way to go.
Sorry, we'll just have to agree to disagree. HCs come and go. A GM should be here for a long time and provide stability. I don't want a GM who is a gopher for the HC. The GM should be the boss and should be the one making final roster decisions.
David, I like the idea of a guy like Agnew. He checks all the boxes for a first time GM. Excellent background and he’s not just another retread! The fact he’s popular is a bonus. As for the Jets drafting a safety with a likely top 10 pick 🤔 I would be shocked. I usually advocate for the OT position because that’s been a problem here for a long time. But this is a much better DT year than OT as many of the top OT prospects are being projected as better Guard then tackle prospects. There are half a dozen DT’s that have high first round grades. Agnew being a former DT would be a guy who recognizes that. You put an impactful run stuffer next to “Q” and he could become lethal to opposing offenses.
The more I read about him the more I'm absolutely convinced that he's the right man to lead us forward. Lots of success scouting, lots of respect with NFL circles and it's his current work under Holmes that intrigues me. Having seen what it takes to turn a franchise around from start to finish, he ticks all the boxes. By all accounts he listens more than he talks and with his experience in the league, he's relatable to a lot of players. But at the end of the day, he seems to be able to sniff out players who are playing this game for all the wrong reasons, and I think we have a few of them on this roster.
David, this guy makes too much sense for the job. Woody won't hire him :)
Phil, sadly Woody probably has no clue who he is. Woody will hire a big name who failed elsewhere
Unfortunately I think you're right. I tagged him in my post on X today, as apparently he listens to whatever's being said there. 😂
Who would that be, Ron? Thankfully, there aren't too many of those guys out there, and AFAIK, none were good enough to be seriously considered, but maybe my memory/knowledge is faulty in that area. At any rate, I hope that you are wrong. I hope that Woody will hire the best qualified candidate, and then stay the eff out of the way.
Spot on, Ron.
Sounds good. I'd say that if the Jets can't find a great quarterback prospect early or an offensive tackle, then draft a bigger than average defensive end and a run stuffing defensive tackle that also can press the pocket one or two picks later. I don't think Joe Douglass needs to go, but Ray Agnew could be a good pickup. But how much will ownership interfere with his personnel choices ?
While the Torch and Pitchfork Brigade clamor for an executive that has done it all, built a great foundation, a winning team and won a Super Bowl but is relatively young , unfortunately that individual doesn’t exist.
The accolades about Agnew are very impressive but does Woody know who he is.
Based on the Johnson’s methods of hiring, their hires have been made because of a phone call ( Peyton Manning) for Gase, a non football head Hunter ( Idzik) and trusting an ex NFL GM Charlie Casserly to search for a GM. Unfortunately Casserly was only interested in giving his 25 year coffee gopher a GM job. Casserly’s con job turned into the worse reign of error in Jet history, Mike Maccagnan, the worst GM in Jet history.
Just remember Woody never interfered with Mr. Coffee. So it takes a special talent to screw up a franchise.
It takes total incompetence to draft a Christian Hackenburg, Darron Lee or to give free agent Trumaine Johnson 44 million or Le’Veon Bell 60 even Moseley over 80 million, it takes a special GM to be so disastrous.
MacCagnan’s greatest quote, was after Mahomes showed what he was capable of, was asked why he took Jamal Adams when he could have drafted Mahomes. He said “ we knew Mahomes was a special talent but we wanted to see Christian develop “
There you go, you wonder why this organization sucks.
Agnew sounds like he could be the guy to resurrect this smoldering pile of 💩.
He also might be too smart to work for “Interfering Woody”
This popped up on X yesterday.
Definitely sounds like a Woody move because he thinks he is a trend setter.
In 4 Months.... Crystal Ball
Bears ~ Kliff Kingsbury
Cowboys ~ Bill Belichick
Jaguars ~ Ben Johnson (GM Mike
Disner)
Jets ~ Mike Vrabel (GM
Catherine Hickman)
Raiders ~ Drew Petzing
Saints ~ Aaron Glenn
Hickman is a 35 year old Canadian that’s a good start.
Catherine Hickman (nee Raîche)[1] (born 1989) is the assistant general manager for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). She previously held the position of vice president of football operations for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. She has also held front office positions with the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.
Catherine Hickman? Seriously? I’m not sure NY is the right atmosphere to introduce the leagues first ever female GM. If it succeeded it would be hailed as the boldest move in NY sports history. But god help us if it flopped. The fallout would be brutal and would add to such misadventures as Kotite,Gase, Idzik,Mccagnan and even the “butt fumble😂!
IMO she's too young (35) and doesn't have enough experience with the right NFL teams. She was with the Eagles for 4 years, and this is her 2nd year with the Browns. If she had more proven experience, then I'd be more inclined to think that she could be a good candidate, but as it is, I would have zero interest in her.
I'm more progressive in most things political and cultural, but not in football. For some reason it brings out my conservative and perhaps "sexist" side. I don't like all the female reporters. Maybe I'm wrong and they know as much as the men, but imo they come across too confidently acting like they know so much, and most of them are very young and very attractive, so I have a hard time believing that they have spent that much time following and learning about football. Then again, some of the male reporters are idiots, so maybe, the women reporters are just as knowledgeable or at least have more common sense.
I have to admit that the owner of the Lions has certainly done a great job, but that said, her family has owned the Lions for forever, so she grew up hearing, following and learning about football and owning and running a football team and I would imagine that she's at least in her mid-40s if not older, and has the wisdom of age and experience.
The Browns have woefully underachieved the last couple of seasons, and the CFL isn't the NFL. Maybe if I read some really good quotes or facts about her term with the Eagles, I could become more interested, but why did she leave there?
Still, you're right that this seems like a Woody move because he loves publicity and being on the back pages of the NY rags. God help you all if that's who he hires.
I wouldnt be opposed to Hickman - - she has the qualifications.
Steve, I think she will get an opportunity somewhere in the near future. I just don’t think it will be here. The environment here being the main concern for me but the fact that Woody is an idiot tells me sho won’t even be a consideration. Woody’s big name fixated so he’s probably gonna go after some retread that failed elsewhere 😂
I really like Hickman and do think she'll become the first female GM, but does she tick more boxes than someone like Agnew for a team like the Jets who need a complete reset? Not for me. I'm looking forward to her getting a shot, but can't see it being here under this current ownership group.
How does she have the qualifications? She's only been an assistant GM for 2 years. We don't know what she did in Philly, and the CFL isn't the NFL. Unless or until, I read a lot of facts and quotes about her (or for that matter, any other potential MG candidate) like David presented regarding Agnew, I don't see her as being qualified or the right person at all.
No. the worst is Idzik.
Idzik had one year of scouting, MacCagnan at least 25 years.
Plus the fact that the Jets hired him, the Texans were going to fire him off of their scouting staff.
25 years of scouting never found one NFL star.
25 years of scouting and he picks Hackenberg with a 2 while most teams had him as a 6-7 or free agent.
Hackenberg never played one down in a NFL game, you ever hear of that happening to a second rounder who wasn’t injured or arrested.
Yea, Idzik was incompetent but not as incompetent as Mr Coffee
Thanks David - in this dark Jet season of many - you provided some hope. I have said nuermous times the past few weeks: "I'm a Jets fan, I'm proud to be a Jets fan and I will alwasy be a jets fan".
Interestingon Agnew - hope he gets a call. Any thoughts on Todd Monkin for head coach ?
Think he's right up there at the top of the candidate list. Love his experience at both the college and NFL level, love what he's doing with the Ravens which shows he's still got an innovative approach despite being close to 60 and having all that experience to rely on. Monken and Ben Johnson are my top two picks right now.
Would bringing in Agnew give us a leg up on getting Ben Johnson? No idea, but it won't hurt. But pairing Agnew with Monken would be extremely appealing.
Irrelevant who the GM is, it turns out with this owner. JD is the best we'll probably ever have and we're going to blow it.
My hope is at some point Woody Johnson just gets tired of the losing and is forced into a new approach. Maybe his potential place in government for the next 4 years will convince him to hire an Executive VP/GM candidate who takes full responsibility for the operation.
In a nutshell, imo that's the only hope that Jets have (that Woody will get tired of all the losing, realize that he doesn't know squat about football, and step back and let the GM or Exec. VP he hires run the team.
Being an NFL GM is a huge job. I would rather Woody hire an Exec. VP to oversee and run the overall football operation. Then that man would hire the GM, who would focus solely on the draft, FA, player personnel (both collegiate and pro), contracts, and trades. Even though JD had some top lieutenants, I think he was hurt by trusting them too much, and perhaps he was spread too thin at times, even with his lieutenants. For the Exec. VP job, I think it would have to be a successful and experience former GM or HC from a winning team. This would be someone who could give the team long-term stability, as GMs can come and go, as can HCs. This would be someone who would pick schemes for the team and those schemes would remain constant even if HCs and GMs were replaced, so that present players wouldn't have to learn new schemes, and there would be continuity and stability.
Perhaps instead of having team Presidents who are real estate men, attorneys, bean counters, or marketing people, have him be a football man so that football would be the #1 priority, and let some underling handle the marketing and all the other subsidiary crap. I think that has been part of the problem with the Jets. Their #1 focus hasn't been on the success of the football team, but rather on all the marketing and sales.
Question to Adam B.......about Joe Douglas! He's been here 5 1/2 years and his overall record is 30 - 63? How is he still employed here? Really! He's not the best at anything in my view! Becton and Mims first 2 draft picks, and how did that go! Douglas is terrible. Had zero experience as a GM! Get him out of here!
The Jets, once and for all, need to hire an experienced GM that has that invaluable knowledge and has had success, and good luck finding this person, and then let this person hire an OFFENSIVE minded experienced HC! PERIOD! End of story..........
David, Great newsletter today. You certainly make a compelling argument for hiring Agnew. He definitely sounds like he would be a great GM with all his experience and his vision for spotting players. I'd want to read similar write-ups about other prospective GMs, if for no other reasons than just doing due diligence, and for the fact that Agnew might want no part of Woody Johnson and the Jets. Even if he did/does, that doesn't mean that Woody would be smart enough to hire him and to agree to step back and let Agnew run the team. Sadly, I just don't see Woody ever doing that. He's arrogant and dumb, which is a lethal combination. In addition, the Jets are a rich man's toy, and unless he gets tired of playing with the toy, or has thin skin and gets tired of all his criticism in the media and from fans, I can't see him either selling the team or stepping back and letting the guy he hired do the job. After all, at the time when he came back from England, JD was running the team (thanks to Chris), and doing a pretty good job. We don't know exactly when Woody started meddling, but we know that he eventually did. Chris may be even dumber than Woody, but he's smart enough and/or humble enough to know what he doesn't know, and he let the guy he hired to do the job, do the job without meddling (as far as we know).
One thing about Agnew scares me. He sounds like he could be EXACTLY what the Jets need and have been looking for. Why does that scare me? Because he could draw me back in to being a fan, caring about the team, and continuing to spend too many hours a day, reading, posting, and thinking about the Jets. I'm truly ready to move on. If Agnew is the real deal, I hope that Woody will have the wisdom to hire him and step back and let Agnew run the team without any interference, no matter how tempting. I hope that for all of you and for all the long-suffering Jets fans. You deserve it! Hopefully, if he's hired and turns things around, I'll be strong enough to draw some satisfaction and joy from it, but not be sucked back in.
Good stuff here, but I want the Jets to do what Seattle did in 2010.
GM (advisory role): George Kokinis
HC/VP of football operations: Todd Monken (final say on personnel)
I have to disagree with this. I don't know anything about Kokinis, and I like Monken a lot, but imo the HC needs to focus solely on the play of the team, NOT on all the other aspects of the football operation, and in Monken's case, if he is the HC, he needs to focus on building a strong offense and developing a young QB. He doesn't need to be focusing on all the other crap, and nothing about his background even remotely suggests that he should be given final say on personnel. I'm sorry, but that is just out of left field, and I think would be a disaster.
That's the point of the GM as an advisor. They would work together, but Monken would have the final decision on personnel. It's how Seattle worked their front office in 2010, when they hired Pete Carroll and John Schneider, and they went to the playoffs nine out of 13 times and consecutive Super Bowls. What in Carroll's background suggested he'd be good in that role?
Seattle went to the playoffs that many times largely based on 1-2 drafts. Carroll was not that great an evaluator of talent. Also, Carroll had NFL HC experience and had resurrected the progam at USC. That gave him the necessary clout to demand that. Monken doesn't have that kind of background, experience, or clout, nor should he.
You also didn't address the point of Monken needing to focus on fixing the offense and developing a young QB, rather than overseeing the whole football operation. That would be the main point of hiring an OC, not to have him oversee the whole football operation. That is the major point of my response.
I would never be on board with hiring Monken or any of the OC candidates and making them VP of Football Operations. That would be a HUGE mistake imo and is definitely NOT the way to go.
That's why they hire the GM with him and they work together, but Monken just has the final call on the roster.
Sorry, we'll just have to agree to disagree. HCs come and go. A GM should be here for a long time and provide stability. I don't want a GM who is a gopher for the HC. The GM should be the boss and should be the one making final roster decisions.