New
York Jets
2018 Record: (4-12) 4th AFC East
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 20.8 (23rd)
Yards: 299.2 (29th)
Pass Yards: 197.8 (25th)
Rush Yards: 101.4 (26th)
Defense
Points: 27.6 (29th)
Yards: 380.4 (25th)
Pass Yards: 254.1 (24th)
Rush Yards: 126.3 (26th)
Coming into the 2018 season, the New York Jets were in
full rebuild mode knowing that big changes had to happen to revamp this team.
As the Jets began to cut bait with high priced talent
employed on the roster, they saw good fortune in the 2018 NFL draft selecting Sam
Darnold as the franchise pivot for the long term. Everyone knows the NFL is a
passing league that requires a top talent to take their team to the next level,
and the Jets feel they have their man of the future.
Coming into the season, the evaluation for New York wasn’t
overly promising, and rightfully so. The offense would employ a rookie passer (which
always takes time to bear fruit), and had limited talent on the offense as a
whole. The defense also saw transition with the release of many players in
hopes to generate funds back on the books.
Opening the season on an absolute high note, the Jets
dismantled the Detroit Lions, quickly making liars out of all experts who
predicted them to be one of the worst clubs in the league. There was a clear
competitive spirt to this Jets club with Sam Darnold learning on the fly. New
York could only muster 3 victories in their first 10 weeks of the season, proving
the initial evaluation of this team was in fact truth.
While the Jets did lose Darnold to injury during weeks
10 to 13, New York still could only manage to win 1 more contest in the final 6
weeks of the regular season. Concluding the year with an AFC East worst record
of 4-12, the Jets will again be picking high in the 2019 NFL draft.
All wasn’t lost form this campaign, as a few players
did show flashes of greatness that could eventually be the foundation of what
this club could eventually become. The long road to rebuild is just one year
into its formation and should be very interesting to see it take shape.
2019
Offseason WorkBook:
The
Coaching Staff
The writing was on the wall for Todd Bowles and his
staff to be relieved of their duties once the season came to its conclusion.
With the Jets cleaning house, speculation was on high to who would be his
successor.
The Jets ownership chose to move in a direction that
gave some (including us) pause, wondering if they had made the correct decision.
Announcing that former Miami Dolphins head coach (Adam Gase) would now be in
charge of the gang-green to foster this rebuild, does leave us a little
puzzled. Believing that Gase can appropriately teach Sam Darnold was the
obvious driving factor for this hire, we do question his overall coaching
ability.
Nevertheless, Adam Gase assembled his staff to include
Dowell Loggains (offensive coordinator) and Gregg Williams (defensive coordinator)
to help bring this team back to levels of respectability.
While it appears we have negative thoughts on Adam Gase
running things in New York, we do like his offensive prowess that should lift
the unit as a whole. Bringing in an experienced defensive mind with head coaching
knowledge will also help Gase delegate responsibilities elsewhere.
The
Offense
When we sit back and review this Jets offense, there
are pieces that we do like, but could be viewed as more depth and secondary
options in the grand scheme of things.
Starting with Sam Darnold, perhaps the most sought
after quarterback in the entire 2018 draft class, the Jets appear to have the
position set for at least the next several years with hopes that he’ll turn
into the franchise. While Sam didn’t see the success that most would’ve envisioned,
his completion percentage was a glaring disappointment to us. Securing only
57.7% of his passes suggests the game was moving rather quickly at times,
leaving Sam to throw errant balls. With that said, all the negatives can’t be
placed solely on Sam as his receiving core had a great deal of blame in his
progression as well. With more talent and a new system on the horizon, we are truly
excited to see what Darnold can do in year two.
The running back situation in New York was more of a
dart throw in our eyes, as signing Isaiah Crowell to lead the way was wishful
thinking at its best. Crowell is a sound running back but isn’t a pure three
down talent that can carry a team, as was proven this past season. While he did
miss time to injury, his play left a lot to be desired. With rumors swirling that
the Jets have all intentions to improve this unit, two names have been linked
to the team thus far. New York will actively be pursuing former Falcons runner
Tevin Coleman, and former Steelers cast out LeVeon Bell. While Bell is the obvious
bigger name, Coleman might be the better fit in both scheme and money. Either
way, Jets fans will rejoice on March 13th as they will have a
massive upgrade at the position.
The Jets receiving core and tight-end situation does
have pieces to help more this club in the right direction, but adding a true
number one target might be on the docket. Some believe that Robby Anderson and Quincy
Enunwa could fill in roles as top pass catchers in this league, and while we
think they might, it’s not a certainty at this point. Perhaps our view on the
two is simply “extremely good secondary players”, but we shall leave this
opinion open to be changed after this season. It’s definitely not out of the
question to see New York add more talent to both the receiving core and
tight-end groups this offseason.
The
Defense
When we review the Jets defense, we are far more
encouraged with the prospects of this group turning the corner faster given the
level of talent they already employ.
With Leonard Williams anchoring the defensive line, he
legitimately is the only viable playmaker on this defensive front. This past
season saw a patch made line created to get through the year, leaving Williams
to fend for himself on vast double teams. This would also be a place where the
Jets would like to improve, as wasting Leonard’s talents for another season is
almost criminal.
The line backing group on this Jets defense is extremely
intriguing to us, as the trio currently employed does possess a great deal of
talent. Proving that they could get better with each passing game, Avery
Williamson took the lead in being a tackling machine this past season. With his
supporting cast; Darron Lee and Jordan Jenkins proving they too could make
plays on a regular basis, this could be the most put together bunch on this
entire roster. Lots of upside for this core under Gregg Williams and his
attacking style defense.
When looking at this secondary, and what they should’ve
been able to achieve, finishing near the bottom in all statistical rankings
should be considered a huge failure. This group starts and stops with their
super star safety Jamal Adams, as he truly is the catalyst to make things
happen. There is no questioning his talent and ability and he again will
show-out in 2019.
When the Jets went shopping last offseason and sent dump
trucks of money to free agent Trumaine Johnson, the expectations were extremely
high and didn’t necessarily transpire. Recent reports have suggested the Jets
have buyer’s remorse on Johnson and would do anything to reverse that choice.
Nevertheless, Johnson will return to the club and hopefully play much better than
this past season. With Morris Claiborne and Buster Skrine’s futures uncertain at
this point, the Jets could be looking to add a lot more depth to this defensive
back core.
Team
Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
Normally when a team suffers in the win-loss column,
it should mean they have an abundance of funds at their disposal. This is truly
the case for the Jets as they shed millions of dollars over the past two seasons
to place themselves in this favorable situation.
As of today, the Jets hold a mammoth 99 million
dollars (+$99,046,607) on the books in hopes to rebuild and retool this team.
With that amount of money staring them in the face, their laundry list of team
free agents is also very large. Holding a league high 38 players in search of
new deals, the Jets general manager (Mike Maccahnan) will have choices to make.
While most players look to be depth pieces which could
be somewhat interchangeable, the Jets do have a few players they should bring
back to the fold. Corner backs Morris Claiborne and Buster Skrine should garner
the most interest to return, but aren’t sure things. Brandon Copeland, James
Carpenter, and Jonotthan Harrison could entice the Jets to offer up new
contracts, but also are far from certainties.
Normally it’s our objective to find savings for each
NFL team, but given the amount of funds the Jets currently have, this exercise doesn’t
provide much value at this point. The Jets will have to pay players that may
not fit into their future plans this season, but that simply due to rostering a
full squad in come the fall. Reviewing the books in 2020 will be far more
valuable.
The
NFL Draft
While we would like to have seen more draft capital
for the Jets in this year’s draft, they currently sit with 6 picks overall
missing their 2nd & 6th rounder’s, while adding an
additional 3rd round selection.
For any club looking to rebuild quicker, trading down
is always the best option to generate more capital. In the Jets case, they
again find themselves picking with the 3rd overall pick in the first
round and will undoubtedly be listening to all offers to help this process move
in the right direction.
With so many holes currently on this roster, the Jets can
literally move in any direction in this draft securing the best available
players from their board. It’s our contention that New York finds a trading
partner for the 3rd overall pick to garner heavy compensation to set
this team up right for the future. With so much salary cap space and the
potential to bring in a great deal of talent through free agency, this rebuild
could show signs of triumph rather quickly.
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