Joe Douglas must share in the blame for this Jets debacle

[joewilly12]

Joe Douglas must share in the blame for this Jets debacle

By Brian Costello

October 3, 2020 | 2:05am

 

 

The list of culprits in this Jets debacle is a long one.

You can start with head coach Adam Gase, if you like, and it now feels inevitable that he will pay with his job at some point. You can cast blame on owner Christopher Johnson, who picked or stuck with the decision-makers who got the Jets to this point. You can blame quarterback Sam Darnold for continuing to look like he is spinning his wheels and not progressing. You can blame former general manager Mike Maccagnan for being terrible at procuring talent. You can blame the players for playing dumb football.

All of that is fair.

Just don’t forget one person who has largely escaped blame this season, but deserves some — Joe Douglas. No one expected Douglas to work miracles when he was hired in June 2019. Douglas has a long-term rebuilding project on his hands. He got a scholarship year last season because he was hired after free agency and the draft. This year, the expectation was for moderate improvement to the roster, filling some of the holes on the team and putting together a respectable group.

The early returns have not been good.

Enlarge Image

Douglas’ rebuilt offensive line does not look better than the group that played in the second half of last season. On Thursday night, Darnold was sacked six times. The Broncos entered the game with four sacks in their first three games. Beyond the pass protection, there are no holes for the running backs. If you remove Darnold’s rushing yards, the Jets averaged 2.5 yards per carry Thursday.

Douglas took a calculated risk in free agency this year. He stayed away from the big-money players, choosing instead to shop for discounts to stock his offensive line. He signed George Fant, Greg Van Roten and Connor McGovern at discount prices. Douglas’ philosophy is one he took from his mentor, Ozzie Newsome, with the Ravens — “right player, right price.” It means rarely spending big. It is a sound strategy that creates cap-space flexibility in the future, but you had better get your player evaluations right. At the moment, it feels Douglas overestimated on the line, particularly with Van Roten and McGovern.

Then, you look at wide receiver. Douglas let Robby Anderson walk in free agency, which has really hurt Darnold and the offense. No one is confusing Anderson with Jerry Rice, but he is an effective receiver who rarely misses games. Anderson already has two 100-yard receiving games for the Panthers, who signed him to a reasonable two-year, $20 million contract. That is a deal the Jets should have matched. Instead, they signed Breshad Perriman on the cheap ($6.5 million) and they’ve gotten what they paid for, because Perriman has missed two games and most of a third. He has just five catches so far.

 

Another of Douglas’ free-agent signings who had an eventful night Thursday is cornerback Pierre Desir, whom the Jets signed for $3.75 million. Desir allowed two touchdowns and had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Despite those plays, Desir has been a liability in coverage so far.

 

 

 

These roster shortcomings have left the Jets with no margin for error. They need to play near-perfect football to win. If they commit too many penalties, as they did Thursday, they’re doomed. If they drop passes, they’re screwed. If they stall in the red zone, it will bite them in the butt.

 

No one is arguing that Gase is doing a good job. But anyone looking at this objectively can see he has been entered into a gun battle with a water pistol. Gase was asked Friday if this team has enough talent. He said he expects a lot of players back from injured reserve this week to help.

“And our guys, they have to do a good job of sticking together and blocking out any outside noise and getting better every day in practice,” Gase said. “I talked to all those guys today about [how] fracturing is not an option. We’re four games in, we’ve got to do a good job of putting our head down, going to work, correcting the mistakes, fixing the stuff that’s absolutely non-talent based and doing those things right first, and then your outcome is going to be different.”

Plenty of people have their fingerprints on this 0-4 start, from the players to ownership and everyone in between — including Douglas.

[joewilly12]

Great article Brian Costello, too many are giving JD a pass on this mess. 

[Untouchable]

Douglas can immediately reach God status if he lands a wideout like JuJu, Robinson or Golladay in the offseason and walks away from the 1st round with something like a Trevor Lawrence/Wyatt Davis combo.

Not to mention the further added picks we could land in a potential Darnold trade.

This team could actually do things the right way this time if Douglas plays his cards right over the next 2 years and we land at least a competent HC.

[Beaver]

1 minute ago, Untouchable said:

Douglas can immediately reach God status if he lands a wideout like JuJu, Robinson or Golladay in the offseason and walks away from the 1st round with something like a Trevor Lawrence/Wyatt Davis combo.

Not to mention the further added picks we could land in a potential Darnold trade.

This team could actually do things the right way this time if Douglas plays his cards right over the next 2 years and we land at least a competent HC.

Yes Idzik had the same plan to build through the draft.  He just couldn't draft.   Hopefully JD can draft well.   

[FidelioJet]

Share the blame?

He's almost 100% to blame.

I'm sorry but this is an 0-4 team with any coach.  Even without the injuries this is the least talented team in the league.   He replaced our garbage with other teams garbage and got rid of our two best, and only good players.

I'm just holding out hope that he understands what he's doing.  As far as I'm concerned the key things that he must have recognized.

1) He had to have already moved on from Darnold.  If he had any faith in him he needed to build a team around him, not downgrade the roster.

2) He must have plans and key targets in FA next year.   Having all that money he saved on only signing other teams garbage - he must have a plan to spend next year and must have key targets that he's willing to overpay for.

3) He must understand this team is tanking and be fully prepared to draft a QB with our first draft choice.

If all of that wasn't part of his plan then I am very worried that he's in way over his head. 

Lastly, If he thought he was putting a competitive team on the field, something that even resembled an NFL roster than CJ should cut his losses and move on right now. 

[MTJ06]

 

19 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

If they commit too many penalties, as they did Thursday, they’re doomed. If they drop passes, they’re screwed. If they stall in the red zone, it will bite them in the butt.

The problem is that they do all three every game. Maybe our YPC would be better if we weren’t pounding Gore up the middle constantly, and maybe our Red Zone Efficiency would be better if our play calling wasn’t 1st down run Gore, 2nd down run Gore, third down wheel route to Gore. You need speed in the red zone. Guys like Crowder, Berrios, Smith and Hogan are capable of getting open in the red zone, but we don’t utilize them all we do is run Gore.

[Bronx]

23 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Thursday night, Darnold was sacked six times. The Broncos entered the game with four sacks in their first three games.

Sam Darnold will end as a backup QB in the NFL after being neglected by this team.

[mrmajix]

My problem with JD is he seems just too willing to allow his young QB to get pulled into the meat grinder in order to carry out his “plan”. I’ve heard a GM has to be ruthless but it’s heartbreaking watching this kid’s career go down in flames without a fighting chance. 

[FidelioJet]

28 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Joe Douglas must share in the blame for this Jets debacle

By Brian Costello

October 3, 2020 | 2:05am

 

 

The list of culprits in this Jets debacle is a long one.

You can start with head coach Adam Gase, if you like, and it now feels inevitable that he will pay with his job at some point. You can cast blame on owner Christopher Johnson, who picked or stuck with the decision-makers who got the Jets to this point. You can blame quarterback Sam Darnold for continuing to look like he is spinning his wheels and not progressing. You can blame former general manager Mike Maccagnan for being terrible at procuring talent. You can blame the players for playing dumb football.

All of that is fair.

Just don’t forget one person who has largely escaped blame this season, but deserves some — Joe Douglas. No one expected Douglas to work miracles when he was hired in June 2019. Douglas has a long-term rebuilding project on his hands. He got a scholarship year last season because he was hired after free agency and the draft. This year, the expectation was for moderate improvement to the roster, filling some of the holes on the team and putting together a respectable group.

The early returns have not been good.

Enlarge Image

Douglas’ rebuilt offensive line does not look better than the group that played in the second half of last season. On Thursday night, Darnold was sacked six times. The Broncos entered the game with four sacks in their first three games. Beyond the pass protection, there are no holes for the running backs. If you remove Darnold’s rushing yards, the Jets averaged 2.5 yards per carry Thursday.

Douglas took a calculated risk in free agency this year. He stayed away from the big-money players, choosing instead to shop for discounts to stock his offensive line. He signed George Fant, Greg Van Roten and Connor McGovern at discount prices. Douglas’ philosophy is one he took from his mentor, Ozzie Newsome, with the Ravens — “right player, right price.” It means rarely spending big. It is a sound strategy that creates cap-space flexibility in the future, but you had better get your player evaluations right. At the moment, it feels Douglas overestimated on the line, particularly with Van Roten and McGovern.

Then, you look at wide receiver. Douglas let Robby Anderson walk in free agency, which has really hurt Darnold and the offense. No one is confusing Anderson with Jerry Rice, but he is an effective receiver who rarely misses games. Anderson already has two 100-yard receiving games for the Panthers, who signed him to a reasonable two-year, $20 million contract. That is a deal the Jets should have matched. Instead, they signed Breshad Perriman on the cheap ($6.5 million) and they’ve gotten what they paid for, because Perriman has missed two games and most of a third. He has just five catches so far.

 

Another of Douglas’ free-agent signings who had an eventful night Thursday is cornerback Pierre Desir, whom the Jets signed for $3.75 million. Desir allowed two touchdowns and had two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Despite those plays, Desir has been a liability in coverage so far.

 

 

 

These roster shortcomings have left the Jets with no margin for error. They need to play near-perfect football to win. If they commit too many penalties, as they did Thursday, they’re doomed. If they drop passes, they’re screwed. If they stall in the red zone, it will bite them in the butt.

 

No one is arguing that Gase is doing a good job. But anyone looking at this objectively can see he has been entered into a gun battle with a water pistol. Gase was asked Friday if this team has enough talent. He said he expects a lot of players back from injured reserve this week to help.

“And our guys, they have to do a good job of sticking together and blocking out any outside noise and getting better every day in practice,” Gase said. “I talked to all those guys today about [how] fracturing is not an option. We’re four games in, we’ve got to do a good job of putting our head down, going to work, correcting the mistakes, fixing the stuff that’s absolutely non-talent based and doing those things right first, and then your outcome is going to be different.”

Plenty of people have their fingerprints on this 0-4 start, from the players to ownership and everyone in between — including Douglas.

This article is almost a carbon copy of what I've been saying all off-season. 

Being called a troll, SOJ and receiving 100's of negative reps (which I don't mind btw.)  

Now, this isn't a victory lap as I was very much hoping to be wrong - but recognition from some of you would be nice

I'm not negative, just a realist.  

I just really hope JD saw it too and was well aware of what he was doing!

 

[BROOKLYN JET]

Joe Douglas has not been perfect, but he's going to be allot better than what we've been used to. He's going to build a respectable team at the very least.

[BROOKLYN JET]

1 minute ago, FidelioJet said:

This article is almost a carbon copy of what I've been saying all off-season. 

Being called a troll, SOJ and receiving 100's of negative reps (which I don't mind btw.)  

Now, this isn't a victory lap as I was very much hoping to be wrong - but recognition from some of you would be nice

I'm not negative, just a realist.  

I just really hope JD saw it too and was well aware of what he was doing!

 

You have been elevated to jester in @HessStation's kingdom.

[joewilly12]

2 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

This article is almost a carbon copy of what I've been saying all off-season. 

Maybe JD reads this board. 

[HawkeyeJet]

Great article by Costello pointing out how the offensive line has been no better then last year(when it most certainly has) due to the amount of sacks given up in the last game where the backup LT was responsible for a large portion of those.

Great article.

[Embrace the Suck]

Yeah, one covid plagued draft and FA period should have been enough to totally rework the entire roster. 

[joewilly12]

Just now, HawkeyeJet said:

Great article by Costello pointing out how the offensive line has been no better then last year(when it most certainly has) due to the amount of sacks given up in the last game where the backup LT was responsible for a large portion of those.

Great article.

Last time I checked the NY Jets were 0-4 bad on all sides of the ball. 

Please don't tell us you have the SOR I disease where in your mind we are 4-0. 

[HawkeyeJet]

1 hour ago, FidelioJet said:

I'm not negative, just a realist.  

A message board classic.  I've been on sports message boards since I was a teenager and one thing I know to be true is if someone says " I'm not such and such, I'm just a realist" they are generally the farthest thing from realistic as it gets.

[LIJetsFan]

Almost total BS.  I recall the FA period and other than overpaying Fant (who seems to be holding his own) I don't remember there being any FA's worth chasing.  This ain't Madden. 

Oh yeah one other thing, counting on Perriman who has an injury hx wasn't all that smart.  Also it's my understanding that JD did match the offer Anderson got but Anderson opted out. 

IMHO the OL woes have more to do with the lack of a preseason than anything else.   

[HawkeyeJet]

Just now, joewilly12 said:

Last time I checked the NY Jets were 0-4 bad on all sides of the ball. 

Please don't tell us you have the SOR I disease where in your mind we are 4-0. 

Nope.  Sure don't. I'm just not going to point to Thursday as a sign of Douglas failing to improve the offensive line when all season the line has been clearly better all season.  

I've expressed my views on Douglas and his job so far.  If people want to sh*t on him because this roster isn't a playoff contender this year then that's your choice.  I am not that short sighted 

[Lith]

5 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

Great article by Costello pointing out how the offensive line has been no better then last year(when it most certainly has) due to the amount of sacks given up in the last game where the backup LT was responsible for a large portion of those.

Great article.

You beat me to the punuch with this point.  4 of the 6 sacks came in the last 16 minutes of the game.  Connor Mcdermott at LT, and Josh Andrews as RT.  We were down to our 4th and 5th tackles. 

In the first 44 minutes, Darnold was sacked twice.  Once, on the play he was injured, he had a clean pocket and a wide open receiver and didn't pull the trigger.  That was on him, not the OL.  When healthy, the OL is improved from last year.  Still a ways to go, but improved.

[peebag]

12 minutes ago, BROOKLYN JET said:

Joe Douglas has not been perfect, but he's going to be allot better than what we've been used to. He's going to build a respectable team at the very least.

What evidence points to that?

[Saul Goodman]

Most concerning is Joe D’s draft. The entire draft class has contributed only two games of good LT play and a few decent punts thus far.  That’s tough to do. 

[joewilly12]

7 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

Nope.  Sure don't. I'm just not going to point to Thursday as a sign of Douglas failing to improve the offensive line when all season the line has been clearly better all season. 

The 2020 OL is only good on paper as we speak. 

The OL was horrendous in 2019 and its only a little bit better in 2020. 

The 2020 group I think can be a lot better with time and more opportunities to gain continuity. 

When was the last time we had a RB rush for 100 yards. 

Why was Sam Darnold whipped around like a rag doll to the ground injuring his shoulder. 

[joewilly12]

Just now, Saul Goodman said:

Most concerning is Joe D’s draft. The entire draft class has contributed only two games of good LT play and a few decent punts thus far.  That’s tough to do. 

The Punter Brandon Mann could surely be the league MVP. 

[FidelioJet]

13 minutes ago, HawkeyeJet said:

A message board classic.  I've been on sports message boards since I was a teenager and one thing I know to be true is if someone says " I'm not such and such, I'm just a realist" they are generally the farthest thing from realistic ad it gets.

Nah, find my past.  When the team is good I'm fully on board.  I loved Darnold and was quite vocal about it.  This was always going to be a rough season, and just about everyone outside of this message board knew it.

[joewilly12]

This team is bad in every aspect of football. 

JD built this mess. 

Failed to re-sign our best offensive player (though I wasn't a fan) and best defensive player. 

Here we are 0-4. 

@BROOKLYN JET thanks for correcting me. 

[BROOKLYN JET]

13 minutes ago, peebag said:

What evidence points to that?

Not perfect self evident.

It would be nearly impossible to be worse than Idzik & Macc, I think you could make the argument he's already better.

Call it a hunch if you want, but he's going to have allot of capital to rebuild the team. Based on his pedigree and what I've seen from him so far, I don't think it's a stretch to say he'll build a respectable team.

Remember the team did not have a traditional off season or training camp this year. Most of us knew that was going to negatively effect a mostly new group. Plus they have been riddled with injuries.

As bad as it's been, I still feel good about Joe Douglas, and I think we'll be much improved after his next draft.

[FidelioJet]

26 minutes ago, BROOKLYN JET said:

Joe Douglas has not been perfect, but he's going to be allot better than what we've been used to. He's going to build a respectable team at the very least.

We have no reason at all to believe that.  All we know at this point is that he's capable of tearing down a team and that he  chose Becton over Wirfs - Becton's been better but Wirfs has been very good too and healthy.

Now, we don't know if he's bad either. 

He may turn out to be great, just that a year and half into his tenure we still know close to nothing about his ability to build a team.

[BROOKLYN JET]

3 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

This team is bad in every aspect of football. 

JD built this mess. 

Traded our best offensive player (though i wasn't a fan) and best defensive player. 

Here we are 0-4. 

Who?

[joewilly12]

Just now, BROOKLYN JET said:

Who?

RA 

[BROOKLYN JET]

1 minute ago, joewilly12 said:

RA 

He traded him?

[joewilly12]

Just now, BROOKLYN JET said:

He traded him?

No he failed to re-sign him. 

Im triggered by the Covid-19 thread. 

Thanks for correcting me. 

[BROOKLYN JET]

Just now, joewilly12 said:

No he failed to re-sign him. 

Im triggered by the Covid-19 thread. 

Thanks for correcting me. 

Are they sending patients to your home?

[joewilly12]

Just now, BROOKLYN JET said:

Are they sending patients to your home?

My modest 3 BR home is not a health care facility. 

Do they have a Dr.s office, mini hospital, morgue in the low income senior housing hi-rise you live at. 

[jetophile]

Debacle, disgruntled, I should've eeny miney moed it instead of naming my dog Henry. 

Look at that crazy-eyed bastard. It's almost Gase-like. OK, I've decided. Next dog is JD, which stands for either Joe Douglas or Jets Debacle, depending on which one applies. I mean, JD could be good, too, right? OK (hangs head, pets dog for therapy).

[BROOKLYN JET]

1 minute ago, jetophile said:

Debacle, disgruntled, I should've eeny miney moed it instead of naming my dog Henry. 

Look that crazy-eyed bastard. It's almost Gase-like. OK, I've decided. Next dog is JD, which stands for either Joe Douglas or Jets Debacle, depending on which one applies. I mean, JD could be good, too, right? OK (hangs head, pets dog for therapy).

He's cute, even with the Gasey eyes. But why Henry? Funny name for a dog. ?