Sporting News ranks Jets Idzik one of NFLs 5 worst GMs

[joewilly12]

By Dom Cosentino | NJ.com The Star-Ledger
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on September 02, 2014 at 7:30 AM, updated September 02, 2014 at 7:32 AM

 

 

 

 

 

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Just in time for the start of the season, David Steele of Sporting News is back with another listicle ranking something or other about every NFL team. Earlier in the summer—hey, it's technically still summer, even if Monday was Labor Day—Steele ranked the NFL's head coaches. This time, he's got a Nos. 1 to 32 list for the league's general managers.

Care to guess where the Jets' John Idzik is on Steele's list? How about No. 28, ahead of only the Dolphins' Dennis Hickey, the Titans' Ruston Webster, the Raiders' Reggie McKenzie, and the one and only Jerry Jones of the Cowboys. I'm not sure how Washington's Bruce Allen (coming off a 3-13 disaster), the Bucs' Jason Licht and the Browns' Ray Farmer (both new to their jobs), and even the Bills' Doug Whaley (because the Bills) ranked higher. But these are Steele's rankings, so let's just go with it.

Anyway, here's what Steele wrote for Idzik's entry:

Going into his second season in charge, Idzik is walking a strange and thin line. They improved to 8-8 and have playoff aspirations now, and he’s turned over much of the roster inherited from Mike Tannenbaum. On the other hand, he has to now look at Darrelle Revis in his division, the Jets are dangerously short at cornerback and it’s unclear whether he gave Geno Smith the weapons he needs. It could go either way.

That the Jets went .500 despite so many roster changes in 2013 is certainly praiseworthy. But I'm not sure how Revis landing with the Patriots is necessarily Idzik's fault, even if he could have done more to bring Revis back this season: Idzik also drafted both cornerback Dee Milliner and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson because dealing Revis last year. And that ain't chump change, Milliner's rookie struggles and recent injury aside.

Yes, Idzik didn't get a quality free-agent corner during an offseason in which many were avilable. But the Jets are only "dangerously short" at corner in the sense that any team would be had they lost to injury their top three players at the position pretty much at the same time. The situation looks bad, but the Jets also have a terrific front seven and a solid safety group. They're not the best defense in the league, but they're also far from the worst.

In addition, one can't help but wonder what other weapons Geno Smith could have gotten this offseason: Idzik landed Eric Decker, arguably the top free agent receiver available; Chris Johnson, who still has plenty of explosiveness and versatility at running back; and Jace Amaro, widely considered the second-best tight end in the draft. All are ideal fits for a west coast offense that relies heavily on short, quick passes.

Seriously, was Jerry Rice circa 1994 also available? Steele's main critique here seems to be that Idzik didn't completely overhaul the Jets into on-paper champions in less than two years. Why that means Idzik must be ranked near the bottom of the league is beyond me.

Bottom line: Idzik's work is incomplete, and it would be much better to evaluate his job performance after this season.

[Klecko73isGod]

[RutgersJetFan]

There at least 3, maybe 4 posters on this board who are going to masturbate to this article. In the literal sense, if you know what I mean.

[faba]

There at least 3, maybe 4 posters on this board who are going to masturbate to this article. In the literal sense, if you know what I mean.

hah hah I was thinking here at work this is going to get lapped up by certain people here

[slats]

He's the best GM when it comes to undermining his own head coach. 

[CTM]

He's the best GM when it comes to undermining his own head coach. 

 

20M in cap space >>>>>>> quality players

[JustInFudge]

Thats some tough love.  You havent even seen his 2nd season but then again, its not like he's done anything to be higher on the list so I cant really argue.  Last year roster was an insult to the NFL.  Luckily, he's got a great Head Coach/Coaching Staff that actually got some victories out of that sh*t show.  Fast forward a year and he's basically asking him to do it again with the same team plus Eric Decker, Chris Johnson and back-up QB, Mike Vick.  You cant exactly jump for joy over what he's done to improve the team because he hasnt done much.  All you can hope for is that he didnt completely whiff on both drafts and his picks pan out.  And of course, if Geno actually turns out to be the guy, well then, all is forgiven.

[Jettington]

I've been critical of Idzik. but I think this is just ridiculous. What is with the media and the obsession with rankings? Power rankings, ranking different units, ranking the top 100 players of each season, I don't understand how people find this sort of thing remotely interesting. And the flaw with ranking GMs is that the rankers presume to know or just ignore any possible plan a GM might have. Last year Idzik was "cutting the fat" so to speak, trimming the roster down to the bare bones to rebuild it, so how can you rank him at all when he doesn't have a big enough body of work to really judge?

[JetsFanInDenver]

This article brought to you by Dom "Stoic" Cosentino.

[Warfish]

5 Worst?

 

Not sure how they can logically come to that conclusion.

 

He's not been perfect, no, but apart from the D-backfield (a lingering weakness), IMO we're much better almost all down the line than before he was GM.

 

/shrug

 

I'm ok with Idzik at this point.

[DJF71]

20M in cap space >>>>>>> quality players

 

Plus JJ Watt just got big money and Mo will be right around corner.  Seems pretty smart to me.

[T0mShane]

Did they rank owners yet?

[BroadwayJets]

Pretty sure this article was written for one sole purpose; to allow stoic and joewilly to continue trolling

[faba]

Did they rank owners yet?

Woody and Jerry Jones are neck to neck

[T0mShane]

Woody and Jerry Jones are neck to neck

That stadium, though.

[SoFlaJets]

Look before we got decimated at the CB position in pre-season, there wasn't ANYONE in their right mind who wanted to see the Jets spend 12-13 million on this cry baby again. We all know, and New England will soon find out (I give it until Thanksgiving) that Revis is only concerned about two things; Darrell Revis and Darrell Revis' money, nothing else matters. We didn't want to see it happen again. It was all cutesy on the last episode of Hard Knocks but it soon just got slow and old, and just like Revis. I hate these kinds of Jets bashing articles that come out every year. Where is the criticism about what has happened to the Giants? 

[Gastineau Lives]

Woody and Jerry Jones are neck to neck

 

Daniel Snyder is already in the barn being cooled down.

 

[BroadwayJets]

Did they rank owners yet?

Kraft would be one, simply because belichick decided to resign from coaching the jets. Guy swings a big d*ck but he's really the luckiest owner prick in the NFL

[Gastineau Lives]

The writer of this article obviously hasn't factored in the Super Bowl run of 2016.

[Better2bgreenthanblue]

Woody and Jerry Jones are neck to neck

Woody looks jerry in the eye and goes right on by. Absolutely woody is one of the 5 worse in all professional sports. Unfortunately for me it's a recurring theme for my teams it seems.

[JerryK]

I've never heard the phrase 'corners win championships'.  ..Although I've seen teams with great corners LOSE championship games.

 

And Revis's game is to rub his knee and collect a paycheck.  That's not a threat.

[Jetsfan80]

Thats some tough love.  You havent even seen his 2nd season but then again, its not like he's done anything to be higher on the list so I cant really argue.  Last year roster was an insult to the NFL.  Luckily, he's got a great Head Coach/Coaching Staff that actually got some victories out of that sh*t show.  Fast forward a year and he's basically asking him to do it again with the same team plus Eric Decker, Chris Johnson and back-up QB, Mike Vick.  You cant exactly jump for joy over what he's done to improve the team because he hasnt done much.  All you can hope for is that he didnt completely whiff on both drafts and his picks pan out.  And of course, if Geno actually turns out to be the guy, well then, all is forgiven.

 

When you have people on this board already writing off his 2014 draft class (an utterly ridiculous phenomena) I don't think you can simply brush off guys like Decker, CJ and Sheldon Richardson.  Idzik supporters have every right to promote those moves.  These are actual, proven commodities he's gotten us, and they weren't obvious, easy pickups either.  Most people thought Decker and CJ would end up at better offensive destinations, and no one wanted Richardson when we picked him. 

 

Plus he finally rid us of Mark Sanchez.  That reason alone keeps him out of the bottom 5. 

[l_j_r]

rubbish!

 

not gonna give him the benefit of clicking his link ... curious where they have the POS BB though

[joewilly12]

Pretty sure this article was written for one sole purpose; to allow stoic and joewilly to continue trolling

Listen up fool show me where I said I agreed with the article I saw it posted and passed it on to you guys.

[dbatesman]

He's the best GM when it comes to undermining his own head coach.

+1

[Integrity28]

There at least 3, maybe 4 posters on this board who are going to masturbate to this article. In the literal sense, if you know what I mean.

 

Wasn't sure at first... good thing you said literal.

[slats]

+1

 

Thanks, Izdick. 

[Integrity28]

5 Worst?

 

Not sure how they can logically come to that conclusion.

 

He's not been perfect, no, but apart from the D-backfield (a lingering weakness), IMO we're much better almost all down the line than before he was GM.

 

/shrug

 

I'm ok with Idzik at this point.

 

Based solely on last year's draft you can't call him bottom 5. 

 

We're going to find out real fast this year about the impact of his stubborn philosophy regarding FAs. His draft has me scratching my head... I can't fault him for bad luck with injuries to Shaq Evans and McDougle, however, with 12 picks and to not package some of them up and trade higher into the draft is questionable. Especially now, as we see them cutting some of those draft picks. (Part of me is like why did we draft them, part of me is like well at least we aren't going to commit 3 years to bad draft picks if they aren't showing anything.)

 

As of right now, he does deserve to be second-guessed for the free agent CB "debacle" and for not packaging picks to get a better WR prospect out of this very deep draft. Other than that, I have no gripes about his approach. 

 

If Geno ends up being a good NFL QB, the first we will have had since Vinny, then none of us have sh*t to complain about.

[faba]

Based solely on last year's draft you can't call him bottom 5. 

 

We're going to find out real fast this year about the impact of his stubborn philosophy regarding FAs. His draft has me scratching my head... I can't fault him for bad luck with injuries to Shaq Evans and McDougle, however, with 12 picks and to not package some of them up and trade higher into the draft is questionable. Especially now, as we see them cutting some of those draft picks. (Part of me is like why did we draft them, part of me is like well at least we aren't going to commit 3 years to bad draft picks if they aren't showing anything.)

 

As of right now, he does deserve to be second-guessed for the free agent CB "debacle" and for not packaging picks to get a better WR prospect out of this very deep draft. Other than that, I have no gripes about his approach. 

 

If Geno ends up being a good NFL QB, the first we will have had since Vinny, then none of us have sh*t to complain about.

You see ultimately if Geno becomes a legitimate QB= Idzik grade

[Jet Life]

5 Worst?

 

Not sure how they can logically come to that conclusion.

 

He's not been perfect, no, but apart from the D-backfield (a lingering weakness), IMO we're much better almost all down the line than before he was GM.

 

/shrug

 

I'm ok with Idzik at this point.

This is how I feel as well. Idzik isn't perfect but hes improved the team and has kept us flexible for the future. Also, if Geno becomes our QB for the future, his body of work becomes even better.

[slats]

Based solely on last year's draft you can't call him bottom 5. 

 

We're going to find out real fast this year about the impact of his stubborn philosophy regarding FAs. His draft has me scratching my head... I can't fault him for bad luck with injuries to Shaq Evans and McDougle, however, with 12 picks and to not package some of them up and trade higher into the draft is questionable. Especially now, as we see them cutting some of those draft picks. (Part of me is like why did we draft them, part of me is like well at least we aren't going to commit 3 years to bad draft picks if they aren't showing anything.)

 

As of right now, he does deserve to be second-guessed for the free agent CB "debacle" and for not packaging picks to get a better WR prospect out of this very deep draft. Other than that, I have no gripes about his approach. 

 

If Geno ends up being a good NFL QB, the first we will have had since Vinny, then none of us have sh*t to complain about.

 

I think stubborn philosophy applies to every aspect of John Idzik's professional style. Does he drive a hard bargain, or too hard a bargain? His inability to close on a couple free agents that they did pursue, as well as rumors that he tried multiple times to trade up in the draft, but was unable to consummate anything seem to be related. He's fortunate Decker came in below the speculated number, otherwise this offseason really would've been ugly. 

 

The 12 picks thing was overblown during the draft, imho, with 9 of those picks coming on the draft's final day - and five of them in the sixth and seventh rounds. It doesn't bother me all that much that a number of those guys wound up on the practice squad. The botched handling of the CB position does bother me, though. 

[bitonti]

I can't fault him for bad luck with injuries to Shaq Evans and McDougle

 

when you draft a guy who missed his entire season last year, and an entire season as a junior in high school, it's not bad luck when he misses his rookie season in the Pros. It's kind of expected.

[BroadwayJets]

when you draft a guy who missed his entire season last year, and an entire season as a junior in high school, it's not bad luck when he misses his rookie season in the Pros. It's kind of expected.

Not sure what injury he had when he was a junior in high school but no one is exactly bound to tear their ACL after a shoulder injury

[JustInFudge]

When you have people on this board already writing off his 2014 draft class (an utterly ridiculous phenomena) I don't think you can simply brush off guys like Decker, CJ and Sheldon Richardson.  Idzik supporters have every right to promote those moves.  These are actual, proven commodities he's gotten us, and they weren't obvious, easy pickups either.  Most people thought Decker and CJ would end up at better offensive destinations, and no one wanted Richardson when we picked him. 

 

Plus he finally rid us of Mark Sanchez.  That reason alone keeps him out of the bottom 5. 

 

I'm not brushing them off.  They're a big step in the right direction.  The Jets needed weapons, Decker and CJ are certainly that for the offense.  Hopefully Amaro is ready to contribute as well. I really dont see why not.  He's a big guy that can line up all over and get open on mismatches.  However, he's a rookie and I'm not going sh*t on him if he's not week 1 ready to be a stud.  I think resigning Cumby was a good move for the offense too.  With Vick pushing Geno...I think these were all strong offseason moves to help the offense. 

 

I like Idzick.  He rid us of Sanchez, he kept Rex Ryan, I like the frugal build through the draft approach.  I certainly havent written off this draft while it doesnt look good right now, even if they only come away with 2 potential studs and some depth, thats not a bad thing.  Its a crap shoot after round 3 anyway.  Everyone is getting all up in arms that they didnt land 5 immediate starters when the truth is, nobody ever does.  You have to get very lucky to find starters in round 4, even with 3 picks.  The odds are stacked against those guys, big time.

 

All that said, I think its completely fair to knock him for leaving the Jets in the situation they're in with CB.  Its a sh*t show and he knows the type of system that Rex runs, putting a premium on CB's.  But who knew Milliner, McDougle would get injured and Patterson was a head case?  Thats life in the NFL.  Next man up.  Luckily, we've got Rex Ryan and my confidence in him as a defensive coach outweighs the concerns I have at CB.

[Klecko73isGod]

Not sure what injury he had when he was a junior in high school but no one is exactly bound to tear their ACL after a shoulder injury

 

He broke his hand in high school. So you have three unrelated injuries with the first being five friggin' years ago. 

 

You know what would have been a risk? Signing a starting CB to a $13 million one-year contract who is only a year and a half removed from a complete ACL tear.