Green Lantern - Great Article Finally, a columnist (Jeff Capellini) who covers the team professionally AND gives them credit for their off-season moves. He appears to be a cautiously optimistic writer who loves what he does and pays attention to the details. If you are on twitter, or whatever social media you use, pick this guy up and make him our guy. Let's give good journalists the attention they deserve. Go JETS! http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05...tter-than-many-are-willing-to-accept/#respond
Wow. Sensibility from a media head. That article is even more level headed than Manish's stuff when he took over for Dick Cimini-me.
Nice. Rare to read some optimism. Hell ya I agree. My biggest concern is the Bryan Thomas/ Calvin Pace combo, and what they have left. Demario Davis and Coples' contributions in their rookie years will go a long way in determining how the defense performs. K. Ellis and Mo Wilkerson too.
A breath of fresh air. Many of us should take his inputs to heart. He points out some very good changes not the least of which is a return to basics, improve on the things we do well and avoid getting too smart for our own good by putting players at risk and forcing them into a system they are not able to succeed at.
Great article. This quote sums it up nicely. "The Jets will be fine. Trust in that. Those who insist otherwise just haven’t been paying attention or are ill-equipped to look at the big picture, or, as I assume is the real reason, simply want this franchise to fail."
Who here doesn't acknowledge the points he raises? I still maintain Jets are in for a long season, despite the improvements. At least 2 years away. (Long-term SS/FS/RT/OLB are not 1-year holes)
You may be correct in your assessment, but there is the chance that this defense rebounds from last year (even though it was still considered a pretty good defense) and that the offense gets better, which in and of itself should make for a playoff run. And as we have seen, Rex doesn't mess around in the playoffs. So while having doubt is a form of expressing realistic expectations, it is also a means of denying other possibilities, however improbable.
I understand and agree with your argument but I remind myself that it's not madden football. You get the best player you can and maximize what you've got. it sucks but the other 31 teams have to do the same thing.
The team has warts, certainly, but so does every other team in the NFL. The point he is making is that last year was as bad as it gets, and the team still finished 8-8 after an 8-5 start. Positive off-season additions in personnel and coaching (as well as a pretty soft schedule I might add) should lead to improvement, not a 6-10 finish as many suggest.
I agree with the general thrust of "don't jump off a ledge," but I think that he's too optimistic on a few points (especially the notion that Sanchez's last year was an improvement over his second, and that Joe McKnight "did it all" at USC and is primed for a breakout.) I don't think that the Jets will win fewer than 7 games, but I don't think that they can win more than 10. Like most NFL seasons, the whole year will probably come down to a few plays.
1. You are only as strong as your weakest link. That applies to both offense AND defense. Jets have a shaky QB, a perennial road pylon of a RT on offense, not to mention fragile workhorse RB. On defense, they still don't have a legitimate pass rushing threat nor do they have the safeties to cover the backfield. Remember, AFC East crown still runs through Foxborough. Unless Jets defense can come up with a means to pressure Brady while blanketing Gronkowski and Hernandez, the best bet Jets have is always going to be wild card berth. Make no mistake about that. If you think that's a tall order, consider how it is going to be, keeping Sanchez upright all season long with WFH starting RT for you. If McKnight proves to be durable, he will churn out yardage from the ground, but that's about all you can hope for out of this offense. 2. While the offense getting their identity is good, still that doesn't mean they will function like a top tier offense. Stephen Hill will be thrown into the baptism of fire, and those WRs who thrived even in rookie year include the likes of Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones - the class which Stephen Hill does not belong to (I wouldn't know as of yet, to say the very least.) 3. So... Ok. Let's say Jets have a moderate success again. Now the question is, can they sustain it? I don't even think Jets can have that moderate level of success this year, but even if they do have it, I would say it's untenable. The team lacks playmakers on defense, and solid protector on offense. That's a glaring deficiency - you cannot sustain success with consistent glaring needs like Jets have. Landry and Bell will be gone by the end of the season, playoff or not. Maybin - if he craps the bed, he's gone. If he does well, unless he gives a whole sale bargain discount, he's still gone too. With Pace and Thomas expected to get released, that leaves a humongous hole at OLB corp. (And we still haven't addressed FS issue.) Rex will be Rex and he will squeeze every last drop of production of whatever is given, but is it going to be championship quality? With bumbling offense, I would again have to say "Not so fast."
I understand the talking points of why the offense may not have improved - I don't agree - but I get it. First off, I am starting to believe for many reasons that part of Hunter's failures last year was the confusing, anti-rhythm based schemes drawn up by Schotty. He continuously called plays that ignored the strengths of the talent on the team and did not adjust either to the defenses they met on the field nor was capable of properly reacting to the catastrophic plague of injuries on the o-line. Hunter has played better in his career, and he's a better run blocker. Our number 1 receiver Holmes was doubled nearly all game, and our number 2 last year was slower than a honey drip in the antartic and was never able to get separation. This of course made it damn near impossible to protect Sanchez who while usually fairly cool under the bright lights, became a skittish wreck by the end of the season as he had no one to throw to, and the line confused and exhausted from the idiotic plays being called. Plus our so-called blocking TE sucked big hairy ones. Injuries, bad plays, confused identity all add up to my opinion that you've got to give Hunter another chance. 2. As far as empty at the receiver position, again I gotta disagree. Whether it works out or not, they drafted, in my opinion, the most physically gifted and talented #1 new receiver ever to put on the green and white. Not since Al Toon have we had as pure an athlete is this freak. So I'm sorry if I don't share your pessimism on that point. In fact, we signed another guy from the Raiders who was given glowing remarks from the guy who worked with him over there and is now our WR coach. Maybe he sucks, maybe he don't. How about Kerley? Keller? How about this new kid who caught 150 passes in college last year? What if he pans out? I mean, how are you not excited about our receiving corp's potential this year? Holy moses on the mountain this is going to be fun watch. 3. Don't worry about the Pats. This D is going to look different for many reasons. First, Rex is back in there calling plays, like he should. Second, I think they have vision on how to handle those TE's. We only have like 7 safeties and 10 corners on the team right now. I think they can figure it out. That's my two cents. The whole reason I made this thread BTW was to show a journalist who cares about the teams he covers, not to debate, but hey that's fun too.
