Who do you think stays on this team in the off-season and who do you think get cut on the offense and defense. Also who do you think the jets draft to improve there team and try to be realistic.
Offense: Blaylock J-Mac Moore Clement possibly Barlow Defense: Robertson Ellis should go but not with that contract Bryan Thomas Vic Hobson David Barrett It's too early to discuss who they will draft but this offseason the keys are finding outside linebackers (Thomas and Hobson are not the answers), find a nose tackle, finding two guys for the right side of the line, finding another tight end, another running back and building up the defensive line.
Blaylock is obviously gone, I don't think too many other people from the offense will be going anywhere though, we have a pretty solid nucleus, we do need more Oline and WR depth. Defense could see anyone go. None of the Dlineman are doing anything, LB'ers aren't making plays. Secondary is pretty solid though and I'd be surprised if anyone other than Barrett left.
So we're getting rid of five starters within the defense, and four in the offensive front while we're trying to correct things? You don't just get rid of players because they aren't playing good, but you do replace them. Victor Hobson is cheap, as is Thomas. Why get rid of them? Hobson has proved that he's around the ball and makes plays even from the strongside of a 3-4 which means all he does is take on blocks. He's performed well, although he does need to work on establishing outside leverage.
I wouldn't necessarily say get rid of them, but none of those guys should be counted on to be starters next year. Hobson is a nice player but he's not a 3-4 OLB. He could play inside, but he's not fast enough to be outside. You have to realize that looking at last years roster, 75% of it will be gone in 2 to 3 years. Bryan Thomas is a nice role player but again an OLB in a 3-4 needs to be able to get pressure off the edge and he has not been able to do that. If you look at the good 3-4 teams they all have dominating tackles and pass rushers from the OLB that cause havoc. We do not have either of those.
well Blaylock and J-mac don't start. I don't think anyone would be surpised if Moore and Clement are gone, neither one is really a starting caliber player. Barlow may have started some games but I think if Houston was healthy he is the starting rb with Washington. On defense Robertson makes way too much money and is not a fit for the 3-4 at all. Sean Ellis has not been productive since he got that contract and is not an ideal 3-4 defensive end. Bryan Thomas and Vic Hobson are nice role players but should be not starting for this team. I think Barrett is hurt haven't seen him playing in weeks. I don't think any of the players I listed are really in the long term plan for this regime. They are playing now because really who else would be playing instead of them on the roster? I think Hobson would make a nice 4-3 strong side linebacker. But a 4-3 strong side linebacker is very different then a 3-4 strong side linebacker. Bryan Thomas imo at best is a role player. As I said earlier most of the roster from last year will be turned over in the near future.
Really if you watch dominating 3-4 teams they have a dominating nose tackle, two good safeties and a good end on either side. Outside linebackers are nice, but pressure comes in the form of blitzes. Porter is a good player, for example, but on most of his sacks he ends up running free because of blitz disguises.
But every team that plays the 3-4 has big fast versatile OLB's. Most of these guys are fast enough to get around the tackle even if it's not a zone blitz or something else to confuse the lineman. The Pats had/have Mcginest, Vrabel, Colvin and other strong OLB's. The Chargers have Merriman. The Cowboys have Ware. The Steelers have Porter and Haggans. The Browns now have Mcginest and Wimbley. On top of that almost all of these teams have dominating nose tackles and very good 2 gap ends. Jamal Wiliams, Ted Washington, Casey Hampton and Vince Wilfork. A good 3-4 defense is built with a big fat 2 gap nose tackle, 2 solid techique ends like Kimo or Aaron Smith. The middle linebackers don't have to be the best players but they have to be very smart and good tacklers. The outside linebackers have to be able to rush the passer, play the run and drop into coverage. the outside linebackers and the nose tackle are the key to the 3-4. Why does having 2 good safties mean more in a 3-4 rather then a 4-3? It's nice to have a good safety who can play in the box but I don't see how it would be as important as having a great pass rushing linebacker like Joey Porter.
Good safeties in a 3-4 don't get a lot of respect or stats for that matter, unless they're flashy like that of Troy Polamalu, but they often have to cover a lot of ground and quickly. They are often left alone in coverage and have to take away 1/2 the field, because the corners are in a small zone, or up pressing the receiver and releasing into the flats. I think pressure is way too easy to generate if you have blitz packages like the Steelers which is why as long as your outside linebackers don't let backs get outside them, they don't need to be great pass rushers. It's a luxury to have that great pass rusher and I think it's something that Mangini covets. We need one, because we can't do it with blitz packages, and it's apparent to the other teams that unless we're sending more guys then they can block, then they can just man up and block us. I understand the 3-4 and more importantly Mangini's 3-4 so there's really no need for the explanation.
I agree with Blaylock, J-mac, and possibly Robertson or Hobson. I think the rest will stay if only in situational assignments. Barlow I think will be restructured, and our stable of backs will be Leon-Houston-Barlow for the next 2 years at least, unless a back that the FO likes a lot comes free via FA or the trading block. He is like the guy in the middle between Leon's speed and Houston's brute strength. Keep in mind that this guy missed pretty much all of our training camp and he's been playing catch-up ever since. Runningback may not be the most complex position on the team in terms of a learning curve, but it is still a lot of info to learn.
Isn't Bryan Thomas a free agent next year finally? We're not going to pay him more than a journeyman's salary and usually there is some sucker team out there that will pay more than that.
As far as safties are concerned if a team is playing a 4-3 cover 2 the safeties have the same responsibility. I don't really see the difference between playing a cover 2 or cover 3 between the two different fronts. It's the same responsiblities. With that being said a lot of the 3-4 teams like to have more versatile safties then the 4-3 teams so that they can involve them in blitz packages. But I don't see any real difference in the personnel at safety between 3-4 teams and 4-3 teams. Most of the teams have a guy who can play in the box against the run or blitz or cover, and the other guy the free safety stays back in coverage. The Steelers play a cover 3 and the pats usually play a cover 2. Most 3-4 teams corners play man to man or man with cover 2 behind it. I don't know where your getting your facts that most corners in a 3-4 play bump and run and stay in the flat zone. The Steelers corners are usually 8 yards off the line of scrimmage, the Pats are usually in man to man with safties providing help. I think your way to caught up in how a blitz package creates pressure. A blitz package is only as good as the guys blitzing. If the Jets had Dick Lebaeu instead of Sutton calling the plays they still wouldn't get any pressure because they don't have guys who fit that type of defense. Even with all those strange zone blitzes the steelers rarely blitz more then 5 or 6 guys. The difference is that Clark Haggans or Joey Porter if they aren't double teamed can beat their man around the corner. The Steelers defense is designed so that the offensive line does not know where the pressure is coming from but the lineman also have to be aware of Porter coming off the weakside, Haggans from the strong side or Polamalu coming from anywhere. The Packages cause confusion but the players make the plays. Right now the Jets don't have the players. In Dallas, Parcells drafted Ware, in Cleveland Rac drafted Wimbley and signed Mcginest. San Diego's defense went to another level when they drafted Merriman. The bottom line is that for a 3-4 to be effective you need a monster pass rusher at OLB. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. I would be shocked if the Jets don't use one of their first 3 picks on a pass rusher. I really don't know what your talking about when you say "as long as your outside linebackers don't let backs get outside them, they don't need to be great pass rushers." Can you explain this further? I'm not really not trying to show you up, just trying to understand where your coming from.
