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Jets Fans Hammer Idzik For Playing It Safe


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John Idzik

The criticism of Jets general manager John Idzik from the mainstream media and Jets fans alike has been on overdrive since gang green lost Dee Milliner and Dexter McDougle to injury during training camp this past weekend.  Milliner, the Jets top cover man will be out for an undisclosed time frame due to what is believed to be a high ankle sprain as he awaits an MRI, and McDougle is finished for the season after tearing his left ACL.

All of this has led to an onslaught of second-guessing the off-season moves (and non-moves) of GM John Idzik.  Armed with a ton of cap space and a robust crop of top CB’s, Jets fans expected Idzik to be one of the leagues most aggressive buyers and to outbid anyone who coveted a player to the Jets liking.  However, the argument could be made, that Idzik played it safe and avoided unnecessary risks.

Oh I can hear the screams now.  How can I say he played it safe when there was nothing but proven/sure-thing talent on the free agent market lining up to take Woody Johnson’s millions?  What an irresponsible uninformed statement.  If I may….

Let’s start with CB Darelle Revis.  The first of many players who fans say Idzik “missed out” on, despite several media outlets reporting that the Jets had no interest in Revis to begin with.  The same fans who are now lambasting Idzik for drafting an “injury prone” rookie who missed time with a broken shoulder, are livid that Idzik didn’t spend twenty times the money on a player who is just one season removed from tearing his ACL.  For those who think Idzik should have been able to predict McDougle’s injury, he’d have a much better shot at predicting one for Revis. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, individuls who suffer a torn ACL, are FIFTEEN TIMES more likely to suffer another ACL injury at some point in time.  Idzik passed and chose to play it safe, and say no to a player who was a high risk for major injury, at a huge salary, and who has displayed an unrivaled “me first” attitude.

Revis signed with the reigning division champion New England Patriots who also added free-agent CB Brandon Browner of the super bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.  So here we have another player who would have upgraded the Jets secondary, but we allowed the genius who is Bill Belichik to swoop and and grab Browner despite Idzik having infinitely more cap space.  All of this while ignoring the fact that Browner has been suspended for PED use, he has been suspended for marijuana use, and just two seasons ago missed eight games with a groin injury.  Ahh yes, the coveted high risk trifecta.  Browner would be facing a year-long suspension if he were to dip back in to PED’s or recreational drugs, on top of having a history of injuries to deal with himself.  Idzik could have gone after Browner, but he played it safe.

Then we had the “one that got away”…Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  As the Jets were ushering one Cromartie out the door in Antonio Cromarite, fans wanted the Jets to spend big on another.  Coming off of a stellar season with the Denver Broncos, Rodgers-Cromarite’s services were in high demand and the Jets were reported to be at the front of the line, but it just wasn’t meant to be.  Cromartie’s inconsistent on-field play during an up and down career prevented the Jets from offering Cromartie the number of years he was asking for.  They didn’t want a player who was inconsistent, and who apparently didn’t blanket the opposing team’s top WR as many thought.  After signing with the New York Giants, nj.com writer Jordan Ranaan obtained game film from four of Cromarties performances with the Broncos last season.  While it was a small sample size (only four games) what the film showed was quite telling.

Consensus: Overrated

This is not saying that I wasn’t impressed with the way Rodgers-Cromartie, as a whole, played in the four games I watched. In fact, for the most part, he was dominant against lesser competition.

But what I was surprised to see was that Denver didn’t use Rodgers-Cromartie as a pure shutdown, No. 1 cornerback most of the time. And when he was on the star receivers, he allowed some big plays.

Against the Texans, Rodgers-Cromartie guarded Johnson on 12 of 41 pass plays. Johnson managed to collect a 33-yard gain on one of those 12 plays and should’ve had another gain of 20-plus yards had Schaub not overthrown him on a deep ball in the second half.

Against the Cowboys, Rodgers-Cromartie was matched man-to-man with Bryant on just 15 of 44 plays. He still managed to be flagged for a 20-yard pass interference, allowed a 2-yard touchdown and was burned for a 79-yard gain late in the game against Bryant.

This isn’t what I expected. I expected Rodgers-Cromartie to have spent most of the game on receivers like Bryant and Johnson. I expected him to have more success against these elite players.

 

Now, setting aside Cromartie’s performance, if Jets fans and the media are killing Idzik over drafting a guy with a shoulder injury, could you imagine the outcry if he were to spend millions on a player with a previously diagnosed medical condition that 39% of doctors recommend players not be allowed to play professional football with?  Fans would be calling for his head, they would be bringing in to question the competence of the medical staff, and it would be considered in instant reason for Idzik to be let go.  Well, in the case of Cromartie, this is a small yet very real possibility.  A study printed by the American Journal of Sports that looked at the effect of kidney injures on NFL players revealed the following information:

Almost all the injuries were contact related (49). More than a third of the players required hospitalization for their injury (18), although none required surgery. All the athletes returned to play. The most days missed were after a kidney laceration (mean, 59.8), followed by kidney contusion (15.1) and dysfunction (14.0).

Cromartie, as it turns out was born with just one functioning kidney and had to have the other removed.  So while a kidney injury could keep a player for a couple of months, would it be even longer if said player had only one kidney?  The report didn’t address that possibility, but it doesn’t change the reaction fans would have if such a scenario were to unfold.  So given the opportunity to pay millions for a #1 CB who struggled when facing elite receivers, questionalbe work ethic and and unquestionable medical condition. Idzik opted not to pay Rodgers-Cromartie top-dollar to cover the other team’s second best option.  Again, he played it safe.

Alterraun Verner who chose the Bucs shortly after the start of free-agency was a hot name among Jets fans.  He’s a young cornerback with a solid resume, but not many people were in  much of an uproar when the Jets passed on him.  His weakness, it has been reported, is man coveage.  This immediately took him off the list of players that would fit Rex Ryans aggressive blitzing defense.  So now, he’s in camp with the Tampa Bay Bucs, and head coach Lovie Smith had this to say about Verner recently:

“Alterraun Verner is running. I think I said that yesterday. But we’re going to take our time with him. He’s had trouble with that hamstring on a couple of occasions. He’s making progress”

So he was a poor schematic fit, and has apparently been suffering from an injury early in camp.  I wonder if it’s time for heads to roll in Tampa?

Then don’t forget Aquib Talib who has been a good player following his indictment in Texas for firing a gun at his girlfriend’s brother (hey, I wasn’t there, I don’t even know if he was wrong to do so, but I don’t know if he was right either).  I’m sure fans would have been totally at ease and given Idzik a pass if Talib had been signed and at any point has any more legal troubles.

These are the top players John Idzik passed on, and he decided to stick with Dee Milliner, to draft a couple of CB’s (McDougle and CB Brandon Dixon) and to sign a low-risk/high-reward player in Dimitri Patterson for a modest salary.

While I admittedly would have liked to have seen Idzik sign one or two more mid-level veterans to compete, I wouldn’t chastise him for not spending what would have been tens of millions of dollars on an injury risk, a player with multiple drug-realted suspensions, questionable work ethic, history of serious legal trouble, or players who just don’t fit what the Jets do on defense.

He played it safe, and now we get to see how it unfolds.

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I wish they would have kept Cro as well, but I have no issue with bringing in Patterson.  Call me crazy, but I always like the idea of bringing in a guy who plays well when healthy and see what he can give you.  Worked out alright with Colon last season, and we'll see how Patterson does this season.  His numbers show two things..he gets hurt a lot and when he's not hurt, he's effective. 

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You guys seem to forget how bad Cro was last year, lol

Go listen to more Beningo

 

Cro was horrible last season, and up until a couple of weeks ago I was totally on board with letting him go, but then I just thought "what would it have hurt"?  He'd be here on a cheap one year deal that would allow the Jets to just cut him if he didn't return to form.

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"Playing it safe" would have been to go out and overpay two veteran corners. It took some guts (and brains) to rely on your draft picks to man positions long-term.

 

I can't tell if this is a serious statement or not.  Overpaying  a player to under-perform is playing it safe?  Honestly can't tell if you're joking or not.

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I can't see how Patterson was an upgrade over Cromartie. I just don't. Cromartie wasn't all that good for us last season, but prior years he was on point. And he had good health.. sort of. At least he stayed on the field and was a playmaker.

rumor was Jets wanted Cro's 'personality' out of locker room

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Like Revis, Cro also had a serious ACL injury in the past.

The notion that it can be predicted, in someone who doesn't have a prior one, is quite a bit beyond 20/20 hindsight.

was thinking same thing..if revis goes down 'again' do Pats get slammed for being short sighted at CB?

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Patterson is awful.

Paying him anything is a waste of money. And a GM with functioning grey matter knows that and doesn't sign in the first place.

Patterson is awful.

Paying him anything is a waste of money. And a GM with functioning grey matter knows that and doesn't sign in the first place.

But Patterson has been in the league for a few years, so some GMs clearly disagree with you

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I can't see how Patterson was an upgrade over Cromartie. I just don't. Cromartie wasn't all that good for us last season, but prior years he was on point. And he had good health.. sort of. At least he stayed on the field and was a playmaker.

Cromartie was genuinely awful last year, and he may have an arthritic condition in that hip. Last year was not the first appearance of that injury. Plus he holds more than any CB in football. These rules will damn him to perdition when they start calling them

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Cro was horrible last season, and up until a couple of weeks ago I was totally on board with letting him go, but then I just thought "what would it have hurt"?  He'd be here on a cheap one year deal that would allow the Jets to just cut him if he didn't return to form.

 

What's the difference between a cheap, damaged Cro and a cheap, mediocre Patterson?

 

Nothing.

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Coaches/front office wanted Cro out cause he leaked info to reporters 'supposedly'

 

That's fine.

 

It still doesn't change the fact that he got burned over and over last year. People are over-reacting to a bad preseason game 1 by Patterson, he's a capable player. I'm not implying he'll be some miraculous diamond in the rough that Idzik discovered, but he'll be the type of capable role-player we need in the secondary. Like the rest of the guys there. None of them are flashy, but all of them are capable of doing their job.

 

When you have a front 7, pass rush specialists and safeties like we do... maybe all you need are corners who can do their job. 

 

Top paid and playing corners are scattered around the league. The ones on winning teams win because of their QBs. It's funny how quick we forget how Revis has ZERO impact on Tampa winning games last year. ZERO. 

 

In Goodell's NFL the role of the corner should be to gently tackle the WR after he catches the ball. Like I've said all week, the only way to really REALLY disrupt a passing offense is to kill the QB. Elite coverage is nice to have, but not essential to winning. Great QB play is essential to everything in the NFL.

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What's the difference between a cheap, damaged Cro and a cheap, mediocre Patterson?

 

Nothing.

 

With the Jets being as thin as they are, I wouldn't have minded them bringing him back to see how "damaged" he was.  Believe me, that was my exact reasoning for not wanting him back initially.  I figured "he was terrible last season, he was injured, and he's a year older, cut bait and move on", but when I look at our depth chart and cap room, I think they should have given him time to get as healthy as he can, and decide what to do from there.  Cut him if he was done, keep him if he wasn't.  I'm not  saying they should have made a huge financial commitment over multiple years.  I'm saying that we know how good he can be when healthy, and with such a reasonable price tag, what's the harm?

Now if they wanted him out of the locker room for character concerns, then I  have no issue with cutting him loose.

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Now if they wanted him out of the locker room for character concerns, then I  have no issue with cutting him loose.

 

Don't think that was a factor at all.  Other than not being able to keep it in his pants his whole career he's seemingly been a good guy and teammate.  He was also voted by his teammates as our best defensive player 2012.

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That's fine.

 

It still doesn't change the fact that he got burned over and over last year. People are over-reacting to a bad preseason game 1 by Patterson, he's a capable player. I'm not implying he'll be some miraculous diamond in the rough that Idzik discovered, but he'll be the type of capable role-player we need in the secondary. Like the rest of the guys there. None of them are flashy, but all of them are capable of doing their job.

 

When you have a front 7, pass rush specialists and safeties like we do... maybe all you need are corners who can do their job. 

 

Top paid and playing corners are scattered around the league. The ones on winning teams win because of their QBs. It's funny how quick we forget how Revis has ZERO impact on Tampa winning games last year. ZERO. 

 

In Goodell's NFL the role of the corner should be to gently tackle the WR after he catches the ball. Like I've said all week, the only way to really REALLY disrupt a passing offense is to kill the QB. Elite coverage is nice to have, but not essential to winning. Great QB play is essential to everything in the NFL.

I'm not upset about anything Idzik has done, ,I am on board,,dont spend big until u know u r a consistent playoff chaellenging team

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Don't think that was a factor at all.  Other than not being able to keep it in his pants his whole career he's seemingly been a good guy and teammate.  He was also voted by his teammates as our best defensive player 2012.

 

I agree...I'd never heard that rumor before this thread which is why I threw in the "if"....he's made some stupid decisions, but nothing criminal.

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That's fine.

 

It still doesn't change the fact that he got burned over and over last year. People are over-reacting to a bad preseason game 1 by Patterson, he's a capable player. I'm not implying he'll be some miraculous diamond in the rough that Idzik discovered, but he'll be the type of capable role-player we need in the secondary. Like the rest of the guys there. None of them are flashy, but all of them are capable of doing their job.

 

When you have a front 7, pass rush specialists and safeties like we do... maybe all you need are corners who can do their job. 

 

Top paid and playing corners are scattered around the league. The ones on winning teams win because of their QBs. It's funny how quick we forget how Revis has ZERO impact on Tampa winning games last year. ZERO. 

 

In Goodell's NFL the role of the corner should be to gently tackle the WR after he catches the ball. Like I've said all week, the only way to really REALLY disrupt a passing offense is to kill the QB. Elite coverage is nice to have, but not essential to winning. Great QB play is essential to everything in the NFL.

 

As far as Patterson goes, the thing I find most laughable about all of this is that the guy has a 9-year NFL career to his name, but now we've got posters around here, who I'd bet had no idea who the hell Patterson was before the Jets signed him, going on with these rants about how much they supposedly know about him.  Not to mention making determinations about how little the entire NFL allegedly thinks of him, including the 6 teams for which he has previously played.  It's such pure nonsense.

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Dead serious. The safe bet was to go and sign veteran corners.

 

Oh, I agree with that..but  it was the "over pay" part that I didn't know if you were messing around with.  Doing that with multiple players puts you in cap hell in a hurry, and then everyone wants you fired for that. As I said, I would have liked to see Idzik bring in some vet corners too.  The thing that's making me laugh however, is people saying Idzik sould have seen these injuries coming, but should have signed a bunch of guys who have even more risk for fifteen times more.

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Oh, I agree with that..but it was the "over pay" part that I didn't know if you were messing around with. As I said, I would have liked to see Idzik bring in some vet corners too. The thing that's making me laugh however, is people saying Idzik sould have seen these injuries coming, but should have signed a bunch of guys who have even more risk for fifteen times more.

My bad. The "overpay" was in reference to beating the offers the ultimately signed for with other teams.

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Dead serious. The safe bet was to go and sign veteran corners.

My only real complaint about Idzik's offseason has been his handling of the CB position, and that goes back to before the draft, and before the first preseason game. He didn't need to overpay for two CBs, but he should've been able to get a fair market deal done with one who was better -and generally healthier- than Patterson.

That said, I was hoping this article was about the bigger John Idzik Plays It Safe issue. Because John Idzik is all about being risk averse. He's reluctant to trade (especially on draft day, when things move quickly) unless he feels he's clearly getting the better of a deal. It's hard to find trade partners who fit that parameter. He doesn't overpay for free agents, because he doesn't want any busts thrown back in his face. Safety was a need this year, but was it a first round need? I firmly believe Idzik took Pryor over Cooks primarily because Cooks, being a smallish WR, had significantly more bust potential than the hard-hitting safety.

I have zero interest in going back to the ways of Mike Tannenbaum, but there's a wide swath of gray area in between the way these two men do business. Idzik's current path, I believe, will build a deep team that can perpetually win 10 games a year for you. But failing getting super-lucky at the QB position, he's going to have to take some risks to push this team over the top.

I know there's some thought here that he'll spend when he gets a QB. Well, this year we thought he'd spend because he finally had money, but didn't. All we know so far is that Idzik doesn't seem to like to spend, or to trade. Speculating that that will change once he gets or decides on his QB is just speculation.

Barring some completely unexpected blockbuster move during the preseason, I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see.

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I can't tell if this is a serious statement or not.  Overpaying  a player to under-perform is playing it safe?  Honestly can't tell if you're joking or not.

He's right (finally right about something).

The team has plenty of cap room this season. Playing it safe would be to protect the interest of this coming season even if it meant risking being better later.

Taking this point to the extreme, let's say Cromartie was still available today. But his demands are 5 years $50M with $25M guaranteed. Signing him puts in a far better position this season, and it's easy for Idzik to maneuver the number so his cap hit this season is within a million or so of what we're paying Patterson. Idzik would have the team in a better position this year but the cost is too much overall.

Now of course this is not the situation, and there is a lot of in between all or none, but that's the analogy. Overpaying robs the team of a player we otherwise would have been able to sign later on, whether it's a future FA, multiple future FAs, or our own players who will become FAs. Or more correctly, all of the above.

Further, it robs a young player of much-needed playing time. A player who may be worse for week 1, but by the end of the season would have otherwise been the superior of the two (to say nothing of long-term after that). It's unusual for a team to sign a player to a large contract and then sit him in favor of a young guy. It pretty much never happens unless the front office made SUCH a colossal blunder in signing the free agent that it's obvious this veteran has no business on the field (let alone starting for all or most of an entire season).

But the NFL salary cap is not like in the past; it's fluid and (for the most part) what you don't use this year is available to you in the future. So saying "We have [x-dollars] of cap space this season," ignores this new fluidity.

Again, there's in between a 1-year Revis rental, which robs from next year as much as it robs from this year, and picking up absolutely nobody. Idzik attempted an in-between (sign a veteran as a stop-gap and also draft a CB), but it's not panning out so far. The rookie he drafted is out for the season and the veteran is banged up and so far looks like crap.

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That's fine.

 

It still doesn't change the fact that he got burned over and over last year. People are over-reacting to a bad preseason game 1 by Patterson, he's a capable player. I'm not implying he'll be some miraculous diamond in the rough that Idzik discovered, but he'll be the type of capable role-player we need in the secondary. Like the rest of the guys there. None of them are flashy, but all of them are capable of doing their job.

 

When you have a front 7, pass rush specialists and safeties like we do... maybe all you need are corners who can do their job. 

 

Top paid and playing corners are scattered around the league. The ones on winning teams win because of their QBs. It's funny how quick we forget how Revis has ZERO impact on Tampa winning games last year. ZERO. 

 

In Goodell's NFL the role of the corner should be to gently tackle the WR after he catches the ball. Like I've said all week, the only way to really REALLY disrupt a passing offense is to kill the QB. Elite coverage is nice to have, but not essential to winning. Great QB play is essential to everything in the NFL.

 

I think this is a valid point.  If you look back at last season, teams that had all these saught after corners that he Jets ruined their season by not signing, didnt really have that much better of a year vs. the pass than the Jets.  For example:

 

Pats - w/ Talib - basically had identical #'s to the Jets vs. the pass

Bucs - w/ Revis - 100 or so less yards against but let up 5 more TD's

Cards - w/ Peterson - 200 or less yards against but let up 6 more TD's

Broncos - w/ DRC - they let up more yards and more TD's

 

The only teams that were considerably better vs. the pass than the Jets who had an available FA were the Titans w/ Verner and they sucked, the Dolphags w/ Grimes and they sucked and the Colts w/ Davis and they were good.

 

Now obviously, there is more to the story with a lot of these teams and its not that black and white but the Jets possibly had the worst CB play in the league with a defense that was dominant vs. the run and still compared well vs. these teams that had all these great corners we're missing out on. 

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