Mike T's Road to Nowhere

[sirlancemehlot]

It hasn't been a single season of failure. It's been three seasons of failure. "But we made it the playoffs! Deep into the playoffs!", you say. And you are right. The team has had two succesful seasons followed by a season of Nowhere. Home. Season over. No playoffs, no playoff caliber team. The three season of failure belong to Mike Tannenbaum. Lets see, where to start.

Jets needs the past three years have been basically the same. O-line depth. Pass rusher. Safety. Tight end. Three seasons have passed and what have we done to correct these weaknesses?

For one, we addressed these weaknesses by ignoring them, dismantling a decent recieving corps and chasing cornerbacks. "But what sense does that make?" you ask. Dunno, ask MT.

To be fair, we did get a first round cornerback to contribute in Wilson. And we did address O-line depth by drafting Vladimir Ducasse with a second round pick. Of course they both suck and were not worth their picks. No biggie, I guess.

We lose D. Woody. Uh, Oh. Now that O-line is even thinner. We are now starting Slauson and Hunter and have lost Turner in the preseason. Good thing we lost him early enough to replace hime with a veteran backup. Colin Baxter. Who starts at Center when Mangold goes down and we scratch two games right off the bat. Seriously should not have happened. Ducasse doesn't make the field.

We trade mid-season for Caleb Shladeraff.

Lets go back a bit further though, shall we? Say, 2009

Jets traded for cornerback Lito Sheppard of the Philadelphia Eagles, sending the Eagles a 2009 fifth-round draft pick and a 2010 conditional draft pick.^[14] The pick can be as high as second and as low as fourth. Upon the trade, Sheppard received a four-year, $27.2 million contract extension.

On October 7, the Jets made a blockbuster deal with the Cleveland Browns to send Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards to the Jets for Wide Receiver Chansi Stuckey, Linebacker Jason Trusnik, and 2 draft picks.

Niether player is still with this team. Total cost: 4 draft picks and two players. There is way too much of this trading away of picks for me to go on that tangent, but suffice to say, our depth is horrendous due to this very problem. Add to that the waste of picks like Scotty McKnight (when Joe Lefeged-S and Herzlich-LB were stuill available at positions of need) and two picks for Joe McKnight when we already had Woodhead and...you get the picture.

Finally...The WR corps. Sanchez had a decent corps in Holmes, B. Smith, Cotchery and Braylon. In fact, he had great relationships with three of those four, who even flew out to LA in the offseason to get better aquainted and work on the playbook and timing. One of those receivers didn't bother to go. The one we kept. The other three were let go for the likes of Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason. A position of strength became a position of need that quick. And down goes Sanchez (who admittedly needs all the help he can get.)

In the end I'm just scratching the surface here. So much more can be said about the retaining of Schottenheimer, lousy drafts, and on and on. Bottom line, Tanny has done a poor job and this team has suffered tremendously for it.

[SayNoToDMC]

He's super good with the cap though

[jack48]

It hasn't been a single season of failure. It's been three seasons of failure. "But we made it the playoffs! Deep into the playoffs!", you say. And you are right. The team has had two succesful seasons followed by a season of Nowhere. Home. Season over. No playoffs, no playoff caliber team. The three season of failure belong to Mike Tannenbaum. Lets see, where to start.

Jets needs the past three years have been basically the same. O-line depth. Pass rusher. Safety. Tight end. Three seasons have passed and what have we done to correct these weaknesses?

For one, we addressed these weaknesses by ignoring them, dismantling a decent recieving corps and chasing cornerbacks. "But what sense does that make?" you ask. Dunno, ask MT.

To be fair, we did get a first round cornerback to contribute in Wilson. And we did address O-line depth by drafting Vladimir Ducasse with a second round pick. Of course they both suck and were not worth their picks. No biggie, I guess.

We lose D. Woody. Uh, Oh. Now that O-line is even thinner. We are now starting Slauson and Hunter and have lost Turner in the preseason. Good thing we lost him early enough to replace hime with a veteran backup. Colin Baxter. Who starts at Center when Mangold goes down and we scratch On February 28, the Jetwo games right off the bat. Seriously should not have happened. Ducasse doesn't make the field.

We trade mid-season for Caleb Shladeraff.

Lets go back a bit further though, shall we? Say, 2009

Jets traded for cornerback Lito Sheppard of the Philadelphia Eagles, sending the Eagles a 2009 fifth-round draft pick and a 2010 conditional draft pick.^[14] The pick can be as high as second and as low as fourth. Upon the trade, Sheppard received a four-year, $27.2 million contract extension.

On October 7, the Jets made a blockbuster deal with the Cleveland Browns to send Wide Receiver Braylon Edwards to the Jets for Wide Receiver Chansi Stuckey, Linebacker Jason Trusnik, and 2 draft picks.

Niether player is still with this team. Total cost: 4 draft picks and two players. There is way too much of this trading away of picks for me to go on that tangent, but suffice to say, our depth is horrendous due to this very problem. Add to that the waste of picks like Scotty McKnight (when Joe Lefeged-S and Herzlich-LB were stuill available at positions of need) and two picks for Joe McKnight when we already had Woodhead and...you get the picture.

Finally...The WR corps. Sanchez had a decent corps in Holmes, B. Smith, Cotchery and Braylon. In fact, he had great relationships with three of those four, who even flew out to LA in the offseason to get better aquainted and work on the playbook and timing. One of those receivers didn't bother to go. The one we kept. The other three were let go for the likes of Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason. A position of strength became a position of need that quick. And down goes Sanchez (who admittedly needs all the help he can get.)

In the end I'm just scratching the surface here. So much more can be said about the retaining of Schottenheimer, lousy drafts, and on and on. Bottom line, Tanny has done a poor job and this team has suffered tremendously for it.

The cornerback chasing tells me that Rex calls the shot.

[#27TheDominator]

Yet the team is still good. can you imagine how good they'd be if the guy wasn't an idiot? All tihs never satisfied, no season is a success without a Lombardi talk sounds like Rex. It also sounds pretty stupid. The team has had one losing season since he took over. They were 8-8, not 3-13. They are way ******* better than any of you mooks care to admit.

[SayNoToDMC]

Yet the team is still good. can you imagine how good they'd be if the guy wasn't an idiot? All tihs never satisfied, no season is a success without a Lombardi talk sounds like Rex. It also sounds pretty stupid. The team has had one losing season since he took over. They were 8-8, not 3-13. They are way ******* better than any of you mooks care to admit.

So you're saying he didn't **** up horribly this year?

[Integrity28]

Best move of Tanny's drafting & FA career? Expecting to select Chris Gocong in the 3rd round, greedily trading back with Philly a few spots, watching Philly select Gocong and then panicking and selecting Anthony Schlegal.

Runners up:

Gholston, hard to blame him for this - just about any GM would have made that pick there.

Eric Smith in the third round - was awesome when Kiper said we could have had him after the draft as an UDFA.

Andre Wadsworth - yeah ******* right. Chasing past performances and lost potential... looking backwards, a bit of a theme now.

Holmes's contract.

Chasing Nnamdi.

Tanny's career as a whole?

Hiring Mangini and letting Mangini run ProBowler's like Vilma and John Abraham (both in the playoffs with their teams, again) out of town in exchange for scrubs, and taking 3 years to install a crappy 3-4 defense. It would have taken one offseason to improve the 4-3 base we had after Herm. Took 4 years, and Rex to get anything out of the 3-4 that Mangini brought to the table.

Not firing Schotty with Mangini.

Favre.

[T0mShane]

Yet the team is still good. can you imagine how good they'd be if the guy wasn't an idiot? All tihs never satisfied, no season is a success without a Lombardi talk sounds like Rex. It also sounds pretty stupid. The team has had one losing season since he took over. They were 8-8, not 3-13. They are way ******* better than any of you mooks care to admit.

Some people draft Vernon Gholston, some people draft Von Miller and Jason Pierre Paul.

[billo83]

So you're saying he didn't **** up horribly this year?

The beginning of your post said three years of failure, not just last season.

According to your post, there are 31 GM's that are failures ever year.

[SayNoToDMC]

Best move of Tanny's drafting & FA career? Expecting to select Chris Gocong in the 3rd round, greedily trading back with Philly a few spots, watching Philly select Gocong and then panicking and selecting Anthony Schlegal.

Runners up:

Gholston, hard to blame him for this - just about any GM would have made that pick there.

Eric Smith in the third round - was awesome when Kiper said we could have had him after the draft as an UDFA.

Andre Wadsworth - yeah ******* right. Chasing past performances and lost potential... looking backwards, a bit of a theme now.

Holmes's contract.

Chasing Nnamdi.

Tanny's career as a whole?

Hiring Mangini and letting Mangini run ProBowler's like Vilma and John Abraham (both in the playoffs with their teams, again) out of town in exchange for scrubs, and taking 3 years to install a crappy 3-4 defense. It would have taken one offseason to improve the 4-3 base we had after Herm. Took 4 years, and Rex to get anything out of the 3-4 that Mangini brought to the table.

Not firing Schotty with Mangini.

Favre.

I agree with just about everything you said but the pick we got for Abraham turned into Mangold and as good as Abraham was the dude would sit out if he stubbed his toe. I'll take Mangold over Abraham any day of the week

[T0mShane]

I agree with just about everything you said but the pick we got for Abraham turned into Mangold and as good as Abraham was the dude would sit out if he stubbed his toe. I'll take Mangold over Abraham any day of the week

Another thing about Mangini--Tannenbaum's best picks (Revis, Brick, Mangold) all occurred with Mangini in the room. Since then, it's Kyle Wilson and John Conner-type JAGs.

[Integrity28]

I agree with just about everything you said but the pick we got for Abraham turned into Mangold and as good as Abraham was the dude would sit out if he stubbed his toe. I'll take Mangold over Abraham any day of the week

Mangold is my favorite Jet.

You can get a good/great center in most drafts... pass rushers are much, much harder to come by. At the time, we were just shipping out a pass rusher for draft picks. Sure, we used the pick on a good player... but we've not replaced the pass rush since. Wasn't really a reason for the move, tbh. Getting Mangold was silver lining on an otherwise dumb move... all because Abraham didn't fit the Mangenius's defense. God forbid we hire a coach that could get the most out of the top players on the roster... anyway, can't change the past. Same old Jets.

[billo83]

Another thing about Mangini--Tannenbaum's best picks (Revis, Brick, Mangold) all occurred with Mangini in the room. Since then, it's Kyle Wilson and John Conner-type JAGs.

Yet you want to blame Tanny for the Gholston pick. Can't have it both ways

[Integrity28]

Another thing about Mangini--Tannenbaum's best picks (Revis, Brick, Mangold) all occurred with Mangini in the room. Since then, it's Kyle Wilson and John Conner-type JAGs.

To be honest, those 3 picks were can't miss.

[Integrity28]

Yet you want to blame Tanny for the Gholston pick. Can't have it both ways

Gholston would have burned every team in the leauge if they picked 6th that year. He was across the board the consensus... it just happened to be SOJ luck that we had that pick.

[#27TheDominator]

Some people draft Vernon Gholston, some people draft Von Miller and Justin Pierre Paul.

Thanks for bringing up JPP. The Giants have JPP, an elite QB and VICTOR CRUZ! They also have the authoritarian coach all you softies need. THEY SUCK! I will admit they beat the Jets and were slightly better this year, but you people all look to the Giants as some kind of model franchise, yet over Ryan's tenure they have been worse than the Jets. They aren't even in a division with a great team, unlike the Jets. The Jets have to deal with the Pats twice a year. That's much more difficult than the Cowboys or Eagles. LET'S BLOW IT UP! CLEAN HOUSE! What a bunch of whiny Nancys.

[#27TheDominator]

So you're saying he didn't **** up horribly this year?

Yes. Things are worse. Big ******* deal. There is NOTHING horrible about this team. You people all act like we are the Rams. We should have hired Spagnuolo!

[sirlancemehlot]

The beginning of your post said three years of failure, not just last season.

According to your post, there are 31 GM's that are failures ever year.

No, Not at all. Three years of mistakes led to a rudderless ship with no depth and no identity and a lockerroom lost. Three years to dismantle a top 5 o-line. Nothing to do with 8-8. Which isn't so bad, really. It's the precipitous plunge in talent and depth, combined with bad drafts and bad attitude players that I speak of.

[FloridaJetsFan]

Excellent posts by meh and OP!!! I never really thought about how many FA failures Tanny had until you pointed them out! Most teams make their money in the middle rounds of the draft, not necessarily in the front end, but boy, have we not done well at all!!!

[billo83]

Gholston would have burned every team in the leauge if they picked 6th that year. He was across the board the consensus... it just happened to be SOJ luck that we had that pick.

Totally agree. I don't blame Tanny at all for that pick.

It's funny - Tanny was a God around here the last 2 seasons, and now he's worthless after an 8-8 season. SOJF

[MTJ06]

Another thing about Mangini--Tannenbaum's best picks (Revis, Brick, Mangold) all occurred with Mangini in the room. Since then, it's Kyle Wilson and John Conner-type JAGs.

Mangini's drafts should have been better.

From 2006-2008 when Mangini was around the Jets had 20 draft picks and drafted much higher (4th in 2006 for Brick, 6th gholston) than during Rex Ryans tenure where they have only had 13 picks the past 3 years and have drafted lower overall.

More picks + higher draft position should = better drafts.

[T0mShane]

Yet you want to blame Tanny for the Gholston pick. Can't have it both ways

Fair enough. The point, however, is if Tannenbaum is at the mercy of his coaches when drafting, then why is he the GM in the first place if all he does is crunch numbers? A real GM, maybe, doesn't let his coach tell him to draft a well-rumored dog in Gholston or trade picks for other team's exiled players. If Tannenbaum isn't even able to do that, then what is he doing?

[SayNoToDMC]

Mangold is my favorite Jet.

You can get a good/great center in most drafts... pass rushers are much, much harder to come by. At the time, we were just shipping out a pass rusher for draft picks. Sure, we used the pick on a good player... but we've not replaced the pass rush since. Wasn't really a reason for the move, tbh. Getting Mangold was silver lining on an otherwise dumb move... all because Abraham didn't fit the Mangenius's defense. God forbid we hire a coach that could get the most out of the top players on the roster... anyway, can't change the past. Same old Jets.

I was honestly more then happy to ship Abraham regardless. He's been great with the Falcons but when he was with us it seemed like every time we had a big game he was sitting on the sidelines with some BS injury, We wound up with far and away the leagues best center out of it. If Mangold wasn't hurt this year I honestly think we make the playoffs. Our lack off pass rush falls on our sh*tty front office. The Pats find a guy like Andre Carter, Miami gets Cameron Wake from the CFL and we pay guys like Calvin Pace who had one decent year like 200 million dollars

[SayNoToDMC]

Thanks for bringing up JPP. The Giants have JPP, an elite QB and VICTOR CRUZ! They also have the authoritarian coach all you softies need. THEY SUCK! I will admit they beat the Jets and were slightly better this year, but you people all look to the Giants as some kind of model franchise, yet over Ryan's tenure they have been worse than the Jets. They aren't even in a division with a great team, unlike the Jets. The Jets have to deal with the Pats twice a year. That's much more difficult than the Cowboys or Eagles. LET'S BLOW IT UP! CLEAN HOUSE! What a bunch of whiny Nancys.

How can you even argue the Giants arent a better franchise then the Jets? They play for a championship every 10 years, you're telling me I should have a hard on because we made it to a couple AFC championships. If I ever have a kid I'm buying him Giants gears and every Sunday he's going to ask if daddy is ok cause I'll be locked away down the basement screaming.and breaking things

[JetsFanInDenver]

The way the WR position was addressed last year is going to bite this franchise not just this season but for the next few seasons to come.

So the JETS signed a locker room malcontent like Santonio Holmes who was essentially shipped out by his last team for bargain basement compensation and give him a 50 mill contract. The 50 mill contract for Holmes will have negative impact on this franchise for the next few seasons to come unless we find a sucker to take him away from our hands for good compensation.

Added to he signed up an old, washed up Mason and a rehab project in Plax while we let the only legit deep threat who had awesome chemistry with his QB get away.

[T0mShane]

How can you even argue the Giants arent a better franchise then the Jets? They play for a championship every 10 years, you're telling me I should have a hard on because we made it to a couple AFC championships. If I ever have a kid I'm buying him Giants gears and every Sunday he's going to ask if daddy is ok cause I'll be locked away down the basement screaming.and breaking things

LOL

[sirlancemehlot]

Totally agree. I don't blame Tanny at all for that pick.

It's funny - Tanny was a God around here the last 2 seasons, and now he's worthless after an 8-8 season. SOJF

From 2009:

[Integrity28]

Totally agree. I don't blame Tanny at all for that pick.

It's funny - Tanny was a God around here the last 2 seasons, and now he's worthless after an 8-8 season. SOJF

Meh, I think a lot of people knew what he was ... a snake oil salesman ... but were willing to look past it as long as he hit, more than he missed. This wasn't just an 8-8 season either. This was supposed to be the "next step" season and it turned out to be as big a collapse, if not worse, than the Favre/Mangini 2008 season. The team is a mess... nothing loses the fanbase quicker than the players not playing with heart, and a coach that admittedly says he's clueless. That's much worse than just being .500, and it goes back to the architect of the team... twice in 4 years this team has fallen on its face because of character and personnel decisions. I think fans are less willing to be forgiving the second time around...

[SayNoToDMC]

Yes. Things are worse. Big ******* deal. There is NOTHING horrible about this team. You people all act like we are the Rams. We should have hired Spagnuolo!

So because we aren't the Rams it's ok that we went into a season with Eric Smith as a starting Safety(is there a single person here who didn't know this wouldn't work), no depth on the O-line(I can't even remember off the top of my head the guy we had backup Mangold), the Holmes contract(Self explanatory) and the fact that our only other option at QB was a 70 years old is who isn't even a QB anymore as much as a buddy for Sanchez

Rams have won a Superbowl in the last 40 years btw, but I guess part of being a Jets fan is celebrating mediocrity

[Integrity28]

How can you even argue the Giants arent a better franchise then the Jets? They play for a championship every 10 years, you're telling me I should have a hard on because we made it to a couple AFC championships. If I ever have a kid I'm buying him Giants gears and every Sunday he's going to ask if daddy is ok cause I'll be locked away down the basement screaming.and breaking things

Yeah... hey, how many drafts has Bradway been a part of in his tenure with the Jets? Because a lot of the character and heart/commitment issues we've seen over the past decade or so have been the same, and yet the coaches all change...

[T0mShane]

Yeah... hey, how many drafts has Bradway been a part of in his tenure with the Jets? Because a lot of the character and heart/commitment issues we've seen over the past decade or so have been the same, and yet the coaches all change...

I believe the Jets have had the same scouting/personnel group since Herm's first year.

[Matt39]

I believe the Jets have had the same scouting/personnel group since Herm's first year.

Bryan Thomas- Ring of Honor!

[T0mShane]

Mangini's drafts should have been better.

From 2006-2008 when Mangini was around the Jets had 20 draft picks and drafted much higher (4th in 2006 for Brick, 6th gholston) than during Rex Ryans tenure where they have only had 13 picks the past 3 years and have drafted lower overall.

More picks + higher draft position should = better drafts.

They had less picks because of all-or-nothing trades for other team's detritus.

[T0mShane]

Bryan Thomas- Ring of Honor!

Next to Matt Slauson!!

[billo83]

No, Not at all. Three years of mistakes led to a rudderless ship with no depth and no identity and a lockerroom lost. Three years to dismantle a top 5 o-line. Nothing to do with 8-8. Which isn't so bad, really. It's the precipitous plunge in talent and depth, combined with bad drafts and bad attitude players that I speak of.

Losing the locker room is on Rex and his staff. Tanny doesn't coach the players.

I do put blame on Tanny for not getting quality backup lineman, but Hunter gave every indication last year that he was up to the task of replacing a broken down Woody. I can't blame Tanny on that one. Plus losing your top backup lineman realy through a monkey wrench in it.

Quite frankly Rex is the most to blame for the current mess. Losing the locker toom, lack of leadership, and not being involved in the Offense is all on Rex. IMO, I think keeping Schott is more of Rex's doing than anyone else

[T0mShane]

Losing the locker room is on Rex and his staff. Tanny doesn't coach the players.

I do put blame on Tanny for not getting quality backup lineman, but Hunter gave every indication last year that he was up to the task of replacing a broken down Woody. I can't blame Tanny on that one. Plus losing your top backup lineman realy through a monkey wrench in it.

Quite frankly Rex is the most to blame for the current mess. Losing the locker toom, lack of leadership, and not being involved in the Offense is all on Rex. IMO, I think keeping Schott is more of Rex's doing than anyone else

Who hired Rex?