Woody Johnson "happy" with the "direction" of the team

[Sperm Edwards]

Would you agree that the expectations for any coaching staff is to see growth and progress in the team during the year. To see that team evolve with a galvanizing of units with a greater understanding of what they do well, and areas where firming up should take place. Where there should be at least some areas that the team is progressing?

 

With the 2013 Jets I look at the kicking game and it is the sole area that seems to be gelled and consistent. Can't even say that about D-line anymore.

 

For the last 3 years, this has been all to common place with the Jets. Regression over the year rather than progression.

 

It depends upon the situation.  The prior GM mortgaged the future for a splash run at making the SB.  We came pretty close despite the handicap at QB.

 

After that it was just a matter of time.  Those expensive players get past their prime but are still uncuttable because of the cap.  Due to players traded for (and draft picks traded up for) we were left with a situation where we had to be ridiculously good at picking college talent and we were not.  One final attempt was made, and in order to clear the cap room to do so, our awful QB was given a 2-year guarantee.  Oh yeah, and he (or his boss) brought in the great Tim Tebow.  The GM was then fired after the season.  I don't think many coaches would have won big in that circumstance.  

 

Fast-forward to this season and we have a new GM.  If the rumors are to be believed (and they don't seem so unbelievable), conditional to his hire was the retention of a HC he didn't know, didn't work with before, and as he's surely heard every negative story and dopey prediction missed, probably didn't even want.  So he gutted the team for a more realistic run a year later instead of doing more of what Tannenbaum did the prior season, which would have included extending David Harris and others (by giving them more guarantees) to drop their cap numbers. He fiddled with that a little bit (Cromartie) but not too much. 

 

The team now needed new blood all over the roster.  With a bunch of draft picks this year, and the planned acquisition of even more the following year (Keller, Landry, Revis), he decided to just bring in stop-gap players or those who could (cap-wise) painlessly be discarded at any time.  See what cheap players could be found in the draft before pigeon-holing himself into certain specific needs, thereby bypassing superior prospects for superior immediate team needs.  Problem with stop-gap players is they usually aren't too good.  That's why they're not only available, but they're available for so little money.  You're likely to miss on more of those than you're likely to hit on.

 

Then there's the other thing: QB.  We didn't have one and any team needs one.  The QB that the GM brought in as a stop-gap up and retired like 2 weeks after the draft, and all he was left with is the same worthless guy who's buried so many games over the prior 4 years plus a rookie who's nowhere near ready to play yet.  

 

The gutting and rebuilding was so massive, following Tannenbaum's grasp at instant, overpriced fixes (plus horrible busted picks to boot), was too big to do in 1 year.  This is a 2-year rebuild, and you have to really screw things up as a GM to leave that kind of mess.  We could have been more competitive this season, as there was more cap room to be found, but the GM decided against it, feeling the difference would have still been minimal without a real QB.

[pedro55]

It depends upon the situation.  The prior GM mortgaged the future for a splash run at making the SB.  We came pretty close despite the handicap at QB.

 

After that it was just a matter of time.  Those expensive players get past their prime but are still uncuttable because of the cap.  Due to players traded for (and draft picks traded up for) we were left with a situation where we had to be ridiculously good at picking college talent and we were not.  One final attempt was made, and in order to clear the cap room to do so, our awful QB was given a 2-year guarantee.  Oh yeah, and he (or his boss) brought in the great Tim Tebow.  The GM was then fired after the season.  I don't think many coaches would have won big in that circumstance.  

 

Fast-forward to this season and we have a new GM.  If the rumors are to be believed (and they don't seem so unbelievable), conditional to his hire was the retention of a HC he didn't know, didn't work with before, and as he's surely heard every negative story and dopey prediction missed, probably didn't even want.  So he gutted the team for a more realistic run a year later instead of doing more of what Tannenbaum did the prior season, which would have included extending David Harris and others (by giving them more guarantees) to drop their cap numbers. He fiddled with that a little bit (Cromartie) but not too much. 

 

The team now needed new blood all over the roster.  With a bunch of draft picks this year, and the planned acquisition of even more the following year (Keller, Landry, Revis), he decided to just bring in stop-gap players or those who could (cap-wise) painlessly be discarded at any time.  See what cheap players could be found in the draft before pigeon-holing himself into certain specific needs, thereby bypassing superior prospects for superior immediate team needs.  Problem with stop-gap players is they usually aren't too good.  That's why they're not only available, but they're available for so little money.  You're likely to miss on more of those than you're likely to hit on.

 

Then there's the other thing: QB.  We didn't have one and any team needs one.  The QB that the GM brought in as a stop-gap up and retired like 2 weeks after the draft, and all he was left with is the same worthless guy who's buried so many games over the prior 4 years plus a rookie who's nowhere near ready to play yet.  

 

The gutting and rebuilding was so massive, following Tannenbaum's grasp at instant, overpriced fixes (plus horrible busted picks to boot), was too big to do in 1 year.  This is a 2-year rebuild, and you have to really screw things up as a GM to leave that kind of mess.  We could have been more competitive this season, as there was more cap room to be found, but the GM decided against it, feeling the difference would have still been minimal without a real QB.

 

  The problem at this point is Year 1 doesn't really look all that good in building for the future.  The made a good pick for the DL and other than that, this team doesn't have anybody that they can count on for the future.  It's like the stop gap players Idzik picked.  They hope guys like Milliner improve and Geno improve, but from what we've seen so far, those guys aren't very good.     Yes, it was a challenge, but the easy part is tearing down a team, the hard part is building a winner.   

 

  So far in Year 1 it just looks like Idzik is going for a pass and next year is when the rebuild starts.   Because if you look at this team, they really haven't improved any of it from last year. In fact they are worse in many ways.  A couple of lucky wins earlier in the year doesn't make this team better. It just means they got some W's and nothing else.     And if Geno isn't very good, Milliner continues to stink, and Ivory is a liability when it comes to the passing game,  you really have a wasted year that did nothing for the future but clear cap space.    And great they have money for next year to sign players, but will they be able to sign younger talent or guys at the end of their careers who won't be around by the time the young guys finally get enough experience to become good?

[LionelRichie]

it's a fair question

......

Long story short I believe Geno might have turned the corner. Yes i've been bashing him all year. I believe he deserved it back then. Im starting to come around. I Can't go back and retract all the bashing but i can predict his near future: believe he will have a strong december and the Jets won't draft a QB in rds 1 or 2.  

 

My guess is that Idzik and MM have a good sense of Geno's ability based on the game tape and knowing what plays were called, who was open, protection, etc....   After watching 13 Geno games I can't tell you a thing about his future with this team.    He's a completely different QB with Kerley at wr so is it the wr's or is he just inconsistent?    other times he looks completely lost out there.  

 

if I had to pick I'd say he isn't franchise QB material and the Jets should keep looking.    

[kelticwizard]

Could it be that he's a different QB with Kerley in the game because Kerley is the only genuine NFL receiver-not a star, just a genuine NFL receiver-that he has to throw to?

 

Other teams lose their top receivers and they put in people like  that Marquise guy who runs like a cheetah and kills us.  Our starters, (except Kerley),  were already questionable and when they go down we put in people who were on some other team's practice squad and got cut.

 

I don't believe I've ever seen a worse group of receivers like the Jets have this year. 

[Sperm Edwards]

  The problem at this point is Year 1 doesn't really look all that good in building for the future.  The made a good pick for the DL and other than that, this team doesn't have anybody that they can count on for the future.  It's like the stop gap players Idzik picked.  They hope guys like Milliner improve and Geno improve, but from what we've seen so far, those guys aren't very good.     Yes, it was a challenge, but the easy part is tearing down a team, the hard part is building a winner.   

 

  So far in Year 1 it just looks like Idzik is going for a pass and next year is when the rebuild starts.   Because if you look at this team, they really haven't improved any of it from last year. In fact they are worse in many ways.  A couple of lucky wins earlier in the year doesn't make this team better. It just means they got some W's and nothing else.     And if Geno isn't very good, Milliner continues to stink, and Ivory is a liability when it comes to the passing game,  you really have a wasted year that did nothing for the future but clear cap space.    And great they have money for next year to sign players, but will they be able to sign younger talent or guys at the end of their careers who won't be around by the time the young guys finally get enough experience to become good?

 

No it doesn't.  I can give Idzik a pass on the one-year replacement guys, and when we've only really done the tearing down part of the rebuild I can even accept being worse than last year in a number of areas.  

 

It's great to have a beastly DL but that isn't enough and it isn't going to put points on the board too often.  But it's also true that with a stud DL like we have, Cromartie reverting from Revis-lite to Dykes-lite has been a major problem.  Compound that with Milliner being a sucky rookie (to put him in his best light), and I think that's the difference between a so-so defense that can get some QB pressure like we have, and a top-5 overall unit that can win games despite a piss-poor offense, even with a couple of upgrades still needed at LB and S.

 

On the other side of the ball, year 1 of Idzik has been pretty awful.  Holmes I can't blame him for, as he inherited this gimpy malcontent, as well as Stephen Hill.  I guess I also can't blame him for Ferguson's continued regression from last year either when he's on a top-level LT contract.  But the QB he drafted has been lousy even for a rookie (though admittedly he isn't getting much help from his teammates), and the stopgap veteran QB he chose (who was supposed to allow Geno to hold a clipboard) quit in May.  One 7-figure RB he picked up had fewer than 10 touches this year between his suspension and injured reserve.  The other, Ivory, I don't think is quite the liability in the passing game you do, but he hasn't been elite in that area and hasn't been the model of reliability starting with this summer either, and he's arguably the best veteran we added this year.  Three offensive linemen were drafted and none have given any indication they will ever be reliable starters (though Campbell in particular was known to be a project).  Bohanon was a fine value pick and has done better than most rookie 7th rounders, even at FB.

 

Stop-gaps? Hey, it's hard to hit on them or they wouldn't be available for cheap.  Still, mildly-successful adds like Willie Colon or Kellen Winslow will be meaningless in a year or two when we need to see production from more than 1 DT from our 2013 draft class.

 

Next year we're looking at 10 draft picks and probably some $40-50M in cap space (though it's unlikely we'll max it out, as there may not be enough available/worthwhile FAs to add in just one offseason and spending for the sake of spending is just stupid).  If we don't hit on at least a handful of players with that type of investment available, there will be more seasons where 6-7 won't seem like such a bad record through 13 games.

[stoicsentry]

I'm happy with the direction of this team, too. Improved from 6-10 to 7-9 at least, more likely 8-8 or so, and we have tons of cap space and a full compliment of draft picks to work with for next year. Sounds good.

[T0mShane]

No it doesn't. I can give Idzik a pass on the one-year replacement guys, and when we've only really done the tearing down part of the rebuild I can even accept being worse than last year in a number of areas.

It's great to have a beastly DL but that isn't enough and it isn't going to put points on the board too often. But it's also true that with a stud DL like we have, Cromartie reverting from Revis-lite to Dykes-lite has been a major problem. Compound that with Milliner being a sucky rookie (to put him in his best light), and I think that's the difference between a so-so defense that can get some QB pressure like we have, and a top-5 overall unit that can win games despite a piss-poor offense, even with a couple of upgrades still needed at LB and S.

On the other side of the ball, year 1 of Idzik has been pretty awful. Holmes I can't blame him for, as he inherited this gimpy malcontent, as well as Stephen Hill. I guess I also can't blame him for Ferguson's continued regression from last year either when he's on a top-level LT contract. But the QB he drafted has been lousy even for a rookie (though admittedly he isn't getting much help from his teammates), and the stopgap veteran QB he chose (who was supposed to allow Geno to hold a clipboard) quit in May. One 7-figure RB he picked up had fewer than 10 touches this year between his suspension and injured reserve. The other, Ivory, I don't think is quite the liability in the passing game you do, but he hasn't been elite in that area and hasn't been the model of reliability starting with this summer either, and he's arguably the best veteran we added this year. Three offensive linemen were drafted and none have given any indication they will ever be reliable starters (though Campbell in particular was known to be a project). Bohanon was a fine value pick and has done better than most rookie 7th rounders, even at FB.

Stop-gaps? Hey, it's hard to hit on them or they wouldn't be available for cheap. Still, mildly-successful adds like Willie Colon or Kellen Winslow will be meaningless in a year or two when we need to see production from more than 1 DT from our 2013 draft class.

Next year we're looking at 10 draft picks and probably some $40-50M in cap space (though it's unlikely we'll max it out, as there may not be enough available/worthwhile FAs to add in just one offseason and spending for the sake of spending is just stupid). If we don't hit on at least a handful of players with that type of investment available, there will be more seasons where 6-7 won't seem like such a bad record through 13 games.

You've avoided counterjng Scott's statement that Rex's team has gotten worse at the end of the last three seasons as opposed to improve, as you'd like to see in a "rebuilding" year. Call me crazy, but going into a death spiral at the end if the last two years, and getting blown out the three games prior to the Raiders game isn't exactly what you want to see from a coach you're hoping to lead a young team back from zero. Look at what Schiano and Philbin and Bradley are doing in Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville right now. That's what you need to see from your rebuild. Go ahead and try to make the argument that Jacksonville is more talented than the Jets, btw.

[T0mShane]

I'm happy with the direction of this team, too.

I am so shocked to read this.

[T0mShane]

Also, the question the Rex Fan Boy Armada refuses to answer: why would any coach trust Rex Ryan with another draft class? Those draft picks are high-dollar assets--ones that the GM lives and dies with. If you're that GM, you're putting them in Rex's hands?

[T0mShane]

I really am executed to read the statement, "Rex has never had the luxury of coaching a quarterback like Chad Henne."

[Scott Dierking]

It depends upon the situation.  The prior GM mortgaged the future for a splash run at making the SB.  We came pretty close despite the handicap at QB.

 

After that it was just a matter of time.  Those expensive players get past their prime but are still uncuttable because of the cap.  Due to players traded for (and draft picks traded up for) we were left with a situation where we had to be ridiculously good at picking college talent and we were not.  One final attempt was made, and in order to clear the cap room to do so, our awful QB was given a 2-year guarantee.  Oh yeah, and he (or his boss) brought in the great Tim Tebow.  The GM was then fired after the season.  I don't think many coaches would have won big in that circumstance.  

 

Fast-forward to this season and we have a new GM.  If the rumors are to be believed (and they don't seem so unbelievable), conditional to his hire was the retention of a HC he didn't know, didn't work with before, and as he's surely heard every negative story and dopey prediction missed, probably didn't even want.  So he gutted the team for a more realistic run a year later instead of doing more of what Tannenbaum did the prior season, which would have included extending David Harris and others (by giving them more guarantees) to drop their cap numbers. He fiddled with that a little bit (Cromartie) but not too much. 

 

The team now needed new blood all over the roster.  With a bunch of draft picks this year, and the planned acquisition of even more the following year (Keller, Landry, Revis), he decided to just bring in stop-gap players or those who could (cap-wise) painlessly be discarded at any time.  See what cheap players could be found in the draft before pigeon-holing himself into certain specific needs, thereby bypassing superior prospects for superior immediate team needs.  Problem with stop-gap players is they usually aren't too good.  That's why they're not only available, but they're available for so little money.  You're likely to miss on more of those than you're likely to hit on.

 

Then there's the other thing: QB.  We didn't have one and any team needs one.  The QB that the GM brought in as a stop-gap up and retired like 2 weeks after the draft, and all he was left with is the same worthless guy who's buried so many games over the prior 4 years plus a rookie who's nowhere near ready to play yet.  

 

The gutting and rebuilding was so massive, following Tannenbaum's grasp at instant, overpriced fixes (plus horrible busted picks to boot), was too big to do in 1 year.  This is a 2-year rebuild, and you have to really screw things up as a GM to leave that kind of mess.  We could have been more competitive this season, as there was more cap room to be found, but the GM decided against it, feeling the difference would have still been minimal without a real QB.

You misunderstood or ignored my comments.

 

The premise is that every year is a capsule, unto itself. A coach is handed a set of players with which to work. Some sets are obviously better than other sets of players. It is a hand dealt, that often the coach has no control over.

 

How coaches are often judged, and I have witnessed it with the very good ones, is regardless the set of players they receive, their teams grow from what they were at the beginning of the year. Their is a progression and learning with the team that takes place as a unit and in subsets. You see progress. 

 

Of course, the level of progress and the raising of the bar are dependent of talent. But there is progress nonetheless. 

 

With Rex's last 3 teams, we have seen a mid-year spike in productivity, and then a regression at the end of the year. Several of those times the regression has been steep.

 

That is typically not a sign of a great coach. regardless the level of talent they are first handed.

[joewillie78]

I am so shocked to read this.

Actually, I'm happy too, that is as long as Idzik changes Head Coaches and we draft a top rated QB.

[bitonti]

Also, the question the Rex Fan Boy Armada refuses to answer: why would any coach trust Rex Ryan with another draft class? 

 

cause he's one of the few good head coaches this franchise has ever had

[The Crusher]

I think Woody likes the idea of the big lunky jock kissing his nerdy ass.

 

The whole Rex Ryan era of Jets football has been about Woody exercising the demons of being picked on as a kid.

 

Nerdy?  They are usually pretty smart.  Woody is just a giant goofball who happen to win the genetic lottery.  In any other reality he would be handing out smiley faces at Wal-mart with a fake smile and a pocket full of Zoloft. 

[Sperm Edwards]

A "spike" or "collapse" based on the time of year is being viewed upon through a subset of 3 games here or there.  That small of a subset is not the same as a pattern of 20 or 50 games.  There are injuries, there are individual significant plays, there are also other teams playing well or poorly at those times.

 

These past 2 seasons the talent requisite to be consistent scoring teams has not been there.  Above all else, to be able to put up a lot of points (with any consistency) what is required is a QB and more talented people to throw to (though a truly bad QB isn't going to be able to deliver the ball to good receivers consistently anyway, even if he can string together a few good games, as anyone can get hot for a time).

 

I'm quite sure the team could have absolutely done better than it's done with Ryan at the helm.  I don't think it's as simple as with Herm where any fool could just step in there and perform his duties (whatever they were anyway).  That being said, I can't think of anyone offhand that would have this Jets team putting up points consistently with the tools we have to work with.

 

Even recent SB teams have been very up & down with scoring and surrendering points in those SB seasons.  I don't think there is enough offensive talent on this team to get hot often enough (or stop the lulls from being as deep).  You two (and others) disagree, and the sentiment has been as subtle as my feeling about the QB talent over the past half-decade.  If Ryan truly has no idea what the difference is between Mark Sanchez and Tom Brady, which no serious person believes, and that is why we've not moved on until a new GM came in, then he's dumber and more useless than Herm.

 

I think he has input, and has had input, into who's brought in (particularly on defense, yes).  But I also think it is and has been mostly the GM doing what he thinks is smart or the best bargain or maybe even it's ego that we get someone so another team doesn't (as I think happened with players like DRob, Gholston, & Pace, though these examples pre-date Rex).

 

When the league is set up to be a passing league and our GMs provide the beloved, available weaponz of:

 

• QB - Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Kellen Clemens, Mark Brunell, Tim Tebow, Greg McElroy
• RB - Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene, older LT, half a season of Leon Washington, Bilal Powell, a half-healthy Chris Ivory, 7 carries of Mike Goodson
• FB - Richardson at almost 40 years old, Lex Hilliard, Tommy Bo
• WR - Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, post-incarceration Plaxico, Jerricho Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, Stephen Hill, Jason Hill, Clyde Gates, and David Clowney
• TE - Dustin Keller, Jeff Cumberland, and half of the former Kellen Winslow II

 

do tell me which mastermind HC would have us putting a consistent, high-rolling offense onto the field through his masterful development programs.  

 

Rex is hardly blameless, as his eye for good college talent at offensive skill positions is as good as the one under a pirate's patch.  But every team whiffs on QBs and WRs and no matter how many times it's been fruitlessly pointed out, Rex still isn't and hasn't been the GM. 

[Lizard King]

Woody Johnson is a clueless moron, who is more concerned with business issues and less concerned with the success of the franchise. I wish the league would file an emergency takeover of the Jets and sell it to a competent owner. I would personally be on Mark Cuban's doorstep begging him to buy.