This is 1977

[Jetsfanri]

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

[joewilly12]

We just want to win a Super Bowl or 2  or 3 or 4 or 5....and stop being the NFL laughing stock and doormat.

No more old retread bum QB's.

A football minded head coach who understand the game.

A GM who knows what he's doing. 

A team that is competitive week after week, year after year. 

[LionelRichie]

9 minutes ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

a little optimism is always nice to read.    

I think the big difference between 1977 and 2017 is the NFL game itself.  Today's NFL puts such a huge premium on the impact positions: QB, WR, pass rusher, OT and the Jets have no hope at any of them.  You can call it a rebuild but drafting safeties and undersized LB'ers while ignoring the most important positions b/c "value" created this mess in the first place.   

 

[varjet]

The Jets starting turning up from 1977 crescending in the early 80s, because Mike Hickey scored in many draft picks.  

Many of those Jets stars were low draft picks   And most importantly, the high draft picks were all really good.

That is what Macc needs/needed to do. 

[varjet]

The biggest problem with Macc is Woody.   Woody hires light people because he sees himself in charge.  We need a real football person in charge. 

[SAR I]

What you've painted is the best case scenario.  Where we bite the bullet for a few years, have an epic draft, and come out on the other side ready to make a run for 10 years.

But what reality shows in today's NFL is that a full rebuild doesn't work.  The Raiders, with very competent management that made the playoffs for three consecutive years and went to the Super Bowl, just followed that up with 14 years without a playoff appearance, without a finish higher than 3rd in their division.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  That was incompetence until they got lucky and found a franchise caliber quarterback.

The Bills, with very competent management that went to four consecutive Super Bowls, just followed that up with 17 years of zero playoff appearances, only 1 winning season since 2000.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  The Browns, the Jaguars, you can name all but 5 AFC teams that did this so-called "rebuild" strategy and didn't achieve a damned thing except not spend money on free agents and instead waste that money on bust college kids.

The Jets did it the right way.  The Jets actually proved that if a team doesn't have a franchise quarterback they can make themselves a perennial playoff contender by de-emphasizing the draft and being shrewd in the free agent market.  All teams in the NFL are masturbating while they wait to draw the lucky quarterback in the draft.  So better to masturbate with proven free agents in a 10-6 wildcard campaign than to masturbate at 2-14 with no hope and no interest.  Leave it to the Jets to invent a way to create sustained success and then abandon the strategy when we need it the most.

SAR I

 

[Charlie Brown]

19 minutes ago, SAR I said:

What you've painted is the best case scenario.  Where we bite the bullet for a few years, have an epic draft, and come out on the other side ready to make a run for 10 years.

But what reality shows in today's NFL is that a full rebuild doesn't work.  The Raiders, with very competent management that made the playoffs for three consecutive years and went to the Super Bowl, just followed that up with 14 years without a playoff appearance, without a finish higher than 3rd in their division.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  That was incompetence until they got lucky and found a franchise caliber quarterback.

The Bills, with very competent management that went to four consecutive Super Bowls, just followed that up with 17 years of zero playoff appearances, only 1 winning season since 2000.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  The Browns, the Jaguars, you can name all but 5 AFC teams that did this so-called "rebuild" strategy and didn't achieve a damned thing except not spend money on free agents and instead waste that money on bust college kids.

The Jets did it the right way.  The Jets actually proved that if a team doesn't have a franchise quarterback they can make themselves a perennial playoff contender by de-emphasizing the draft and being shrewd in the free agent market.  All teams in the NFL are masturbating while they wait to draw the lucky quarterback in the draft.  So better to masturbate with proven free agents in a 10-6 wildcard campaign than to masturbate at 2-14 with no hope and no interest.  Leave it to the Jets to invent a way to create sustained success and then abandon the strategy when we need it the most.

SAR I

 

Hmmm interesting post........

I was for the competitive rebuild; hence my reason for wanting Glennon....

Regardless you make interesting points..

[sourceworx]

24 minutes ago, SAR I said:

What you've painted is the best case scenario.  Where we bite the bullet for a few years, have an epic draft, and come out on the other side ready to make a run for 10 years.

But what reality shows in today's NFL is that a full rebuild doesn't work.  The Raiders, with very competent management that made the playoffs for three consecutive years and went to the Super Bowl, just followed that up with 14 years without a playoff appearance, without a finish higher than 3rd in their division.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  That was incompetence until they got lucky and found a franchise caliber quarterback.

The Bills, with very competent management that went to four consecutive Super Bowls, just followed that up with 17 years of zero playoff appearances, only 1 winning season since 2000.  Was that a rebuild?  No.  The Browns, the Jaguars, you can name all but 5 AFC teams that did this so-called "rebuild" strategy and didn't achieve a damned thing except not spend money on free agents and instead waste that money on bust college kids.

The Jets did it the right way.  The Jets actually proved that if a team doesn't have a franchise quarterback they can make themselves a perennial playoff contender by de-emphasizing the draft and being shrewd in the free agent market.  All teams in the NFL are masturbating while they wait to draw the lucky quarterback in the draft.  So better to masturbate with proven free agents in a 10-6 wildcard campaign than to masturbate at 2-14 with no hope and no interest.  Leave it to the Jets to invent a way to create sustained success and then abandon the strategy when we need it the most.

SAR I

 

FWIW, those Raider teams that made the playoffs and Super Bowl prior to the 14 year drought were built through free agency. 

[SAR I]

11 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

Hmmm interesting post........

I was for the competitive rebuild; hence my reason for wanting Glennon....

Regardless you make interesting points..

Thank you, CB.

If there are 25 teams sitting around waiting for their franchise quarterback, might as well be one who is at least putting a competitive product on the field, building a positive culture, putting young players in a position to learn, putting young coaches in a position to succeed....basically, building a nest so that when a good quarterback falls into your lap you are ready to take full advantage of it.

Since 1997, that's 20 years, the Jets have only had 6 losing seasons.  Think about that.  And that's without a franchise quarterback.  And that's with mediocre head coaching.  And that's with an epic dynasty in our own division.  The Jets proved that there is another way to rebuild that isn't about drafting college boys and sucking.  It's about spending on free agents and winning right away.  If you're going to wait patiently for the franchise quarterback, no need to blow the whole thing up in the process.  Had Pennington or Sanchez turned out to be better we'd have won a Super Bowl or two because there were enough free agent pieces around QB to make it work.  Meanwhile, teams with bonafide franchise quarterbacks like San Diego and Dallas struggle because they didn't manage the cap right, didn't bulk up on free agents, and put too much faith in lousy draft picks.

SAR I

[glenn31]

36 minutes ago, SAR I said:

 All teams in the NFL are masturbating while they wait to draw the lucky quarterback in the draft.  So better to masturbate with proven free agents in a 10-6 wildcard campaign than to masturbate at 2-14 with no hope and no interest.

SAR I

 

LOL... SAR, never stop being the cheeky c**t we all love 'round these parts

[August]

Nah I'd rather develop young players and try to groom a solid young core that can compete for 8-10 years. What has shortsighted quick fixes done for us in the long term?

[Jet_Engine1]

1 hour ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

No. Its 1996..... 

[ljr]

1 hour ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

Interesting perspective

 

are you giving Hack 5 years of losses ... With low 50% completion percent & just under a 2to1 Ints to TD's before anything remotely positive happens?

 

you are a patient man my brother !

[NYs Stepchild]

It's obviously 1964. 

[Baeton Manning]

This is a tankjob. We put the big money in the free agents and it didn't work. We're set up to bottom out and get that Cam Newton or Andrew Luck in the draft - we have enough cap space to give that guy some veteran WR and OL and see what happens, we have young players that can cement NFL places this year.

Root for the guys to win every game early on, I'll be super pumped if we're 4-1 and Hack looks legit because that's what being a sports fan is all about, but the roster is the roster and the tank isn't a bad plan.

[Barkus]

6 hours ago, Baeton Manning said:

This is a tankjob. We put the big money in the free agents and it didn't work. We're set up to bottom out and get that Cam Newton or Andrew Luck in the draft - we have enough cap space to give that guy some veteran WR and OL and see what happens, we have young players that can cement NFL places this year.

Root for the guys to win every game early on, I'll be super pumped if we're 4-1 and Hack looks legit because that's what being a sports fan is all about, but the roster is the roster and the tank isn't a bad plan.

Agree. There should be some significant qb talent in the upcoming draft. Jets will likely draft one. I would expect that the cap surplus will then be used to augment the roster with FA. 

[SAR I]

9 hours ago, August said:

Nah I'd rather develop young players and try to groom a solid young core that can compete for 8-10 years. What has shortsighted quick fixes done for us in the long term?

Wrong.

By developing cap space and a free agent strategy the Jets built a rotating core that competed for 20 years.  There was nothing 'shortsighted' about it.

From 1997-2017 would you rather be the Buffalo Bills with 0 playoff appearances?  Because that's what the Jets would have been without Mike Tannenbaum's cap savvy and the stream of free agents he brought in here.  We may collectively cry about how we didn't win a Super Bowl the last 20 campaigns, but we had 14 non-losing seasons, 11 winning seasons, 7 playoff berths, 14 playoff games, and 7 playoff wins.  We were within 30 and 60 minutes of the Super Bowl for consecutive years.  We were an elite AFC team for 5 years. 

We weren't getting past Tom Brady no matter what, but importantly we put a competitive product on the field that built a winning culture and attracted talent.  For the fans, each year in the last 20 you had the hope that we could be a playoff team.  Talk to the Bills fans.  Talk to the Raiders fans.  Talk to the Browns fans.  They had nothing.  That's what you're recommending the Jets do with this stupid "rebuild patiently through the draft" nonsense that hasn't worked since the 1980's. 

SAR I

[NYJ37/12]

10 hours ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

We can only hope that we are now drafting as well to turn this thing around. BTW Namath's last year with the Jets was 1976- the @ Cleveland game was my first game.

[RSJ]

10 hours ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

Great post! I was too young to remember the 1977 group - but  I agree that this year will be fun to watch because at the very least we will have a bunch of young guys out there trying to prove they belong and will hopefully develop a lot of building blocks for the future. From there the team will have tons of cap room and a young core to build around.

[Savage69]

10 hours ago, SAR I said:

  All teams in the NFL are masturbating while they wait to draw the lucky quarterback in the draft.  So better to masturbate with proven free agents in a 10-6 wildcard campaign than to masturbate at 2-14 with no hope and no interest. 

SAR I

 

With all that masturbation at least you know what's cumming.. 

[RSJ]

36 minutes ago, SAR I said:

Wrong.

By developing cap space and a free agent strategy the Jets built a rotating core that competed for 20 years.  There was nothing 'shortsighted' about it.

From 1997-2017 would you rather be the Buffalo Bills with 0 playoff appearances?  Because that's what the Jets would have been without Mike Tannenbaum's cap savvy and the stream of free agents he brought in here.  We may collectively cry about how we didn't win a Super Bowl the last 20 campaigns, but we had 14 non-losing seasons, 11 winning seasons, 7 playoff berths, 14 playoff games, and 7 playoff wins.  We were within 30 and 60 minutes of the Super Bowl for consecutive years.  We were an elite AFC team for 5 years. 

We weren't getting past Tom Brady no matter what, but importantly we put a competitive product on the field that built a winning culture and attracted talent.  For the fans, each year in the last 20 you had the hope that we could be a playoff team.  Talk to the Bills fans.  Talk to the Raiders fans.  Talk to the Browns fans.  They had nothing.  That's what you're recommending the Jets do with this stupid "rebuild patiently through the draft" nonsense that hasn't worked since the 1980's. 

SAR I

From 1997-2017 the Jets rebuilt a few times using the draft. The core of the 2002 team was drafted in 2000 and the core of the 2009 and 2010 teams were drafted in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Now the Jets were able to blend those years together unlike the Browns, Raiders, etc because they never had a stretch of bad drafting like they had under Rex and Idzik. That really sunk the team. Mac and Bowles knew when they came in that they could not immediately build a young core because there was literally no good young players on the roster.

[slats]

36 minutes ago, SAR I said:

Wrong.

By developing cap space and a free agent strategy the Jets built a rotating core that competed for 20 years.  There was nothing 'shortsighted' about it.

From 1997-2017 would you rather be the Buffalo Bills with 0 playoff appearances?  Because that's what the Jets would have been without Mike Tannenbaum's cap savvy and the stream of free agents he brought in here.  We may collectively cry about how we didn't win a Super Bowl the last 20 campaigns, but we had 14 non-losing seasons, 11 winning seasons, 7 playoff berths, 14 playoff games, and 7 playoff wins.  We were within 30 and 60 minutes of the Super Bowl for consecutive years.  We were an elite AFC team for 5 years. 

We weren't getting past Tom Brady no matter what, but importantly we put a competitive product on the field that built a winning culture and attracted talent.  For the fans, each year in the last 20 you had the hope that we could be a playoff team.  Talk to the Bills fans.  Talk to the Raiders fans.  Talk to the Browns fans.  They had nothing.  That's what you're recommending the Jets do with this stupid "rebuild patiently through the draft" nonsense that hasn't worked since the 1980's. 

SAR I

 

Cheap talent only comes from the draft. Smart drafting has to be the centerpiece of building a team in the NFL. You'll never have the money to buy a team in free agency if you don't have players outperforming their rookie contracts. Or you'll have some expensive free agents on a bad team (see: Jets, 2016). 

Problem with Maccagnan is that he's put no priority on drafting premium positions, leaving the Jets to have to fill the most expensive holes on the roster with free agents. He has to draft the pass rusher, QB, #1 WR, etc. Safeties can be found relatively cheaply in free agency. 

No one here has displayed any patience at all, so I don't know where that word comes from. Any GM has to be able to find talent thru free agency, trades, and the draft. Your guy Tannenbaum was let go because he failed pretty badly in the draft department, and gave your other boy Sanchez a ridiculous contract. The trading away draft picks and signing expensive free agents philosophy had completely run its course. Had he stayed, Tanny would've exploded the team exactly the way Idzik did. 

[SAR I]

25 minutes ago, RSJ said:

From 1997-2017 the Jets rebuilt a few times using the draft. The core of the 2002 team was drafted in 2000 and the core of the 2009 and 2010 teams were drafted in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Now the Jets were able to blend those years together unlike the Browns, Raiders, etc because they never had a stretch of bad drafting like they had under Rex and Idzik. That really sunk the team. Mac and Bowles knew when they came in that they could not immediately build a young core because there was literally no good young players on the roster.

No, we didn't.  The Jets rebuilt on-the-fly using free agency and then had a few hits in the draft.  There's a difference.  At no time did we shut down free agency and commit to nothing but youngsters.

What people fail to see is that the Jets executed two aggressive strategies by two desperate owners and it led to the greatest period in team history:

Hess > Age > Stole Parcells > Stole Belichick > Stole Martin

Johnson > Stadium > Spent Like Drunken Sailor On Every Big Name Free Agent

Between the two men, we had only 6 losing seasons in 20 years-  and let us not forget that 3 of those were due to devastating Chad Pennington injuries.  The Jets were a highly competitive team for 20 years because we didn't sit around like the Bills and Raiders waiting for college kids to get it done.  So when people beg Woody to blow it up and do it that way it's fundamentally wrong and now that we're here and it's really happening you'll see just how long it lasts before we go right back to what worked in the past.  Problem is, without Mike Tannenbaum we've got to find another cap master and free agent wizard. We've got him doing his thing in Miami, that'll be the next cross to bear like watching Belichick in New England.

SAR I

[Augustiniak]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

Wrong.

By developing cap space and a free agent strategy the Jets built a rotating core that competed for 20 years.  There was nothing 'shortsighted' about it.

From 1997-2017 would you rather be the Buffalo Bills with 0 playoff appearances?  Because that's what the Jets would have been without Mike Tannenbaum's cap savvy and the stream of free agents he brought in here.  We may collectively cry about how we didn't win a Super Bowl the last 20 campaigns, but we had 14 non-losing seasons, 11 winning seasons, 7 playoff berths, 14 playoff games, and 7 playoff wins.  We were within 30 and 60 minutes of the Super Bowl for consecutive years.  We were an elite AFC team for 5 years. 

We weren't getting past Tom Brady no matter what, but importantly we put a competitive product on the field that built a winning culture and attracted talent.  For the fans, each year in the last 20 you had the hope that we could be a playoff team.  Talk to the Bills fans.  Talk to the Raiders fans.  Talk to the Browns fans.  They had nothing.  That's what you're recommending the Jets do with this stupid "rebuild patiently through the draft" nonsense that hasn't worked since the 1980's. 

SAR I

the bills would have been better if they didn't rely on guys like jp losman, tyrod taylor and ej emanuel.  

[JetsFanatic]

11 hours ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

As one that is old enough to remember, I've used that same analogy. In 1977, even though we went 3-11 for the third straight year it had a different feel than the previous 2 seasons. I think this year will be similar.

[SAR I]

16 minutes ago, slats said:

Cheap talent only comes from the draft. Smart drafting has to be the centerpiece of building a team in the NFL. You'll never have the money to buy a team in free agency if you don't have players outperforming their rookie contracts. Or you'll have some expensive free agents on a bad team (see: Jets, 2016). 

Problem with Maccagnan is that he's put no priority on drafting premium positions, leaving the Jets to have to fill the most expensive holes on the roster with free agents. He has to draft the pass rusher, QB, #1 WR, etc. Safeties can be found relatively cheaply in free agency. 

No one here has displayed any patience at all, so I don't know where that word comes from. Any GM has to be able to find talent thru free agency, trades, and the draft. Your guy Tannenbaum was let go because he failed pretty badly in the draft department, and gave your other boy Sanchez a ridiculous contract. The trading away draft picks and signing expensive free agents philosophy had completely run its course. Had he stayed, Tanny would've exploded the team exactly the way Idzik did. 

I agree with you that you have to hit on draft picks, goes without saying.  Where we differ is that for the better part of 20 years we saw the Jets use free agency for immediate need and the draft for immediate need and it worked.  We took Sanchez and Mangold because we needed a QB after Favre and a center after Mawae.  We grabbed Tomlinson/Edwards/Holmes/Jones/Scott because we needed RB/WR/LB.  Bulk buying at a price club.  Immediate relief in problem areas.  None of this slow cooking nonsense.

Tannenbaum was let go because Woody Johnson's failing is that he's a PR machine with a wallet and not a football guy.  When the winds were blowing that the fans were tired of Pennington, boom, in comes Brett Favre.  When a new stadium needed to be funded and the Super Bowl Giants were getting the back pages, boom, in comes Rex Ryan, a trade up to get a QB, and the biggest two-year free agent spending spree in league history.  When the Buttfumble and Tebow caused daily embarrassment on ESPN, boom, Tannenbaum takes the blame and is shown the door to appease the bloodthirsty Mets-fans mob. 

The proper move was to get rid of Ryan, not the young QB and the proven GM/Capologist.   Woody's terrible decision in 2013 to protect a fan favorite head coach is what put us here today.  I have no doubt that if Tannenbaum were still here we'd have continued our string of competitive seasons instead of this sh*t-show brought on by Idzik and Ryan.  Everything Hess and Johnson ever did out of desperation worked.  Everything they ever did as a normal course of business didn't.  Parcells and Tannenbaum turned us from a doormat to a competitor.  Now that they're both gone, we are back to the dark ages.

SAR I

[Warfish]

Good post OP.

[slats]

4 minutes ago, SAR I said:

I agree with you that you have to hit on draft picks, goes without saying.  Where we differ is that for the better part of 20 years we saw the Jets use free agency for immediate need and the draft for immediate need and it worked.  We took Sanchez and Mangold because we needed a QB after Favre and a center after Mawae.  We grabbed Tomlinson/Edwards/Holmes/Jones/Scott because we needed RB/WR/LB.  Bulk buying at a price club.  Immediate relief in problem areas.  None of this slow cooking nonsense.

Tannenbaum was let go because Woody Johnson's failing is that he's a PR machine with a wallet and not a football guy.  When the winds were blowing that the fans were tired of Pennington, boom, in comes Brett Favre.  When a new stadium needed to be funded and the Super Bowl Giants were getting the back pages, boom, in comes Rex Ryan, a trade up to get a QB, and the biggest two-year free agent spending spree in league history.  When the Buttfumble and Tebow caused daily embarrassment on ESPN, boom, Tannenbaum takes the blame and is shown the door to appease the bloodthirsty Mets-fans mob. 

The proper move was to get rid of Ryan, not the young QB and the proven GM/Capologist.   Woody's terrible decision in 2013 to protect a fan favorite head coach is what put us here today.  I have no doubt that if Tannenbaum were still here we'd have continued our string of competitive seasons instead of this sh*t-show brought on by Idzik and Ryan.  Everything Hess and Johnson ever did out of desperation worked.  Everything they ever did as a normal course of business didn't.

SAR I

 

The proper move was to clean house of all of them. Failing that, if the owner was so in love with Ryan, he should've put him in charge and had Ryan hire his own personnel guy (not advocating for that, just that it would've been better than Idzik). 

Tanny is good with the money, not so much with talent. He trades away draft picks and signs players who already are stars in the league because he understands he's no judge of talent. Maccagnan appears over his head. Hiring a football czar to oversee the entire operation would be the right move today. Someone to get Mac out of his pure BAP POV, and hire an assistant GM to help with contracts and such. Handling the numbers isn't rocket science, it's just math. Drafting NFL talent isn't rocket science, either, but there is an art to it. And Tanny is no artist. I'd take him or an Idzik to be that assistant GM, though. The Jets have too long a history of promoting people beyond their actual capabilities. Tannenbaum is a prime example (as are Ryan, Bowles, Maccagnan, Mangini, etc.). You're all alone in fearing the Tannenbaum along the same lines of fearing Belichick.  

[August]

3 hours ago, SAR I said:

Wrong.

By developing cap space and a free agent strategy the Jets built a rotating core that competed for 20 years.  There was nothing 'shortsighted' about it.

From 1997-2017 would you rather be the Buffalo Bills with 0 playoff appearances?  Because that's what the Jets would have been without Mike Tannenbaum's cap savvy and the stream of free agents he brought in here.  We may collectively cry about how we didn't win a Super Bowl the last 20 campaigns, but we had 14 non-losing seasons, 11 winning seasons, 7 playoff berths, 14 playoff games, and 7 playoff wins.  We were within 30 and 60 minutes of the Super Bowl for consecutive years.  We were an elite AFC team for 5 years. 

We weren't getting past Tom Brady no matter what, but importantly we put a competitive product on the field that built a winning culture and attracted talent.  For the fans, each year in the last 20 you had the hope that we could be a playoff team.  Talk to the Bills fans.  Talk to the Raiders fans.  Talk to the Browns fans.  They had nothing.  That's what you're recommending the Jets do with this stupid "rebuild patiently through the draft" nonsense that hasn't worked since the 1980's. 

SAR I

Wrong, we did not win a Super Bowl nor did we even win make it to a Super Bowl game. We brought in free agents we make a quick run, then the bottom falls out, rinse and repeat. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. I'd rather take a different approach. Draft young players, sign low risk/high reward free agents, sprinkle in a few big signings here and there, use the cap money to reward homegrown talent and build a core that way. No more late prime free agents, no more 9-7, 10-6 records with teams built from free agency. Let's do it the right way for once. 

[Beerfish]

Nice post by the op except for this line.  " I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense. "

I think we all know what is going to happen with the offense.

[Jetdawgg]

Great points SARI. Really good points.

[Integrity28]

13 hours ago, Jetsfanri said:

Ok, I rarely post but I wanted to share some perspective on the team.  Yes, I am showing my age, but this is important in terms of what the Jets management is doing right now. 

The Jets were 3-11 in 1975 and decided to tear or apart and start over post Namath.  1976 wasn't any better at 3-11, but started drafting some cornerstone players (Richard Todd, Greg Buttle, Abdul Salaam). 

1977 was a watershed draft...Marvin Powell, Wesley Walker, Joe Klecko, Scott Dierking, Dan Alexander and Matt Robinson.  Bruce Harper made the team as an UDFA.  All players who contribute for the next 6-10 years.  With all that new talent, they still went 3-11.

1977 was a fun year.  Players developed in front of your eyes, and despite the record you knew things were moving in the right direction.  I will tell you this Jets team has a boatload more defensive talent than anyone is talking about, and we simply don't know what will happen with the offense.

Walker was our leading receiver in 1977 as a rookie (second round draft choice, lining up opposite Richard Caster).  

Bottom line is we don't know what will happen, and no one would have predicted Enunwa would be our number 1 receiver last year.  Losing him sucks, but it's just an opportunity for someone else.

This fan base wants it both ways...always keep the high price vets and go 5-11 or 9-7, but never start over.  I for one am excited about this season, I think we will be surprised.  If not, we get Darnold.

Just some perspective.

 

I'm not old enough to remember any of this - but the bold is where I'm at. Frankly, you don't really get a choice in the matter. It is, what it is.

[Jetster]

In today's NFL you need to find leaders at every level of your football team. Right now we just don't know what we have but we know as of today, we have no QB.

Williams will be a leader, he just wasn't ready & let Mo & Shel (the veterans) lead. That changes this year I believe. Adams will be the leader of the secondary. Will Lee or Jenkins rise at LB? Dallas built an awesome Oline, Jets should be trying to do that if they are in position to draft a stud QB. 

Forget trying to build the steel curtain defense. Take that 80/85 million next year & steal some ******* stud olineman & offensive skill position players like Deandre Hopkins & start putting some excitement back into the MetLife stands. Where would the Cowpokes had been drafting Dak with a sh*tty Oline? Same with Elliott?

In the NFL it's a combination of factors. Dallas has sucked for like FOREVER compared to the Jets success over the last 20 years. 

[BCJet]

While SAR makes a few strong points, using the draft or using Free Agency arent mutually exclusive strategies, they can, and should be used together.

Yes we were competitive in the seasons mentioned but are we really going to say that drafted players like Brick, Mangold, Harris and Revis didnt play enormous rolls in the most successful Jet seasons of the past 10 years?

Even going back to the parcells years, Aaron Glenn, Randy Thomas Mo Lewis, Marvin Jones, Keyshawn, Chrebet - those guys were all draft picks that helped form the core of the team.

Look, Green Bay is the one team in the league that is lauded for not overspending in FA, well since the birth of traditional NFL Free Agency they have been blessed with Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers, which allows the team to operate in a different manner then other teams.  Even the Pats, who "dont use FA" actually do, by acquiring guys like Moss, Welker, etc by using mid round picks that they acquire from trading down.  All other good teams use FA to an extent to fill holes in their roster.  

What you dont want to do is need FA to fill multiple positions in order to be competitive because it forces the team to overpay guys or be forced to draft a player for that position.  What you want to do is have a core of young players each season who can push for playing time on inexpensive contracts and then use FA to fill 1-2 holes per season with a veteran.  We need to develop the players picked in the last 2 seasons, and then use the cap space to either sign them long term, or fill holes (Allen Robinson or Terrelle Pryor please) in order to field a much improved 2018 team.

[SoFlaJets]

The mid 70's yea that sounds about right. I noticed that my fingernails were all bitten off and my callouses were a bloody mess from watching the Jets. This was when I made a conscious decision to find something else to do with my Sunday afternoons. It was the mid-70's and it was in the middle of the sexual revolution and the girls were wearing tube tops and nobody was fat even the fat people were not fat like every 23 year old person you see now is. Yea the girls were all willing and they hadn't invented AIDS or herpes yet and we would just have sex for sport, see how MANY different chicks we could boff in a week . Ahhh I miss the 70's football? The Jets? You kidding me, load up the VW with Molsons Golden Ale and head out to the Water Gap or Round Valley...the message is the same some 40 years later-have some fun-LIVE...if the game of football makes you depressed stop watching football. It's a simple equation.

 

Having spouted all that I really do hope to be surprised in a good way by the youngsters-I hope Hackenberg starts and he shows some promise