What's disturbing to me about this penchant is that when Douglas came here he said eh was going to change this, he was going to build a sustainable team, based on the draft. Then last year panic set in and that went out the window. I get it. He had fucked up enough draft picks - especially the QB - that he burned up all his leeway and had to chase results instead of trusting that his process would produce them. So here's the question: If Douglas doesn't trust his own process, why should anyone trust Douglas? This is why he should be replaced. We need to get someone here who has success at implementing a winning formula using the draft so that it doesn't rely on chasing over the hill and over priced veterans that never really work out, either because they no longer have the drive, or they get hurt, or the system they were successful in isn't the one the Jets employ, etc. I don't hate Douglas, nor do I think he's a moron like Macc was, but wasn't ready to take on this job. The Jets need a deeply experienced GM who can tell Woody to go fuck himself when he tries to meddle, and who actually has a track record of success. Yes, a rare commodity, and expensive if you find one, but that's the only way the Jets will really be fixed.
Sign some aging linemen - CHECK Sign an aging WR - CHECK Sign an aging DT - CHECK This has been business as usual for JD. The difference is he signed more proven and less project type players this time.
I agree 100%, but how can that ever happen with Woody as the owner? There's a reason why Florham Park has been the place GM careers come to die. 1. Telling an owner to go fuck himself is easier said than done since the owner can fire the GM. 2. Would any GM candidate with the credentials you suggest even consider coming here, given Woody's reputation as a boob and a meddler?
Well it’s interesting. He came from the right pedigree, unlike both of his predecessors (neither Idzik nor Mac were legitimate GM candidates…Idzik was a cap guy and that became evident right away in his drafting shit show, and Mac, while a scouting background, just hadn’t been high enough to have a real strategy…he was just a scout so he did what he supposedly knew - he drafted players but didn’t have an overall team building strategy, which is why he kept drafting DTs or took a highly rated S instead of a much needed QB). So JD had a much better background, and it was in solid organizations like Philly and Balt. He walked the walk and talked the talk. For all that, I think JD did have a team building strategy, and if you look at the positions he’s drafted early (i.e. first and second rounds), he’s targeted high impact positions…OL, WR, Edge, QB. So when people say he doesn’t have a strategy I don’t buy it. He clearly does. He hasn’t wasted high picks on stupid positions like S or LB. The only high pick on a lower value position was Breece, but he’s clearly been worth the pick. He has also focused on both lines, and to his credit, he’s build a very good DL, which is the strength of this team. On OL, he’s had bad luck with injuries (Becton is interesting because while you could argue that at that size, of course he’s an injury risk, but he did not have an injury history in college). AVT has been very good, and in fact has played all over the line but that’s gotten him hurt twice now playing out of position at tackle. And so to me, JD’s focus on OL has been there, but the results have most definitely NOT been there. Partly due to injury. Probably a big part too is the shit poor OL and offensive coaching. But his own faith in older injured players he has to own. He should NEVER have relied on Becton that third year when he missed the entire second year on an injury that most thought would not be season ending. He should NOT have relied on Brown last year. Those kinds of things are his own fault. So the failure to fix OL is fully on him…and it’s not for lack of trying…it’s for making some bad decisions on aging/injured players. The QB is also interesting…I was not a fan of drafting a QB from a small school who didn’t play any real competition with one good season in a COVID year. I thought it was a mirage. And it was. But I get drafting a QB…we for sure needed one, and Gase fucked us by winning two meaningless games at the end of the year. It cost us the only real QB in that draft. But hard to put too much blame in some ways as QB’s have hugely high bust rates…it’s the hardest position to translate. Zach isn’t the first not the last highly drafted QB to bust. This year there will probably be 4 top ten QBs…we don’t know who, but we do know that most likely two or maybe even three of them will bust. Just don’t know who. I do agree JD got desperate as his contract term is running out…he isn’t the worst GM we’ve had, but if you can’t turn around a team in your 6 years, then yeah, time for new blood…
First off, great article by Cimini. Thanks for posting it @The_Darksider Well said CC. Wish you were the owner of Jets instead of Woody
If it takes someone 6 years to turn around a program in this era of the NFL, then that person is a lousy GM, plain and simple. He should be grateful to Rodgers that he still has a job because that's the only reason he's still employed by the Jets. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with his job performance.
Yes, that's the big stumbling block and why it's probably true that until Woody sells the team the Jets will suck, but until that happens, we're stuck. As to telling him to go fuck himself, that's why it has to be a guy who's "been there, done that", and who could get away with calling him a boob. And if Woody objected, or fired him, it would be Woody who everyone would blame. And, yeah why anyone of that caliber would want to come here, IDK. That's probably the biggest hurdle to clear. But being the "training ground" for failed GM's has gotten way beyond real old.
I agree with everything you said here, and it's why I don't think JD is a moron, but he's made too many critical mistakes. Maybe he should be retained. Maybe he's had his learning curve and will turn into a good GM, it's possible, but when I look at some of his mistakes - chiefly the failure to fix the OL after 5 years - I wonder, "How clueless can you be?". And when I recall how he came out and said he believe in building a team from the lines out, and then look how he hasn't invested the time, energy, money, and resources into the OL (and the offense in general) like he has for the DL, I have to question either his ability to achieve the results, or his honesty. And when I look at his hiring of Saleh, a defensive minded HC, I question whether he really understands that this is an offense-driven league. IDK, as I said, maybe he's finally learned and is ready to become a good GM, but taking 5 years to get there is a steep price to pay for his learning. And not to sound morbid, but I'm at the age where I don't k know how many more years I have to wait for him and the Jets to "get it". How many old fans like me have already passed away waiting? So if they don't make a deep run - AFCCG at least - this year, he needs to go and Saleh & Co with him.
To play devils advocate here.. I'm not a huge JD guy right now.. However. Every team has players made up of veterans to round out their teams. The problem Is that he has been relying too heavily on older players at crucial positions on this team. If they took the same mentality they've had with the defensive line, to improve the offensive line. Well, our foundation would look a hell of a lot better. That said.. We do have a decent foundation despite the flaws of the GM's plan thus far. G.Wilson, AVT, Tippman, B.Hall, Ruckert, Sauce, Quincy, Q, JJ, M.Carter II Those are good core players. Problem Is the depth and quality overall at OL, then the obvious. Huge miss at QB.
Until such time that JD sits down with me and tells me otherwise, I will go to the grave believing that he was trusting his own process and did panic, but was forced into making these moves. I have no doubts that he wanted to go get a veteran quarterback, that much was obvious, but The evidence is overwhelming that once he convinced Woody to go for a veteran, Woody focused on one guy, and one guy only. A lot of the moves made last off-season or the opposite of what JD had done all this time. I can't hate on him right now, he's doing what a lot of us here knew he would do almost to a T. He's trying to win this year because he doesn't have a dog involved in the fight in any subsequent years.
That's the thing that drives me crazy, the offensive line has been a bunch of patchwork older guys, but his general MO was not to rely on older players until last year. Now, the corner he has painted himself into or forced into, whichever theory one subscribes to, means he does what he can to win this year and that everything going forward means nothing because he won't be here for it.
I think the right guy can definitely tell Woody he's a boob and tell him to fuck himself in a nice way. Woody gets starstruck, and until such time there's a guy there with enough fuck you power to be able to do that, Woody will keep meddling.
my $.02 i believe the Jets were doing a full rebuild when rodgers happened. I don't think you can ignore how unexpected that was and how much it changes your team building strategy when you find yourself going from wilson to a HoF QB with a short window to win. Not a JD stan but I think JD takes a lot of shit for trying to build long term while trying to maximize the rodgers window with doofus woody as the owner. Kind of a rock and a hard place.
If you look at the history and the stats, this article makes sense, but I can't complain about JD's offseason acquisitions this year. None of his additions are over the hill and none have onerous contracts. He has filled positions of desperate need for the team. I keep pushing for a starting LT and a #2 receiver or above in the draft to fill more positions of need. JD said he would rely on the draft to build the roster, and he is doing that, but the team still needs free agents. His 1st 2 drafts were busts and that's why the Jets are in the position where they need a bunch of free agents. His drafts have improved since the 1st 2 years and if he continues to draft well, the Jets will continue to improve.
When you draft poorly you have no choice but to cover your ass in FA. We drafted Becton, now we’re paying for it in Smith. We drafted Mims and Moore, we’re paying for it in Lazard and Williams. We drafted Zach Wilson, we’re paying for it with Rodgers.
Strange article. Simply lumps in all 'over 30 somethings' into one category as if they're all the same. Faneca was a key player on a GREAT Jets run blocking o-line. L.T., J.T. were key players on that 2010 team who played well for the Jets in the roles they were brought in for. Reed was a dumb signing he clearly was washed up when he became available midseason after he got cut by Houston. How about writing a article about the Jets penchant for picking players in their early 20s in the draft who suck at football at the NFL level?
