Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2124770-new-york-jets-finally-have-balanced-team-rex-ryan-has-always-wanted The 2014 New York Jets will be unlike any other Jets we have seen under Rex Ryan, as they possess an attribute that has eluded his team since he took over in 2009: balance. Gone are the days when Ryan would have to lean on his prized defense to withstand the pressure of an anemic offense. For better or worse, the Jets will be a much more even team than Ryan has ever fielded. Much of this is thanks to an improved offense, but balance does not always equate to success on the field. As much as his offense has seen improvements in personnel and coaching since 2012, Ryan's defense has taken several steps back. In particular, the Jets secondary that was once regarded as the "No Fly Zone" has become a feasting ground for opposing receivers. With that said, the Jets were destined to divert from their defense-dependent ways as soon as John Idzik took over as general manager. Ryan's teams would always take a certain amount of pride in their defense, but no longer at the expense of winning. An Offensive Makeover In two offseasons, Idzik has replaced nine of the 11 offensive starters on the Jets (counting fullback as a starter). The only two surviving players are mainstay Pro Bowl offensive linemen Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Jets Offensive Personnel Changes Position 2012 .......2014 (projected starter) QB Mark Sanchez .....Geno Smith RB Shonn Greene.... Chris Ivory FB Lex Hilliard ....Tommy Bohanon WR Santonio Holmes.... Eric Decker WR Stephen Hill .....Jeremy Kerley TE Dustin Keller .....Jeff Cumberland (ETA, Amaro ?) G Matt Slauson, Brandon Moore .....Brian Winters, Willie Colon C Nick Mangold Nick Mangold T D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Austin Howard .......D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Breno Giacomini OurLads.com dzik deserves credit for giving the Jets the personnel upgrades they needed, but it would have been much harder to find a way to get worse on offense than to make improvements. Anyone could have fired an underperforming group, but hiring the right players to replace the old ones was where Idzik ignited the rebuilding process. Adding players like receiver Eric Decker and tackle Breno Giacomini won't draw comparisons between this offense and the Greatest Show on Turf, but these are the types of players that give the Jets a sense of legitimacy. Decker and Giacomini squared off in the 2013 Super Bowl and are coming off career years—they have operated within functional—in Decker's case, record-breaking—offenses. Settling for the Jets' old standards of being just good enough to not lose the game for the defense is out of the question. Of course, as with all offenses, the Jets' success will always come back to second-round quarterback Geno Smith. It was not long ago that the Jets were in a similar situation with Mark Sanchez, who was ready to enter the 2010 season with heightened expectations that he would evolve into the franchise quarterback they drafted him to be. Smith may have similar expectations surrounding him with the playoffs on the horizon, but the Jets are handling the quarterback situation in a very different manner this time around. First off, they hardly babied Smith as a rookie in spite of his inferior surrounding personnel. Based on how much they threw the deep ball, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg hardly called plays like he was talking to a rookie. Under Smith, the Jets were among the best in the league at throwing the football down the field—so much for easing a rookie into the NFL. Deep Passing Accuracy Leaders Rank Name Team Attempt Percentage 1 Nick Foles Eagles 17.3 2 Jake Locker Titans 16.4 3 Jay Cutler Bears 15.8 4 Michael Vick Eagles 15.6 5 Geno Smith Jets 15.3 Pro Football Focus For as much promise as Smith showed last year, the Jets sent him a strong message that anything but a massive improvement upon their 8-8 season would not be tolerated when they brought in Michael Vick as a backup. While NFL.com's Dan Hanzus suggests signs are pointing to Smith entering the season as the starter, Vick's presence shows that the Jets have no intentions of babying Smith to be their franchise quarterback, as they did with Sanchez. If Smith falls apart, the Jets will have no problem tapping into their $5 million insurance quarterback. Simply put, the Jets offense will hold higher standards set from both their new personnel and the front office. Unfortunately for Ryan, the same cannot be said for his once-feared defense. Defensive Regression Ryan is fully capable of winning football games in which he is overmatched in talent—as long as his cornerbacks are in place. Their impact on the game won't show up on the stat sheet, but Ryan's defenses are built around his coverage men being able to hold up adequately in order to allow his complex defense to function properly. Rex Ryan's core belief: “There’s two places you can lose a game fastest in this league: Quarterback and Cornerback." This explains why the marriage that once existed between Darrelle Revis and the Jets produced some of the best defenses in football—particularly against the pass—on an annual basis. Without a stud pass-rusher to speak of on the roster—no player on the team hit double-digit sacks—the Jets never fared worse than eighth in overall defense, including a No. 1 ranking in 2009. Starting a hobbled Antonio Cromartie and a struggling rookie in Dee Milliner at cornerback—ranked 102nd and 68th in Pro Football Focus' rankings, respectively—for the majority of the 2013 season, Ryan fielded the worst NFL defense he was ever in charge of. The Jets' final ranking of 10th in overall defense was the worst ever for a group with Ryan's stamp on it. The odd aspect of the 2013 defense is that while its secondary struggles were well-documented, it was working with one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. The combination of Muhammad Wilkerson, Damon Harrison, Sheldon Richardson and Quinton Coples made up the best defensive line Ryan employed in New York by a long shot. Two players—Wilkerson and Calvin Pace—breached the 10-sack mark. It comes as no surprise that the Jets were the No. 3 run defense in the NFL, but their atrocious pass defense netted them an average unit—especially when compared to previous Ryan units. Ryan has the balance his team has been needing for a long time, but he will find that it will be much more difficult to coach top-notch defensive football in the NFL. No longer dependent on one or two star members of the secondary and linebacking corps to carry the unit, the Jets had more balance on defense than they ever had—with inverse results. Balance has its importance, but at what point can it ultimately dilute the overall talent level of a team? Does Balanced Equal Better? The 2014 Jets will be less reliant on one player than in any previous year under Ryan, which will allow them to win games in a greater variety of ways. They will be able to compete in both shootouts and defensive struggles, but will they be able to win enough of them? Outside of its run-stoppers, there is no aspect of the Jets roster that truly stands out. Stopping the run sure makes it easier to play defense, but is it enough to get the Jets into anything more than an outside chance at a wild-card spot? Decker and Chris Johnson are nice additions, but are they going to help the Jets outscore the New England Patriots or Denver Broncos? Sheldon Richardson has a ton of promise as a young defensive lineman, but can he overcome the struggles in the secondary? Balance is an important aspect to any team—after all, the Jets proved to themselves that relying on a cornerback and a couple of offensive linemen to win games is not exactly a formula for sustained success. But overall talent level, however it may be combined, is even more crucial to a team's success. A team can be perfectly balanced in how poor it is across the board. On the other hand, an imbalanced roster implies that there is at least some high-level talent to be found on an imperfect depth chart. The Jets may no longer have Hall of Fame-caliber players on their roster, but they do have an asset they have not enjoyed in quite some time: depth. Loaded with a draft class of 12 rookies to go with their free-agent additions, the Jets will no longer be at the mercy of the health of a few select players. In the past, the Jets would sink when they lost key players to inevitable injury, whether it be Revis, Nick Mangold or Santonio Holmes. While losing players of such high caliber will hurt any team, these new Jets have a much stronger foundation that won't collapse when the bottom bricks are pulled out. Only time will tell whether or not the Jets' new model of team-building will eventually lead to a championship, but for now, their balanced approach will bring more than welcome stability and normalcy to a team that has been through too many turbulent seasons recently. pretty fair and interesting article. raises some good questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbatesman Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 New York Jets Finally Have Balanced Team Rex Ryan Needs What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTM Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 What? give Ryan an offense and we win the next 10 SB's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RutgersJetFan Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RutgersJetFan Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 give Ryan an offense and we win the next 10 SB's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShow Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 "Sheldon Richardson has a ton of promise as a young defensive lineman, but can he overcome the struggles in the secondary?" WTF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard King Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Rex Ryan's core belief: “There’s two places you can lose a game fastest in this league: Quarterback and Cornerback." Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 so what do we think of the idea that balance may not be better ? is losing talent on defense to gain talent on offense a good thing, or is a "super unit" better ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 "Sheldon Richardson has a ton of promise as a young defensive lineman, but can he overcome the struggles in the secondary?" WTF? I think the point was the jets have a great d-line, but had pretty poor pass defense, which goes against the old NFL addage is that forcing teams into 3rd and 7 with a good run defense then rushing the passer usually works but didn't work for the jets last year because the secondary was really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 this blogger is a college grad, and old enough to drink !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slats Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The secondary will have some bumps this year, but Milliner came on very strong at the end of last season. He's not gonna be PFF's #68 CB again this season. Really gonna come down to Pryor and McDougle, and how quickly they can grasp the offense and react without thinking. If Pryor is the enforcer they expect him to be, that'll really help the young CBs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
use2Jet Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 So with this new balance, what are we thinking, 10 or 11 wins this year? Schedule looks overall pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugg Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 http://www.mrctv.org/videos/what-are-you-people-dope-mr-hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faba Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I guess then Rex has run out of excuses to win this season- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
use2Jet Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I guess then Rex has run out of excuses to win this season- Never! If he does not win we will surely find someone else to blame! If he wins though, it will be all his doing as without him this is a 3 win team tops, maybe 4, but I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugg Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 http://www.mrctv.org/videos/what-are-you-people-dope-mr-hand http://www.mrctv.org/videos/what-are-you-people-dope-mr-hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 I guess then Rex has run out of excuses to win this season- I agree. if he doesn't get it done, move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Lol Why is that a lol? It's dead on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Lol Why is that a lol? It's dead on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Why is that a lol? It's dead on. Because he hasn't produced either in five years and had to rely on overpaying Cromartie, Revis, and Sanchez to supplement his miserable track record at those spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustInFudge Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Because he hasn't produced either in five years and had to rely on overpaying Cromartie, Revis, and Sanchez to supplement his miserable track record at those spots. You've entered the not worthy of response troll stage. Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirlancemehlot Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I remember when we had that horribly unbalanced team with no offensive talent and had to squeak by with Mangold, Ferguson, Damien Woody, Alan Faneca, and Moore. And then there was Dustin Keller, Braylon Edwards, Holmes, Shonn Greene, Ladainian Thomlinson...Poor Rex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sourceworx Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I remember when we had that horribly unbalanced team with no offensive talent and had to squeak by with Mangold, Ferguson, Damien Woody, Alan Faneca, and Moore. And then there was Dustin Keller, Braylon Edwards, Holmes, Shonn Greene, Ladainian Thomlinson...Poor Rex. It's funny how we almost made it to the Super Bowl the two years that Rex had them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 I think its an interesting question. is balance better than a dominant unit with a crappy one ? idzik replaced every offensive starter except mangold and ferguson, and has avoided the big splashy free agents in favor of boring old depth for the most part. so will a team with a say top 18 offense and a top 18 defense be better than a #30 offense and a top 10 defense ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlife33 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I think its an interesting question. is balance better than a dominant unit with a crappy one ? idzik replaced every offensive starter except mangold and ferguson, and has avoided the big splashy free agents in favor of boring old depth for the most part. so will a team with a say top 18 offense and a top 18 defense be better than a #30 offense and a top 10 defense ? I think a balanced team in all phases of the game is a better route to take towards being a successful football team instead of being really good in one area and really sh*tty in the rest. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 I think a balanced team in all phases of the game is a better route to take towards being a successful football team instead of being really good in one area and really sh*tty in the rest. Just my opinion. you bring up a good point, special teams. having legit returners and specialists makes an impact no doubt about it balance and depth, what a concept, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
use2Jet Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 It's funny how we almost made it to the Super Bowl the two years that Rex had them. Yeah, its too bad Rex was more interested in trying (and failing) to build the best defense ever created, to keep the team together, and advance it in the right direction. Who knows what would have happened if Buddy Jr. understood how to succeed in the NFL today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New York Mick Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Wow, I needed a good laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetknowledge Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Simple! Its a quarter back driven league, so therefore its a offensive league. You could have the best defensive unit but with the worst offensive unit your not going anywhere far. But a good offense and a good defense is worth watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neckdemon Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I think its an interesting question. is balance better than a dominant unit with a crappy one ? idzik replaced every offensive starter except mangold and ferguson, and has avoided the big splashy free agents in favor of boring old depth for the most part. so will a team with a say top 18 offense and a top 18 defense be better than a #30 offense and a top 10 defense ? we will still have a defense ranked in the top 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 we will still have a defense ranked in the top 10 I think so. The game is played on the field not on paper, but it's hard to envision the secondary performing as badly as last year's. Hell, even if they brought back the same guys and added no one new they would have still been better. The combination of Cromartie's injury plus Milliner's injury (injuries) + inexperience were just killers. Plus it was Allen's first time as the full-time starter (until they picked up Reed). Whether it was Cromartie returning or bringing in Patterson - even if McDougle is nothing this year - plus a mostly-rough rookie year behind Milliner, plus the better 2 of Pryor-Allen-Landry, only a barrage of injuries will prevent the secondary from being noticeably better. Throw in Richardson another year more experienced (which is scary), Wilkerson playing for a huge payday, and Harrison as well, since he hasn't made much yet. Coples is a more appropriate weight to drop into coverage. Pace is likely to take a step backwards, at least in his sack numbers. Also in the mix rushing the passer are Barnes and the kid we got in the 7th round who others (I've never seen him play) say we got a steal in landing. Then consider that the D should be on the field less (certainly not so quickly after getting off it), since whether it's Smith or Vick, neither is likely to have a worse season than Smith had last year. Again, we'll see what happens but the D should be much improved, and I agree that more likely than not they'll be in the top 10 again. Last year was more of an anomaly, and they still finished less than 1 ppg below the mean and finished 11th in yards-against. It sucked to watch, but even in a total meltdown-collapse season for the D, several others were plenty suckier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 so wait a top 10 defense with a top 18 offense ? maybe ? potentially ? that would be a nice change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sperm Edwards Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 so wait a top 10 defense with a top 18 offense ? maybe ? potentially ? that would be a nice change The Jets had a higher-ranked offense than that with Sanchez & Schottenheimer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 The Jets had a higher-ranked offense than that with Sanchez & Schottenheimer. yeah, maybe 16th ? but that team was also very top heavy, this team could also potentially have depth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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