Unlikeliest SB LII matchup: Jets vs. 49ers ... and you won't believe the odds

[Gas2No99]

Unlikeliest SB LII matchup: Jets vs. 49ers ... and you won't believe the odds

Vegas doesn't expect Bryce Petty and DeForest Buckner to facing each other in Super Bowl LII. Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports

A look at what's happening around the New York Jets:

 

1. Ultimate underdog: Of the 256 potential Super Bowl LII matchups, the least likely is a Jets-San Francisco 49ers title showdown, according to the Golden Nugget sports book in Las Vegas.

The current odds are -- prepare to gulp -- 5,000-to-1.

Oh, my.

Win that bet with a $10 wager and you'd have enough money to buy two PSLs in the Coaches Club at MetLife Stadium.

Let's try to put that into perspective, if possible. The odds are getting struck by lightning in your lifetime are 13,000-to-1, per the National Weather Service. Hey, if the Jets dump a couple of more veterans before the season ...

For a sports comparison, the Leicester City soccer team was a 5,000-to-1 shot to win the Premier League in 2015-2016 -- and it did.

I've been covering the Jets since 1989, and I can't recall any season in which the expectations were this low. Even in 1996, the year they bottomed out at 1-15, they entered the season with high hopes, bolstered by an offseason spending spree that included Neil O'Donnell and the arrival of No. 1 overall pick Keyshawn Johnson.

Look at the bright side: A Jets-Dallas Cowboys matchup is only 400-to-1.

2. Four-gone conclusion: The abrupt release of David Harris means the Jets' version of the Core Four is no more. We're talking about Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson (both drafted in 2006) and Harris and Darrelle Revis (both drafted in 2007). Mangold acknowledged the Harris news with a tweet, using this hashtag: #EndOfAnEra

So true.

While they weren't a dynasty, a la the New York Yankees' Core Four, they represented the best of the Jets -- four homegrown players who achieved varying degrees of personal success. Unfortunately, they never tasted a championship. In their seven seasons together, the Jets were 57-55, plus four playoff wins. They got as far as the AFC Championship Game -- twice.

In this time of gloom and doom, I'd like to pose this question: Which players will comprise the next Core Four? Leonard Williams and ... who? His concert-going buddy, Darron Lee? Jamal Adams? Your guess is as good as mine.

3. Hit Man's next move: From what I understand, Harris, 33, isn't considering retirement at this point. He has attracted interest from teams, and there could some action in the coming days. The Cleveland Browns need an inside linebacker after trading Demario Davis to the Jets. The Los Angeles Chargers, coached by former Jets assistant Anthony Lynn, could use some experience in their linebacking corps.

Mangold and Revis also are looking for jobs. It's all quiet on those fronts, as their asking prices remain high. As of a few weeks ago, Mangold still was looking to be among the highest-paid centers.

4. Maye day! Maye day! Adams has been the talk of the draft class, which is what you'd expect from the sixth overall pick, but the player who really jumped out during the three-week OTA period was second-round safety Marcus Maye. Working mostly at free safety, he impressed the organization with his ability to digest the defense and limit his mental mistakes on the practice field. It's still early, but the Jets really like the way the Maye-Adams tandem is developing.

5. Gang (Very) Green: Yes, the Jets are a whole lot younger than they were a year ago, but it's not like they've cornered the market on youth. In fact, they're barely the youngest team in the AFC East. The average opening-day age of their projected starters is 26.2, a bit younger than the Buffalo Bills (26.9). Next is the New England Patriots (27.8), followed by the Miami Dolphins (28.2).

Here's a breakdown by unit:

Average age of projected AFC East starters

Team	Offense	Defense	Total
Jets	27.3	25.2	26.2
Bills	27.1	26.4	26.9
Patriots	27.8	27.7	27.8
Dolphins	26.5	30.0	28.2

6. Short-sighted decision: The Jets goofed by parting ways with Eric Decker, and here's why: It'll be that much harder to develop Christian Hackenberg (or Bryce Petty) without an experienced and reliable wide receiver. Every quarterback needs a go-to guy at receiver, especially a young quarterback, and the Jets don't have one.

Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson show promise, but they're still not polished route runners -- and route running is vital in a West Coast-based system. With Decker, you know exactly where he'll be. He's also a weapon in the red zone; Enunwa and Anderson have 10 red-zone catches between them.

Barring a trade, the Jets will save $7.25 million when they get around to cutting Decker. I don't want to say it's a penny-wise, dollar-foolish decision because we're talking about a lot of money, but you get the point. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles; they devoted their offseason to upgrading the supporting cast around Carson Wentz. Have the Jets done that with their young quarterbacks? Perhaps for the future, but not now.

7. Stop & Shop: As noted the other day, the Jets have talked to the Baltimore Ravens about Decker. Why the delay? The Ravens could be waiting on an answer from free-agent wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Best-case scenario for the Jets: Maclin signs with the Bills, increasing the Ravens' need for Decker. In that case, the Jets might be able to extract a late-round pick from the Ravens.

There's nothing cooking on the Sheldon Richardson trade front. The Jets are prepared to go into the season with him, hoping his value increases before the mid-season trading deadline.

 

8. Cap 'n crunch: The Jets have $16.2 million in cap room, according to overthecap.com -- and that includes Decker. When he goes, and when they sign Adams, they'll be at about $13 million. They can carry that into next year, when they could have a whopping $80 million in room.

9. Mo' better than before: Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, coming off a disappointing season, is now 17 months removed from surgery to repair a fractured leg. No more excuses.

"He's moving well and in good shape," new defensive-line coach Robert Nunn said. "He's not in game shape, but he's in good enough shape to get in shape. ... He seems to be moving quicker and I think he feels like he's moving quicker than he has. I know he struggled off that injury, but he's very impressive."

10. Confessions of a sideline reporter: Yep, I was the guy who encountered a Hackenberg pass last week at practice. With a phone in one hand and a notebook in the other, I was able to use my forearm to block a low sideline pass that hit damp grass and skipped like a stone on water. End of story. Can we stop the hysteria, please?

 

Hack most lilkley DID throw it on purpose at Cimini. 

[Gas2No99]

1 hour ago, Gas2No99 said:

4. Maye day! Maye day! Adams has been the talk of the draft class, which is what you'd expect from the sixth overall pick, but the player who really jumped out during the three-week OTA period was second-round safety Marcus Maye. Working mostly at free safety, he impressed the organization with his ability to digest the defense and limit his mental mistakes on the practice field. It's still early, but the Jets really like the way the Maye-Adams tandem is developing.

 

Quote

 

6. Short-sighted decision: The Jets goofed by parting ways with Eric Decker, and here's why: It'll be that much harder to develop Christian Hackenberg (or Bryce Petty) without an experienced and reliable wide receiver. Every quarterback needs a go-to guy at receiver, especially a young quarterback, and the Jets don't have one.

Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson show promise, but they're still not polished route runners -- and route running is vital in a West Coast-based system. With Decker, you know exactly where he'll be. He's also a weapon in the red zone; Enunwa and Anderson have 10 red-zone catches between them.

Barring a trade, the Jets will save $7.25 million when they get around to cutting Decker. I don't want to say it's a penny-wise, dollar-foolish decision because we're talking about a lot of money, but you get the point. Look at the Philadelphia Eagles; they devoted their offseason to upgrading the supporting cast around Carson Wentz. Have the Jets done that with their young quarterbacks? Perhaps for the future, but not now.

 

 

8. Cap 'n crunch: The Jets have $16.2 million in cap room, according to overthecap.com -- and that includes Decker. When he goes, and when they sign Adams, they'll be at about $13 million. They can carry that into next year, when they could have a whopping $80 million in room.

 

 

Maye is going to REALLY surprise and help shore up the defense next season. I understand the disappointment in the pick, but I feel he may cause those posters who bashed him being picked in the 2nd round to eventually eat crow. If he can even have 1/2 the production that either Kherry Rhodes or Erik Coleman had as FS, both being late round rookie starters for playoff teams, then Maye will have been worth it. 

 

Decker should be kept to help groom the young QBs and WRs and it was stupid to telegraph that they were going to trade him. Philly is in the same position of trying to develop a young talented QB and you see how they are trying to fortify skill positions around Wentz; Decker would be as useful for us and our QBS, even at $7M for just the 2017 season.

[varjet]

9 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said:

Decker should be kept to help groom the young QBs and WRs and it was stupid to telegraph that they were going to trade him. Philly is in the same position of trying to develop a young talented QB and you see how they are trying to fortify skill positions around Wentz; Decker would be as useful for us and our QBS, even at $7M for just the 2017 season.

This and Harris to me were a sign that Woody was behind this, particularly given the timing.

No other rational explanation.   Bowles had convinced Macc that he wanted the veterans, which is why they were not cut in March.

[Dunnie]

 
Maye is going to REALLY surprise and help shore up the defense next season. I understand the disappointment in the pick, but I feel he may cause those posters who bashed him being picked in the 2nd round to eventually eat crow. If he can even have 1/2 the production that either Kherry Rhodes or Erik Coleman had as FS, both being late round rookie starters for playoff teams, then Maye will have been worth it. 
 
Decker should be kept to help groom the young QBs and WRs and it was stupid to telegraph that they were going to trade him. Philly is in the same position of trying to develop a young talented QB and you see how they are trying to fortify skill positions around Wentz; Decker would be as useful for us and our QBS, even at $7M for just the 2017 season.

I disagree on Decker ... keeping a goto guy in a failed year with new QBs is not the answer. The new QBs will auto lock onto Decker preventing them from growing. Also jettison him allows young talent at receiver to develop more quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[Gastineau Lives]

They might as well be a million to one.

[Gas2No99]

25 minutes ago, Dunnie said:

I disagree on Decker ... keeping a goto guy in a failed year with new QBs is not the answer. The new QBs will auto lock onto Decker preventing them from growing. Also jettison him allows young talent at receiver to develop more quickly.

 

First off, whether it's intentional or not, 2017 is YET to be played and can't be considered a failed year - really depends on what the "goals" are (SB AIN'T one of them).

I believe an experienced and POLISHED veteran WR like Decker would be highly intrinsic in developing Petty and Hack and allowing the younger WRs to glean anything they can from having played along a late round "slow" WR who worked his way to being a well revered WR throughout the league and earned a solid 2nd contract; except for the injuries, which is typical for an aging WR, I see a nice Ricky Proehl trajectory for Decker playing into his mid/late 30s. 

I see and agree, in part, with your argument about possibly relying too much on Decker, but that's on the CS who decides who gets to play on the field. You could decrease the # of snaps accordingly as you infuse the younger guys into the game-plan. And just because "young talent at receiver" is suddenly thrusted up the depth chart due to a payroll slash does not equate that the WRs will "develop more quickly" and produce. It takes 2-3 years for a WR to "get it" in the NFL and that will not help the confidence of young developing QBs who don't have that old sage at WR to help herd the flock along. Our most promising WR is 6ht rounder Enunwa, entering 4th year, and the rest are a bunch of neophytes who WILL have drops and are less-regarded talent having been drafted 3rd round or later, or even drafted at all. 

I think you could have the best of both worlds by having kept Decker and still incorporate the young WRs accordingly as the season progresses. 

 

[Jetdawgg]

50 minutes ago, Dunnie said:

 

I disagree on Decker ... keeping a goto guy in a failed year with new QBs is not the answer. The new QBs will auto lock onto Decker preventing them from growing. Also jettison him allows young talent at receiver to develop more quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

 

Looks like the Jets may have learned a bit from the Futz debacle last season. The development of younger players is essential to winning.

[Jetdawgg]

15 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said:

First off, whether it's intentional or not, 2017 is YET to be played and can't be considered a failed year - really depends on what the "goals" are (SB AIN'T one of them).

I believe an experienced and POLISHED veteran WR like Decker would be highly intrinsic in developing Petty and Hack and allowing the younger WRs to glean anything they can from having played along a late round "slow" WR who worked his way to being a well revered WR throughout the league and earned a solid 2nd contract; except for the injuries, which is typical for an aging WR, I see a nice Ricky Proehl trajectory for Decker playing into his mid/late 30s. 

I see and agree, in part, with your argument about possibly relying too much on Decker, but that's on the CS who decides who gets to play on the field. You could decrease the # of snaps accordingly as you infuse the younger guys into the game-plan. And just because "young talent at receiver" is suddenly thrusted up the depth chart due to a payroll slash does not equate that the WRs will "develop more quickly" and produce. It takes 2-3 years for a WR to "get it" in the NFL and that will not help the confidence of young developing QBs who don't have that old sage at WR to help herd the flock along. Our most promising WR is 6ht rounder Enunwa, entering 4th year, and the rest are a bunch of neophytes who WILL have drops and are less-regarded talent having been drafted 3rd round or later, or even drafted at all. 

I think you could have the best of both worlds by having kept Decker and still incorporate the young WRs accordingly as the season progresses. 

 

Both Decker and BM had drops while playing here. Drops are part of being an NFL WR. It happens. Wesley Walker had huge drops early on in his NYJ career. Furthermore, the Jets could finish in last place with him. May as well move on. Decker is clearly not part of the future.

[Green DNA]

2 hours ago, Gas2No99 said:

Unlikeliest SB LII matchup: Jets vs. 49ers ... and you won't believe the odds

Vegas doesn't expect Bryce Petty and DeForest Buckner to facing each other in Super Bowl LII. Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports

 

Win that bet with a $10 wager and you'd have enough money to buy two PSLs in the Coaches Club at MetLife Stadium.

 

Check the PSL thread.  You may be better just taking the $10, buy 2 Coaches Club PSL's and still have enough change left to buy a large bag of potato chips.  

 

 

 

[SickJetFan]

1 hour ago, Gas2No99 said:

 

 

Maye is going to REALLY surprise and help shore up the defense next season. I understand the disappointment in the pick, but I feel he may cause those posters who bashed him being picked in the 2nd round to eventually eat crow. If he can even have 1/2 the production that either Kherry Rhodes or Erik Coleman had as FS, both being late round rookie starters for playoff teams, then Maye will have been worth it. 

 

Decker should be kept to help groom the young QBs and WRs and it was stupid to telegraph that they were going to trade him. Philly is in the same position of trying to develop a young talented QB and you see how they are trying to fortify skill positions around Wentz; Decker would be as useful for us and our QBS, even at $7M for just the 2017 season.

Robby Anderson.....why do we even know his name? UDFA who didn't have a huge college career. ..did Fitz make Anderson? Did Geno with his strong arm and accuracy? Petty made Anderson.  Of all the QB in camp it was petty who saw his value and was capable of making the throws to realize that value.  Did Decker help Petty?  If Petty wins this QB battle does he really need Decker?  Petty is going to find the open receiver no matter who it is.

[Ohio State NY Jets fan]

5000 to 1 does not seem worth it, not even for a dollar, there is no chance of this happening, should be a million to 1

 

a Cavs win in 7 followed by a Browns Superbowl appearance has a better chance then Jets v 49ers

[flgreen]

2 hours ago, varjet said:

This and Harris to me were a sign that Woody was behind this, particularly given the timing.

No other rational explanation.   Bowles had convinced Macc that he wanted the veterans, which is why they were not cut in March.

The rational explanation is that the Jets know they aren't going to compete for anything this year, are hoping to score a franchise QB in next years draft, and use the money to build a team around him.  Paying Decker (who I like) is like throwing the money in the garbage.

Woody doesn't really save any money, over the next 3 years the team has to spend it anyhow.  For what ever reason you may not like Woody, but being a cheapskate isn't one of them.   He has always spent what ever money his GM's asked for.  Sometimes stupidly.   

[Sarge4Tide]

The over the top tabloid headline tells you everything you need to know about both the state of "journalism" today and the lack of any real "news" in the article 

[JohnnyLV]

4 hours ago, varjet said:

This and Harris to me were a sign that Woody was behind this, particularly given the timing.

No other rational explanation.   Bowles had convinced Macc that he wanted the veterans, which is why they were not cut in March.

Lol, the Jets traded for Davis which made Harris expendable, and Decker was NOT good for the team or the young receivers. No conspiracy needed. 

[joewilly12]

Just now, johnnysd said:

Lol, the Jets traded for Davis which made Harris expendable, and Decker was NOT good for the team or the young receivers. No conspiracy needed. 

Outside of Enunwa the WR corps is a big question mark.....

[ASH1962]

4 hours ago, Jetdawgg said:

Looks like the Jets may have learned a bit from the Futz debacle last season. The development of younger players is essential to winning.

Right so they signed, and fully intend to start McCown.

You guys are a riot and a half

[JohnnyLV]

14 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Outside of Enunwa the WR corps is a big question mark.....

So what? Does not mean you should keep a distraction like Decker

[joewilly12]

6 minutes ago, johnnysd said:

So what? Does not mean you should keep a distraction like Decker

Distraction?  Other than being injury prone and supporting Fitzpatrick along with our head coach, GM and half the fan base he has done nothing wrong here with a group of rookie unproven WR's veteran presence could be helpful. thats just my opinion. 

[JohnnyLV]

3 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Distraction?  Other than being injury prone and supporting Fitzpatrick along with our head coach, GM and half the fan base he has done nothing wrong here with a group of rookie unproven WR's veteran presence could be helpful. thats just my opinion. 

And I completely disagree with that. Decker is the type of NFL player that wants to play entirely with veterans. He is a cancer for this type of team, and the Jets were always going to cut him the second he was healthy. He would have spent his season being of no help to the young receivers, campaigning for McCown to start and the odds of him not nursing another hamstring the entire season is zero. The Jets are better off without him.

[joewilly12]

9 minutes ago, johnnysd said:

And I completely disagree with that. Decker is the type of NFL player that wants to play entirely with veterans. He is a cancer for this type of team, and the Jets were always going to cut him the second he was healthy. He would have spent his season being of no help to the young receivers, campaigning for McCown to start and the odds of him not nursing another hamstring the entire season is zero. The Jets are better off without him.

If McCown starts thats on Bowles. 

Ok fair enough and when all else fails Clyde Gates is always available. 

[Joe W. Namath]

Should be a zillion to one.

[Jetdawgg]

3 hours ago, ASH1962 said:

Right so they signed, and fully intend to start McCown.

You guys are a riot and a half

He will be hard pressed to finish the season. I would not have signed him at all