I don't have to tell anyone that the OL struggled this past season. Brick may have been our worst OL all things considered. Mangold was not his usual solid self. Both are 30. Perhaps both of their play suffered due to the new OGs and their struggles. Fortunately, both are healthy. Hopefully, they can both have bounce back seasons, but I think the time has come that the Jets need to start thinking about their eventual replacements (Brick probably sooner than Mangold). Either in this draft or certainly by next season, I think they need to find Brick's replacement so they can begin grooming him. Heading into FA the group of available FAs is dwindling. The prospects at WR and OLB are not that enticing. That may be a blessing in terms of improving the OL's play in 2014, as it eliminates some possibilities where FA $s may go and might influence Idzik to spend more on the OL than he otherwise might have. If he sticks with the competition mantra, since the team’s depth isn’t very good, he might well decide to sign quite a few, younger cheaper FAs to compete for spots, rather than sign 2-3 “big name” or more expensive FAs. Then again, he might opt to sign one “big name” and a few cheaper FAs. We can say with some certainty that he wants to address needs in FA so that he can be free to go bpa in the draft, and that he is seeking to build the team through the draft, not FA. Does that mean he wouldn’t sign a FA that would demand a guaranteed starting spot like Jon Asamoah? We don’t know. Based on the fact that his past employer, the Seattle Seahawks just won the SB with the youngest team in the NFL, I think he most likely prefers younger, cheaper FAs rather than the older, stop-gap type veterans. The problem is that those young FAs are not always available at the position you need or they may want too much money. The Seahawks did sign Marshawn Lynch, however, when he was a little longer in the tooth. Assuming that the Jets re-sign Howard, imo the biggest area of concern on the OL is at the OG spots. There is no question the depth at OT is also an issue, but for the purposes of this thread, I want to focus on the OG positions. Idzik drafted Winters in the 3rd round last season, and I can’t imagine that he would give up on Winters after one season, even with his struggles last year. Having a year's experience and then an offseason in the weight room should do help improve his play. IMO it is encouraging that the didn't hit the "rookie wall" and in fact got better at the end of the season. In addition, supposedly, the Jets were impressed with how far 6th round pick William Campbell progressed last year, and they also have 5th round pick Oday Aboushi. It was projected by many that Aboushi, even though he was a tackle in college, may have to play inside at OG in the NFL, so I will include him in this discussion. They also seemed to like Dalton Freeman last season and he can play both C and OG. With that in mind, will Idzik be content to go with the likes of Winters, Campbell, Aboushi and Freeman at OG? I can’t imagine so. Will he be content to bring back an older vet like Colon who knows the offense, and was a leader, yet who is limited and has a problem with penalties, or opt for a younger player? Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can see him giving up on all those draft picks and players he added last season by signing a player who has been a quality starter like Jon Asamoah or Zane Beadles. Supposedly, he wants a more athletic type player who will fit in a zone blocking scheme. I believe that’s the scheme the Broncos use, but I don’t know about the others. I also don't know how athletic Beadles is or isn't. I believe that either Asamoah or Beadles would have to be handed a starting spot or wouldn’t sign. Perhaps he might opt for 27 year-old Jamon Meredith who has only started a few games the last couple of years, or a player like Eben Britton who is still only 26, started his first couple of seasons in the NFL, but has only started a handful the last three seasons? Another possibility would be Geoff Schwartz of the Chiefs, who is also 27 and has started 26 games over the last 4 seasons. If Idzik sticks to building the team through the draft, then he may not want to sign a guaranteed starter who is 5-6 years into his NFL career. In terms of providing immediate competition and some experience, perhaps these last three make the most sense. Following are links to Meredith, Britton and Schwartz. My guess is that if Idzik signs a FA OG other than Colon http://www.nfl.com/player/jamonmeredith/71397/profile http://www.nfl.com/player/ebenbritton/71219/profile http://www.nfl.com/player/geoffschwartz/842/profile Idzik could opt to sign an older vet as a stopgap and mentor for Winters, Campbell, Aboushi and Freeman. They'd likely be cheaper and if one of the younger players developed quickly, would make good depth and the Jets wouldn't have as much a problem with benching or releasing. If he goes that route, two possibilities are 32 year-old Travelle Wharton of the Panthers, who was a starting LT earlier in his career, so he could possibly serve as depth at both OT and OG, and 30 year-old Paul McQuistan of the Seahawks, who I think started some for them late last season in the playoffs. He also has played OT in his career and would offer some roster flexibility. If I were GM, I think I would make signing Jon Asamoah a priority. He's solid, is supposedly able to play any OL position, and is only 25. Since OGs can play into their 30s, he could be with the team upwards of 5 years. He would immediately solidify one OG spot. Hopefully Winters would solidify the others, but if not perhaps Campbell, Aboushi, Freeman, Colon or another FA OG could. My second choice would be to sign one of Schwartz, Britton or Meredith. My 3rd choice would be to sign either Wharton or McQuistan, and my absolute last choice would be to stand pat. What do you think?
Very well thought out. I think we will get an older stop gap to have a solid player in place instead of forcing one of the young guys. I believe that's what Idzik will do and I think it's something he should do as well. We could have all the skill position players we want, but without a consistent,solid OL we can't put them in the best positions to be effective. I think many draft sites also have OG as a high position of need for the Jets which I agree with and it seems you agree with.
Yes, I definitely think OG is one of their top 3-4 needs. Based on Idzik's competition mantra, I think you're right that he's likely to sign either an older vet or perhaps a younger vet like Schwartz, Meredith or Britton who have starting experience and could handle the starting job if Campbell, Aboushi or Freeman aren't ready. I don't think he'll sign a FA that he has to guarantee a starting job to. I understand that approach and basically agree with it, but in the case of Asamoah, would make an exception. He would instantly nail down one side of the line. I think he played RG for the Chiefs. If he played RG here, along with Howard, he would vastly improve the rushing attack and solidify the right side of the OL. I'd rather move him over to LG however. I think he could help Brick play better having a solid vet beside him, Winters would struggle less at RG than left, and his run blocking is supposedly good, so the right side of the line would still be solid.
Sign a proven OG. Hopefully Winters play improves next season. Those mid to late round picks are the ones you need to hit on.
I agree he won't guarantee a starting job. He has repeated starting jobs aren't given in February (March, April, etc). I haven't followed the players enough to know if we flip from LG to RG or vice versa how it would impact their play, but I do agree in most scenarios he's not guaranteeing a starting job to a G we sign. Create competition and have players we can rotate through if there are struggles.
I think the staff has enough faith in the OL that the only real need his is Howard. I think the decline of 'Brick and Mangold can be directly correlated to the playing time of Winters. If he picks it up we have a solid line again, with a decent amount of depth and rookies to grow with. My real concern though is that with as bad as Winters played last year, the other 2 were inactive for all 16 games. I would like to add another quality C TBH incase Mangold goes downhill, we haven't had anyone competent backing him up in a couple years.
Jaguars just cut their RG Uche Nwaneri and he graded out as 16 overall in PFF rankings. hes 30 but could be a better replacement than Willie Colon
The Jets definitely need center depth. We saw a few years ago how disastrous it was for the OL, offense and team when Mangold was injured and missed a few games. I think they were high on Dalton Freeman last year until he got injured. Depending upon what they think of his prospects, I think they should definitely look at signing a FA who can backup C and OG or look to draft one in the lower rounds.
What is wrong with Austin Howard? The guy is a fine RT. He's not Damien Woody in his prime but he's more than capable. I can't believe we're talking about phasing out Brick and Mangold already. Seems like they were just drafted. Man, time flies.
Yeah I'm not sure how much he'll want..but we have to sign a guard or two in free agency. A good Oline will go a long way toward helping Geno and the run game. It all starts in the trenches
I agree that they'll need to sign at least one, if not two OGs in FA. If they really think highly of Campbell or Aboushi or even Freeman and think that one of them will definitely develop into a quality starter, then I think perhaps an older FA would be the ticket. They'd just need someone to start for a year or two and help mentor the youngsters. If they have doubts about them or even Winters, I really hope that Idzik will go against the grain and sign at least a younger FA like Schwartz, Meredith or Britton, but would really rather they sign Asamoah or Beadles. It would be nice to know that would be a position barring injury, that they don't have to worry about for at least the next 5 years.
I don't disagree with that at all except for all the other needs the Jets have. I don't have time, but why don't you do a thread on OT prospects to replace Brick. Lewan might be one possibility (I don't know if he projects as either, a RT or LT). Who are some other guys that you think could be real prospects to take over for Brick? I know I'd appreciate the info and enjoy reading you post.
Or Mangold Jr. If there is great value at OT or C in Rd. 1 or 2, we should not hesitate. Groom the player for a year, and potentially even provide some time at OG this year. Then in 2015, we could potentially free up some cap space by having said player take over for Brick or Mangold. We can't only consider the positions of greatest need, but if we can get comparable performance from a younger player at a fraction of the price, that is huge as well.
The only thing wrong about Austin Howard at this point is that he's trying to get paid like a star RT and he's actually an average RT. At $2.5M a year he'd be a plus on the team for 3 or 4 years. At $4.5M he's going to be a tight fit. At $7M he's a dead weight on the cap and will likely cause the Jets problems in other negotiations.
Lack of depth at Center was another reason I did not like Idzik letting Slauson go. Jus sayin. The Jets were lucky Mangold stayed healthy last year.
Yep. They've been pushing their luck for years not having any real depth. So far, they've been very lucky that Brick has never missed a snap, and Mangold only a few games a few years ago. We saw what a cluster truck it was when he was out. They really need depth at both LT and C.
its time to start thinking about replacing brick in the next couple of years i think. If dalton is all he is hyped up to be i think he could replace mangold, but i have no hope that willie campbell or oday are in the position to replace brick. with this being the case, it might be interesting to look into cyrus koudjio(spelling). all this talk of knee issues has killed his draft stock, but they are being refuted by dr. james andrews. if for some reason he is there in the third, which is a possibility due to the controversial knee and just great oline depth in this draft, i think we pounce. has A LOT of potential and the thought of being able to groom him for a couple years as well is interesting. Kid is 6'6 310 pounds, coming out early as a JR and knee issues were from his freshman year, hadnt missed a game or even a practice since it was resolved. would be a goddamn steal in the third, but there is a possibility he gets taken in the second. we will have to see.
