Clinkscales has had some previous interviews with other teams, but nothing has worked out for him so far.  Clinkscales does a great job of running the draft program, for the Jets, so I’m happy that he’s staying on for at least another year.  Sooner or later a guy as smart as Clinkscales will get a job elsewhere, but in the meantime, I’m happy the Jets can keep him in one of their most important draft classes since 2006.

Ferguson’s struggles went relatively unnoticed, however, because of Wayne Hunter’s spectacular meltdown on the other side of the line. Hunter was charged with 8.5 sacks and 11 penalties according to ESPN New York, and his inability to handle the outside rush essentially took every deep pass out of the playbook. An upgrade here is a necessity. Better blocking out of the tight ends would also help New York re-establish its running attack.

It’s a great point.  The Jets have to address the running game not solely with a stud running back, but with at least 1.5 more blockers in the form of  a Right Tackle and a Tight End.  For as good a set of personnel as the Jets have had on the line in the past, they have to be wary.  Brick is a great pass blocker, but run-blocking has never been his game.  That means the Jets are going to run right a lot more than they are going to run left, so when a team knows where to key those linebackers, then it makes it even harder when the Right Tackle and blocking Tight End can’t block they way they need to.

It would be one thing if a team expected the Jets to do something and couldn’t stop them from doing it, but last year proved that the Jets running game couldn’t over-execute the tendencies of their plans.  That has to change.  Sparano will help, but for that to make a real change, it means the Jets need to get better personnel to run-block.

Now I will oddly snap my head around like Papa John.

Better ingredients, better running game.

With the Jets now looking towards 2012, so are we.  As we think about the needs the Jets have to fill before getting to training camp, we wanted to hear your thoughts on the most critical positions that the team needs to address with potential starters this offseason.  Of course this list will fluctuate as the team cuts, extends or signs players, so we’ll try and update it regularly.  For now, here’s the first shot.

1 Safety (Same)— Rex Ryan is demanding on safeties.  He likes flexible players who can cover or play up in the box — oh and they have to be really smart.  Jim Leonhard is the only player the Jets had on their roster that fit all those criteria, and he did it at a size and range smaller than most anyone else in the league. Again, the reason it’s so critical is because the team should really address at least two spots one way or another.  The consensus seems to be that Jim Leonhard wants to return … but he’s a free agent and it’s risky.  He’s also had two season ending injuries in the past two years.  The Jets are going to have to bring in at least one maybe two outsiders in 2012.

2 Offensive Line  (Same) — Whatever the Jets are doing with Wayne Hunter, the hope now is that it’s not as a starter.  The Jets are set at Left Tackle, Center and Right Guard for another year, but hopefully Mangold’s injury will put into perspective just how delicate this unit is right now.  Ducasse showed some very raw talent when he did see the field in 2011, and Rob Turner might be coaxed into returning since he’s coming off an injury, but the Jets have to find a front-line Right Tackle for this team … hopefully a veteran they can get on the cheap or in the first two round of the NFL Draft.   Slauson could be upgraded, but he cannot be moved to the Tackle spot as he’s just not athletic enough to do so.

3 Wide Receiver (Same) — Patrick Turner signed a new contract, Santonio is returning, Plax might not.  Kerley will only get better, the Jets might be limiting the role of their pass catching TE  … so it’s a pass catching mixed bag.  The Jets need to find another player who has the ability to start for this offense, or be a third option at the least.

4 Outside Linebacker (Same) — The Jets have needed a young three down OLB since Ryan has come to the team.  Bryan Thomas is a free agent and Calvin Pace’s future with the team could be in question.  Maybin might deserve to see more time on the field, but the Jets have to start thinking about a line of succession at this spot just like they did with the defensive line last offseason.

5 Tight End (Up from 6) — Sparano generally asks his Tight Ends to block in-line, and occasionally run 20 yard corner routes, so Dustin Keller’s role has to be considered in flux with new Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano.  Without a passing coordinator to balance out Sparano’s desire to use Tight Ends to run and block, at the very least the team has to think about who will be the starter in 2013.

6 Inside Linebacker (Down from 5) — Maybe nothing will change here.  The Jets figured out that nice three safety rotation well last year, and it worked more than it didn’t.  The Jets are going to have to pay Bart Scott whether he’s suiting up or not, so why not have him on the team?  His future might be in question, and his salary is a drain on a role that could be done a lot cheaper, but as the other ILB spot goes so might Harris’s.  We know what Scott can do, so while the team is going to think about an eventual replacement, the money might not dictate it this year.

Our friends over at PFF looked at the AFC East and some trends they noticed on each team this year and mentioned three players from the Jets who are trending.

Most improved player? John Conner.

In Year 1, about the only thing Conner had going for him was a cool nickname. The Terminator’s performances didn’t quite live up to the expectations and he found himself limited to 138 snaps as he was outplayed by veteran Tony Richardson. A year later, and as the Jets’ top fullback, Conner turned around his performance to finish seventh overall in our FB rankings. It’s quite telling that a fullback was the most improved player on the Jets’ roster.

The offensive line didn’t give him the same clean blocks he might have gotten the year prior, but Conner certainly had the opportunity to hone his blocking skills this year.  Conner played well for the Jets, and if the Jets can stabilize their offensive line going into 2012, their running game should be put in good stead by their new coach, (hopefully) more consistent line, and lead blocker.

The biggest dropoff?  Santonio Holmes.

The scary thing about that 2010 number is it doesn’t do justice to the year Holmes had, with picking up a +10.3 for his receiving, and only penalties, rushing and blocking. So good was his performance (as it has been for the prior two years to 2010), you understood why the former Steeler got the money he did. That entire combination just adds–along with the seeming attitude issues–to the disappointment in the year Santonio Holmes had. Mark Sanchez didn’t help, but Holmes just catching 52% of balls thrown his way isn’t all on his QB. We know how good he is, so a bounce back year is a strong possibility, but it’s worrying that after getting paid, he put forth a year like this.

If I had to stake my life on whether or not Santonio was going to come back to the Jets in 2012 and rack up more than 1000 yards, more than 10TDs, and more than 70 catches, I’d bet against it.  That’s how strongly I feel about his inability to be the Jets #1 receiver.  1A? Sure.  But he’s not a pure #1. In Houston, Andre Johnson has carried that receiving corps on his shoulders for years.  Tone isn’t capable of that level of production.

Now could all the hate propel Tone?  Potentially, but how long does that last? A season at best?  Maybe the Jets will get a better receiver to play with him to get him cleaner routes.  Maybe Sanchez will get better.  Maybe Tone will like the new offensive coordinator better and not have his agent throw him under the bus anonymously.  Maybe he’ll stop acting like a spoiled child.  Maybe.

By everything I hear or have seen, he’s not liked in the locker room, he’s not liked in the press room, and he’s not even really liked in the postgame VIP hangout room … but the Jets are paying him regardless of production for the next two years.  What is going to make him want to grind?  Want to put in extra time when the chips are down?  We already saw what he’s capable when the season is on the line during the last week of the season by showing up his QB in front of others, then quitting.

I’m a firm believe that no person is just good or just bad.  Does Tone do good for charity?  Yes. Did he take a trip to Africa with Digs? Yes, he absolutely did.  But now that he has his money, he’s shown his true colors and honestly I’m reminded of what I see on the bottom of my shoe after a trip to the dog park.

Can Tone be a great complement?  Without a doubt, but I think he can only flourish when there’s other legitimate threats to pull attention away from him.  His best seasons were when he had Braylon Edwards or Hines Ward taking attention from opposing secondaries.  Plax didn’t do enough for him, and so he struggled.  The Jets threw more than they did in 2010, Santonio played four more regular season games than he did in 2010 and he still was statistically flat.  He had very few breakout plays, and if he did, he then fumbled or made poor decisions (celebration penalty).

Phew.  Demons, exorcised.

Who needs more snaps?  Mayhem of course!

Give some credit to Maybin this year who looked like a ton of wasted potential after the Bills opted to move on from him. He kept going, though, and caught on with the Jets and produced (as a pass rusher) when the opportunity presented himself. Maybin finished the year as the Jets top-graded pass rusher by some distance, so the Jets need to find a way to get him on the field for more than the 197 snaps they managed to with them. It’s rather telling that his 24 combined sacks, hits, and hurries were bettered only by Calvin Pace, who managed just 12 more on 185 extra pass rushes.

We agree that Maybin could use more time on the field.  But one of Rex Ryan’s guiding principles is to stop the run first, and let the pass rush will take care of itself.

But to earn that time, he has to be able to move laterally … that or the Jets really need to think long and hard about how they utilize him.  He’s fantastic at rushing the passer, but he can be a liability in front-side run stopping.  The Jets are either going to have to make him the designated weak-side backer, or figure something else creative out that I can’t even think of.  The more Maybin is on the field, the more teams will just run right at him and until he can prove he can play the run, there’s no way they can keep him on the field consistently.

I am 95% sure Eskin posted about Plax just to get under Philly fan’s skin and push them to yell at him more on his radio show.  Eskin is an idiot.

So he’s like the Mike Francesa of Philadelphia, with the one major difference being that he basically caused a murder.  OK, that makes more sense now.

Either way, I don’t expect Plaxico to return to the Jets in the role of $3 million dollar man.  We saw enough last year to know that he has his place in an offense, and it’s in the red zone.  But beyond that, he can’t do enough as a #2 to help out a #1 receiver who needs all the help he can get.

• Todd Haley gets introduced in Pittsburgh. [SI]
• What’s the future look like for Mark Sanchez. [ESPN]
• Wherefore Wayne Hunter? [AFCE ESPN]
• Where’s Manning’s best chance? [AFCE ESPN]
• Jets have depth at RB going into the draft. [NewYorkJets]
• Is Mikey T. slipping? [B/R]
• Penning thinks it’s time to file his retirement papers. [Palm Beach Post]

Saw and talked to Plaxico Burress at Super Bowl and told me he wants to play for Eagles. Badly!

February 8, 2012 12:42 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@howardeskin

Howard Eskin

Oh no … what ever will the Jets do without a tall, slow receiver, who made over three million dollars last year and who can’t catch a pass between the 20s?

Actually, with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy and Brent Celek already in-house, that setup might suit him better … he wouldn’t have to be the #1 or #2, he could be a role player as I think we all saw he needs to slide into at this point of his career.

1) They didn’t want to cut the one guy who actually had the stones to stand up to Santonio’s hissy-fit the very same day that Holmes got his money guaranteed.
2)  They figure that whoever they would get as the next backup Tackle would cost just as much as Hunter did.
3) Even though his  money is guaranteed, maybe there’s some loophole to getting him to take less against the cap this year even so to which I’m not privy.
4) Sparano thinks it’s correctable.

Honestly, I thought it was a dicey move when the Jets signed him last summer as their starter, and a year of him in such a role has not disabused me of that notion.  So for me, it’s not a great sign that he wasn’t cut, but the loophole here is that the team could still see if he’s willing to restructure in some way to make his presence more palatable, or maybe they have restructured him already without anyone having knowledge of it openly – though with the hounds on the trail on this one … I kind of doubt it.

Generally, Mike Tannenbaum operates by a “I don’t throw away what I don’t need to throw away” policy, so the fact that they didn’t cut him outright for the gained savings it would have offered tells me everything I need to know about Vladimir Ducasse and his level of readiness for 2012.  Whatever bill of goods they tried to sell us last offseason isn’t working, and not cutting Hunter is proof enough.

It doesn’t make sense for me to come back and try to play. I know I can get healthy. I know I can be ready for training camp and do all those things. But can I take a hit? After four shoulder surgeries, that’s a question that’s hard to answer right now. That’s something that’s out of my control. I can control being strong enough, accurate enough, and smart enough. But I can’t control not being able to take a hit in the wrong angle.

- Former Jets QB Chad Pennington

The New York Jets tried out three players this week, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation.

They tried out former UCLA kicker Justin Medlock, former Illinois defensive end Jerry Brown and former Northwest Mississippi Community College wide receiver Michael Lindsey.

None of the players was immediately signed to a contract, though.

Justin Medlock is a journeyman kicker.  He’s had some experience as a kicker back in 2007, his first year in the NFL when he was drafted by the Chiefs in the 5th round.  He was shaky in the preseason and the team eventually cut him in favor of Dave Rayner.   Since it’s been cups of coffee in the NFL and game experience in the CFL.  Last year Medlock kicked for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Brown was a Defensive Lineman at Illinois, and would likely play linebacker for the Jets based on his size (6’5″ 265 lbs.), but he didn’t test well last year speed-wise (4.84) so that might limit his ability to play the edge spot.  Last year he played with the Jacksonville Sharks in the AFL.

Lindsey was a rookie in 2011 with the AFL’s Tampa Bay Storm.  He had a solid rookie season on the way to breaking the team record for kickoff return yards in a season.  Learn more about Lindsey here and here.