I call a line with Jonathan Goodwin, Scott Gragg and Adrian Jones crap. And if you don't believe me, Mangini apparently does because it's the first thing he addressed when he got inside the door at Hempstead. I'd say short of Kareem McKenzie, the Herm/Bradway regime completely neglected the O-line. I also don't call signing Quincy Carter a plan. I call it a gamble, at best. And we all know that doctors won't stay doctors with the team long if they're keeping guys on the bench when they're injured. You know it's the dirty little secret in the NFL, witnessed by the Belichick/Ted Johnson fiasco. Chad wasn't ready, hadn't been throwing up until the weeks before training camp. If Herm thought he was OK, why was he micromanaging Chad's throwing regimen during TC anyway (morning on, afternoon off, morning off, afternoon on, etc.) We're not talking YA Title or Jim Plunkett behind center now.
obviously that line sucked but 2 of the 3 were backups so obviosuly the Ol will get worse when you lose players. We had ONE OL start and end the year in the same position- Brandon Moore. They aren't going to rush back a starting QB if they don't feel he can play. Herm was easing him back. You don't give a full load to a player the second he gets back. He looked good enough in preseason and had hs moments the first 3 weeks but unfortunately he got hurt again. Last year he had more time to get ready for the season b/c he had surgery in October of the previous year rather than Feb of the current year and after 2 surgeries the FO did the right thing in drafting a QB but it made no sense to draft one pre '06.
How was Jay Fiedler a reach? He was a veteran guy who had success in the league and in our division. How many better guys do you think were available to just go get and who were they? Drafting a guy would have made no difference for that year, they weren't worried about the future at that moment with guys like Curtis, Mawae, etc, on the offense. One has nothing to do with the other. It was a win-now situation because they had gotten so close with that same team the year before. Your argument would have to be we needed to get a better guy than Fiedler, so I'll ask you again, who was available that you would have gotten? I'd like to hear this one.
I've never said Jay Fiedler was a horrible backup to have, or the best option in '05. I'm also not saying Herm's to blame for Fiedler's injury. So let's get the record straight. But Fiedler wasn't the long-term solution for a QB who had gone down in two straight seasons by '05 (and soon to be a third). And obviously Brooks wasn't the solution either, or else Herm/Bradway wouldn't have pursued Fiedler in the first place and would have elevated Brooks to the #2 spot at the outset of '05. Bringing in a rookie would not have fixed the QB problem in '05. My point is that it's just another example of Herm/Bradway not thinking two steps ahead. And like multiple posters have mentioned before, the Jets were nowhere near a top-echelon team coming out of the '04 season. Herm/Bradway thought the team was, and as a result, you get the '05 season. Why did the Jets spend a #2 on Clemens in '06 when they had just acquired Ramsey and had multiple holes across the roster? Because there was a plan. Will it work. Who knows. But as the saying goes, "a failure to plan is a plan to fail." If you want to argue the Jets shouldn't have drafted a QB in '05, that's fine. That suggests that they believed Pennington would recover 100%, even after two injuries. Fine. But what you then can't do if you're Herm and Bradway is put Chad out on the field in '05 without 100% assurance that he's healthy coming off shoulder surgery. Because what ends up happening is what happened: he gets hurt again and you've put the franchise in jeopardy for a third year in a row (really for a fourth year in a row because it spilled over to '06). Again, those miguided notions about the '05 Jets clouded their perspective.
Jay Fiedler could have been a solid back up but having an injury prone QB backing up another injury probe QB is a disaster waiting to happen, as well all saw first hand..
he had 2 seperate injuries 2 fluy injuries. The wrist had nothing to do w/ it and if they were around for the '06 draft I think thye would have take a QB but after the 1st shoulder injury it wasn't time to spend a high pick on a QB. Chad was healthy going into '05, he wasn't as strong s he would have been since he didn't have a real offseason but he was more than healthy enough to play. He gt hurt agin an he'll get hurt again if hit he sam way.
Again we're talking about 20/20 hindsight. Chad was coming off two seasons where he missed a few games, not the whole year. There's a difference between Chad going down and Chad going down for the whole season. Same for Fiedler. I don't know how you're supposed to plan for two guys not just going out but going out for the whole year, you don't. You get Vinny off his couch and hope the line doesn't fall apart. Plan C. Last year was a different story. Now Chad is coming off another surgery, new staff, you're just bringing in QBs any way you can and hope somebody can do the job. You're not coming off the second round of the playoffs, you're coming off 4-12 with a new staff and a blank check. Herm and Bradway didn't have that luxury in 2005. Apples and oranges.
