The Jets are weak in several areas. Outside of Revis and Rhodes in the secondary there is really no one of which to speak. Except for Harris I'm not sure what the Jets have at LB. Gholston may be a stud but who knows. Barton and Thomas are okay. It remains to be seen if Pace was a one year wonder (remember Thomas?). On the defensive line front Jenkins can be great or he can be a total bust; we'll see. At defensive end Ellis and Coleman are meh. Ellis has always been the most overrated Jet and is really more of a 43 DE anyway. So the defense is my biggest concern. The offense looks pretty good although there's still no real threat at HB. Maybe Favre can actually open up the running game a bit. The WRs are underrated but again there's no one individual that causes other teams to stop and pause. I'm not even going to address depth as there simply isn't much on either side of the ball except at HB and WR. I think the Jets need another year or two to build the team and to find a good young quarterback before they can potentially compete with the elite.
I saw ahmad carroll playing the preseason game and that guy needs to be released. He is a total waste of a roster spot. Team cancer and a constant PI magnet.
I'll agree that the defensive backfield is weak, but it won't be as glaring if the pass rush is what I believe it can be. Of course, lack of a pass rush makes even the best secondary look bad.
Only two defenders on the active roster will be allowed to have an earpiece for a game, and only one earpiece can be on the field at a time. Based on that I'm guessing that Bowens will be the backup to DH.
I like Bowens in the middle. That is some size right there. That was one of my big issues last season, after seeing the Patriots with a 270-275lb Adalius Thomas in the middle. The size of their front seven was amazing. Hopefully, we are looking at something similar.
If you look at it the way Long Time Jets Fan does, then nothing is for sure. To not be at all disappointed, you can exect nothing....I see that way of thinking. However, I am inclined to have a few assumptions about the new players on the team. I am going to assume that Pace and Jenkins will be good. Also, I think Coleman and Ellis are good players, not sure where that 'ellis is over-rated" thing came from.
We are not set at QB. We are good until Brett goes. WRs don't really matter as long as Brett is at the helm of the offense, but the Jets could use a true #1 receiver for when Coles is gone. Positions of need: ILB, FS, CB, DE, WR and depth at OL and DT.
I've never thought Ellis played to the status of being the #12 pick in the draft. He's never really been an impact player. He did well when he had John Abraham on the other side and offensive lines had to focus there. Again, I don't think he's a player that teams worry about or need to double team.
I think the weakes position on the team is probably our second cornerback spot. But I really don't think it's THAT weak. It's just mediocre. If Lowery can step up and be a really good player (like I think he is going to be) then he can probably take that spot by midseason this coming year. That would be awesome.
Devito is actually pretty good. He has played very well in camp and in the first preseason game. I think he has a chance to be a very solid player for years to come. (I think he'll turn out to be of the same quality or so as a guy like Kenyon Coleman. Not great, but very solid and above average overall.) I don't really have a strong feeling on Mosely one way or the other. I know that Mangini really likees Devito though, I don't think he's going anywhere. Haha. Although I have always thought David Barret was a tad bit underrated on this board, I think I'm starting to agree with you. I'm really hopeful that Lowery can take the 2nd CB spot by the middle of this upcoming season. Yeah, we are very thin at the two inside linebacker positions. (Barton and Harris are very solid starters though) I tend to agree with you on the OL depth but Mangini has gone out of his way in numerous press conferences to praise the 2nd string offensive line. I stilll have my doubts but I am starting to feel more confident that one of the back-up offensive lineman could step up and be decent if called upon. (Maybe I'm drinking the Mangini kool-aid) Sounds like Smith is playing great in camp. And what about Elam? He had a really good year last year and was one of the few pleasant surprises on the team. I actually think Tight End is our strongest position on the field. We have 3 very capable and solid threats at TE (and one of them is only a rookie and has a chance to be special).
Yeah, the depth at that position is what people are concerned about. Depth is a huge issue in football because of the highly unpredictable nature of injuries.
I agree with you. He is not an impact player that offenses gameplan for. He has probably been slightly overrated on this board. However, he is well above average and a very solid defensive end, overall. He is more than deserving of being respected as a good starting defensive end. He is also quite versatile in that he has played well in both the 4-3 and 3-4 schemes. Also, his versatility allows mangini to play a lot of hybrid defenses with him. Towards the end of the season last year, they were lining him up all over the place in many different interesting positions with some nice success. (They have put him at tackle, end, and even stand up outside linebacker for specifc plays. They only put him at tackle when they would occasionaly play their version of the 4-3 which was like once in a blue moon)
The Weakest JETS Unit Ever since the Favre signing and my amazement that we actually made such a power move, I've been contemplating our weakest position and it is Defensive End. In actuality this position could have competed with QB pre-Favre. We have the likes of: Ropati Pitoitua and Bryan Mattison as back ups and a 4 man rotation of: Shaun Ellis, Kenyon Coleman CJ Mosely and Mike Devito There are other guys that seem to fit the bill (Kareem Brown, ), but who knows if they will even make the roster. We are not in good shape here at all, and if we do not get lucky here...we will continue to get ran on, just not up the middle, but to the edges.... One thing that could upgrade this position is 3/4 time play @ the position for Mosely. I think the formula for a strong run stuffing 3/4 is a converted/college DT. Another hat tip to Tannennbaum...he sure does have foresight....
