Sweeping Changes

Edition #798

☀️ Good Morning ☕

Josh Allen is officially the NFL’s MVP, former Jets backup Kevin O’Connell wins coach of the year and Aaron Glenn finished third in the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year behind his colleague Ben Johnson and another candidate the Jets interviewed for the HC job, Brian Flores.

Following Sunday’s Super Bowl the sports world tends to switch into baseball mode, but here we’re switching into full off-season mode and there’s plenty to talk about.

🟢 Jets Drive released a new video yesterday that detailed the first 24 hours of Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey’s reign. Give that a look as I really enjoyed that one. It’s also only 22 minutes which for me is the perfect length.

🟢 Interestingly the 33rd Team had an article out detailing one free agent that each team should sign during free agency, and for the Jets they had a veteran corner in Stephen Gilmore signing a one year contract worth $5 million “It seems pretty likely that D.J. Reed will leave in free agency, and the New York Jets need another competent cornerback to pair with Sauce Gardner. They could opt for a younger option, but Stephon Gilmore is still a viable and cheap option. Adding him for just a few million could ensure that their secondary remains a strength.”

🟢 Sticking with the 33rd Team, they outlined every need for every team heading into the off-season. For the Jets it was QB, Edge, CB and S. Interestingly they didn’t have TE on that list and for me that’s one of our biggest needs considering we only have Jeremy Ruckert signed for 2025 who had more drops (3) than contested catches (1) last season. TE is a huge need for the Jets.

🟢 Kevin O’Connell was speaking about Sam Darnold recently and while he seems to indicate they will stay in touch, this certainly seems to me as though it’s likely Darnold will be playing elsewhere next season - "Look, you guys know how I feel about Sam," O'Connell said. "He is a guy that we identified last year as somebody who could come in and be successful. And really no matter where he was at before he arrived in his quarterback journey, it was about maximizing our time together. And I think we did that, and I think it was a very special year for Sam. And what that earned him is, everybody in our league now thinks he's a bona fide legitimate starting quarterback and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them [in 2024]. So he's earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation."

🟢 Here’s another mock draft for you, this time from PFF. They have the Jets taking CB Will Johnson from Michigan - “With Aaron Glenn now leading the Jets, Gang Green’s defensive identity isn’t going anywhere. In Detroit, Glenn deployed the highest rate of Cover 1 in 2024, emphasizing cornerbacks who excel in man coverage. Johnson’s combination of size and understanding of leverage made him highly effective in those situations. He earned a 90.8 PFF grade in man coverage in 2022 and 2023 before battling injuries in 2024. With D.J. Reed set to hit free agency, finding a cornerback to pair with Sauce Gardner will be a top priority for New York.” I think I’ve said this before but I wouldn’t mind this at all, pairing someone with Johnson’s talents with Sauce Gardner would give the Jets two elite outside corners for the foreseeable future. Got to stop the pass to win championships.

While we’ve been through the new Head Coach and General Manager cycle far too often, this one feels a little different. A little more thorough, a little more ruthless.

The Jets will start next season with very little carry over in the coaching staff. They’ll start with a new GM, and they’ll start with a lot of new front office personnel.

This isn’t a little shakeup, this is an earthquake that’s shaking the foundations.

We’ve tried the slight changes. We’ve tried the friendly restructuring and the minor manoeuvring, it’s not worked. Not only are we not winning, but we seem to have stories relating to franchise dysfunction on a yearly basis.

Numerous front office personnel have been let go already and I expect that to continue in the lead up and following the NFL draft. You can’t start completely fresh at this point in the cycle, but the Jets and Darren Mougey are making changes where they can.