We’re now headed into the 3rd season of the Saleh/Douglas team and we’re literally still dealing with the exact same troubles and concerns we had when they arrived. We have no QB and no OL. I hope for once this FO has finally learned how fucking easy it is to turn around a defense. But having a great defense is worthless if you don’t have a QB and an OL. Sauce Gardner is awesome, seems to have generational talent. We will have wasted at least 2 years of that generational talent because we don’t have a QB or an offensive line. Without a QB or OL our best hope is to look like TEN, who makes the playoffs most of the time, sometimes convincingly, and then gets blown out on day one. Why? Because they don’t have a QB. I don’t want that future. I can care less how many games we win as a consolation prize for not having a QB, which is at best why we’ll get next season by signing a Carr/Garroppolo or any of those half decent QB’s we’re talking about. By the time Sauce Gardner’s first contract is up at best we’ll be developing another hopeful franchise QB, at worst we’ll be cap strapped by some ridiculously overpriced Vet that’s barely getting us anywhere. Most of your top CB’s want to be paid ridiculous money and get it. Sauce is gonna hold out or be gone. Then what? We need to start dedicating ourselves to being not just a solid overall team, but a juggernaut on offense. The goal of Douglas needs to be to field an offense that is in the top 5 in the league, and then build the best D he can around it with whatever resources he has left after building a great pffense. Every single resource in our scouting department needs to focus on QB, with secondary focus on OL and bonafide offensive playmakers. I’d much rather watch us lose 45-40 every week than this god awful display we’ve put on for the past decade. We’ve wasted so much elite defensive talent and gotten nowhere. When will we learn!
Scoring points will always be in fashion, just like having a top 10 QB will. How those things are accomplished can change over time. Count on the Jets to wear mom jeans when bell bottoms are coming back into fashion.
Has been a 2 decade long handbook on how to do it, and the current rules of football make it even more so. There’s nothing fashionable about it, draft a top QB and load the offense with talent. Period. There’s no other way to do it.
There are other ways to do it, they’re just not as effective. You’re trying to make it sound like it’s so easy that you could do it, though. I mean, how many Mannings, Montanas, and Marinos do you think enter the league every season? Why hasn’t every team drafted a Mahomes in the past 2 decades? After that, it’s the Jets we’re talking about. That’s not an excuse for them, but just like some people do their jobs better than others, some people own teams better than others. Our owner is clearly in over his head and the teams performance reflects that.
I agree with all of this and have been saying it for years. The only part I don't agree with - although you didn't really say this but I inferred it from your many other posts knocking Zach - is they need to invest that effort and commitment into the guy they took #2 overall last year. Yes, they also need to find a legit, experienced, winning QB to run things in the short term while the Zach Project is ongoing, and they also need to consider scrapping their "Shanahan Offense" since they can't seem to make it work with the players they actually have.
I’ve always thought you can build a defense through free agency but need to invest a bit more upfront in draft capital to build an offense. To be fair to Douglas, he’s done that and invested more capital in the offense than the defense. He just needs to fix the line. Everything else is workable around a good offensive line. Jared Goff has been one of the best QB’s in the league over the past two months because his line has played at an elite level and they have a running game that’s tough to stop.
This coming season is JDs 5th season of his 6 year contract. still no winning record, still no QB, still can’t win in the division. If we get the same result in year 5, he won’t see the lame duck year of that contract, and this whole thing will get blown up. Again.
In no way, shape, or form can or will this staff count on Wilson. If Wilson is a Jet next year, and that’s a big if, he will at very best be backing up a stopgap veteran. What I’m saying is if we sign a vet we also need to draft a QB in the 2024 first round. At that point maybe Zach will be good enough that a light goes on and we have a Brees/Rivers situation where we might find value in a trade for Zach or maybe he becomes the guy. But we must do everything to move forward as if Zach is a failed experiment regardless of the excuses why because he’s not shown anything at all that he’s capable, and to continue counting on him for anything spells doom for the coaching staff and franchise.
By LaFleur's own admission the Jets mishandled Zach's development. They - nor anyone else not privy to what the Jets actually tried to do with him - know whether he can be what they drafted him to be. If they decide to keep him, there's your answer: the Jets think he can be their future FQB at this point. Of course it would be professional malpractice if they didn't also sign/trade to get an experienced, successful QB to be the starter and finally allow Zach the ability to sit and learn behind him. But this being the Jets, and despite my belief that Douglas is the best GM they've had since at least Parcells, I won't be surprised if they fail again to do the right thing regarding QBs.
Did they mismanage Zach? Yes, by playing him, which is exactly what MLF said. Personally I feel we mismanaged the situation by drafting him in the first place. You may recall calling me a troll and a closet Pats fan for calling out the fact Zach was not a pro-ready QB nor was he worth the #2 pick nor should he have been starting as a rookie. But that’s water under the bridge. Zach is now in the shoes Mike White was wearing. The next time Zach shows up on an NFL field he will need to be nothing short of magnificent. White had 5 games this year to prove he’s worth being named starter. He got hurt, therefore he won’t have that chance, them’s the breaks. Now Zach has no shot of being a starter unless someone in front of him gets hurt AND he plays magnificently well. One bounce pass, one shitty read, one inexplicable interception, one handoff on a called pass play and he’s gone. Not only that, he’ll have to show long term magnificent, not just one game. No matter the circumstances, no matter the OL, no matter whether he has weapons or if he himself is struggling due to injury- if he’s anythibg short of magnificent he’s a goner. Because if he’s anything short of magnificent, including never actually having a shot to play at all, we will decline his 5th year and his chances here will be over and we’ll be drafting in 2024. Having seen what we’ve seen out of him, do you truly believe he’s gonna walk on the field his next time and be magnificent??
No, of course not. I've said it how many times that he needs to fix things and to sit and learn. IF...IF...he does that, then yes, it's very possible that he'll be "magnificent" after that growth. And FWIW, I don't recall saying those things about you. If I did, I apologize and admit I was overly optimistic.
Water under the bridge like I said. I appreciate your passion and your opinion even though we disagree. We both want the same goal, we all do honestly. I wanted to be wrong about Zach. I’ve been wrong about a ton, but my eyes just don’t see the greatness you feel he’s capable of. From mechanics, to leadership, to decision making he just seems sooo far behind in all 3 and he doesn’t have the athleticism and body frame to overcome those deficiencies like Allen did, for example.
I'm in total agreement that we're more likely to see more of the same than a significant improvement next season. The reality of the NFL and of most professional sports is that after three years you're likely to have seen all you are likely to see out of a GM. That's because the guy has tried everything in his books of tricks by that point and probably a few things improvised on the spot and it's still not good enough. The NFL is an extraordinarily competitive environment and you don't get any freebies just by showing up. My take on Douglas at this point is that he has an eye for talent but he doesn't have the patience required to get the most out of the draft. I think he overvalues veteran free agents and does not completely understand the NFL lifespan of a player. I think he probably gets a buzz out of getting a good trade done and is always looking for the next deal because that's the quickest way to promote value and it keeps the team on the back pages. I don't think there's anything that he does well that is likely to help the Jets make the move from underdog to contender. I think he can maintain them as a not terrible team with his blend of talents but I don't think he can make the next step up.
