I always felt its better to sign your offensive players long term and continually restock your defense through the draft. I'd do my best to bring back Braylon and Santonio and draft defense. I trust Rex. All of the top defenses in the league go through turnover...
That's certainly a fair point, but imo that stat is deceiving. The D was not consistent, and against certain teams they looked slow, particularly at linebacker. The one good thing I think we saw in terms of the bench was that while E Smith did not play well when Leonhard first went out, he got better the last couple of games. I also agree with those who think talk of cutting Scott is both a waste of time and wrongheaded. There's room for debate on whether he's worth his contract, but all talk of revamping the D must include that he is not someone who will be leaving. There also seems to be a consensus that NT needs upgrading. I agree with that. What else? Pool. Some here seem to like him. Imo he was not a solid player this year. I will be very interested to see whether the FO keeps him. My prediction? He's gone. With Leonhard presumably coming back healthy (I've heard nothing to the contrary), and E Smith showing improvement, Pool being changed out for hopefully an upgrade, I think the rest of the secondary will be set with signing Cro to an extension. The FO I think will make those moves to go on to concentrate on the front seven, which is more problematic. Jason Taylor. I would have loved to have seen this guy come here for a couple or few years partly just to make the fish sorry they let him go. But they let him go for a reason. Imo I'd be surprised to see him back. Thomas. There's a mix of opinions on him. I would call him average at this point, and not fast and getting slower. Whether he stays or goes is not clear right now, and will depend on whether he can be changed out for a reasonably priced improvement. With Pace likely staying, I would not be surprised to see a high draft pick used on an OLB. That will be a certainty if Thomas leaves along with Taylor, a near certainty even if Thomas stays. Harris. THis will depend probably on contract negotiations, although I believe he could be tagged. Probably will be back, certainly if his contract demands are not too high. DL. I like the current guys, but they need an upgrade to the rotation at DT, as noted above. So... At a minimum, I think Pool likely goes, it's a near certainty Taylor will, and possibly Thomas and Harris. NT is upgraded, Cro is signed, and the Jets draft an OLB and find a safety either in the draft or FA. If Harris goes, I don't know what FA ILB's will be available. I think that covers it.
Amazing how a loss gets people carried away. Blow up the defense? They were third in the league, but because they tackled like shit for 30 minutes, it's time to blow up the whole thing. Come on. Make it better, don't blow it up. Safety, NT, pass rusher and this defense will improve.
After I read who he wanted to cut, that's not really blowing up. Cutting 3-4 guys on what is 22-23 active defensive players is not really a blowup. As WSW said I'd keep Scott, but I'd also see what Shaun Ellis wants if he is signed. He is the longest tenured Jet and had some good games this year. If he were take the something around the Vet minimum to be a part time player I'd be fine with that. Stats are deceiving but when the D played with fire and attitude they were great. Holding the Packers to 0 Tds and 9 points while our offense blew was great, same thing with Miami. Of course the first 2 playoff games were fantastic. They did give up some late drives in the mid-season and that 45-3 did blow. When looking at defensive stats, I look at total yards and points allowed. Yards, because the less we allow the more time we have the ball usually. Points is obvious. That is the stat that jumped the most from last year, allowing almost 5 more points a game compared to last season. I'm confident in any defense Rex will field though, as long as we have our key guys. Leonhard was a big part of our defense and we did pretty damn good after we got used to the fact that he was gone.
I agree, but it's also true that even if they had won the SB there would have been some changes going into next year.
Having Rex putting the defense together is always going to be an advantage to the Jets. I have confidence that if Tanny gets him a few young athletic guys for the front 7 that he will be able to work them in effectively and create a pass rush. He did it with smoke and mirrors for the whole first year so I can only imagine what he will be able to do with a few guys that can win a one on one matchup more than the old guys we had this year. Also need to assume that Pace will be more effective in the pass rush with his foot back to 100%.
Yea, didn't we make a thread about this already? Besides he was the only one holding Mendenhall on that first TD, could have used some help there. Losing Scott would be a mistake.
Remind me of a game where he stood out more than our other LBs. He is making more money than all of the other linebackers except maybe Pace. He is not worth more than Harris and we all agree on that I would hope, and if we can keep Harris, Pace will probably not be making more. But he is sold as this elite LB, and he's not one. Elite LBs don't hit Mendenhall at the Line of Scrimmage and get pulled into the end zone. They don't miss tackles in the backfield. Scott does not get through traffic well on outside runs and even though he takes on blockers well and takes them out of the play, he rarely sheds blocks and makes tackles. He's not a standout. If you want me to re-watch games so I can see him make a play here and there, I think I'll save my time And to clarify, I don't want him cut but I would not be against it if a favourable situation presented itself.
My point was he is far far far above an average player. He may be overpaid now but that was the price that had to paid to bring him in at the time. Without him I doubt we have the #1 defense in his first year and the #3 defense his second year. If you are going to try to highlight your point using that abortion of a first half against the Steelers I could show you David Harris getting blocked ten yards off the LOS by Heath Miller but I think I will just chalk that entire thing up to a clusterfuck and move on. Scott gets off blocks far better than Harris, he actually made the tackle that forced Indy to kick their last field goal by getting off a block and making a play he really had no business making based on where he was lined up. I have said it a few times in this last week but I think Harris is closer to overrated than Scott is. That is your guy that never gets off a block. Never makes stand out plays either. He is a beast of a tackler though.
The Jets are not starting over. Pace, Harris, Scott, Revis, Jimmy, Pouha, and DeVito aree locks to be back. The questions come down to Ellis, Jenkins, Smith, Pool, Thomas, and Cro. Ellis will probably be back because he is a lifetime Jet and is still playing at a high level. Jenkins is probably gone unless he comes back for dirt cheap. Smith or Pool will be gone, with the other starting in front of whatever safety the Jets draft. Thomas should be gone, but I have thought that every year he has been in the NFL, and he is still here. I am not holding my breath. So, that leaves Cro. If reasonable, he should be back. If he wants 10 mil, he is gone. So, in all honesty, this defense will be pretty similar to last year. The Jets will probably draft 4/5 guys to infuse youth and talent along the front 7 and safety, but I dont think there will be drastic changes unless NA is brought in to replace Cro. And honestly, the Jets dont need to rebuild. They just need to add pass rushers. If they do that, and stay healthy, this is going to be the top defense in the NFL next year.
1. If ILBs look ordinary, that means NT play is down to the level of dog shit. No. It's not the ILB's fault. It all starts from the NT play. Do you honestly think Scott would have been this invisible if Big Jenx was clogging up the middle all by himself? Are you smoking something? 2. Say all the nice things about Pouha. At the end of the day, he is but a rotational guy, nothing more. To me, he is a nice, serviceable backup, not really a starting quality NT. 3. Jets definitely need huge upgrade at safeties. I don't really know if Eric Smith is part of the solution or not. 4. Also likely is that Jets need some serious upgrade at DE spot. 5. Both OLBs should be sent packing.
