Home > The Way We Hear It ~ ~ ~ NY Jets Sept. 14, 2007 Cutting of Kendall haunting Jets brass The Jets played hardball with OLG Pete Kendall in the preseason, refusing to give him the $1 million raise he was looking for. But daily Jets observers have indicated that the team's rigid stance with him stands as one of the worst decisions GM Mike Tannenbaum has made during his tenure in New York. Replacement Adrien Clarke has struggled mightily in Kendall's place, getting absolutely mauled by the Patriots' D-line in the first game and having an equally difficult time adjusting to the blitz. Rookie Jacob Bender — inactive in the first game — will compete at the OLG spot, but with second-year players on either side of him (OLT D'Brickashaw Ferguson and C Nick Mangold), inexperience could aggravate the problems. Making matters even worse is seeing how well Kendall is playing for the Redskins — the team that picked him up following his release by the Jets. Against the usually stout Dolphins run defense, Kendall helped pave the way for 191 rushing yards.
Last time I checked football was a team game. With the offensive line being among the most reliant on "chemistry" between its constituent members. The line, as a unit, is struggling and who knows how much of a difference Kendall would have made. Plus the sample size is rather small, with the Jets playing against one of the best D-lines and the Dolphins having lost some key members up front. I think PFW might need to pipe down for a couple of weeks.
the worst move the FO has made .. left a real bad taste in my mouth...i can understand if we were rich in offensive line men, but when your most veteran linemen is getting paid 1.8mm and want a 1,mm raise you give it to him..especially since you promised it to him...i wish him othing but the best...all you people that say screw him are clueless as to how important this man was to this young and below avg line....stupid horrible mistake..and of course thats the side that chad took the beating
coming from petekendall himself:lol:....yes he will be missed in terms of talent (somewhat), but as a annoying A-Hole and locker room distraction, ummmm no!
I for one think keeping Kendell would have helped this line out. After we lost Mawae, Kendell became the leader. That line needs a leader and right now, it doesn't have one. ats_suck:
Remember this is PFW. They really don't do very much legwork for their stories, instead kind of regurgitating the common knowledge. Do the Jets regret losing Kendall without an adequate replacement? Of course they do. You live and learn and boy are they going to learn on this one.
Don't give me that crap about being a "leader." A 2nd year player with a huge set of balls, maybe someone like Mangold could turn into a leader rather quickly. There's no rule that you have to head into the period of "old age" in football before you can be considered a "leader." How soon into his career before Ray Lewis became a leader?
A leader MUST be a master of his trade. If you think Mangold or D'Brick are masters of there trades, then obviously you haven't been watching them. Ray Lewis was a leader because he learned how to read offenses quickly. You NEED a veteran like Mawae or like Kendall to teach these younger guys the "tricks of the trade." And based on Sunday and the preseason, NONE of the Jets lineman are even close to being ready to lead.
The mistake was not drafting more OL after they realized Kendall was going to be a ****, and hold them hostage. Supposedly, the knew early on. They fell in love with Revis and Harris but, you have to protect your QB. Either you Pay Kendall or you draft 2 more OL early. Or of course you can find some diamond in the ruff FA if he's out there.
Notice that I purposely didn't include Brick- because I consider him to be a 2nd tier lineman thus far. Mangold IS making the calls and was making the calls last year. He was leading the O-Line, picking out blocking assignments and LAST YEAR was already playing at a pro-bowl level, a perfect comparison to Ray Lewis. Funny that you mention the tricks of the trade, because Mangold must have already picked up a few, considering that he was heads and shoulders above the rest and our best lineman last year- and he certainly out-performed Mawae. Seniority does not = leadership. Sorry, I'm not buying. Oh, and don't base ANYTHING on last week, given the events as we now understand them to be.
