Are you mocking the 9th rated grade the Jets got last year? The Jets finished with 7 wins without a competent QB. A good QB is easily worth 2 wins, no? Considering how awful Zach Wilson was, and no one is denying that, most here would say he doesnt belong in the NFL, I think 3 wins is a fairer win over replacement a good QB would have given the Jets. 9 teams finished with more than 10 wins. Lets include Cincy too, as they would have done better with Burrow. 9 may have been slightly high unit rank, may have been, but not far off base. The Jets are better this year across the board. A healthy Jets team will not be a big underdog to anyone this year. And perhaps a healthy Jets team will be favored in most games. Health is a major issue for sure, but if healthy, the Jets roster stacks up across the league.
Interesting that you should bring up QB since the QB unit grade he gave the Jets was 6th best in the league, and was likely responsible for the overall grade being so high. It was the most poorly managed unit on the team outside of OL. Health is a major issue for every team, that is where you can see the output of unit grades and know how true the depth is. I know that coaching and in-season roster management can have a large effect on this but the truth is that none of these offseason ranking turds can be made in a vacuum without taking 1000 other factors into the equation, rendering the actual scores pretty much useless... but there needs to be transparency for a guy giving us the best unit grades in the league when his previous season's rankings could have been formed with a wee bit more independent thought. So, yes, I am mocking Mike Clay's 2023 efforts, although I do get your point. He, like everyone on the Jets, thought Aaron Rodgers would come in and fix all the ugly spots.
This isn't a lifetime achievement award, just stop already with some of the nonsense. It's about how good you are today and now and that's it. Rodgers has to go out there and prove he is still a top 10 QB in the league. As of today he is not and it needs to be earned with recent play on the field.
Whatever the ratings are based on (probably just this guy's opinion), some of them are optimistic. Rodgers being a top 5 QB now is unrealistic. The OL ranking would be fair if they were likely to stay healthy, but this group carries more injury risk than the average unit. But with reasonable health, they should be really good. It's hard to argue with the defense honestly. It's still a strong group overall. Should be in the top quartile for sure (run defense worries me a bit). But it does speak to a decent job putting this roster together for 2024, which I think is the case Now as others have said, what would tank these ratings are coaching staff - Hackett and Keith Carter would probably both be dead last and Saleh not far behind (I have more hope Saleh can crawl out of the basement with good QB play). The defensive side being on the other end of the spectrum would balance it. This team really should be in the playoffs and making a Super Bowl run. Anything less would be a failure
For anyone who wants to see a lot of NFL data and a look into computer generated scenarios, this link will take you to “Mike Clay's 2024 NFL Projection Guide”, Updated on 5/11/2024. If you are a Jets fan and want to get excited about this year, take a look at this 80-page bungle of goodness. On paper it rates the Jets as the #1 team and even predicts the likeliness of the Jets going 16-1. Yes, it means nothing, but was a fun read and handy for those who love fantasy football. Mike Clay's 2024 NFL Projection Guide Updated: 5/11/2024 Glossary: Page 2-33: Team Projections Page 34-55: QB, RB, WR, TE and IDP positional projections Page 56-58: Category Leader projections Page 59: Projected standings, playoff teams and next April's draft order Page 60: Projected Strength of Schedule Page 61: Unit Grades Page 62-71: Positional Unit Ranks Page 72: Current Coaching Staffs Page 73-80: Projected Starters https://g.espncdn.com/s/ffldraftkit/24/NFLDK2024_CS_ClayProjections2024.pdf Take a look at the predicted SB matchup, a rematch of week #1.
Wow. What a report. Didn't check everything but looked at Play Off projections. He has Jets as #1 seed in AFC and projects us to make it to the Superbowl. Awesome. Hope we stay healthy across the board.
Somebody, maybe NC posted that last week. Clay doesn't say how he came to his projections, so it looks like just one man's opinion.
Let us never forget who the perennial off season winners and draft champions always are. Is this Mike Clay part of the Florham Park cult? Ok, are we to seriously believe that with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, LAC with Harbaugh now, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore. Miami, KC, in a completely LOADED AFC, that they rate the Jets as the #1 team? Sorry, but I have a hard time not laughing my a$$ off at that one. With this CS, how can the Jets be rated #1 at anything (except maybe next year's draft pick?)
On most betting sites the Jets are favored in all but 3 games. Hard not to get pretty excited about this season. Does it have the potential to be SOJ and blow up in our collective faces, of course we are the Jets but it seems almost as likely that it could be the most games won in Franchise history and truly something special.
Good points. Jets Front Office has lots of friends in the media. That gets us nothing. When it comes to real rankings, as Dr. Now says "you have to do ze work"
I also think JD has done a good job as GM, I'm just not sure he did enough through the draft and FA to save his job. I hope I'm wrong but the 2024 season could just as easily go sideways if the OL folds with injuries like they did the last two seasons. I think Woody would be a fool to fire him but with how often you hear through the press that JD's job is on the line you start to think there must be some truth to it.
Joe Douglas has had some really high highs and some really low lows, but he needs a lot more wins in the front office to break even at this point, IMO.
More Mike Clay prognostication https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/40115297/new-york-jets-win-super-bowl-2024-season-aaron-rodgers
Overall JD has done a good job. He also has had a lot of bad luck with the injuries. In hindsight he should of traded down in 2021- that is his black mark. This team is stacked talent wise but as always it will come down to injuries/and or the timing of the injuries. Rodgers has lost a step but he is still probably a top 10 QB. Even if he were top 15 with this team there should be a deep playoff run. The Super Bowl talk is a little premature - this team outside of Rodgers doesn’t have much or even any post season experience - usually a team needs to get to the playoffs and experience that pain of losing to better gel physiologically (like KC in 2018) …
Here are some keys to the season imo beyond the usual suspects: 1. Irvin Charles needs to be the gunner he was last midseason and not how we was at the end of the season. 2. Either Brownlee or Gipson need to take the next step. They both have golden opportunities. 3. Either Warren or Max Mitchell--one of them needs to be pushing for starting time. 4. Ruckert needs to block his ass off until there is no question he's a great blocker. If its still a question after this year then the answer is no. 5. Sherwood needs to show he can take more snaps. He looks the part out there calling defense but he doesn't act the part yet. 6. We're all praying Chuck Clark has what it takes to start and play most snaps a game. Big hole if he fails.
I feel like that’s a lot to ask for … I’d say 6, 5 and 1 are the most likely to occur. The others may be a stretch
