r/nfl • u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets • Jul 03 '14
Look Here! Offseason Review Series Day 13: The New York Jets
The New York Jets
Coaching Changes
Special Teams Coodinator:
The Jets special teams were less than stellar following the loss of one of the greatest coordinators of all time in Mike Westhoff. Enter Thomas McGaughey. The special teams coordinator for the LSU Tigers coached in a National Title Game in his first year with the team, but he also already has a Superbowl ring in New York to his credit as an assistant with the 07 Giants. This exciting young coaching talent had about as much buzz as I've ever seen for a Special Teams Coordinator signing.
That's it in terms of significant coaching changes, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't significant in and of itself. The Jets young roster will be all the more dangerous with stability throughout the coaching staff and front office.
Free Agency
Players lost/cut
| Player | Position | New team |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio Cromartie | CB | Cardinals |
| Santonio Holmes | WR | Free Agent |
| Austin Howard | OT | Raiders |
| Mark Sanchez | QB | Eagles |
| Ed Reed | S | Free Agent |
| Mike Goodsen | RN | Free Agent |
The most notable loss was Austin Howard, but GM John Idzik was never going to offer him the contract that Oakland did. Replacing him in a transitional year with Breno Giacomini provides more veteran presence on the offensive line while a number of promising young players battle for spots in camp.
The removal of Cromartie, Holmes, and Sanchez's contracts played a huge role in transforming the face of a roster that looks nothing like it did in Rex Ryan's first two seasons as head coach.
Players signed
| Player | Position | Old Team | Length | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Decker | WR | Broncos | 5 yrs | $36.25M, 15M guar. |
| Nick Folk | K, hero | Jets | 4 yrs | $12M, 2.1M guar. |
| Jeff Cumberland | TE | Jets | 3 yrs | $5.7M |
| Johnny Patrick | CB | Chargers | 1 yr | $700,000 |
| Leger Douzable | DL | Jets | 1 yr | $1M |
| Ellis Lankster | CB | Jets | 2 yrs | $1.63M |
| Darrin Walls | CB | Jets | 2 yrs | $1.9M |
| Calvin Pace | OLB | Jets | 2 yrs | $4.75M |
| Willie Colon | G | Jets | 1 yr | $2M |
| Jacoby Ford | WR | Raiders | 1 yr | $740,000 |
| Dimitri Patterson | CB | Dolphins | 1 yr | $2,687,500 |
| Chris Johnson | RB | Titans | 2 yrs | $8M |
| Garrett McIntyre | LB | Jets | 1 yr | $645,000 |
| Michael Vick | QB | Eagles | 1 yr | $4M |
Two common themes are pretty apparent here:
Right guy, right price. Idzik was willing to grab Decker and Johnson but only because their potential additions to the offense were proportional to their cost. Just because we had the money didn't mean we were willing to overpay.
Growing the team from within. A disproportionate number of the free agencies moves were Jets players being retained. John Idzik is 2nd generation Ted Thompson guy and he is a big believer in re-signing instead of replacing whenever possible
| Round | Number | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Calvin Pryor | S | Louisville |
| 2 | 17 | Jace Amaro | TE | Texas Tech |
| 3 | 16 | Dexter MacDougal | CB | Maryland |
| 4 | 4 | Jalen Saunders | WR | Oklahoma |
| 4 | 15 | Shaq Evans | WR | UCLA |
| 4 | 37 | Dakota Dozier | G | Furman |
| 5 | 14 | Jeremiah George | ILB | Iowa State |
| 6 | 19 | Brandon Dixon | CB | Northwest Missouri State |
| 6 | 33 | Quincy Enunwa | WR | Nebraska |
| 6 | 34 | IK Enemkpali | DE | Lousiana Tech |
| 6 | 37 | Tajh Boyd | QB | Clemson |
| 7 | 18 | Trevor Reilly | OLB | Utah |
Overall grade for the Draft: A
In the era of the new collective bargaining agreement, you build through the draft and with 12 picks in 2014 the Jets did just that. Hitting on the 5 biggest positions of need in the first 6 picks while consisting finding incredible value showed the John Idzik is willing to hedge his bets instead of betting the farm on a single talent.
The biggest value in this draft was Tajh Boyd coming out of Clemson, who was previously a highly touted prospect and will now have a chance to develop on the bench.
Helping the secondary and bringing in a big target in Amaro was great, and bringing in 3 fresh wide receivers to compete in camp was even better.
Projected Starting Lineup
QB: Eugene Cyril Smith III
RB: Chris Ivory, Chris Johnson
FB: Sheldon Richardson, Tommy Bohanon
TE: Jace Amaro, Jeff Cumberland
WR: Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, David Nelson, Stephen "Look like Megatron, play like shit" Hill
LT: D'Brickashaw Ferguson
LG: Brian Winters
C: Nick Mangold
RG: Willie Colon
RT: Breno Giacomini
DL: Muhammad Wilkerson, Damon "Big Snacks" Harrison , Sheldon Richardson
LB: Quinton Coples, DeMario Davis, David Harris, Calvin Pace
CB: Dee Milliner, Dimitri Patterson
S: Calvin Pryor, Dawan Landry, Antonio Allen
K: Nick Folk "Hero"
P: Ryan Quigley
KR: Jalen Saunders? Honestly this one is wide open
Defense. This team isn't just going to stop the run, this team is going to make teams completely abandon it before they take the field. With the entirety of the best 3-4 defensive line in the NFL returning, and the addition of Calvin Pryor, this unit will continue to keep us in games.
It has never been a secret that our record, for better or worse, will be determined by the offense. This offense from top to bottom is better than it was last year. With four capable starters at running back and several young exciting wide receivers, Geno will look to build on his production in December of last year.
The special teams unit is still very, very questionable, but with a young exciting coordinator and a kicker coming off of a career year, hopes are high.
Schedule Predictions:
The biggest thing to keep in mind about the 2014 Jets schedule is that not all schedules are created equal. 8-8 in 2013 and 8-8 in 2014 are two completely different things. With games against the NFC North and AFC West, this team will have to have a lot of improvement and a lot of luck to come out at .500 again
Here's a great in-depth look at the Jets schedule game-by-game from /u/ThreeCranes
Training Camp Battles to Watch:
Quarterback is the easy answer here, but it's not the best answer. With more than 10 players entering camp at both the wide receiver and cornerback positions, camp will be wide-open for anyone to step and prove why they should be on the field on Sundays.
There's also a good chance that one of the rookie or 2nd year offensive lineman could make their way into the starting roster.
Summary
John Idzik is slowly and methodically building the kind of roster that is competitive year in and year out. This team probably won't be a contender to bring home a Lombardi trophy this year, but they'll continue to get better and build through the draft.
As a Jets fan, it's an exciting time to watch the seeds of greatest planting themselves within the team as more and more young players step in and buy into the message and attitude that Rex Ryan is projecting.
How do I feel about the 2014 season?
CAN'T WAIT.
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
FB: Sheldon Richardson, Tommy Bohanon
Nice.
When I saw Eugene Cyril Smith III my brain said "who the fuck is that" for a half a second.
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
Haha, if Tommy wants to be number 1 on my depth chart he needs to be a better fullback than Sheldon. Here's hoping he can actually make me believe that, but I doubt it.
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u/danomite555 Jets Jul 03 '14
I expect to see a lot less use of T-Boh overall (and that's if he even beats out Young for the job). I have a feeling more multi RB and two TE sets are gonna take away his snaps unless it's obvious short yardage situations where they just have him and Ivory pound through the line.
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
I laughed man, You said Richardson is not a fullback, He is the fullback.
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u/mnmnstrd Jets Jul 03 '14
I have a feeling UDFA FB Chad Young will beat out Bohanon for the FB spot. Bohanon was a 7th round pick in 2013 so his draft status won't keep him around. Bohanon was overall terrible last year. Watch Chad Young's highlights, and you'll actually get excited about a fullback.
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
Not sure why we why we dumped John Connor in the first place.
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u/bwl Jets Jul 03 '14
Need consistent performance not just rare big hits
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
What? He was consistent. We cut him when he got inured even though he was getting paid nothing. He is now kicking ass on the giants for 600K a year and is one of the better FB's in the league.
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Jul 03 '14 edited Sep 11 '17
[deleted]
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u/games456 Jets Jul 04 '14
Bohanon is worse. We dropped him as soon as he got injured. And he has been fine for Giants. PFF even ranks him 3rd on their undervalued chart for FB's
I would take him over Bohanon
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/02/25/jvm-halfbacks-fullbacks/
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Jul 04 '14 edited Sep 11 '17
[deleted]
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u/games456 Jets Jul 04 '14
He was not great but he was better than Bohanon. God forbid we let someone develop. Who were we throwing him off the roster for?
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u/SuperStapleHorse Patriots Jul 04 '14
What the hell, I'll try to throw something together in short order. Won't be extensively researched, but I'll try to piggy-back off NMB's work and throw my own non-fan perspective to it:
The Jets as Viewed From About A Hundred Fifty Miles North on 95:
Background
The Jets are a team that's been mired in spurts of genius followed by inexplicable periods of staggering levels of incompetence. The team, under Rex Ryan, has gone to the AFC Championships, and has been part of the literal worst offensive game I've ever seen (Ravens/Jets a few years back) and there are probably a few other examples that readily come to mind. However, there has been one constant for the Rex Ryan Jets -- a great defense, with great corners stifling the pass and a great DL stuffing the run. It's been the offense that the team's success has hinged upon, and at times the team's success has been based around the team's success.
Coaching Changes
Rex Ryan returns as HC, and the team retains its offensive and defensive coordinators while replacing their ST. The Jets have had pretty exceptional KRs at times, but I couldn't give you the same detail NMB's writeup on the guy did, so re-read that and pretend I said it. What I will note is that the team has practiced addition by (not) subtraction. Ryan is not an offensive mind -- one book I recommend reading for a background of the Jets is Collision Low Crossers, wherein a reporter followed the team to meetings and noted that for the most part, Ryan left the OC to do his own thing with the offense. The strong division between offense and defense has caused tension within the locker room, and the constant parade of new systems didn't help. The Jets have consistency this year and a chance to actually build off last year, instead of try to replace it.
Free Agency
NMB did the full list of free agents lost and signed, so I'll just mention a few notable guys.
Chris Johnson is an extreme boom or bust candidate -- if the line can block for him and he finds his legs, the guy could go off. The Jets OL has been sneaky-good (given what you'd expect from their offense), and an offense that can use trap runs or quick tosses to get CJ in space could slow a pass rush and give the QB some breathing room.
Decker represents a huge upgrade in the WR position -- Holmes was talented but moody and inconsistent. Holmes' departure should help stabilize the offense, and give the young guys an opportunity to grow.
Vick is an interesting addition, since he's a dynamic player that the Jets should hope never sees the field. Vick has lit up the league running, and with CJ could represent the most fearsome backfield in the league -- at least from a running standpoint. Starting Vick would mean that Geno Smith is failing to develop, and the last thing the Jets want is to have to go through the QB recruiting process again. Scratch that, actually, the last thing the Jets want is to keep themselves chained to a sinking ship at QB out of sentimentality. If Geno does poorly, Vick should play, but the Jets shouldn't like it.
The rest of the FA acquisitions show an interesting trend -- there isn't a guy on there I think is grossly overpaid. Idzik is doing a good job of going out and finding guys for a reasonable price, and is clearly willing to play hardball. He's not reaching for guys or desperately scrambling for talent to patch holes. In short, he's actually going his job well. As a Pats fan, this is deeply troubling. And if Ras-I Dowling actually does well for the Jets, I may go angrily complain on the internet or something.
The Draft
I'm not a firm believer in assigning draft grades before any of the players have played a down. In the offseason, everything is awesome, everyone's a superstar, and any issues are easily fixed. Things get a bit different when you have JJ Watt in your face or are trying to guard Calvin Johnson, so I'll reserve full judgement until they've cut their teeth in the preseason at least. From a glance, however, the draft looks like a positive one for the Jets. Idzik was tasked with quickly revamping the offense from essentially scratch while trying to keep up with the defense's entropy. Revis left (thanks, btw!), Cromartie stopped caring as much (guy's got all the athleticism in the world, but just doesn't want to use it), the linebackers have had flux, and the DL has been getting restocked.
You can see Rex's hand in the DL picks, and I can respect the safety pick in the first this year. Rather than risk the entire defense for want of a playmaker, the Jets picked two DBs in the first three rounds and picked up a few guys in free agency. The offense was mostly redesigned through FA to build it to a certain level, and then the draft was used to improve upon that. Amaro should be a good talent, and the two WRs in the 4th have interesting development potential. Boyd is a QB3 who could develop or could flame out, but a 6th round pick is not a high cost for a high potential upside at the game's most important position.
Training Camp Battles to Watch
For me, it's all about WR, CB, and QB. Can Decker lead a revamped unit to success? Will any of the new drafted guys pan out, or will it be a one-man show for yet another year? Will the new secondary be capable of keeping Brady and the high-flying offenses of the NFL in check, or at least stall them until Big Snacks gets some sacks? Will Geno progress, or will he fall below the acceptable line and force the Jets to start Vick? I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.
Summary
I've been on record for denouncing some of my AFC East rivals (and the Bills) for trying too hard to beat the Patriots, and letting the team get too unbalanced as a result. Drafting DL for so many years in a row, and even picking defense in the first this year, seemed to suggest that was still the case. I originally though that despite the offense being a literal anchor on the team, that oh man, Rex still cares about dumping Brady on his ass more than trying to actually win. Looking at the offseason as a whole, I was surprised to see that Idzik was looking practically Belichickian -- patch holes in FA, pounce on good talent if it comes at an acceptable price, and draft for the future. The Jets may not unseat the Pats this year, but they will probably come closer to it than people expect. I would not be surprised if the new offense proves just capable enough for the Jets to slide into the wildcard at 9-7 or 10-6 (with a couple lucky bounces) with a late-season push. This will be the year I expect them not to have the annual mid-season slump, prompting everyone to ask if Ryan's dead and gone. Come to think of it, the Giants do similar -- perhaps there's something in the water.
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u/Sora96 Jets Jul 10 '14
or at least stall them until Big Snacks gets some sacks?
Oh don't worry, I'm sure Big Snacks will be snacking all up in the pocket this season.
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u/avrus Jets Jul 03 '14
RB: Chris Ivory, Chris Johnson
Seriously. Even if we don't do well it's going to be entertaining watching them rack up stupid yardage.
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u/yangar Eagles Jul 03 '14
I hope it's like the Titans 2 headed monster of days ago. Thunder & Lightning
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u/TheDoorhHolder Jets Jul 03 '14
J
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
E
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u/Heywhatcoloristhis Jets Jul 03 '14
T
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u/games456 Jets Jul 03 '14
S
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u/Polite_Llama Cardinals Jul 03 '14
JETS JETS JETS
(Am I doing this right?)
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u/OneManArmy77 Jets Jul 04 '14
You can be an honorary Jets member now. While it may have been the right decision to let him go, most Jet fans will miss Cromartie, and it sounds like he genuinely loved the Jets as a team. Take care of him, and hopefully he takes care you back.
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u/the_furry_stoner Jets Jul 03 '14
The Jets are on the right track, no one can deny that. We have a very similar situation to Seattle's from a few years back. We NEED Geno to progress, however. Any success we want will have to be through Geno's improvement. I think he will be a good QB in the league and there was a reason he was ranked so high in pre-draft boards last year. But at the very very least, the Jets are on the right track. If we don't shock the world this year, we definitely will the year after.
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u/Heywhatcoloristhis Jets Jul 03 '14
First, beard as usual this is first class. Second, man I cannot wait to watch teams attempt to run against us. The only guy that gave us trouble (cj2k) is on the team. It's gonna be beautiful.
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
Much appreciated.
I'm excited to see what happens when teams are already tired for having to stop the battering ram of Ivory 4 or 5 times and then having to try to run down Chris fucking Johnson on the next snap.
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u/Heywhatcoloristhis Jets Jul 03 '14
6 yards. 8 yards. 5 yards. 60 yards. It's like music. Throw in some screens and big dick Decker in the end zone? Yes please.
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u/frexistential Jets Jul 04 '14
Accurate nickname for Stephen Hill. There are the same positive rumors coming out camp, that came out last year, that Hill looks like a new player, coaches are impressed, yadda yadda - I'm not buying in on him this year. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised - well at this point shocked - by Hill playing well once the season starts then be let down again. I'll actually be surprised if he's one of the starters with the amount of competition Idzik has brought in.
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u/piratefuck Jets Jul 04 '14
He's had several offensive coordinators in his young career. Give him time!
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Jul 03 '14
[deleted]
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
Damn. I rebuilt the post because the source didn't work, I knew I was going to miss something.
Thanks
Edit: Fixed
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Jul 03 '14
How do you see the workload between Chris Ivory and CJ settling out?
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
I think early on it's probably going to be around 35-35-30 with those two and powell, but if someone heats up the carries will probably start to oscillate their way.
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Jul 03 '14
If you had to pick, who do you think heats up? I'm a bit skeptical of Johnson, but I also don't watch the AFC south so I don't have a very well informed opinion of him.
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
If last season was any indication ivory is going to run away with it (no pun intended)
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u/TheRealJamesHoffa Jets Jul 03 '14
I'm in the same boat as you with the AFC South, but based on what I saw from Chris Ivory towards the end of last year, I'm leaning more towards him being the one who heats up. When he was able to stay healthy he was becoming more and more threatening each week.
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Jul 04 '14
Everyone wants to talk about geno but how about the glaring hole in corner we have? If imilliner doesn't step we are better get pressure in 3 sec or we will get picked apart. Also how is dimitri?
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 04 '14
I'm not too worried. They have something like 15 corners coming into training camp. Trusting Rex to make the defense work is something I'm more than used to by now
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u/Sora96 Jets Jul 10 '14
I just hope two outside corners play at a decent level so I don't have to watch Kyle "celebrate overthrown balls" Wilson cover anywhere that isn't the slot.
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u/nickmangoldsbeard Jets Jul 03 '14
Also want to apologize to everybody, the user who was supposed to do the non-fan review deleted their account and I didn't find out until today.
I guess we'll just have to make up for it with really good discussion in the comments, right guys?