Gary Myers predicts that the Jets will be playing for the Lombardi Trophy next year, and also has some suggestions for who the Jets should take in the Draft.
Now that the 2009 season is over, it’s time for our annual day-after look at what’s going to happen next season.
It would be just the Jets’ luck that after a 41-year Super Bowl drought they finally make the game and then have to deal with playing in Jerry Jones’ billion-dollar palace in Arlington with 80% of the 100,000 fans rooting against them.
What happens in one NFL season in the free-agent era usually is not a good forecaster for the next year – the Saints finished last in the NFC South in ’08 – but with the restrictive changes in free agency in the upcoming and presumably uncapped year, player movement is going to slow down. That would allow teams a better opportunity to keep their rosters intact and build on strong finishes. Since free agency began in 1993, rosters have turned at about 30% per year.
The Jets and Cowboys each finished the regular season on a hot streak. The Jets won five of their last six games, then beat the Bengals and Chargers on the road in the playoffs and had a 17-6 lead two minutes before the half in the AFC Championship Game before Peyton Manning stepped on the gas.
That gives Rex Ryan something to build on as long as he can control himself and not flip off any more fans in the offseason. Mark Sanchez took a giant step in the playoffs and if Leon Washington is able to rebound from his broken leg and Mike Tannenbaum can find Sanchez a big-time receiver in the draft (Notre Dame’s Golden Tate or USC’s Damien Williams), then the Jets should be able to open up the offense.
I get why offensive skill position players are always sexy options for pundits. I love Myers, in that “you’re endearing in your feeble-mindedness” way but this is just bad football economics for the Jets, in my opinion. Could the Jets use a playmaking WR? Sure, but it’s like ordering a steak along with an all you can eat dinner buffet. Why would you do it?
In my mind, only if they are forced to give up Leon or Braylon FIRST via the RFA tendering process to another team (and then get extra draft picks) would they draft someone high like Tate or Williams. The Jets proved they can find talent late (see Stuckey, Chansi), so with corner and the lines needing help, there’s other priorities right now.
Final Eight/Four restrictions on free agents for this team, along with a semi-depleted larder of draft picks from the Edwards trade — there’s other more urgent needs. Factor in that the Jets used three of it’s four first picks since 2008 on offense (Keller, Sanchez, Greene — all targeted trade-ups too by the way) it seems that even though the defense was great in 2009, some of it was done with smoke and mirrors, and the unit needs some depth and upgrades.
A playmaking receiver? Don’t the Jets have three such capable individuals in Cotchery, Edwards and Keller? And don’t forget the flex-able Leon Washington!
The Jets ran the ball 607 times in 2009, that was 82 times more than the Panthers, the second team. The last time that a team ran as much during the season was the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers with 618 attempts. Sure, the Jets will look to throttle those numbers back, as they’re unsustainable from an injury perspective, but I’m sorry, drafting another receiver on team that Ryan has made clear is going to run the ball as much as the Jets will, seems like bad economic priciples to me.
Eddie – agree about not wanting a WR with #1, and prefer a pass rushing OLB or DE. I would add Kindle to list as there is a chance he slips.
fyi – Jerry Rice was a 1st rd pick, chad johnson a 2
Mamy have argued about TJ and how he shutdowned in the postseason. But you have to understand that he wont have a prayer running for 1400yds this season. He may get a little more than 300 carries, maybe less.. But the wealth will be shared evenly. Like I said, my only concern is Leon? I mean he says that he’s getting close and that he’s ahead of schedule, but what else do you want him to say.. The guy left good money on the table and took a shot in the dark on this season. His luck didnt pay off and here we are today.. As far as i’m concerned TJ isnt my main priority. That 5mil roster bonus is chump change. Let Shonn get another full season under his belt and then turn it over to him.
I’m on the short list, but I like Braylon;), It has to be frustrating breaking in a rookie qb w/ as little game experience as Sanchize. As much as Keller dropped passes this yr, Mark really didnt know how good Kells can be unil the playoff game. Now granted he runs a little slower than his combine #’s defined, but Keller will be nice. Everyone’s #’s were down this yr including Cotch, but I think you give Braylon, Cotch, and Kells a full offseason together, I guess sprinkle in a little Clowney and its not bad. Really can use Leon out of the backfield. Reestablishing the mismatch w/ the RB’s is a necessity. When he’s on his game Braylon is a Top 10 WR. Easily!
RJF
Me and you are right on the same page.
I totally agree about woodhead, our WRs we have and even leon.
I was sayin all year, Leon was a huge loss to our pass game, how many times in the past have we seen Leon catch a 3 yard pass out of the backfield and take it 25+ yards.
If Leon comes back healthy i think we are set on our skill players. We just need to grab a few Linemen, another CB and a pass rusher to go with Pace. Pace playing a full 16 games should bring up his sack total too.
Oh and for a D.
I think another year in this system will do wonders for many of the players.
Our D seemed to come on strong at the end of the year (though that always happens with a Rex Ryan D) alot of the little mistakes we made during the year will be cleaned up just by experience.
we were one stud CB away from being AFC champs. there’s no way were drafting a WR in the first round.
As I read this drivel written by Myers, I just couldn’t help but think that Gary is only stating his “Jets are SuperBowl bound” crap so he can write a negative article after a bad loss that ” many experts had this team as a Superbowl contender this year!”. Vegas has them as a 25-1 bet to win the big one. BTW – the Giants were just ahead of us.
What a jack-hole !
mel kiper is smart, very good at evaluating key positions at , which point a team is picking. jets pick 29th in this years draft. sanchez/revis are the jets playmakers. therefor surround these guys with good players, golden tate has great hands is physical,another cochery type player, perhaps a little faster..however having said that,i would,nt have a problem with a cb 1st round wr second round.
RJF – “Did you see the kid when he got in the Colts game… yup, took a hand-off and got smacked real f@$king hard and never got back in.”
I hate to defend Woodhead because everyone jumps all over the comments as if I’m declaring him to be the next Walter Payton, so before I start I’d just like to say that Woodhead’s best value might simply be as a guy that can fill in at two positions, just in terms of lining up in the right spot and not making a mistake. Still, that can be a useful type of guy to have on the roster, or ready to call up from the practice squad, just in case.
I did want to address your comment though, because Woodhead was inactive in the Colts game, unless you are talking about the original Colts game, where he didn’t carry the ball, but did catch an eight yard pass. I wonder if – with Greene out – they would have used him at RB in the second game had he been active. At least on third downs, I’m sure they’d have put him in there to spell TJ.
“He’s a pre-season wonder and it happens every year…”
Actually, he didn’t play last year in pre-season. This year was the first time he played because he was actually out injured all through his rookie year.
I’m sorry dogomatic, but what!? Last year Kiper got 5 of the first round picks correct. FIVE. He may be good at evaluating talent, but he’s awful at identifying real team needs and properly predicting the direction they’ll go in.
Stop with the Woodhead bashing. Guy takes big hits and gets right back up. He is younger than Welker and built in a similar mold. Only real question with Woodhead is whether he can play physically enough at the LOS to get space on his across the middle slant routes. He will have to work on getting seperation, route running, and he will need to be in the weight room all year. If he can do this, he can he our slot reciever, he has great hands.
Wolf,
The only real question is if he can become an actual WR. It’s not bashing the kid, it’s being realistic. He played his entire life as a RB and is now trying to transition to WR. He’s not in the same mold as Welker. Welker’s talent is in how quickly he gets in and out of cuts to create space. Woodhead is extremely fast, but is a one-cut runner, meaning he makes his one cut and usually maximizes his yards in a straight burst. If he is going to be used solely as a WR, than he shouldn’t be gaining weight, either. I think Bent has his role accurately labeled as a player who can fill in at two positions and not much else. It’d be wonderful if he could develop into a player that the Jets can use, but to say it’s merely a question of him being able to beat a jamming CB is way off.
There will be so many more guys available after cutdowns than usual this year, I’m sure we can grab a RB then from the waiver wire. I think it’s premature to worry too much about TJ’s age, it’s like a pre-emptive strike based on statistics, which can be misleading. Can the guy have a bad stretch (injuries don’t count) before we write him off? He got 1400 yards and 14TDS and was hurt for the last few games. I wouldn’t want him being my only good back, but with Greene, Leon and Brad Smith there to share the load, I think it’s just a no-brainer. Let’s fill real needs first, potential needs later.
Woodhead is not an NFL caliber player!!! He does not belong in the NFL. He is not anywhere near the player Welker is, and never will be. I’m emabrassed to have him on my team.
Ramble,
If you have Woodhead pegged so well as an NFL fraud, you should really let Rex and Tanny know that they’re screwing up with their talent evaluation skills. They obviuosly are under the impression that Danny is, at the least, capable of being a marginal player in this league.
I’m embarrassed to have a coach and GM who can’t tell the difference between an NFL caliber player and a beer-leaguer. Thank you for enlightening me.
Normally I would read the Post and Daily News articles about the Jets and never log on to post a comment, for years. But this year Gary Myers got me so hot under the collar with his Jet bashing… until we beat San Diego of course, that I had to take the time to log on and rip him a new one. Its like… how does a Dolfin fan get to write in our paper about the Jets.
Aiside from that we need a pass rusher to complment the blitz packages that Rex runs.