Ring of Honour
Edition #148
☀️ Good Morning!
Happy Friday to one and all and to everyone in the UK, happy bank holiday. I’m going to keep this one short and sweet as we have plans a plenty on this Queen’s Jubilee and my daughter is driving me up the wall!
👴 Ryan Fitzpatrick has announced his retirement after 17 years in the NFL. In 166 games played, Fitzpatrick had 34,990 passing yards and 223 passing touchdowns. Fitzmagic came close to taking the Jets to the post-season in 2015 before a Buffalo meltdown that I think we’d all like to forget. He only spent two years with the Jets but he gave us a couple of memorable moments along the way. Happy retirement Fitz.
👴 Former Jets RB Frank Gore is also set to retire after apparently signing a one-day contract with the 49’ers to retire in San Francisco. I can’t think of Gore and not think of Gase, but he was a fine RB and I loved him in San Fran when he was at his peak. He’ll go down as one of the most productive runners in NFL history and his longevity is to be applauded, even though we all know he probably shouldn’t have been playing in 2020.
💰 Former Jets linebacker Avery Williamson was Appearing on the “Bleav in Jets” podcast with Andrew Golden and he explained what drew him to the Jets, “People were like, ‘What attracted you?’… I had to go chase the money.” - To be fair to Williamson he played well his first year with the team before an ACL tear in 2019 really detailed his time here.
The Jets announced that Nick Mangold, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Darrelle Revis would be entered into the Ring of Honour this year.
Things weren’t always plain sailing with Revis starting with his initial rookie contract but when he was on the field there was nobody better. His stat line against the best receivers in football back in 2009 still amazed me when I see it today. He may have won a ring in New England but Revis will always be a Jet.
Nick and Brick are two of my all-time favorite players to ever put on the green and white, if you want consistency and reliability, those two had it in spades. It didn’t hurt that they were two of the best players at their respective positions for pretty much their entire careers.
Both players meant a lot to New York and the Jets, Mangold has stayed heavily involved with the team and Brick has made the odd appearance here and there
"This is a shock," Mangold said when informed of the inductions by Jets Chairman Woody Johnson. "Thank you so much. This is awesome and amazing since it's with two of my guys. Revis, it was outstanding just being on the team with you, your presence was amazing. To share this honor with you is awesome. Brick, we started this together back in Mobile, Alabama (at the Senior Bowl) and now we close it up together. That's very special to me and something that is an awesome thing. Congratulations you two. I feel like I'm the third wheel here, so I appreciate you guys letting me in. But it's definitely an honor and I can't wait to start the celebrations."
Ferguson was a three-time pro-bowler and Mangold was a two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler. Revis was a three-time first-team All-Pro corner with the Jets (2000-11) and a five-time Pro Bowler with the Green & White (2008-11, 2015).
When you think of the playoff Jets from 2009-10 there are a lot of players that come to mind, but those three guys are right at the top of that list, and I’d argue that David Harris should be there as well. I think Harris’s time will come, he spent 10 years with the Jets and was one of the finest linebackers I’ve seen play the game, It’s a shame it’s not this year but hopefully, he gets his call in 2023.
There are now 21 members of the Jets ring of honor with Mangold, Revis, and Ferguson joining:
Weeb Ewbank - Coach
Mark Gastineau
Larry Grantham
Winston Hill
Joe Klecko
Curtis Martin
Don Maynard
Joe Namath
Freeman McNeil
Gerry Philbin
Al Toon
Wesley Walker
Marty Lyons
Wayne Chrebet
Leon Hess - Owner
Emerson Boozer
Kevin Mawae
My Twitter timeline has been on fire today with a discussion on the above comments from Jeff Ulbrich. I’ve largely stayed quiet because I wanted to collect my thoughts and really weigh up the pros and cons of this strategy.
The first thing I’ll say is that this is a defensive coordinator talking in June, a lot can change between now and kickoff against Baltimore.
Pros
✅ It will keep players fresh, there is logic there that the less you play the fresher you’ll be down the stretch. This also means that players can go at 100% on every snap, at least that's what Ulbrich alluded to above.
✅ It could prevent injuries, logic again would suggest that the less time you’re on the field the lower your odds of injury. Overuse of certain muscle groups can cause strains, pulls, and tears.
✅All of the above could prolong the careers of some of these players, again the key word is could because there is little historical data available for this.
Cons
🛑 On average the defense will be out there for around 60-70 snaps a game, having your best guys play around 50% limits their opportunities to make impact plays.
🛑 The Jets averaged 69 snaps per game on defense last season, you’re going to play Quinnen Williams on 43% of snaps? No rest is worth that.
🛑 Nearly every single top defensive lineman last year played more than 50% of their snaps for their respective teams, this just isn’t done in the NFL with your best players. Aaron Donald was at 90%, Jonathan Allen was was at 70%, Jeffery Simmons was at 85%, Arik Armstead was at 75% and Nick Bosa was at 78%. If we think Quinnen is a top guy he needs to be on the field more than 50% of the time.
🛑 The Jet’s depth at defensive tackle is pretty poor, do we really want Jonathan Marshall, Nathan Shepherd, and/or Sheldon Rankins playing 50% of defensive snaps?
Conclusion - I’m in favour of certain rotation policies, but if you’re paying JFM the kind of money you’re paying him, if you’re paying Lawson that kind of money, and want to give that top tier money to Quinnen Williams…they need to be playing 65% minimum. Williams in particular is a top-end talent but he’s never played significant snaps for the Jets, in that he’s never played the kind of snaps (over 70% that would allow him to produce top-end numbers.
Saying all of this, I'd be absolutely shocked…and I mean shocked if the Jets only play their best defensive lineman for only 30-35 plays a game. It's just not happening.
The 2006 draft had Brick at 4, and Nick at 29, a truly awesome first round, but two other players were in the fourth round made my list of favorites, in Leon Washington & Brad Smith. Appreciate the analytical breakdown of Ulbrich ‘s comments, it’s June, time to take a breath.
Let’s put JFM & Quinnen to the side, because playing them 30 snaps a game is lunacy. Why would Jeff say this ? You avoid weekly questions on Lawson during the season. Think it is sound to play Lawson 35 snaps a game after his devastating Achilles injury last year, the medical staff had input here, Achilles is not just a one year thing. What a motivating comment to the other 8-9 Defensive Lineman that are trying to make this team, that if you make the 53 you will get 30 snaps a game , OPPORTUNITY !! . Strain increases. This “Policy” promotes development, it’s about finding chemistry, it creates intensity, it’s about finding out who they are. For the first 8 games of the season this could be a smart policy decision. Let’s circle back to JFM & Williams. No problem with JFM with 35 snaps at DE and 15 at DT, none. 35 snaps for “ Q “ is malfeasance, although it is a long season and I can see possibly,
Four games at this reduced snap count. Certainly an increased snap count for Williams on any game is easy to explain. Question, does this policy effect Negotiations on Williams extension ? On another important note, Ulbrich states that the Jets are not getting a run stuffing DT. I find this disturbing and alarming that the Jets are going into the season , with TINY DT’s, but they will be tough, right. The Jets had the 32nd ranked Defense last year.
Both Gore and Fitzpatrick can go fly a kite - worse Jets in the history of the franchise. Gore decides he’s hurt the second he reached a milestone - total scumbag !