Exactly 2 weeks until Week 1 - How can Macc put a bow on this offseason?

[jetstream23]

Free Agency - I like the FA additions Macc has made.  No huge splashes although Trumaine Johnson should be a major upgrade at CB1.  Other moves essentially turned below average position groups into average ones and perhaps average ones into slightly above average.  Avery Williamson, Isaiah Crowell, Spencer Long, and Teddy Bridgewater were all solid additions that improve position groups as a whole.  Terrelle Pryor looks like a very smart, low-risk move with potentially high upside if he's all the way back health-wise.  Grade: B

 

Draft - So far, so good.  After a very astute trade which, sprinkled with a little luck, turned into a potential franchise QB, the Jets drafted a few other players who could be contributors on Day 1.  Nathan Shepherd will either start at DE or be in a heavy rotation with Anderson.  Chris Herndon is a TE that likely was drafted later than expected due to injury and is possibly in the mix for TE1.  Parry Nickerson at CB has been injured but flashed his speed and ball-hawking ability early in camp, he provides some leverage and fallback positioning for the Jets with Buster Skrine at Slot CB.  Trent Cannon appears to be a speedy change of pace RB who could stick as RB3/4 due to Eli McGuire's injury.  Foley Fatukasi looks like he belongs in the NFL but is developmental at the DT spot, a likely PS candidate.  The Jets maintain their 1st Round pick in 2019.  Grade: B+

 

So, what's left to do and where are the weaknesses?  Stop me if you'd heard this before but where will the pass rush come from?  The Jets are still in dire need of an outside pass rusher with speed to come off the edge.  It's the sore thumb on defense that hasn't been fixed in years and one of the two main remaining needs for the team heading into 2018.  While the DLine looks solid, the secondary has been upgraded significantly in the past two years and the ILB spot should be average at worst (I think it could turn out to be a strength...I know I'm in the minority there).  But the passrushing OLB riddle hasn't been solved by Macc, and Todd Bowles just hasn't seemed able to scheme around that weakness like Rex Ryan was able to reasonably well.

The other major need IMO isn't a player on the Offensive Line, it's the entire Offensive Line.  A lot of teams have "hold the fort" kind of guys in certain position groups but the Jets seem to be employing that approach across their entire OLine.  Name a concern and the Jets have it on OLine....Injuries? Hello Beachum and Winters.  Scheme fit? Hey there, James Carpenter.  General mediocrity and Captain Average? Mr. Shell and Mr. Long raise their hands.  They're not horrible but we seem to have a bunch of average guys talent-wise who have other concerns associated with them.  The Jets also seem to have few, if any, young guys behind them who seem like they can come up and challenge.  At a minimum, Mike Maccagnan has given the perception of not valuing Offensive Linemen much and the reality could simply be that he truly doesn't. 45% of an offensive unit is made up of Offensive Lineman (5/11), 23% of the team's starting 22 players are offensive lineman.  In theory, a team should average drafting 3 offensive lineman every 2 years (23% of 7 Draft picks would be 1.6 picks each season).  The Jets trend below that number AND when they do use a draft pick on the Offensive Line it typically is not in the early Rounds.

 

Bottom Line for 2018...

There are two weeks left until the season starts.  Macc had a very good March and April in my opinion, and no team has strengths in every position group.  He also appears to have found a franchise QB and is currently (a trade notwithstanding) rostering the best QB group the Jets have possibly ever had (Vinny T. and Chad Pennington come to mind).  But, the Jets have some pockets of significant concern that have been known for a long time and, to some degree, should be addressed prior to the start of the season.  Trades and FA additions are still possible after roster cuts but.....the clock is ticking....

[Patriot Killa]

Get Fowler in here and see if he can keep clean for the year and put up numbers. If he succeeds..put him on a 3 year deal with some behavior and performance incentives tied in along with maybe a notorious Maccagnan escape clause after year 2. 

— I know this thread is concerning the rest of the 2018 offseason but!

2019.. 

Solidify OL,  Sign/Draft a few Offensive weapons, look into further OLB/LB improvements and I think we are looking good heading into 2019.

[ljr]

Well said ... any (even if it's just hold-the-fort ) OL additions will nail it down for me

[T0mShane]

Great post, but it’s a bad, poorly constructed team with major issues in expensive, unfixable areas. The lone piece of good news is that we don’t *need* to tank this year to land a QB, so there’s none of that conflict on game days. The bad news is that the rooting interest is in replacing the coach and GM and hoping the QB doesn’t lose his mind in the interim. 

[JetFaninMI]

Lets see. How can Macc put a bow on this off-season?

Fire Bowles.

Hire Harbaugh.

Resign.

[Larz]

Please use any and all resources to help Darnold 

Next year's pass rusher class is supposed to be pretty dang good 

LT, TE

oh and special teams lol

[Creepy Lurker]

2 minutes ago, Larz said:

Please use any and all resources to help Darnold 

Next year's pass rusher class is supposed to be pretty dang good 

LT, TE

oh and special teams lol

Why....can’t.....we....FREAKING DRAFT A LATE ROUND WR/RB THAT CAN PUNT/KICK RETURN?!?! We are probably cutting last year’s 3rd and 4th rd  WR picks which isn’t even late round. We have a bunch of bubble wideouts  and only 1 can return. How does that happen?

[Larz]

Just now, Creepy Lurker said:

Why....can’t.....we....FREAKING DRAFT A LATE ROUND WR/RB THAT CAN PUNT/KICK RETURN?!?! We are probably cutting last year’s 3rd and 4th rd  WR picks which isn’t even late round. We have a bunch of bubble wideouts  and only 1 can return. How does that happen?

It's really bizarre. It's been treated like an afterthought and it shows. I mean at this point I don't even need a punt returner that can actually advance the ball, just freaking catch it! 

[Creepy Lurker]

1 minute ago, Larz said:

It's really bizarre. It's been treated like an afterthought and it shows. I mean at this point I don't even need a punt returner that can actually advance the ball, just freaking catch it! 

The Kerley special haha. But seriously, it is very bizarre and another frustrating example of weird draft philosophy.

Glaring hole at PR and KR for years so when you draft late round RB and WR, they should, you know, at least be able to return and contribute on specials. Sigh..... Cutting draft picks after 1 year is bad roster management. If we cut either Stewart or Hansen, it’s just poor planning. Back end of the Roster wideouts need to at least have a shot to stick in some capacity. It takes time to develop players, especially wideouts. 

 

[Matt39]

2 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

The Kerley special haha. But seriously, it is very bizarre and another frustrating example of weird draft philosophy.

Glaring hole at PR and KR for years so when you draft late round RB and WR, they should, you know, at least be able to return and contribute on specials. Sigh..... Cutting draft picks after 1 year is bad roster management. If we cut either Stewart or Hansen, it’s just poor planning. Back end of the Roster wideouts need to at least have a shot to stick in some capacity. It takes time to develop players, especially wideouts. 

 

You'd think the two guys we took in the secondary so high last year could return a punt.

[Larz]

1 minute ago, Creepy Lurker said:

The Kerley special haha. But seriously, it is very bizarre and another frustrating example of weird draft philosophy.

Glaring hole at PR and KR for years so when you draft late round RB and WR, they should, you know, at least be able to return and contribute on specials. Sigh..... Cutting draft picks after 1 year is bad roster management. If we cut either Stewart or Hansen, it’s just poor planning. Back end of the Roster wideouts need to at least have a shot to stick in some capacity. It takes time to develop players, especially wideouts. 

 

Yup. WR, LB, DB, RB those depth guys have to play specials 

The freaking kicker too. Who the hell is it going to be this year? Do we really know? 

 

[T0mShane]

5 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

You'd think the two guys we took in the secondary so high last year could return a punt.

Or Ardarius Stewart or Chad Hansen. 

[Creepy Lurker]

6 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

You'd think the two guys we took in the secondary so high last year could return a punt.

Well to be fair premium picks are usually starters and secondary players have crap hands which is why WR/RB is ideal. I was thrilled with the Cannon pick because of this but our scouting must be terrible if they can’t tell that guys can/can’t return the ball from tape. I mean, Stewart was supposed to be that guy. 

[flgreen]

45 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

Free Agency - I like the FA additions Macc has made.  No huge splashes although Trumaine Johnson should be a major upgrade at CB1.  Other moves essentially turned below average position groups into average ones and perhaps average ones into slightly above average.  Avery Williamson, Isaiah Crowell, Spencer Long, and Teddy Bridgewater were all solid additions that improve position groups as a whole.  Terrelle Pryor looks like a very smart, low-risk move with potentially high upside if he's all the way back health-wise.  Grade: B

 

Draft - So far, so good.  After a very astute trade which, sprinkled with a little luck, turned into a potential franchise QB, the Jets drafted a few other players who could be contributors on Day 1.  Nathan Shepherd will either start at DE or be in a heavy rotation with Anderson.  Chris Herndon is a TE that likely was drafted later than expected due to injury and is possibly in the mix for TE1.  Parry Nickerson at CB has been injured but flashed his speed and ball-hawking ability early in camp, he provides some leverage and fallback positioning for the Jets with Buster Skrine at Slot CB.  Trent Cannon appears to be a speedy change of pace RB who could stick as RB3/4 due to Eli McGuire's injury.  Foley Fatukasi looks like he belongs in the NFL but is developmental at the DT spot, a likely PS candidate.  The Jets maintain their 1st Round pick in 2019.  Grade: B+

 

So, what's left to do and where are the weaknesses?  Stop me if you'd heard this before but where will the pass rush come from?  The Jets are still in dire need of an outside pass rusher with speed to come off the edge.  It's the sore thumb on defense that hasn't been fixed in years and one of the two main remaining needs for the team heading into 2018.  While the DLine looks solid, the secondary has been upgraded significantly in the past two years and the ILB spot should be average at worst (I think it could turn out to be a strength...I know I'm in the minority there).  But the passrushing OLB riddle hasn't been solved by Macc and Todd Bowles just hasn't seemed able to scheme around that weakness like Rex Ryan was able to reasonably well.

The other major need IMO isn't a player on the Offensive Line, it's the entire Offensive Line.  A lot of teams have "hold the fort" kind of guys in certain position groups but the Jets seem to be employing that approach across their entire OLine.  Name a concern and the Jets have it on OLine....Injuries? Hello Beachum and Winters.  Scheme fit? Hey there, James Carpenter.  General mediocrity and Captain Average? Mr. Shell and Mr. Long raise their hands.  They're not horrible but we seem to have a bunch of average guys talent-wise who have other concerns associated with them.  The Jets also seem to have few, if any, young guys behind them who seem like they can come up and challenge.  At a minimum, Mike Maccagnan has given the perception of not valuing Offensive Linemen much and the reality could simply be that he truly doesn't. 45% of an offensive unit is made up of Offensive Lineman (5/11), 23% of the team's starting 22 players are offensive lineman.  In theory, a team should average drafting 3 offensive lineman every 2 years (23% of 7 Draft picks would be 1.6 picks each season).  The Jets trend below that number AND when they do use a draft pick on the Offensive Line it typically is not in the early Rounds.

 

Bottom Line for 2018...

There are two weeks left until the season starts.  Macc had a very good March and April in my opinion, and no team has strengths in every position group.  He also appears to have found a franchise QB and is currently (a trade notwithstanding) rostering the best QB group the Jets have possibly ever had (Vinny T. and Chad Pennington come to mind).  But, the Jets have some pockets of significant concern that have been known for a long time and, to some degree, should be addressed prior to the start of the season.  Trades and FA additions are still possible after roster cuts but.....the clock is ticking....

Don't agree 100%, but excellent post

[BRONX DUDE]

28 minutes ago, JetFaninMI said:

Lets see. How can Macc put a bow on this off-season?

Fire Bowles.

Hire Harbaugh.

Resign.

DAMN IT YOU BEET ME TO IT. 

 

PURPOSELY MISPELLED.

[Creepy Lurker]

Luckily, Mac has done well with fringe players and other team’s trash. I’m really looking forward to cut down and to see who is available. 

[freestater]

I really hope we can upgrade LT2. Qvale is atrocious 

[flgreen]

59 minutes ago, Patriot Killa said:

Get Fowler in here and see if he can keep clean for the year and put up numbers. If he succeeds..put him on a 3 year deal with some behavior and performance incentives tied in along with maybe a notorious Maccagnan escape clause after year 2. 

— I know this thread is concerning the rest of the 2018 offseason but!

2019.. 

Solidify OL,  Sign/Draft a few Offensive weapons, look into further OLB/LB improvements and I think we are looking good heading into 2019.

Understand what your saying, but Fowler is poison.  Worst thing that could happen is trade Teddy for Fowler, Fowler gets 8 sacks, and the Jets have to sign him to a contract.

Myself?  I'd bite the pass rush bullet this year.  Next years draft has what appears to be, at this point anyhow, some good edge rushers.

The 19 draft is also projected to have some good OL.  Trade Teddy for a 2nd, and yes, if 
Teddy has another good game Thursday the jets will get a 2nd for him, get some OL

[C Mart]

Look over the Redskins roster. Since Jets practiced with them coaches, pro scouting dept had a chance for 3 days to get a good look at their roster. One name, and I know he’s been a washout so far but he was labeled a big time project coming out of college, is OT TJ Clemmings. Vikes drafted him but were forced to play him right away due to injuries. Predraft reports were high on him and thought he could develop into LT. athletic. 

Saints seem to be deep along OL. It’d be great if Mcc could pry Andrus Peat from them. He’s coming off a leg injury. But I see saints picked up his 5th yr option. So guessing he’s not available 

[JetFaninMI]

4 minutes ago, BRONX DUDE said:

DAMN IT YOU BEET ME TO IT. 

 

PURPOSELY MISPELLED.

Of course.

[Matt39]

10 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Or Ardarius Stewart or Chad Hansen. 

You would think a young WR who isn’t guaranteed a roster spot would work on something like that in the offseason. Both of those guys should have been catching punts from the moment 2017 ended.

[T0mShane]

3 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

You would think a young WR who isn’t guaranteed a roster spot would work on something like that in the offseason. Both of those guys should have been catching punts from the moment 2017 ended.

Especially Stewart who’s built like a running back. Hansen was always a marginal prospect, but the scouts loved Stewart and it looks like both of them are going to be on the street. 

[T0mShane]

Personally, I like to imagine that there’s this young insurgency inside the Jets front office led by Heimerdinger and staffed by a pack of 30 year-old Ivy League analytics bros that treat Maccagnan like he’s King Lear and Maccagnan says things to them like, “let’s offer the Raiders three firsts for Khalil” and Heimerdinger says “oh hell ya boss” and picks up a banana pretending it’s a phone and pretends to have a conversation with Jon Gruden and then “hangs up” the banana and tells Macc that Gruden is a crazy man for turning them down, and Macc says something like “well, back to the drawing board” and the Ivy League bros all snicker because nobody has used a drawing board since the late 70’s. 

[flgreen]

19 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Especially Stewart who’s built like a running back. Hansen was always a marginal prospect, but the scouts loved Stewart and it looks like both of them are going to be on the street. 

Don't think they will both be on the street, but they should be.

[jetstream23]

50 minutes ago, flgreen said:

Don't agree 100%, but excellent post

I'll take 97.1%  

[C Mart]

Packers may have some depth along OL. OL Byron Bell could be an option. 29 yrs old has experience along the OL. Jason Spriggs is listed as 2nd string RT. Doesn’t appear he has developed yet as hoped. I thought he was viewed as a LT coming out of college. 

[jetstream23]

1 hour ago, T0mShane said:

Great post, but it’s a bad, poorly constructed team with major issues in expensive, unfixable areas. The lone piece of good news is that we don’t *need* to tank this year to land a QB, so there’s none of that conflict on game days. The bad news is that the rooting interest is in replacing the coach and GM and hoping the QB doesn’t lose his mind in the interim. 

I'd agree that this is a do or die season for Bowles but I think Macc has this roster in generally good shape.  Macc's positives:

1. General improvement/upgrade of the roster in a few position groups

2. A swing for the fences that looks to have landed a franchise QB (this franchise's biggest need by far)

3. A solide 2018 Draft overall (yes, it's early but we don't see any bust candidates yet)

4. Doing all of the above while retaining the 1st Round pick next year AND having the team in excellent Salary Cap position.

Macc's negatives:

1. Pass rush and OLine deficiencies remain despite being known for several years

2. Questionable early draft picks in 2016 and 2017 with Darron Lee, Adams and Maye (although it should be pointed out that ALL are starters)

3. Has used a 2nd, 3rd and 4th round pick on WR and none of them are starters and could, in fact, not be on the team after 2018.

 

All in all, I think Macc has redeemed himself somewhat and his positive outweigh his negatives.  I've given Bowles the benefit of the doubt for a few years but IMO he now has enough to win games.  A defensive coach should be able to "do more with less" because of his scheme and coaching ability.  We shouldn't need Pro Bowl talent at every level of the defense.  Bowles now has (arguably) the best defensive personnel he's had since he got year (possibly save for Richardson, Wilkerson when he actually played hard).  He has a very talented secondary, a very good 3-4 DLine and "good enough" players at LB in my opinion with the exception of the passrush demon.  A good defensive coach can keep teams under 20 points with that kind of personnel IMO.

[flgreen]

59 minutes ago, JetFaninMI said:

Of course.

LOL

Gotta say, every time I see this it cracks me up.

[jetstream23]

1 hour ago, T0mShane said:

Personally, I like to imagine that there’s this young insurgency inside the Jets front office led by Heimerdinger and staffed by a pack of 30 year-old Ivy League analytics bros that treat Maccagnan like he’s King Lear and Maccagnan says things to them like, “let’s offer the Raiders three firsts for Khalil” and Heimerdinger says “oh hell ya boss” and picks up a banana pretending it’s a phone and pretends to have a conversation with Jon Gruden and then “hangs up” the banana and tells Macc that Gruden is a crazy man for turning them down, and Macc says something like “well, back to the drawing board” and the Ivy League bros all snicker because nobody has used a drawing board since the late 70’s. 

 

Forget buying a ticket to a Jets game, I’d pay $100 for a roller coaster ride through your brain one night. That’s got to be one loony trip!

 

[ryu79]

Absolutely fantastic OP. Balanced and insightful.

[Jetster]

It's time for Macc to take some bold steps. Hopefully he can trade Teddy for a #2 or use him in a trade to Oakland with next years 1 for Mack & call that a day. 

Or we trade Teddy for a 2 next year & trade our 2019 & 2020 1st rounders for Mack. Go balls to the wall Oline with our 2nd & 3rd in 2019. Remember, we'll still have 80 million after signing Mack. 

If Macc could pull those 2 things off, trading Teddy & securing Mack, he should still offer a late rounder for Fowler. Coughlin seems to be tiring of Fowler and for the Jets to go from what they have today to Mack, Fowler & say keep Luvu, at least we'll have Mack & 2 part time edge rushers on 3rd downs to keep everyone fresh.

Macc should also be scrap heaping Olineman on Sept.1st. Jets are high on the waiver wire list so there is a chance to get some depth. 

Khalil Mack (lose 2 1st rounders), trade Teddy to get back next years 2, get 1st dibs on some Olineman waived on or before Sept.1st, go Oline heavy in 2019 draft. Win.

[Lith]

11 hours ago, Creepy Lurker said:

The Kerley special haha. But seriously, it is very bizarre and another frustrating example of weird draft philosophy.

Glaring hole at PR and KR for years so when you draft late round RB and WR, they should, you know, at least be able to return and contribute on specials. Sigh..... Cutting draft picks after 1 year is bad roster management. If we cut either Stewart or Hansen, it’s just poor planning. Back end of the Roster wideouts need to at least have a shot to stick in some capacity. It takes time to develop players, especially wideouts. 

 

Cutting draft picks after 1 year is not poor roster management, it is poor drafting.  Keeping a guy on the roster just because he was a high/mid draft paick the year before, when there are better options, is poor roster management, as it compounds the error.  Other than that, I agree with you.  If we were going to draft 2 WRs as we did in 2017, how couold we pick 2 with little to no return experience when that is and has been a glaring hole on the roster.  And can anyone explain to me why we have not seen Tre McBride returning punts in preseason -- he at least has some experience doing it in college.

Now, we are likely going to have to keep a 30 year old WR with limited upside in place of a younger guy with potential just because he is the only capable punt returner we have.  Again, poor roster management.

[Creepy Lurker]

1 hour ago, Lith said:

Cutting draft picks after 1 year is not poor roster management, it is poor drafting.  Keeping a guy on the roster just because he was a high/mid draft paick the year before, when there are better options, is poor roster management, as it compounds the error.  Other than that, I agree with you.  If we were going to draft 2 WRs as we did in 2017, how couold we pick 2 with little to no return experience when that is and has been a glaring hole on the roster.  And can anyone explain to me why we have not seen Tre McBride returning punts in preseason -- he at least has some experience doing it in college.

Now, we are likely going to have to keep a 30 year old WR with limited upside in place of a younger guy with potential just because he is the only capable punt returner we have.  Again, poor roster management.

I think it’s both bad drafting and bad roster management. It’s the lack of foresight since he knew the roster would have a lot of jags fighting for depth and you are at risk of losing non-starters that you draft in these situation so you need to be careful of the type of player that you draft from an immediate contribution standpoint otherwise you are pissing away the pick. 

We both agree and are just splitting hairs at the terminology. I completely agree it’s bad “roster management” to keep around bad players because of draft slot but to be fair WR takes a little longer from a development standpoint and 1 year is not enough time to judge a mid round draft pick. Because of this bad roster management, we may have to cut bait early with a lot of guys.

O-line players for instance would have stuck better and had a place on this team due to desperation. Same with OLBs. These are our areas that lack everything including depth. You want you picks to stick at least a few years so they can develop. 

[genot]

11 hours ago, T0mShane said:

Especially Stewart who’s built like a running back. Hansen was always a marginal prospect, but the scouts loved Stewart and it looks like both of them are going to be on the street. 

Lol. Stewart won't be cut. In fact if Kearse is limited because of injury, hell get a lot of snaps in the slot. The only guy other than Kearse suited for that position.

[T0mShane]

26 minutes ago, genot said:

Lol. Stewart won't be cut. In fact if Kearse is limited because of injury, hell get a lot of snaps in the slot. The only guy other than Kearse suited for that position.

I don’t believe either Kearse or Stewart play in the slot. Enunwa is the slot guy.