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It's Rex Ryan To the Rescue of John Idzik


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It's Rex Ryan to the rescue of NY Jets GM John Idzik

Should Idzik be fired if the Jets finish 2-14 or 3-13, but retained at 4-12 or 5-11? Do a couple more wins at the back end of a lost season really matter? He sure hopes so.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 12:09 AM A A A

Jets general manager John Idzik desperately needs Rex Ryan now, so he can be in position to fire him later.

Ryan isn’t more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he might be able to save the one guy who can’t wait to get rid of him in six weeks.

The NFL is a cruel business.

The savagery on fall Sunday afternoons is nothing compared to the CYA boardroom politics that take place in bad franchises across the league when turmoil strikes.

Idzik, thanks to Idzik, has emerged as Public Enemy No. 1 among disgruntled fans fed up with his poor decisions over the past two years. From a banner calling for the overmatched GM’s ouster hovering over Jets practice two weeks ago to highway billboards demanding the same springing up across North Jersey, Woody Johnson’s paying customers have voiced their displeasure.

Idzik revealed the scope of the team’s issues with an uninspiring, rambling press conference a few weeks ago that turned the Jets into a league-wide punchline, giving the organization’s decision makers no choice but to re-examine whether a salary cap manager with no eye for personnel is the right man to lead them into the future. Idzik, like just about everyone else in football operations, isn’t guaranteed employment beyond this season.

A six-week spiral into the abyss will prompt massive front office and coaching changes. Idzik needs a life line that can only be provided by the coach that he inherited. It’s likely too late for Ryan to save himself, but he can help out his “pal” upstairs with a strong finish after a 2-8 start.

Rex to the rescue.

A year ago, Idzik was quietly exploring options to replace Ryan, who blew up the GM’s best laid plans with an improbable 8-8 season. Now, he needs a solid from the head coach. Ryan, of course, could use as many wins as he can get to spice up his resume when he becomes a free agent on Black Monday.

Despite a franchise-record-tying eight-game losing streak that was snapped with an upset against the Steelers, the Jets could finish on a high note coming off their bye week. Ryan’s team will face opponents with a combined 25-24 record in the final six games. The Patriots (8-2) are the only playoff lock among that group. Only three of the final six games are against teams with winning records.

Idzik, in other words, still has a chance to survive in spite of his mind-boggling mistakes in free agency and the draft.

Johnson, who has exercised patience with previous general managers, must weigh the value of any wins down the stretch. A few more victories will provide nice window dressing and spare the

embarrassment of a 13 or 14-loss season, but the owner needs to digest what it really means.

The Jets are clearly worse off today than when Idzik took over 22 months ago. He’s already wasted two seasons.

The notion of letting Idzik hire a new head coach and choose a quarterback with a top-5 pick in the upcoming draft to chart a course for the future is a scary proposition. Sometimes, it makes more sense to admit a mistake and make a change rather than invest more time with the hope that you were right all along.

Should Idzik be fired if the Jets finish 2-14 or 3-13, but retained at 4-12 or 5-11? Do a couple more wins at the back end of a lost season really matter? He sure hopes so.

Ryan rallied his team to a .500 finish last year, kicking off a post-game locker room celebration in Miami that revealed how much the players respected the man. Idzik gave a speech, too, that afternoon not unlike the disjointed soliloquy he offered last month.

“He’s an excellent football mind,” Idzik said of Ryan at his midseason press conference in October. “He’s a teacher. He’s a coach. He’s a motivator. He’s a mentor. He’s able to adapt. He sees both short- and long-term vision. He’s a competitor to his soul and he will never quit.”

Ryan is no fool. He knows what lies ahead for him. He’s made his fair share of mistakes, but the combined football genius of Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh and George Halas couldn’t win with the 2014 Jets roster that Idzik assembled.

“I support Rex,” Idzik said last month.

If Ryan saves the day, the GM will give his buddy a gift showing his heartfelt appreciation.

A pink slip.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-rex-ryan-rescue-jets-gm-john-idzik-article-1.2014381

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Mehta has been after everything and anything Jets...And has REALLY had it out for Idzik from day one...

 

It's just terrible how easily Jet fans are manipulated by this guy.

 

So are Jets fans who don't like Idzik in the wrong?

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Idzik sucks irregardless of Mehta's opinion.

 

And his premise here isn't entirely out of whack, either. It's no genius insight, but it's not wrong. Rex is coaching for his next job right now, and if he squeezes a few wins out of this team down the stretch, that could absolutely result in a positive effect for Idzik (and a negative one for the franchise). 

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Idzik sucks irregardless of Mehta's opinion.

 

And his premise here isn't entirely out of whack, either. It's no genius insight, but it's not wrong. Rex is coaching for his next job right now, and if he squeezes a few wins out of this team down the stretch, that could absolutely result in a positive effect for Idzik (and a negative one for the franchise). 

 

That's a pretty fair statement.  It's a shame that the frustration level of the fan base has rendered a lot of people incapable of looking at what is written and giving an objective assessment of it.  I don't like Mehta one bit.  I agree that it's time for Rex and Idzik to go.  However, this article makes some pretty valid claims.  Idzik obviously wants a few wins so he can hang around and fire Rex.  I hope Woody dumps both.

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Yes.

 

Cool...just wanted to make sure that's what you were saying.  Sometimes sweeping generalizations get misinterpreted.  There are still some fans who think Idzik has done a great job and they're entitled to their opinions.

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Cool...just wanted to make sure that's what you were saying.  Sometimes sweeping generalizations get misinterpreted.  There are still some fans who think Idzik has done a great job and they're entitled to their opinions.

 

I'm not saying he's done a great job..but he's been vilified and it's just way over the top.  He's made mistakes but he's only halfway through his second year...and his first year was simply a salary dump year, so he couldn't do much other than clean up the mess...

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I'm not saying he's done a great job..but he's been vilified and it's just way over the top.  He's made mistakes but he's only halfway through his second year...and his first year was simply a salary dump year, so he couldn't do much other than clean up the mess...

 

Normally I'd agree with a lot of what you're saying, but the thing that stands out to me is not that we're waiting for his most recent draft class to develop, but too many of them are already off the team or out of the league.  If you draft that many players that you decide in a matter of a couple of months don't belong in the league, that's some terrible drafting.  There's still time for guys to come around and make it a decent class, but these things just get magnified times a million when the team is losing this many games.  Being fair though, we haven't seen anything from multiple guys who we knew would be projects, and other guys got hurt.  If three or four of those guys turn in to good players  it changes a lot.

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Normally I'd agree with a lot of what you're saying, but the thing that stands out to me is not that we're waiting for his most recent draft class to develop, but too many of them are already off the team or out of the league.  If you draft that many players that you decide in a matter of a couple of months don't belong in the league, that's some terrible drafting.  There's still time for guys to come around and make it a decent class, but these things just get magnified times a million when the team is losing this many games.  Being fair though, we haven't seen anything from multiple guys who we knew would be projects, and other guys got hurt.  If three or four of those guys turn in to good players  it changes a lot.

Fair enough....I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying.  All I'm saying is the extent to which this guy is being destroyed...Billboards, signs, Mehta bashes...

 

It's just waaaay over the top...I see a lot of good he's done.  Jets are in the best cap position in the league, are very young, he did draft a ROY...

 

His big miss was Geno, missing on a QB is a disaster for a GM.   But he deserves time to work through the plan he has in place.

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Fair enough....I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying.  All I'm saying is the extent to which this guy is being destroyed...Billboards, signs, Mehta bashes...

 

It's just waaaay over the top...I see a lot of good he's done.  Jets are in the best cap position in the league, are very young, he did draft a ROY...

 

His big miss was Geno, missing on a QB is a disaster for a GM.   But he deserves time to work through the plan he has in place.

He's missed a lot more then Smith. Look at this last draft, 12 picks in a rebuilding year, zilch.

The problem wasn't draft Smith, it was forcing him on the team for 2 years

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I think Idzik's and Rex's future with the team are intertwined. If one stays, both stay. If one goes, both go.

If Woody lets Idzik pick a new coach, he's guaranteeing him three more seasons. I doubt Woody makes that commitment. If he gives Idzik another chance, it'll be one season, with Rex.

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He's missed a lot more then Smith. Look at this last draft, 12 picks in a rebuilding year, zilch.

The problem wasn't draft Smith, it was forcing him on the team for 2 years

 

Yes he missed on picks but everyone misses on pics - plus it's way to early to judge his drafts...

 

You can say for sure he missed on Geno...but forcing him on the team?  What would you have done?

 

Kept Sanchez? Sanchez wasn't the answer to winning a championship, so he tried something else.  Roll the dice on a  QB if he misses you get rid of him in two years and try again.  Had he kept Sanchez last year, we would still have two more years to waste on Geno before finding out he's not the guy.

 

Gotta keep trying until you hit on a QB...

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Yes he missed on picks but everyone misses on pics - plus it's way to early to judge his drafts...

You can say for sure he missed on Geno...but forcing him on the team? What would you have done?

Kept Sanchez? Sanchez wasn't the answer to winning a championship, so he tried something else. Roll the dice on a QB if he misses you get rid of him in two years and try again. Had he kept Sanchez last year, we would still have two more years to waste on Geno before finding out he's not the guy.

Gotta keep trying until you hit on a QB...

It's been speculated that Idzik forced Rex to keep playing Geno. I don't necessarily buy that, but if it's true, then that's the biggest indictment of Idzik.

Buffalo benched their first round pick early in the year for the journeyman QB they signed in the off-season. This season may have turned out differently if we'd done the same thing.

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It's been speculated that Idzik forced Rex to keep playing Geno. I don't necessarily buy that, but if it's true, then that's the biggest indictment of Idzik.

Buffalo benched their first round pick early in the year for the journeyman QB they signed in the off-season. This season may have turned out differently if we'd done the same thing.

 

To what end?   Start Vick this year win 6-8 games, then what?

 

Then next year you start Geno and waste next year finding out he's not the guy.....This league is about finding your franchise QB, you play the guys you think can be that and if they're not you move on and try again.  Vick is not the QB of the future, Sanchez was a not a Franchise QB...so you move on until you find one.

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I'm not saying he's done a great job..but he's been vilified and it's just way over the top.  He's made mistakes but he's only halfway through his second year...and his first year was simply a salary dump year, so he couldn't do much other than clean up the mess...

2 of the most common tools in the idzik support group toolbox

 

1. couldn't do much in his first year because of the mess tanny left

 

    there is something called the draft. hardly "there isn't much he could do"

    seemed to have plucked 1 quality player out of 7 draft picks

 

2. he is only a year and a half in.

 

    another tool to downplay idziks failures

 

    he is 2 years in. period. his moves are already done

 

    tanny's "mess" consisted of cutting 3 players that even a 6 year old could figure out

 

its not hard to figure out. idzik is not qualified for the gm job and doesn't need his own coaching staff to prove that he is. realize the mistake and cut bait

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what if the head coach takes the players the gm got him, puts them in position to succeed, and they win games? that would be something

 

Yeah he's sure putting great players out their who were obviously ruined by our terrible coaching. I mean honestly, who thought a slow, 160 lb 5-8 wr would suck? I know I didn't.

 

And obviously Marty ruined Geno Smith. Poor Idzick, the coach he picked is obviously out to ruin his draft picks.

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2 of the most common tools in the idzik support group toolbox

 

1. couldn't do much in his first year because of the mess tanny left

 

    there is something called the draft. hardly "there isn't much he could do"

    seemed to have plucked 1 quality player out of 7 draft picks

 

2. he is only a year and a half in.

 

    another tool to downplay idziks failures

 

    he is 2 years in. period. his moves are already done

 

    tanny's "mess" consisted of cutting 3 players that even a 6 year old could figure out

 

its not hard to figure out. idzik is not qualified for the gm job and doesn't need his own coaching staff to prove that he is. realize the mistake and cut bait

 

fiscal responsibility is a key component to building long term sustainable success in this league and Idzik has that..

 

Problem with most Jet fans is you're mostly satisfied with mediocrity.  fighting for a wild-card seems to be what makes Jet fans happy....Well, I'm not happy with that...I want to build a team that has a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl...In order to do that you have to rebuild...which means you're going to have some down seasons as you build to get there.

 

That is what Idzik is trying to do, while I realize I'm in the minority, I commend him for it...

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fiscal responsibility is a key component to building long term sustainable success in this league and Idzik has that..

 

Problem with most Jet fans is you're mostly satisfied with mediocrity.  fighting for a wild-card seems to be what makes Jet fans happy....Well, I'm not happy with that...I want to build a team that has a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl...In order to do that you have to rebuild...which means you're going to have some down seasons as you build to get there.

 

That is what Idzik is trying to do, while I realize I'm in the minority, I commend him for it...

 

Tell me more about this building.

 

Tell me about how Idzik invented building through the draft and not overpaying for players.

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fiscal responsibility is a key component to building long term sustainable success in this league and Idzik has that..

talent evaluation is also a key component to building long term success and idzik lacks that

 

Problem with most Jet fans is you're mostly satisfied with mediocrity. fighting for a wild-card seems to be what makes Jet fans happy....Well, I'm not happy with that...I want to build a team that has a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl...In order to do that you have to rebuild...which means you're going to have some down seasons as you build to get there.

rebuild- like to rebuild an engine. replacing old worn out parts with new parts that work great. problem is that idzik doesn't know a good part from a bad part

 

That is what Idzik is trying to do, while I realize I'm in the minority, I commend him for it...

there is a huge difference between what idzik is trying to do and what idzik is actually doing

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Ok. Let's be real for a sec...

 

As a talent evaluator....he is terrible.

 

As a Salary Cap manager....he is great.

 

So, my question is....is Idzik getting blamed for something that is not within his wheelhouse and that he relied on others for?

 

To me, as an outsider and a fan, it looks to me that Idzik handled the horrible cap situation with aplomb...however, having said that, he did not clean house in the Scouting department (Bradway etc.) and relied on them to find quality players. Now, looking at the scouting dept's track record, nothing says that they have done well...so why keep them? Why did Idzik retain the vast majority of them? Is it that Idzik had no good network that he could tap to change that dept?

 

I am torn. i think Idzik has looked foolish but is that because the scouting foundation is rotten and he did not see that OR did he evaluate them and rubber stamped their decisions?

 

Either way its obvious the player evaluation/scouting group must be terminated and a new scouting group hired. Idzik did do well with the Cap...if he is retained, i hope he realized how bad the scouts have been and he gets some better scouts.

 

LL

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Ok. Let's be real for a sec...

 

As a talent evaluator....he is terrible.

 

As a Salary Cap manager....he is great.

 

So, my question is....is Idzik getting blamed for something that is not within his wheelhouse and that he relied on others for?

 

To me, as an outsider and a fan, it looks to me that Idzik handled the horrible cap situation with aplomb...however, having said that, he did not clean house in the Scouting department (Bradway etc.) and relied on them to find quality players. Now, looking at the scouting dept's track record, nothing says that they have done well...so why keep them? Why did Idzik retain the vast majority of them? Is it that Idzik had no good network that he could tap to change that dept?

 

I am torn. i think Idzik has looked foolish but is that because the scouting foundation is rotten and he did not see that OR did he evaluate them and rubber stamped their decisions?

 

Either way its obvious the player evaluation/scouting group must be terminated and a new scouting group hired. Idzik did do well with the Cap...if he is retained, i hope he realized how bad the scouts have been and he gets some better scouts.

 

LL

yes. idzik needs to throw the scouts under the bus. after he throws the coach and the coordinators under it as well

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