Can’t Blame Jets Fans for Hoping Blue Chips Lead to Greener Pastures

[JetNation]

There’s not a fan base in the world that hasn’t done it at one time or another.  It doesn’t matter if you support a consistent powerhouse or a perennial doormat.  You’ve almost certainly sat down after the NFL draft to look at your team’s haul and found a way to convince yourself that this class is going to be the one.  This is the class that’s going to net four or five or six high-level starters.  It might even net you a couple of back-ups, but this is the one.  And more often than not, you’re wrong.  If you’re a Jets fan, you’re dead wrong.

So while Jets fans find themselves in the familiar position of telling themselves that this draft class is “the one”, there’s a belief that the could actually….be right?  Instead of seeing their GM load up on interior defensive linemen while hoping the likes of ArDarius Stewart, Jalen Saunders or Shonn Greene can be the future on offense, the Jets made adding firepower a top priority under GM Joe Douglas.

This time around it’s a pair of blazing fast receivers, one of whom has already shown he can play in Elijah Moore who will now pair with Garrett Wilson.  Instead of mid-to-late round fliers, the Jets snagged highly touted and productive players.  Same goes for running back where rookie Bryce Hall and his sub 4.4 speed will join second-year back Michael Carter in pounding the ball behind an offensive line that has been completely re-built in just a few short years under Joe Douglas.  The likes of Eli McGuire and Trenton Cannon in the rear-view mirror.

The tight end position has been upgraded by drafting fan favorite Jeremy Ruckert out of Ohio State after the Jets signed a pair of free agents in CJ Uzoman and Tyler Conklin.  Trevon Wesco hasn’t worked out and Chris Herndon was shown the door after a promising rookie season.

Gone are the days of Brandon Shell, Dakota Dozier and Oday Aboushi.  Instead, it’s now free agent stud Laken Tomlinson and a pair of blue chip picks in Alijah Vera-Tucker and man on a mission Mekhi Becton.  Those two players picked in the first round at 14th in 2021 and 11th in 2020 respectively.  Becton’s health remains a huge question mark, but he’s sure looking the part while working out this offseason with offensive line guru Duke Manyweather in Texas.

Mekhi Becton working on footwork/explosiveness with OL trainer Duke Manyweather.

For a player as gifted as Becton it’s the little things that matters.

If he continues to improve his technique and maintain his health, I believe he can be a Hall of Famer #Jets pic.twitter.com/tGkrIKvdIg

— Stefan Stelling (@li_jets) May 5, 2022

On defense it’s more of the same.  Rather than ignore the edges in the draft, the Jets doubled up by grabbing Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson in round 1 before grabbing Texas A&M’s Michael Clemons.  That pair will team with Carl Lawson, another former first-round pick coming back from a major injury.  With that trio on the edges, former first-round pick Quinnen Williams should be primed for a career year along the interior defensive line.  And using the fourth overall pick on Sauce Gardner won’t hurt mattes either.

Mentioned Clemons a couple weeks ago as one of a few players I thought should be getting more attention. Good size and motor. Had a monster game vs Alabama in 2021. https://t.co/N1gOVSniYN pic.twitter.com/W6nbaLklUr

— Glenn Naughton (@AceFan23) April 30, 2022

Will every pick pan out?  Certainly not.  Some will bust, some will thrive, but one thing we know for certain is that if this crop of young Jets fail, it won’t be for lack of a GM willing to aggressively pursue top talent at premium positions.

 

 

 

 

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[Doggin94it]

Carl Lawson was a 4th round pick, but otherwise, yes

[Nixhead]

Shonn Green  should not be compared to ArDarius Stewart or Jalen Saunders. Green did have a couple of 1000 yard seasons with the Jets before he flamed out in Tennessee and he had a couple of important TD's in the playoffs. 

[AFJF]

1 hour ago, Doggin94it said:

Carl Lawson was a 4th round pick, but otherwise, yes

Good catch.  Thanks.
 

[nycdan]

56 minutes ago, Nixhead said:

Shonn Green  should not be compared to ArDarius Stewart or Jalen Saunders. Green did have a couple of 1000 yard seasons with the Jets before he flamed out in Tennessee and he had a couple of important TD's in the playoffs. 

I still fondly remember the play where Antonio Cromartie just 'noped' out of trying to tackle Greene.  He was having no part of that

 

[bitonti]

15 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I still fondly remember the play where Antonio Cromartie just 'noped' out of trying to tackle Greene.  He was having no part of that

 

And then the Jets signed Cro and he played here for 5 years, not tackling. 

I disagree with the thread title by the way... Jets Fans are wile e coyote. The afc east is road runner 

Every year with this sh*t. The hopium machine cranks up for a summer of undeserved optimism. They sell jerseys. They sell tickets. Tailgate for the home opener is fun. 

Then they go 1-7 to start and the season is over by Halloween 

Here's an idea... Just once can we have low expectations and let them show us this year is different. 

Instead of pathologically cranking expectations up to a thousand percent and wonder gee what went wrong 

It's almost like a gambling addict that needs the crush of losing. 

Look at the bills. Look at the schedule. This team is going to be more entertaining but it's probably not going to be good. 

[Maxman]

7 minutes ago, bitonti said:

And then the Jets signed Cro and he played here for 5 years, not tackling. 

I disagree with the thread title by the way... Jets Fans are wile e coyote. The afc east is road runner 

Every year with this sh*t. The hopium machine cranks up for a summer of undeserved optimism. They sell jerseys. They sell tickets. Tailgate for the home opener is fun. 

Then they go 1-7 to start and the season is over by Halloween 

Here's an idea... Just once can we have low expectations and let them show us this year is different. 

Instead of pathologically cranking expectations up to a thousand percent and wonder gee what went wrong 

It's almost like a gambling addict that needs the crush of losing. 

Look at the bills. Look at the schedule. This team is going to be more entertaining but it's probably not going to be good. 

The Bills are a beast. Belichick isn't the same without Brady and the Dolphins can make splashy trades but they messed up firing their head coach and will take a step back.

The goal for the Jets is the playoffs and finishing in 2nd place.

We have had nothing but low expectations for years. Time for that to change.

[bitonti]

23 minutes ago, Maxman said:

The Bills are a beast. 

We have had nothing but low expectations for years. Time for that to change.

The entire afc is a beast. The jets are going to face Russell Wilson in Denver and depending on the schedule and suspensions, Deshaun Watson in Cleveland. 

The fans have had this sugar high cycle every offseason. We end up miserable. Can't we, just once, not go insane with these predictions? 

I know we can't. It's tradition. But it feels like self destructive behavior. 

[Bruce Harper]

I still fondly remember the play where Antonio Cromartie just 'noped' out of trying to tackle Greene.  He was having no part of that
 

Matador defense. Remember it well.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[RutgersJetFan]

Look I'm as satisfied with the draft as the next guy but to say you can't blame a Jets fan for having hope is preposterous. I'm dead on the inside from this franchise and quite frankly I'm skeptical of anyone who isn't.

[jetsons]

1 hour ago, nycdan said:

I still fondly remember the play where Antonio Cromartie just 'noped' out of trying to tackle Greene.  He was having no part of that

 

That was a Great game. ?

Shonn Greene Touchdown vs Chargers

 

[AFJF]

49 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

Look I'm as satisfied with the draft as the next guy but to say you can't blame a Jets fan for having hope is preposterous. I'm dead on the inside from this franchise and quite frankly I'm skeptical of anyone who isn't.

This is a fair point.  Perhaps those of us expecting them to find a way to screw this up will have less disdain for the hopeful.  Just too long for a headline.

[Maxman]

1 hour ago, bitonti said:

The entire afc is a beast. The jets are going to face Russell Wilson in Denver and depending on the schedule and suspensions, Deshaun Watson in Cleveland. 

The fans have had this sugar high cycle every offseason. We end up miserable. Can't we, just once, not go insane with these predictions? 

I know we can't. It's tradition. But it feels like self destructive behavior. 

Let me tell you something. Actually no, my friend Tanner can explain it better.

(Yes I know that wasn't Tanner).

[Maxman]

I refuse to give up. I refuse to accept and expect anything other than winning. I know the long has been road and bumpy but I will go into next season the same way I got into every season.

That is with everyone around me calling me crazy. Calling me a delusional homer. But damn I am going to root for them to win and expect the same.

This roster is greatly improved. The Bills lost their Offensive Coordinator. Belichick is hanging on for the all time wins record. He is going to grind out some 9 win seasons until he tops Shula. But divisions and Super Bowls are in his rear view mirror.

The Dolphins owner screwed things up. They are building around Tua and have you seen their new head coach speak? He is so awkward he makes @T0mShane Friday night last call pick up lines seem smooth.

They are building this team to take the pressure off of Zach Wilson. He proved he can avoid turning the ball over. Now they throttle it back up and take advantage of his big play ability.

I am saying 2nd place for this team, but please know in my head I really mean division winner. This secondary is incredible and the defensive line? Wow. 

In other words, this is bad news for the Angels lol.

[Jetsfan80]

1 hour ago, Maxman said:

I refuse to give up. I refuse to accept and expect anything other than winning. I know the long has been road and bumpy but I will go into next season the same way I got into every season.

That is with everyone around me calling me crazy. Calling me a delusional homer. But damn I am going to root for them to win and expect the same.

This roster is greatly improved. The Bills lost their Offensive Coordinator. Belichick is hanging on for the all time wins record. He is going to grind out some 9 win seasons until he tops Shula. But divisions and Super Bowls are in his rear view mirror.

The Dolphins owner screwed things up. They are building around Tua and have you seen their new head coach speak? He is so awkward he makes @T0mShane Friday night last call pick up lines seem smooth.

They are building this team to take the pressure off of Zach Wilson. He proved he can avoid turning the ball over. Now they throttle it back up and take advantage of his big play ability.

I am saying 2nd place for this team, but please know in my head I really mean division winner. This secondary is incredible and the defensive line? Wow. 

In other words, this is bad news for the Angels lol.

Herm Edwards will win a Super Bowl as head coach of the Jets.

[Be_a_Jet]

I think the Jets will be much improved but I also think Bills Roster is super bowl level and Dolphins are better than they were last year. Yea they changed coaches but they changed to McDaniels who aside from his limited speaking abilities is the most tenured Shanahan disciple and runs a system we are similarly proud of with Lafleur so not sure how we can bash him. 
 

Also they had a great defense last year and they didn’t change much on coaching that side or personnel wise. 
 

For them I think they are poised for a strong improvement but it all depends on Tua. 
 

I do think we gained the most ground on the Pats though. It’s just that so much of the AFC got better with their QBs that we are really going to need a big jump from Zach just to keep up. I think we can be a lot better this year I just don’t know how many wins that results in. 

[jamesr]

5 hours ago, bitonti said:

The entire afc is a beast. The jets are going to face Russell Wilson in Denver and depending on the schedule and suspensions, Deshaun Watson in Cleveland. 

The fans have had this sugar high cycle every offseason. We end up miserable. Can't we, just once, not go insane with these predictions? 

I know we can't. It's tradition. But it feels like self destructive behavior. 

It's only going to make you miserable if you choose to buy into it personally. What the overall fan base / this board feels and what you feel individually do not need to match up.

I usually take the approach of not getting too high with the highs, nor too low with the lows. I feel that works out. Especially in the regular season where every win is a proclamation of Superbowls aplenty and franchise QBs, and the next loss has the fan base dusting off the pitchforks to storm Jets HQ. "On to Cincinnati" or something like that.  

This forum will be super high for several months. Zach will "look great" in camp, Becton will be "beasting", that UDFA you never heard of will be the steal of all steals ... Just take it all with a pinch of salt (and a couple of cold beers). 

[68JET11]

We've got some exciting players to build around now... We aren't going from last to 1st this year because of one team called the Bills. We've made up some ground on the Pats and Fish, however now this team is in the hands of Ulbrich and Zach. If Ulbrich doesn't call a better defense this year, and Zach doesn't show the kind of improvement we need from him for the offense to score more points then we are again looking at last place in the AFC east. If everything pans out the way I think it will, we at least split, both the Pats and Fish, and lose both Bills. The best case scenario is winning both of the Pats games, and splitting the Fish, cause I still think we lose both Bills, unless they somehow have an off day at the Meadow (opps MetLife).

One last thing... JD seems to be doing his job to get Saleh the type of players he desires. Now it's Saleh's turn to ramp up the All Gas, because if Ulbrich doesn't get better results this year from the defense, it's time to part ways, and find someone who will. Let's hope that ML has the same upside we saw out of him after the first 5 games.

[slats]

I’m excited about all the new additions, the hype around Becton and Mims, Zach’s muscular thighs, and a variety of other things, but I’m not expecting them to result in a lot of wins this year. They might be the youngest team in the league for the second straight year, with a second year staff. Still a lot of learning going on. Parcells would say figure one loss for every rookie you start, and the Jets will probably be starting at least four this year. There’s a ton of talent on the team in the first time in forever, it’s all about how quickly the young guys get up to speed, Zach taking that next (big!) step, and some better luck with injuries. I’ve still got my fingers crossed, hoping for 7-9-1. Really just want to look competitive while avoiding double digit losses, and finish the year thinking that Zach Wilson might be a good QB. Anything better than that (for which I am not holding my breath) will be gravy. 

[Maxman]

7 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Herm Edwards will win a Super Bowl as head coach of the Jets.

So sorry, the 1998 team overachieved big time was the answer we were looking for here.

[Drums]

We are going to be fine this year if we stay healthy on the lines. To touch on the Dolphins, if they start losing, I can’t imagine McDaniels leading them out of the storm. I get the feeling he will be one and done. 

[BradSmith16fan]

13 hours ago, bitonti said:

And then the Jets signed Cro and he played here for 5 years, not tackling. 

I disagree with the thread title by the way... Jets Fans are wile e coyote. The afc east is road runner 

Every year with this sh*t. The hopium machine cranks up for a summer of undeserved optimism. They sell jerseys. They sell tickets. Tailgate for the home opener is fun. 

Then they go 1-7 to start and the season is over by Halloween 

Here's an idea... Just once can we have low expectations and let them show us this year is different. 

Instead of pathologically cranking expectations up to a thousand percent and wonder gee what went wrong 

It's almost like a gambling addict that needs the crush of losing. 

Look at the bills. Look at the schedule. This team is going to be more entertaining but it's probably not going to be good. 

Jags, Bears, Lions, at Steelers (rookie qb Or Mitch), at Seahawks (Russ and Bobby Wagner gone, 2 players heart and soul of that team), Miami at home (Can tua get ball downfield to HIll?), New England at home (Better run game for us this year, can play bully ball), Vikings hot and cold (secondary to match up with Jefferson and Thielen), Ravens with below avg wr's, GB without davonte. Denver, Cleveland, Bills, and Bengals throw out the window, but even Bengals the Jets beat last year (Mike White game). Zach Wilson's issue is correctable with his short throws. Get that fixed, with this schedule, combined with Saleh's track record with a talented defense in SF (although the 3 game stretch last year was deflating), no reason to believe team can't win 8 games  with a surprise win or 2.

Edited.

[peebag]

13 hours ago, Maxman said:

The Bills are a beast. Belichick isn't the same without Brady and the Dolphins can make splashy trades but they messed up firing their head coach and will take a step back.

The goal for the Jets is the playoffs and finishing in 2nd place.

We have had nothing but low expectations for years. Time for that to change.

We're not getting into the playoffs.

[Gastineau Lives]

14 hours ago, Nixhead said:

Shonn Green  should not be compared to ArDarius Stewart or Jalen Saunders. Green did have a couple of 1000 yard seasons with the Jets before he flamed out in Tennessee and he had a couple of important TD's in the playoffs. 

I was just about to write something like this.

[#27TheDominator]

1 hour ago, BradSmith16fan said:

Jags, Bears, Lions, at Steelers (rookie qb Or Mitch), at Seahawks (Russ and Bobby Wagner gone, 2 players heart and soul of that team), Miami at home (Can tua get ball downfield to HIll?), New England at home (Better run game for us this year, can play bully ball), Vikings hot and cold (secondary to match up with Jefferson and Thielen), Ravens with below avg wr's, GB without davonte. Denver, Cleveland, Bills, and Bengals throw out the window, but even Bengals the Jets beat last year (Mike White game). Zach Wilson's issue is correctable with his short throws. Get that fixed, with this schedule, combined with Saleh's track record with a talented defense in SF (although the 3 game stretch last year was deflating), no reason to believe team can't win 8 games  with a surprise win or 2.

Edited.

Woo hoo!  With a surprise win or two we can be a half game below .500!

[BradSmith16fan]

14 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

Woo hoo!  With a surprise win or two we can be a half game below .500!

My fault I phrased that wrong. 8 wins and a surprise win or 2 to get to 9 or 10.