As a general matter I don't know that I would call last year a significantly above average one for injuries. Yes there were some key ones, particularly Cro's nagging hip injury and the combination of the come back from the lis franc injury with Holmes's newer injury. Kerley was hurt, too, but luckily he was not out longer. It's hard to assess the significance of Barnes's injury, since it was not clear how he would have fit in, how important he would have been. Same for Goodson, and his absence was balanced by Ivory, a previously fragile player, avoiding injury all season. Another pre-season injury concern, Colon, also stayed healthy all year long. Funny you didn't mention two other players, though. Sanchez I was no fan of, obviously, but his injury greatly limited the Jets' options at Qb last season. Would Muck have played better than Smith? Sadly we must conclude yes, at least over Smith's awful mid-season swoon. Another hurt player was Milliner, who was hampered getting up to speed. But that was more or less it, and while perhaps the Cro injury hurt the most, I don't think the total was all that out of line with average over the course of a season in the NFL. The OL had no issues, and neither did the DL. While Barnes was out all season, the rest of the linebackers remained healthy. Powell and as I mentioned Ivory were fine, and the multitude of problems Smith had did not include injuries. But more to the point, two things: At this point last season the main injury concern was Holmes coming back from the lis franc. Otherwise and looking at the roster, we simply did not know where injuries would affect team performance. And going forward this year, despite your optimism in that regard, we again do not know and have no reassurance that injuries will be less of a problem. Regarding Walls... I do not mean to overstate my skepticism about him. I do not mean to dump on him, and of course it would be great if he jumped up to starting level quality of play. But that is a shaky prediction, and the need to groom Milliner further, and likely put him in man coverage against the opponent's #1 wideout, makes gambling on Ward as a starter too risky. In any event recent comments by both Rex and Idzik indicate they do not intend to stand pat at Cb between now and opening day. One has to conclude that means they did not plan to start Ward, and do not feel comfortable doing so. I agree with your point as well about the mediocre safeties presently on the roster figuring into what should happen with the corners. Cornerback frankly is the part of the roster that gives rise to my main criticism of the FO so far this off season. If the plan was to cut Cro and not even attempt to re-sign him, then they should have been more effective in FA in getting another starting Cb. Sure they can go to the draft and get a Cb. But despite the large number of picks hte Jets have, most of them are middle to late round ones. The further down in the rounds you go, the less likely you will be getting starting level talent. Meanwhile the Jets still have great needs on O that should be addressed with high round picks, not another Cb. The failure to either retain Cro or get a starting Cb in FA means the Jets have a gaping hole at starting Cb. It is possible (as Idzik noted) that they can get this filled in a trade, but that is far from a done deal. Even less likely is the prospect of finding a starting Cb from some other team's camp cuts. Let's be clear - using a fourth round pick on a Cb is not likely to yield a starter. Or at least starter level quality - yes you can always do like they did with Winters last year and start a third round player who ends up being your team's worst starter. But if they do that at Cb, opponents will punish the Jets no doubt about it. Having said all that, I am sure this situation is related to the Jets' interest in DeSean Jackson. If they can get him, then they need not get another wideout with a high draft pick, can still use a first or second round pick on OL and get a cb with the other. Of course that scenario takes much of the air out of a BPA approach to the draft, but so be it.
Didn't mention Sanchez because I find it hard to quantify what would or wouldn't have happened if he didn't go down. If he started from the beginning he might have cost the team a game or two early on when Geno played pretty well and pulled off game winning drives. Of course Sanchez also would've possibly won 2-3 games in the middle when Geno was hopeless but he also might have lost a game later when Geno turned it around again. Maybe Sanchez completely tanks though too after the injuries and woeful guard play. It's hard to say but I can't imagine the team would've went 10-6 if Sanchez played every snap. As to Milliner, I attribute his slow start partially to the minor injury and lost practice time over the holdout. Plus CB is a tough transition and he was a lot more athletically gifted than situationally aware to start out. Regardless, tacking on those two injuries can only make the case for above average injuries on the year a stronger one. Not a fan of Idzik's FA approach so far, but to be fair if he lands Jackson it will probably help the team more for this year than anything else he could have done. Maybe not 2-3 years from now because the draft was strong at WR and a lot of value could have been had drafting WR in the 1st or 2nd but that usually takes 2-3 years before you really reap those benefits and that's if it was a good pick. If Jackson is brought in I'd like to wind up with one of Ebron/ASJ/Amaro and maybe a guard with the other top two pick. At that point I'd probably strongly consider tacking on one or both 4th's and a 6th (especially since there are already comp picks in those rounds) onto the 3rd rounder to get back into the 2nd and hopefully draft a starting CB or S. I think that's a strong team with good future prospects with a chance to be very strong if Walls (or Allen if CB is drafted) exceeds expectations. Then you could plan on throwing a first rounder at CB/S/OLB next year and focus the 2nd rounder on CB/S/OLB/G and that looks like a pretty complete team. If Geno hasn't become a franchise QB after that hopefully the 2016 1st round QB hits the ground running like a Russell Wilson. Plus if any of the numerous late round picks from this draft really work out the team could be a powerhouse. The defensive core is there and Rex knows what to do with it.
My point about Sanchez was merely that the Jets had very limited options at Qb with only Smith and Simms healthy and on the roster. Nothing more than that. I certainly did not mean to predict the Jets would necessarily have had a better record with Sanchez. As you have no doubt gathered I have not been a fan of his for a long time. As for the draft strategy, I don't like the idea of depending on a third round pick to be a starting Cb.
Trading the two 4ths up with the 3rd would yield something around the 53rd pick~late middle of the 2nd. There are some interesting options at CB and S around there. I wouldn't mind starting Walls and developing the rookie if Walls doesn't pan out. Between those two and Wilson if absolutely necessary I'd be surprised if CB2 was a total disaster for the year. Plus you can always sign guys off the scrap heap and hope to get lucky. Again this is assuming Jackson is signed. There are too many holes to fill everything as this has played out, I'm just more willing to gamble on Walls based on what I saw than most including the FO apparently, so I'd rather take my chances there rather than on Winters who is definitely going to be hopeless again especially with a weak right side of the OL. The late 2nd trade up for a defensive back fielder could be seen as more of a move to set up some starting depth moving forward. If lucky it would yield a day 1 starter. If Jackson isn't signed a CB needs to be brought in and probably a safety and/or guard too, though I'm not sure how much quality is even left at this point.
The Jets are more than one off-season away from being a Super Bowl team. Idzik will build the team through the draft. The Jets have 6 picks in the first 137. Deep draft. He isn't a big free agent guy where so many mistakes are made. Idzik took over a team with cap issues. Bad contracts all over the roster. Top heavy roster. No depth. A small group of players made all of the money. The Revis situation. He got a #1 and #4 for player which one team was really interested in. Sheldon Richardson was a great pick. He went best player available. Many people complained about that selection. The roster needed to be purged. People complain about cap/cash spent like Cimini who constantly complains about everything. Cimini complains when the Jets sign a free agent. This player is overpaid. All of the players are overpaid in free agency Rich. The Jets don't sign a free agent. Cimini complains. Cimini is just like the instant gratification fans on this board. Wilkerson is due a big contract. Idzik is budgeting for the future. He has a plan. Its not a 1 year or 2 year plan, Mr. T left the organization in shambles. Idzik values the draft picks more than free agents. That draft pick will give the Jets 4 or 5 years of cheap service. Build the foundation through the draft. When the team is ready to win,add the missing pieces in free agency or in a trade. You can't build the team through free agency. Idzik is on the right course.
Very ludicrous to make a comparison of a rookie Milliner, to an all star veteran as a 'downgrade'. Especially player coming off a serious injury that didn't play all that spectacular in his return. As the year progressed and as Milliner began to gain more confidence, you can see that the Jets made the right choice. Another point, new players coming in to a new team learning a new system , doesn't always make it guaranteed that their ability to perform can be 100% . Always a learning curve ...I'd give it another season to see how the new ones adapt.
The thread wasn't about making direct comparisons, it's to show whether or not the overall talent was upgraded under Idzik. Revis to Milliner is a downgrade and Revis had a decent year coming off that injury. Anytime you lose a pro bowler for a rookie it's a downgrade. Since Milliner is Revis' replacement, it's valid assessment. It might be different if they signed DRC and Milliner was replacing Cromartie, but that wasn't the case. Anyways, once the official depth chart comes out during training camp, I can make the comparisons a little more direct, but it seems that Milliner is our #1 CB going forward, so it's more than fair. I wasn't saying that the move was bad, I was saying that it's a downgrade in talent at the position and denial of that is ludicrous. I edited to put in Patterson & Ford. The chart itself will look better when all is said and done.
