Post Draft Thoughts....Speedy Passrusher Needed...Please Fax Resumes'

whether we do well or not is 95% down to the performance of the QB rather than getting a bit more pressure on the QB - do you think the reason we haven't got to the playoffs recently is more down to QB play or the lack of an edge rusher?

if we had gone for another defensive player in the second round when there was a first round talent at a major need spot sitting there like Amaro then people would (rightly) have gone nuts.

 

I'm sure that some would have gone nuts. If the Jets had taken a WR in round 1 and then taken Attaochu in the 2nd , I think there would have been excitement rather than people going nuts. I think the reason people would have gone nuts is that the offense has basically been ignored over the last 5 drafts or so (not counting the one draft where they took Sanchez and Greene). If there had been a more equitable distribution of draft picks, and the Jets' offense didn't suck so badly, people wouldn't have had a problem with taking Attaochu. I think Attaochu has a LOT more potential than Amaro, and is likely to have a much greater impact on games than Amaro.

I think there are a number of reasons we haven't gone to the playoffs recently: Tanny's sucking as a GM and trading away so many draft picks, and missing on a number of those he took; his poor handling of the cap that left us stuck with older, over-the-hill players with big contracts that we couldn't get rid of; the fact that he whiffed on both the QB and RB he traded up for; the fact that aside from the year that Brick and Mangold were taken, Tanny basically ignored the OL; Rex's keeping Schotty for so long and then hiring Sparano; Rex's cluelessness about offense and handling of QBs; his inability or unwillingness to bench players (his guys); his blindness to what isn't working; his obsessing over the CB spot and ignoring the OLB and S positions; the poor QB play; the defense's inability to get off the field on 3rd downs and giving up so many 3rd and long plays, and their inability to create TOs; their inability to get to the QB in time more consistently (which resulted in their inability to get off the field on 3rd downs, giving up so many 3rd and long plays and their inability to create TOs); and I'm sure there are other factors I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

Pryor offered much better value at 18 than any of the remaining WR prospects - and hopefully fills an enormous need - so I am much happier to have him than if we had picked a WR in the first round.

the simple fact is that the Jets offense does suck so badly so when you have a 1st round talent staring you in the face in the second round like Amaro its hard to complain too much about the pick.

 

I'm sick of seeing Gary McIntyre and Nick Bellore. I know Bellore is an ILB, but I hope both get replace this year.

 

The bottom line for me is that I didn't see Amaro as a first round talent, and still don't.

 

We have numerous guys who can rush from the edge, Quinton Coples, Antwan Barnes, Calvin Pace... and we drafted two guys late. You can't address every god damn position with a 1st or second round pick.

 

We are more than fine in terms of pass rushing. I dunno if people expect to have Robert Mathis on one side and Von Miller on the other, or what, but realistically speaking, we had a decent pass rush last season which is likely to be better this year. Wilkerson is a beast in pass rushing, and I think Richardson will improve in that going forward. For a guy with his talents, 3.5 sacks was pretty low, and he realizes this, and has mentioned he is spending the offseason trying to improve that aspect of his game. Then you have Coples, who had the injury AND the move to OLB last year, and came on very strong in the 2nd half of the season, where he was routinely pressuring opposing QBs. Pace and David Harris get a ridiculous amount of criticism here for 2 good players. Sure, Pace isn't an elite OLB, but the guy just had 10 sacks, to go along with everything else an OLB has to do in Rex's defense. Then you got the two guys we drafted, IK and Reilly, who could contribute, and just general blitzing by Rex.

To put it into perspective, we were in the top half of the league in sacks last year (12th or 13th), and that's without a secondary at all. Our corners were so bad, they gave opposing receivers 10 yard cushions, so the opposing QB could always quickly get rid of the ball, hurting our sack chances. This year, with (hopefully) improved Milliner, McDougle or whoever opposite him (can't be worse than Cromartie last year), and Pryor at FS, the opposing QBs might have to hold on to the ball longer, helping us get more sacks too.

I dunno why Rex doesn't put as much emphasis on elite speedy OLBs as some people here, but my guess would be he considers them too easily counterable, and weak in other aspects of the game (e.g. defending the run). If you look at those kinds of guys (Robert Mathis, Von Miller, Clay Mathews), seems like teams can often make them run too far upfield and take them out of the picture, or just run at them, where they dont have enough strength to stop it. I think Rex prefers larger DE/OLB hybrids, like Terell Suggs or Coples/Pace, who are still fast, but can also do other things.

 

Q: You know what generates turnovers and increases the number of sacks? A: Putting more points on the board.

This isn't solved entirely on defense. Score more than 290 points next season and opponents will take more risks and turn the ball over more and their qb will get sacked more.

 

I wasn't so down with the way draft shaped up. This includes edge-rushing OLB prospects.

I seriously didn't expect Trevor Reilly would be available at 7th round. He was projected to go as early as 3rd in some mocks. I myself thought he was a 4th rounder.

So what is his knock?

1. He's not muscular enough, especially at the lower half. This can be - and will be - dealt with once Reilly arrives at Florham park. Jets should have better nutritionists and trainers than Utah could ever dream of offering. He might not grow into Hulk, but he should get sufficient strength in due time. His frame has grown fully, and he just needs to fill his frame with muscles.

2. He doesn't have many pass rushing moves - this is where I see the genius of this draft. The way I see it, 3-4 OLB is a tweener between 4-3 LB and 4-3 DE; he has to have enough of a foot speed to fall back and cover, and he has to have enough strength and skill to rush and get the QB. As it stands, Reilly is actually pretty decent as a coverage LB. All he needs to learn is how to get after the QB - and Jets have two premier minds to teach him just that, in Rex Ryan and Karl Dunbar.

Now, he might not 'explode' through the LoS and kill the QB; but he won't have to. If he learns his craft well enough, then he should be a very good addition, due to the DL Jets have. Remember, the likes of Calvin Pace could rack up 10 sacks last year. [For the first time ever in his 10+ year career, if I might add.] And yes, he can cover in space. He won't look anything like Calvin Pace getting beat down after down. That's for sure.

It might not be the 'Steal of the ENTIRE DRAFT', per se, but it will fill a lot of the need at the edge rusher position.

 

I've said this since he came out. Its been RUMORED that Aaron Rodgers is gay for several years. Who knows if its true, but who cares? The guy is arguably the best QB in the league. If he came out and said he was gay, would anyone on the Packers or in the organization care? Would they cut him? Of course they wouldn't. If Michael Sam was the next Ray Lewis, teams would not hesitate to draft the kid first round.

 

Your reason for Rex's preference make as much sense as any I've heard, but if true, in case he hasn't noticed, this is a passing league now, not a rushing league. No team with the rushing leader has won a SB in a long time, maybe never. He worries too much about the damned run when he should be worrying about stopping the pass. Lighter, speedier players can still make tackles. They don't have to be huge to stop the run. Rex is just a dinosaur, and imo the sooner he's extinct, the better off the Jets will be.

 

I don't know about all that. It seems like the Playoff games (especially those in inclement weather) tend to rely on the run: it protects the ball, it protects a lead by burning clock, it wears Defenses down, etc.

I think the Run game will always be valuable as long as there are Playoffs, and therefore, stopping the run is very important.

If you can stop the run, then there's a much higher probability that the opposing Offense will face 3rd & Long, in which the Defense can do a number of things because it's much easier to predict what kind of play the Offense will have to call.

Just my opinion, but that's why I think Rex is so hellbent on stopping the Run game before anything else.

 

Rex would rather his line and pass rushers stay in lanes and play more of pushing the pocket back into a QB instead of having one of those kamakaze DE/OLB rush off that far end and give the QB the chance to escape and develop a pocket for him to step into. I don't mind it because the Dline is strong enough to push back into the QB's lap and force either a wayward pass or a pass off his back foot and into coverage.

 

I think he was referring to your phrasing.

 

I'm thinking Coples is expected to be the guy to get to the QB

 

Yeah, I saw the Superbowl and most of Seattle's playoffs games this year, and I have no idea what you are referring to. Seattle doesn't have any elite outside speed rushers, most of their qb pressure comes from their defensive line or blitzes. Here's the boxscore from the game:

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=340202007

As you can see, all the sacks (only 1) and qb hits came from defensive linemen. Their best guy getting after the qb in the playoffs was Michael Bennett, a defensive end who has yet to crack 10 sacks a year in his career. I would take our front seven over theirs anyday. We finished only 3 sacks behind them in the regular season, and that's because their amazing secondary makes the qbs hold the ball forever. If out front seven played with their secondary, we would lead the league in sacks probably.

I don't think it's that clearcut. While passing is more important overall today, stopping the run is still very important. Over the last couple of decades, we had some defenses that could not stop the run, and they were just terrible. Also having larger more powerful linebackers (as opposed to speed rushers) just gives the defense a mental edge, while teams with Von Millers and Mathises often get physically pushed around, sapping their morale and hurting them in other aspects of the game besides the running game. Finally, Rex like Belichick is the type of coach who relies on confusing the offense and switching up players. You can do that with guys like Coples and Pace who can play as LBs or DLs, but it would be hard to do with smaller, lighter LBs.

 

ooooh okay, haha I can see that now.

My apologies Bellows

 

That's the first time I've ever seen that said about Rex Ryan. His defense has been anchored by shutdown corners for 5 years, he definitely cares about stopping the pass, hence why we always have so many corners. We also do have linebackers that can cover. This is actually first year we do not have a standout corner (although Milliner will get there eventually I feel). Stopping the run is just as important as stopping the pass. If you can stop the run, it makes the opponent 1 dimensional which means we can drop more guys into coverage.

It's not a passing league, it's a pass stopping league. Seattle was #1 against pass and #4 against the run and they destroyed the best offense in the NFL in the superbowl. Rex is all about building the team to stop the pass. He's got Tom Brady in the division, he's well aware of that.