Jump to content

ESPN Offseason grades: Jets get the only A


VAJetsFan

Recommended Posts

I know offseason grades don't mean much, but this was nice to read:

 

 

The best offseason work assures nothing in the NFL, as Tampa Bay and a few other teams proved again last offseason. But we can still evaluate the jobs teams have done in addressing their roster needs through free agency, trades and the draft, with an eye toward how moves affect outlooks in the short and long terms.

To that end, I've enlisted ESPN analysts Bill Polian, Louis Riddick, Matt Williamson and Field Yates, quoting each extensively in our 2015 NFL offseason grades. I also took into account Mel Kiper's draft grades for every team.

Here are offseason grades for all 32 NFL teams:

New York Jets: A

Re-signed: DE Leger Douzable, LB David Harris, LS Tanner Purdum, OL Ben Ijajana, OL Willie Colon, RB Bilal Powell

Veteran additions: CB Antonio Cromartie, CB Buster Skrine, CB Darrelle Revis, ILB Jamari Lattimore, OT James Brewer, OG James Carpenter, TE Kellen Davis, DT Kevin Vickerson, S Marcus Gilchrist, DE Stephen Bowen, RB Stevan Ridley, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, WR Brandon Marshall, LB Erin Henderson, LB Joe Mays, WR DeVier Posey, RB Zac Stacy

Veteran subtractions: S Dawan Landry, WR Greg Salas, DE Jermaine Cunningham, FB John Conner, DT Kenrick Ellis, CB Kyle Wilson, QB Michael Vick, ILB Nick Bellore, WR Percy Harvin, CB Phillip Adams, TE Chris Pantale, FB Mario Harvey

Draft picks: 1-Leonard Williams (DE), 2-Devin Smith (WR), 3-Lorenzo Mauldin (LB), 4-Bryce Petty (QB), 5-Jarvis Harrison (G), 7-Deon Simon (DT)

Analysis: The Jets commanded the only A grade overall and the only A-plus from an individual voter. Riddick liked their moves that much. He worked with Todd Bowles in Philadelphia and he believes in the Jets' new head coach, calling him a "dynamite" hire. Adding Revis in free agency, Marshall by trade and a luxury first-round choice in Williams separated the Jets.

"It is hard to find a fault with anything they did from coaching to free agency to the draft," Riddick said. "It is all about the QB. Can Chan Gailey get Geno Smithto not be the cause of losing games?"

Polian said the football gods smiled on the Jets when Revis became available and New York was able to sign him away from its top division rival.

"Defensively, there may not be many teams better," Polian said. "You just cannot waste a defense like that with a quarterback who turns it over. The question is, does Geno all of a sudden become a quarterback? Or does it have to be Fitzpatrick?"

Fitzpatrick headed my list of value signings in free agency based mostly on a statistical profile suggesting he has been better than his reputation suggests. Tennessee was certainly worse off without him, and it's fair to wonder if Houston upgraded by swapping out Fitzpatrick for Brian Hoyer. Fitzpatrick has generally been associated with horrible defenses (since 2010, only Tony Romohas gotten less defensive support among players with at least 40 starts).

"Fitzpatrick is not good, but he is a major upgrade," Williamson said.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know who else got A's? Hitler.

"Although he had received stellar marks when he was younger, he wound up having to repeat a semester at this new school. His grades were never stellar again and bounced back and forth between poor and average for the remainder of his days there."

 

Come on now, at least put a little effort in your Hitler knowledge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Although he had received stellar marks when he was younger, he wound up having to repeat a semester at this new school. His grades were never stellar again and bounced back and forth between poor and average for the remainder of his days there."

Come on now, at least put a little effort in your Hitler knowledge.

That doesn't sound reich to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jets addressed key needs in FA and apparently got high praise for the VALUE in which they maneuvered & handled the draft.

As far as on OFF-SEASON goes, they hit it put of the ballpark.

Now it is for the coaches to harness the talent assembled and for the Players to FULFILL & REALIZE what the GM has masterfully netted durning the offseason of 2015

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The proof is in the pudding so let's not get too carried away with this offseason stuff. But so far so good I guess. Last offseason was a complete nightmare/disaster and the season showed. If that is any indication we should be very competitive this season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tampa should be much better, they actually have a decent amount of young talent at least on offense plus they play in a soft division. I could see them sneaking into the playoffs this year

Plus they play in a terrible division. Saints got worse this offseason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why wouldn't we go overboard with our offseason?

This isn't like the years we signed over the hill players like Leonard Marshall or Ronnie Lot.

We resigned the best CB in all of football still in his prime.

We signed a WR that is top 5 redzone threat, holds the record for most passes caught in one game, has an amazing catch radius, plus he'll take tremendous heat off of our #2 WR Decker.

We brought back Cromarty who is already familiar with our new Head coaches defense.

We signed one of the top slot CBs in Skrine, (he's also a tanacious tackler).

We signed another safety in Gilchrist to keep the competition for those positions.

We had under the radar signings of Lattimore & Henderson at LB/ then added Jones who was considered a top UDFA signing.

Then we lucked out & got clearly the #1 draft pick on everyone's board after the QBs in Williams.

Devin Smith was a much needed draft pick adding the speedster we needed to stretch the field.

Added Mauldin to the LB core.

Resigned Douzable to give us incredible depth on the Dline.

Signed Fitzpatrick in case Geno implodes (plus Fitzy knows Chans offense).

Added Chan Gailey, a coach who has always been respected for adapting to his players skills. He had success with Slash who couldn't hold Genos jockstrap throwing the ball.

* As long as we can stay healthy & get off to a good start this will be an exciting year. I can see us getting better as the year progresses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why wouldn't we go overboard with our offseason?

This isn't like the years we signed over the hill players like Leonard Marshall or Ronnie Lot.

We resigned the best CB in all of football still in his prime.

We signed a WR that is top 5 redzone threat, holds the record for most passes caught in one game, has an amazing catch radius, plus he'll take tremendous heat off of our #2 WR Decker.

We brought back Cromarty who is already familiar with our new Head coaches defense.

We signed one of the top slot CBs in Skrine, (he's also a tanacious tackler).

We signed another safety in Gilchrist to keep the competition for those positions.

We had under the radar signings of Lattimore & Henderson at LB/ then added Jones who was considered a top UDFA signing.

Then we lucked out & got clearly the #1 draft pick on everyone's board after the QBs in Williams.

Devin Smith was a much needed draft pick adding the speedster we needed to stretch the field.

Added Mauldin to the LB core.

Resigned Douzable to give us incredible depth on the Dline.

Signed Fitzpatrick in case Geno implodes (plus Fitzy knows Chans offense).

Added Chan Gailey, a coach who has always been respected for adapting to his players skills. He had success with Slash who couldn't hold Genos jockstrap throwing the ball.

* As long as we can stay healthy & get off to a good start this will be an exciting year. I can see us getting better as the year progresses.

That is key. We have new schemes to learn on both sides of the ball and will take some time to all come together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a very good, not great offseason.

 

Jesus, what are your standards?  Outstanding quarterbacks don't grow on trees.  We got a guy to develop and a steady veteran as a fallback option.  What more do you want?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't like our OL.

 

Because there were so many great OL available in FA and the draft, right?

 

BTW, the Jets o-line really wasn't THAT bad last year. It was perfectly average. They looked worse than they were due to Geno's poor decision-making and inability to make reads at the line of scrimmage. When your QB holds onto the ball for too long, it will make any OL look bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...