was John Idzik really that bad of a GM for the jets ? ? ?

[kelly]

Maybe it was his cavalier attitude, or his lack-of personality. Maybe it was the fact he brought to the table a three-year plan and was given just two years to execute it.Maybe it was his 18-minute monologue assuring all was fine-and-dandy in the midst of the Jets worst season in a decade.Whatever “it” was, “it” led to ex-Jets GM John Idzik taking a permanent, infamous place among Jets lore as the team’s version of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

But here’s the thing, one year removed from Idzik’s firing, was the former Jets GM really that bad ?

When Idzik took over the Jets, he did so with a three-year plan. For the first two years of his tenure, his focus was going to be on ridding the team of its horrid, cap-killing contracts with releases, trades, restructures.In Idzik’s mind, he wanted to break the Jets down before building them back up. After two years of that, New York would be in prime position with loads of cap space in year three. In the meantime, the Jets would acquire talent through the NFL Draft, and with reasonable, smart free-agent signings.

That plan was executed perfectly. The Jets remained quiet in free agency Idzik’s first two years, sticking to smart signings (Eric Decker) instead of overpaying for others (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie). Idzik made smart, cap-friendly trades (Chris Ivory, Percy Harvin) that had high chances for success, with little-to-no financial trouble if they failed.The year Idzik took over, the team was turning over couches looking for spare change to create a little more cap wiggle room. Three years later, the team had more than $60 million in available funds.

Not bad. Now, for the second part of Idzik’s plan :

During his tenure as GM, the Jets made a total of 19 draft selections in two years. There were certainly some misses there — ok, a lot of misses– but it wasn’t all bad, believe it or not.

In Idzik’s first draft (2013), he nabbed defensive end Sheldon Richardson, full back Tommy Bohanon and Brian Winters. Richardson is a Pro Bowler and one of the best at his position, Bohanon is the team’s starting fullback, Winters has shown the ability to start at right guard.He missed a bit on cornerback Dee Milliner,whose career has been ravaged by injury, while the jury is still out on quarterback Geno Smith. Then, as is the case with every draft class, he swung-and-missed on guard Oday Aboushi and tackle William Campbell.

For his second draft, again, Idzik found some success, taking safetyCalvin Pryor in the first round. After playing out of position in Year 1, Pryor broke out a season ago and looks to be one of the games up-and-coming stars.Idzik also selected Jace Amaro, who was among the rookie tight end leaders in 2014 before suffering a season-ending injury last year, and receiver Quincy Enunwa, who found a home as the Jets H-Back in 2015. He took Trevor Reilly in the seventh round, who served as a rotational player for the Jets defense a year ago.

Again, he missed on other picks (Jalen Saunders, Shaq Evans, Dakota Dozier, etc), but it wasn’t all bad.There’s no denying Idzik had his flaws, but near every GM across the NFL does. They take chances, some pay off, some don’t. Idzik took chances, some paid off, some didn’t.

In two draft classes, he selected a Pro Bowler (Richardson), budding star (Pryor), two starters (Bohanon, Winters) and a serviceable role player (Enunwa).In a free agency, he nabbed Decker.Via trade, he secured Ivory.

Is that really awful ? Certainly not. And maybe the same can be said about Idzik.

>       http://jetswire.usatoday.com/2016/04/08/was-john-idzik-really-that-bad-of-a-gm-for-the-jets/

[Jetsfan80]

Yes.  He only did 1/3 of the job a GM needs to do (from a personnel perspective; hiring coaches would be the 4th, although that's more of an owner's call these days).  Drafting well, making smart signings to fill needs, and avoiding bad contracts.  He only did the last on that list.  And unlike baseball, 1/3 doesn't get you into the HOF.

Next.

[Warfish]

He missed of like 1,000 WR picks.  Macc is better, lets move on.

[Charlie Brown]

Ummmmm Idzik was awful and I was one who supported him when he was hired.  

All you need to know is that the man said at the end of his reign of error was that the Jets had "all the talent" they needed to win already on the team!!!

If Idzik could not see that the Jets were one of the poorest talented teams in the NFL than that alone shows he was a boob of monumental proportions.  

Think even with us winning 10 games last year, having a massive infusion of talent on the team and literally setting alltime Jets record the Jet GM and HC both said we have a talent deficit and that we have to get skill wise significantly better to compete for a title.   

 

A few picks here or there absent an alltime great QB which Geno is not doesn't absolve that man of his incompetence!!!!

 

[Rangers9]

I always felt he should have gotten a third season and his critics on his drafts jumped the gun and criticized misses that every team has in a draft. And I never saw any evidence that he was trying to sabotage Rex. That was started by Mehta, etc. guys who hated Idzik because he wouldn't work with them and give them copy. It was a big fault of Idzik not working with the press and it helped lead to his downfall. Rumors were he wouldn't return phone calls. And his presser was an embarrassing disaster. He wasn't personality wise ready to be in charge and to survive in the New York market. But I thought most of his moves were ok and the stuff he was killed on like not signing a cover corner for 2014 was pure BS. 

[PatsFanTX]

I always felt he should have gotten a third season and his critics on his drafts jumped the gun and criticized misses that every team has in a draft. And I never saw any evidence that he was trying to sabotage Rex. That was started by Mehta, etc. guys who hated Idzik because he wouldn't work with them and give them copy. It was a big fault of Idzik not working with the press and it helped lead to his downfall. Rumors were he wouldn't return phone calls. And his presser was an embarrassing disaster. He wasn't personality wise ready to be in charge and to survive in the New York market. But I though most of his moves were ok and the stuff he was killed on like not signing a cover corner for 2014 were pure BS. 

Going 0-12 is not a "miss", it was a colossal blunder.

[Savage69]

2 minutes ago, Rangers9 said:

I always felt he should have gotten a third season and his critics on his drafts jumped the gun and criticized misses that every team has in a draft. And I never saw any evidence that he was trying to sabotage Rex. That was started by Mehta, etc. guys who hated Idzik because he wouldn't work with them and give them copy. It was a big fault of Idzik not working with the press and it helped lead to his downfall. Rumors were he wouldn't return phone calls. And his presser was an embarrassing disaster. He wasn't personality wise ready to be in charge and to survive in the New York market. But I though most of his moves were ok and the stuff he was killed on like not signing a cover corner for 2014 were pure BS. 

No sitting on 50 million when the team needed help in many positions was just brilliant.. Forget Rex he screwed the whole team..

[joewilly12]

Was it Idzik or anyother GM or is it just the Jets......

[Rangers9]

Look, Idzik would had to spend that money in 2015. It was league rules to spend a specific percentage of cap space. But he never got a chance to do it. He thought 2014 was a rebuilding year. Plus don't you think that instead of killing him for not drafting a few guys who in 3rd and 4th rounds ended up being decent NFL receivers like Matthews (every other team also passed on him except Phila) it's a lot more important what he did with his major picks like Sheldon at overall 13. First he traded Revis to get that pick. And then he picked arguably the best player in that draft. I'd take that over whiffing on a few 4th rounders. Something every team does. Plus he did in the 6th round that year draft Quincy who could end up one of the better receivers in that draft. Q's a rare breed who can block and receive. It's not in stone yet that Q is going to be a good NFL receiver yet. But he had a promising season and started a lot of games. 

[joewilly12]

22 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

Ummmmm Idzik was awful and I was one who supported him when he was hired.  

All you need to know is that the man said at the end of his reign of error was that the Jets had "all the talent" they needed to win already on the team!!!

If Idzik could not see that the Jets were one of the poorest talented teams in the NFL than that alone shows he was a boob of monumental proportions.  

Think even with us winning 10 games last year, having a massive infusion of talent on the team and literally setting alltime Jets record the Jet GM and HC both said we have a talent deficit and that we have to get skill wise significantly better to compete for a title.   

 

A few picks here or there absent an alltime great QB which Geno is not doesn't absolve that man of his incompetence!!!!

 

Come on Charlie Geno had MM as an OC and the worst WRs in the league. 

[slats]

Yes, he was really that awful. 

[Savage69]

1 minute ago, joewilly12 said:

Come on Charlie Geno had MM as an OC and the worst WRs in the league. 

Very true but he also still had his 10 cent brain which got him KO'ed in the locker room.. He never learned to shut his mouth or throw the ball away at the appropriate time..

[SoFlaJets]

Clearly a Hall Of Fame candidate for the stars he assembled and/or moved around (Signing, cutting, re-signing, re-cutting) for the 2014 season alone

Colin Anderson, T. J. Barnes, Tevita Finau, Michael Campbell, Dwight Jones, Dalton Freeman, Tim Fugger, and Rontez Miles Ras-I Dowling Patrick Ford and Lowell Rose  Jacolby Ashworth and Nick Taylor  Brandon Hardin  Johnny Patrick  Breno Giacomini and Eric Decker, Michael Vick, Jeremy Reeves, Jacoby Ford, Dimitri Patterson, Chris Johnson, Tevon Conrad, Steele Divitto, Anthony Grady, Kerry Hyder, Terrence Miller, Brent Qvale, Zach Thompson, and Chad Young, Daryl Richardson, A.J. Edds, Markus Zusevics, Andrew Furney and Jacob Schum, Jason Babin, Michael Smith, Bruce Campbell, LeQuan Lewis, Leon McFadden, Matt Simms, Daryl Richardson, Chris Pantale, Brent Qvale, Tevita Finau, Kerry Hyder, and Rontez Miles,  Phillip Adams and Walt Powell Quincy Enunwa and Jeremiah George, Ellis Lankster, Brandon Smith, Marcus Williams, T. J. Graham and Chris Owusu, John Conner,  DaShaun Phillips, Josh Thomas and Wesley Johnson, Chris Young, Kona Schwenke, Keith Lewis, Mario Harvey

[Charlie Brown]

27 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Come on Charlie Geno had MM as an OC and the worst WRs in the league. 

In truth I'm not knocking Geno Smith.   I just don't believe even with the right coaching and grooming that Geno was or is slated to be an all time great   

The fact has been beaten to death out here and it is now abundantly clear that Geno should have never started so soon with that cast of Mutt and Jeff skill players and poor coaching that surrounded him. The same is true IMO for Sanchez, that is he too was started to soon  

It is simple guys who you know or  you should know aren't ready for the NFL QB starting position shouldn't be put out there.  

Idzik in his genius was the one that was pushing to get Smith onto the field his rookie year not the coaching staff!!! Rex was trying to show how stupid that decision was by the Snoopy bowl game remember?

indeed based on the horrible team the Jets had in year two Geno should have sat then in order to protect him and let him get better by watching but Idzik was hell bent on proving he was "right" not what was best for the NYJ.  

At the end of the day neither Sanchez nor Smith were ready for prime time in the NY/NJ area certainly that soon.  And in the big boys league your flaws as a player and a humbeing will be quickly revealed and enhanced and again in each case they were.  

So yes the Jets organization shares much to blame with the Geno fiasco but his immaturity and egoistic myopic sense of self entitlement rest solely on him!!

 

 

[dbatesman]

Idzik was good

[kelly]

2 hours ago, Charlie Brown said:

In truth I'm not knocking Geno Smith.   I just don't believe even with the right coaching and grooming that Geno was or is slated to be an all time great   

The fact has been beaten to death out here and it is now abundantly clear that Geno should have never started so soon with that cast of Mutt and Jeff skill players and poor coaching that surrounded him. The same is true IMO for Sanchez, that is he too was started to soon  

It is simple guys who you know or  you should know aren't ready for the NFL QB starting position shouldn't be put out there.  

Idzik in his genius was the one that was pushing to get Smith onto the field his rookie year not the coaching staff!!! Rex was trying to show how stupid that decision was by the Snoopy bowl game remember?

indeed based on the horrible team the Jets had in year two Geno should have sat then in order to protect him and let him get better by watching but Idzik was hell bent on proving he was "right" not what was best for the NYJ.  

At the end of the day neither Sanchez nor Smith were ready for prime time in the NY/NJ area certainly that soon.  And in the big boys league your flaws as a player and a humbeing will be quickly revealed and enhanced and again in each case they were.  

So yes the Jets organization shares much to blame with the Geno fiasco but his immaturity and egoistic myopic sense of self entitlement rest solely on him!!

 

 

pls be adv. g.smith is an awful qb.. AWFUL    

[PepPep]

Idzik was not as terrible as most deem him to have been. But he should have never been given the GM job. He was a numbers guy and ownership should've known when hiring him that he was not good at scouting, would need help finding quality coaching and had zero experience as a GM. He proceeded doing exactly what was expected from him, clearing cap, bringing in cheap, short term, non-commit signings and collecting draft picks. I have no problem with the constant shuffle of players, cuts, short term signings and general conservative approach to FA. I can't fully blame him for the draft busts just as I can't give him full credit for the promising talent he did get. Its obvious he was relying on his scouts and coaches to gauge talent. But when you look at his tenure as a whole, its was more debacle than anything else.

Idzik should have never been a GM and yes, once he was hired he was bad. Ownership is to blame as much as he is. Did he do some good things, yes, but not nearly enough. Although he did not get a chance to complete his rebuilding plan, I'm glad ownership came to their senses and pulled the plug. Although the jury is still out on him, Mac has already shown that he is savvy in FA and talent evaluation, taking a balanced approach to bringing it veteran talent via FA and trade while continuing to build the team through the draft and holding coaching staff accountable.     

[JetsFanatic]

Yes, Idzik was that bad!

 

[Rangers9]

And a lot of the hatred to Idzik was from Rex's fans via his tools Mehta and Cimini. One thing always about Rex he's constantly in a self protection mode. If his team falters there's always a finger pointed in another direction but never from him. Now if you believe that I've got some riverfront property in the Everglades for you. And look at this past season. With all that D talent in Buffalo he finished 8-8 and a number of his players didn't buy into his line of BS.

[jett]

He was bad not as bad as people think though, but still happy with Macc

[Savage69]

1 minute ago, Rangers9 said:

And a lot of the hatred to Idzik was from Rex's fans via his tools Mehta and Cimini. One thing always about Rex he's constantly in a self protection mode. If his team falters there's always a finger pointed in another direction but never from him. Now if you believe that I've got some riverfront property in the Everglades for you. And look at this past season. With all that D talent in Buffalo he finished 8-8 and a number of his players didn't buy into his line of BS.

Rex always said it was on him bad HC or not that he always did.. Only on true Rex hater could think Idzik was a good GM..LOL

[Rangers9]

1 minute ago, Savage69 said:

Rex always said it was on him bad HC or not that he always did.. Only on true Rex hater could think Idzik was a good GM..LOL

Not a Rex hater but I don't like him. He always says it's his fault sure but then he has his proxies, even his mother blaming things on someone else. 

[Jolot]

This has all the makings of as fantastic thread

[T0mShane]

The context that's always left out of the "Idzik sucks" conclusion is that the job was so undesirable and the situation so toxic that literally nobody wanted the job. Removing Idzik from the equation, consider that the job of Jets GM included 1. A halfwit owner with zero credibility around the league; 2. An expensive, trash roster put together by one of the biggest buffoons to ever man a GM post in Mike Tannenbaum--a guy who had the same fiscal philosophy as Lehman Brothers and compromised sustainable success in exchange for tomorrow's headlines regularly; 3. A comically inept scouting staff that had been around since the early 90's, supplemented only by Rod Graves; 4. An emotionally stunted head coach who was such a ******* pariah that he got passed over in Baltimore for a special teams coordinator and treated talent development as a boring inconvenience; and 5. most importantly, that head coach had that halfwit owner tucked away in his back pocket like he was his prison bitch.

 

Idzik was doomed from Day One, as would be any potential GM, which was why the Jets couldn't even hire a GM in the first place. Idzik took the pragmatic approach: ferreted away money, attempted to move on from Sanchez and the Good Ol' Boy network of Rex's old, slow, obsolete roster full of embarrassing punk jerkoffs, and attempted to keep Woody at arm's length. But, alas, Manish Mehta, in his desperate search for Internet relevance, decided to exonerate the jackasses who ran the organization into the ground over the prior decade and instead pinned it all on the guy who was on the job for 18 months. And as much as the Jets fanbase allegedly hates Mehta and Cimini and Cannizaro, the great bulk of them end up aping every troll-imbued, fact-free, idiotic talking point those hacks put out there because 97% of our fanbase is functionally illiterate and are the types of people who couldn't tell you what continent Benghazi is on, but are damn sure that a President Clint Eastwood would have irradiated it by now if it wasn't for silly hippies like Colin Powell getting in the way.

 

in sum, John Idzik is a martyr who deserves our respect. Anyone who thinks otherwise is ******* clownshoes.

[BroadwayJets]

4 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

The context that's always left out of the "Idzik sucks" conclusion is that the job was so undesirable and the situation so toxic that literally nobody wanted the job. Removing Idzik from the equation, consider that the job of Jets GM included 1. A halfwit owner with zero credibility around the league; 2. An expensive, trash roster put together by one of the biggest buffoons to ever man a GM post in Mike Tannenbaum--a guy who had the same fiscal philosophy as Lehman Brothers and compromised sustainable success in exchange for tomorrow's headlines regularly; 3. A comically inept scouting staff that had been around since the early 90's, supplemented only by Rod Graves; 4. An emotionally stunted head coach who was such a ******* pariah that he got passed over in Baltimore for a special teams coordinator and treated talent development as a boring inconvenience; and 5. most importantly, that head coach had that halfwit owner tucked away in his back pocket like he was his prison bitch.

 

Idzik was doomed from Day One, as would be any potential GM, which was why the Jets couldn't even hire a GM in the first place. Idzik took the pragmatic approach: ferreted away money, attempted to move on from Sanchez and the Good Ol' Boy network of Rex's old, slow, obsolete roster full of embarrassing punk jerkoffs, and attempted to keep Woody at arm's length. But, alas, Manish Mehta, in his desperate search for Internet relevance, decided to exonerate the jackasses who ran the organization into the ground over the prior decade and instead pinned it all on the guy who was on the job for 18 months. And as much as the Jets fanbase allegedly hates Mehta and Cimini and Cannizaro, the great bulk of them end up aping every troll-imbued, fact-free, idiotic talking point those hacks put out there because 97% of our fanbase is functionally illiterate and are the types of people who couldn't tell you what continent Benghazi is on, but are damn sure that a President Clint Eastwood would have irradiated it by now if it wasn't for silly hippies like Colin Powell getting in the way.

 

in sum, John Idzik is a martyr who deserves our respect. Anyone who thinks otherwise is ******* clownshoes.

Amen.

Now let's eat.

[Rangers9]

I also don't think that Idzik was trying to deep six Rex. If anything it was the other way around. Most of his higher picks were on defense and guys Rex wanted. He did try to sign 2 top cover corners but one re-signed with his own team and the other chose the Gisnts over us. I saw plenty of times after games we won Idzik was genuinely happy. He wasn't tanking it or that good of an actor. It's not written in stone that a GM has to have his own HC. I think Idzik isn't a bad guy wasn't trying to set up Rex with a losing season just so he could fire him. I thought he was willing to give Rex and people in the front office a chance instead of firing everybody the minute he was hired. 

[AFJF]

There have been worse drafts, but the way he handled FA alone should have gotten him fired.  Punting away a season in the NFL after an 8-win campaign is a joke.  He had a team that was one or two wins away from playoff contention, and he did nothing meaningful to improve it, opting instead to trot out one of the worst rosters in the NFL.

[slats]

The disfunctionality of the Jets hierarchy does not in any way forgive the fact that Idzik was uniquely unqualified to be an NFL GM, and will never come close to having another opportunity like that in his career. Because he shouldn't. 

Woody's love for Rex was an issue, but so was his ambiguity. He should've went all in with Rex if he loved him so much. Sure, it would've imploded within the same two years if not sooner, but bringing in another accountant to effectively be his boss was monumentally stupid. It was doomed from day one (and frankly, I don't love the current power structure with the head coach and GM each reporting directly to the owner). Again not in any way predicting it would've been successful, but hiring a personnel guy to work for Rex would've, #1, led to the Jets actually having a personnel guy on the payroll and #2, been significantly less disfunctional - if not competent. 

John Idzik was completely out of his depth. Peter Principle incarnate. 

[nyjets782]

1 hour ago, Rangers9 said:

I always felt he should have gotten a third season and his critics on his drafts jumped the gun and criticized misses that every team has in a draft. And I never saw any evidence that he was trying to sabotage Rex. That was started by Mehta, etc. guys who hated Idzik because he wouldn't work with them and give them copy. It was a big fault of Idzik not working with the press and it helped lead to his downfall. Rumors were he wouldn't return phone calls. And his presser was an embarrassing disaster. He wasn't personality wise ready to be in charge and to survive in the New York market. But I thought most of his moves were ok and the stuff he was killed on like not signing a cover corner for 2014 was pure BS. 

All I can say is that if I ever leave my current job, I want to work for you!  

He had 12 picks and parlayed that into one starter and 3 spare parts!  That is a bad draft for a guy with 7 picks, let alone 12!

I don't believe he actually tried to sabotage Rex, I believe he was so ungodly bad that people speculated about it.  The evidence, my friend, is how awful he was.

Most of his moves were okay?  Again, would love to work for you.  I will not say EVERY move was bad (Ivory was a decent move) but if you think he had more hits than misses, I don't know what you are watching.

Getting criticized for not signing a cover corner in 2014 was BS?  His coach's defense was predicated on corner play, we had $50M in cap space and he played with himself and we went on to have the worst pass defense in the league.  So exactly what part of this criticism was BS?

[Savage69]

7 minutes ago, Rangers9 said:

I also don't think that Idzik was trying to deep six Rex. If anything it was the other way around. Most of his higher picks were on defense and guys Rex wanted. He did try to sign 2 top cover corners but one re-signed with his own team and the other chose the Gisnts over us. I saw plenty of times after games we won Idzik was genuinely happy. He wasn't tanking it or that good of an actor. It's not written in stone that a GM has to have his own HC. I think Idzik isn't a bad guy wasn't trying to set up Rex with a losing season just so he could fire him. I thought he was willing to give Rex and people in the front office a chance instead of firing everybody the minute he was hired. 

Mac and Bowles were hired 1 day apart so that's true..

[CanadaSteve]

Asking if John Idzik was REALLY a bad GM at all is like asking if seeing your grandmother in a thong bikini is REALLY that bad, or if Hayden Christensen was REALLY that bad at playing Annakin Skywalker.

[nyjets782]

1 hour ago, Rangers9 said:

Look, Idzik would had to spend that money in 2015. It was league rules to spend a specific percentage of cap space. But he never got a chance to do it. He thought 2014 was a rebuilding year. Plus don't you think that instead of killing him for not drafting a few guys who in 3rd and 4th rounds ended up being decent NFL receivers like Matthews (every other team also passed on him except Phila) it's a lot more important what he did with his major picks like Sheldon at overall 13. First he traded Revis to get that pick. And then he picked arguably the best player in that draft. I'd take that over whiffing on a few 4th rounders. Something every team does. Plus he did in the 6th round that year draft Quincy who could end up one of the better receivers in that draft. Q's a rare breed who can block and receive. It's not in stone yet that Q is going to be a good NFL receiver yet. But he had a promising season and started a lot of games. 

8-8 record, $50M in your pocket and 12 draft picks - doesn't equal let's all just tank the season and then next year we'll go for it.   I put together a long list of WR's he passed on in another thread for you and you had no answer then and you don't have one now for how he missed on ALL of them.

Stop making Enunwa out to be a Pro Bowler.  He has some intriguing physical traits but has shown that he struggles big time in the most important trait for a WR - catching the ball! - he even dropped a shovel pass that could have put us in the playoffs.

He had 2 top 15 picks the year before - one has been a major bust so far and the other can play but is a total moron and could be on his way to a year long suspension if he doesn't straighten himself out.

[BroadwayJets]

Signing Brandon Flowers and Muhammad Wilkerson not missing 3 games would have brought us to the playoffs.

[Bugg]

2 damnable offenses by Idzik;

1. QB: drafting Smith was a disaster. Not having a vet alternative to Smith even worse.It's inexcusable. 

2. Bringing Rex Ryan back for another pointless season. That idiocy of celebrating bringing him back was arguably the most embarrassing spectacle in franchise history, which is saying something. In fairness, that was almost certainly the owner's doing. After all, he kept Bradway and the whole scouting department around for decades despite nobody finding a franchise QB forever.  But Idzik  went along with it and was there smiling ear to ear in the lockerroom as Ryan jumped around like a sugared up 6 year old celebrating his sh*ttiness getting extended. But if Idzik had a shred of decency or brains, he refuses to be part of that. In for a penny,in for a pound. 

[Jetdawgg]

Idzik  =. Total Fail