Let's Talk About Todd Downing

Edition #329

Good morning! ☀️

On Monday it was revealed that the Jets had hired Todd Downing to be their passing game coordinator. Downing becomes the second coach the Jets have hired from the 2022 Tennessee Titans.

Everyone needs to be judged individually but the Jets have now hired the head coach of the 32nd ranked offense and two coaches from the 28th ranked offense. All in an effort to improve the 29th ranked offense.

One aspect to note on Downing is that he coached Derek Carr between 2015 and 2017, and it’s probably worth mentioning that Carr was in the conversation for AFC MVP back in 2015 and had two of his best years in 15 and 16.

🚨 The Las Vegas Raiders officially released Derek Carr, who now becomes a free agent. The word out there at the moment is that he will take his time with free agency and take multiple visits. The Saints are still in play and I'd expect the Panthers and Jets to be interested.

D’ROY GARDNER @iamSauceGardner

Aye @derekcarrqb, you remember your last words before I left the ProBowl ? No need for a response; I’m just asking😂

🧀 Aaron Rodgers was on the PM show again and at the end he made an interesting comment "Eighteen years, man. That's always gonna be home." - At some point your legacy starts coming into the conversation.

🦅 The Arizona Cardinals announced Jonathan Gannon as their new Head Coach. Gannon was the Eagles defensive coordinator last season.

🦅 The Indianapolis Colts officially announced the hiring of Eagles OC Shane Steichen as their new head coach. Steichen did a fine job in Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts and that offense, so it’ll be interesting to see how well he does in the move up to HC.

🐴 Broncos wide receiver coach Zach Azzanni interviewed with the Jets yesterday for their vacant coaching role. He also interviewed with the Buffalo Bills yesterday, and Tom Pelissero said that it’s a real possibility he stays in Denver. So who knows.

💼 The Texans are hiring Cory Undlin as their defensive passing game coordinator. I didn’t know that Undlin was filling a similar role with the 49ers, as well as their secondary coach. If you have passing game coordinators on the offensive side of the ball, why not the defensive side too.

🚨 The Baltimore Ravens have hired Todd Monken as their new offensive coordinator. Monken was a target for the Jets before they hired Nathaniel Hackett but the former Georgia man turned down the chance to interview. Instead he’ll be heading to the Ravens.

❓ ESPN released their latest franchise tiers and no surprise here, they had the Jets in the “In QB Purgatory” category. I’m looking forward to the day when we’re out of that category, unfortunately even if we bag Rodgers this off-season we’ll probably find ourselves there again next off-season as there will be talk of his retirement (again).

There’s one thing that we need to get out of the way when discussing Todd Downing. He was arrested on a DUI in November and spent around 48 hours in the Williamson County jail as a result. The NFL have yet to announce if he’ll serve a suspension for a violation of the personal conduct policy, but I imagine he will at some point.

Now the second thing to mention is that he was fired in January with the Titans having ranked 28th in points and 30th in yards, 30th in passing yards per game and 13th in rushing yards per game. In short, he and the Titans had a forgettable season as Tennessee finished with a 7-10 record and missed the playoffs.