Unemotional perspective on JD, Saleh, MLF. Keep or Let Go?

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

A framework for discussion might be the following.  Interested in your answers…

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

Joe Douglas

1. Yes.

His BIG MISTAKES were his 1st draft, reaching for a boom/bust franchise QB in his 2nd draft & throwing him into a fire he wasn’t ready for, and signing Laken Tomlinson to a bad deal.

His BIG HITS mostly all came later:  AVT, DJ Reed, Sauce, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall.  Might even throw in the promising combo of JJ/Clemons.

2. Yes & believe we’ll see that even more this off-season.

He moved on from both Gase & Sam (the latter in his failed pursuit of a franchise QB).  Invested in ways to reduce injuries (eg, new field on the horizon).  Upgraded positions like CB & RB that some would have been fine keeping as is.

I give him credit for drafting elite players at non premium positions like Guard and RB after failing when he took boom or bust LT Becton over the safer non premium RT Wirfs.

3. Yes.  His management of the salary cap, trading assets overvalued by others, & draft philosophy have been instrumental in creating a competitive roster.  Missing on Zach is infinitely easier to fix than missing on trading for Russell Wilson.  Cutting players like Davis & Lawson will  result in minimum dead cap space.  The exception here is Tomlinson, which was a big miss.

Overall:  I keep him- the trend is our friend.  He absolutely crushed the last draft and the acquisition of DJ.  He failed trying to get a high upside franchise QB with few options available. Mac Jones is not that guy, waiting for the 2023 draft offered few options and the trade market was too risky/expensive.  That’s all important context.  However, this will be an infinitely BIGGER miss if Fields turns into that guy.  Right now he’s a dynamic runner and decent enough passer.

Robert Saleh

1. Mixed bag

There were mid season signs the team was turning the corner and learning how to win.

That fell apart:  team reverted to showing it knew how to ‘lose games’, Saleh made questionable decisions (4th down, clock management), and the team came out flat & showed little fight in must win games.

2. At times, but often when it is too late.

The word stubborn comes to mind.  Deserves credit for the Sauce pick which didn’t necessarily fit his philosophy.  Also for benching Zach.

However- he’s been stubborn with his scheme, stuck with Zach too long in multiple games (NE, Jags) and has failed to fix killer penalties & other crucial game losing plays (dropped passes).

He also failed to reverse the trend of coming out flat in must win games.

3. No.

He deserves credit for getting players who fit his scheme, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

However, he has failed to show flexibility to adapt the schemes to his best players and to minimize weaknesses.

The Jets still don’t leverage the shut down abilities of their corners or blitz heavily when the opposing QB (like Geno) are at the bottom of the league against pressure but at the top of the league when not pressured.

Overall:  Over confidence and inflexibility are my biggest concerns, the inability to move on from bad hires or strategically use his chess pieces, even if it means adapting his schemes.

If I’m Woody & JD, I want to see a plan that shows this is NOT the case.  If it’s the same old, I seriously consider moving on.

[Ron Rico]

They are all gone in 2024 so might as well rip the band aid off, now.

[Sammybighead]

Excellent post. I generally agree.

JD has shown growth and understanding and is evolving as a GM. I believe he's just getting better with time and if you fire a guy like that, you'll start from 0 with a guy that may just stink and refuse to get better. 

You can't ignore wiffing on zach at #2 as many a GM were fired for far less. That said, I think many would agree the decision itself to move on from Sam and draft a qb at #2 was correct. It's well documented the decision to take zach was a group collaboration were all coaches and scouts independently came to a decision on him then they compared notes. All of them agreed. If all your scouts and coaches are yelling "this is the guy", you'd be stupid to ignore them. If JD randomly took zach when everyone else said fields, then I'd be more worried.

I think JDs big error with zach was actually putting too much faith in Lafleurs input. Since JD has shown the ability to learn and adapt, I don't think he'd make that same mistake twice. I believe he learned from 2020 draft not to take big gambles on guys with health concerns. They made a concerted effort to avoid those guys and take high character guys that desperately want to win. 

I'm hopeful for JD. But I also recognize the reality that we're going into year 5 and he hasn't made the playoffs. Simple reality is most GMs never make it this far with such results. The other side of the coin is successful organizations identify a good GM and then ride out the ebbs and flows. Changing a GM and the direction of the organization every 3 years is a recipe for disaster.

[SickJetFan]

I'm not sold on JD but don't think he should go either except in the remote possibility Woody hires Payton.  Barring that I hope he is learning from his mistakes.

Saleh on the other hand, I would not lose any sleep they suddenly fire him but again that is remote possibility so hoping he also learns from his mistakes.

The midget needs help or replacement.  Need QB coach and passing game coordinator very least who is > 12 years old.

DC needs be more aggressive but with Saleh as defacto DC dont think it really matters.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

Mile LaFleur

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

1. No, not one shred of evidence I can find.

His offense scored fewer TDs, seemed to get worse in short yardage & red zone .. even against weaker competition (a sign of predictable play calling), and continued to fail to start games strong.

I don’t care who the QB is, this is all damning!

Equally as damming is that players are going backwards, not getting better under his staff’s coaching.  Zach is a SHELL of his first game 2021 self.  Moore, Mims, Carter, Becton all have gone backwards from their promising rookie years.  

Where is the fire, the passion in the players?  Gone.


2. ~ NONE.

I’ve seen 3-4 opposing teams this year try to jumpstart their offense against the Jets by flashing up tempo no huddle.  Didn’t see that once by MLF, who seems as inflexible as a light post.

How about some pump fakes?

STOP and GO?

Hand-off, Lateral back to the QB?

More slants?

RB screens on all out blitzes?

A new opening drive script before it was too late.

 

3. Very little.

Garrett Wilson didn’t open the season as a starter.

Elijah Moore, for all his faults, has barely been used in space (a strength of his).  Little attempt to involve him in the O.

Tyler Conklin has not been schemed / motioned to get a LB 1:1 in coverage— a big strength of his last year.

Zack was rarely rolled out of the pocket by design, certainly not a part of his core play set.  Barely used his legs to run.

Uzomah has a 90% catch rate but has been underutilized in this phase.

It took half the season to get Bam Knight involved.  Instead, he was at risk being plucked from our practice squad.  
 

OVERALL:  It’s a clear move on for me.  Yes, we can blame it all on Zach or we can see the underlying red flags, trend lines, the stubbornness, the failure to inspire and call it a day. 
 

[Integrity28]

I dunno, seems pretty emo to me.

[Lurker89]

8 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Mile LaFleur

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

1. No, not one shred of evidence I can find.

His offense scored fewer TDs, seemed to get worse in short yardage & red zone .. even against weaker competition (a sign of predictable play calling), and continued to fail to start games strong.

I don’t care who the QB is, this is all damning!

Equally as damming is that players are going backwards, not getting better under his staff’s coaching.  Zach is a SHELL of his first game 2021 self.  Moore, Mims, Carter, Becton all have gone backwards from their promising rookie years.  

Where is the fire, the passion in the players?  Gone.


2. ~ NONE.

I’ve seen 3-4 opposing teams this year try to jumpstart their offense against the Jets by flashing up tempo no huddle.  Didn’t see that once by MLF, who seems as inflexible as a light post.

How about some pump fakes?

STOP and GO?

Hand-off, Lateral back to the QB?

More slants?

RB screens on all out blitzes?

A new opening drive script before it was too late.

 

3. Very little.

Garrett Wilson didn’t open the season as a starter.

Elijah Moore, for all his faults, has barely been used in space (a strength of his).  Little attempt to involve him in the O.

Tyler Conklin has not been schemed / motioned to get a LB 1:1 in coverage— a big strength of his last year.

Zack was rarely rolled out of the pocket by design, certainly not a part of his core play set.  Barely used his legs to run.

Uzomah has a 90% catch rate but has been underutilized in this phase.

It took half the season to get Bam Knight involved.  Instead, he was at risk being plucked from our practice squad.  
 

OVERALL:  It’s a clear move on for me.  Yes, we can blame it all on Zach or we can see the underlying red flags, trend lines, the stubbornness, the failure to inspire and call it a day. 
 

^ THIS

Lafleurs scheme works in a vacuum, it's everything else about him that make him a horrible OC.

-Inability to adapt his scheme.

-refusing to scheme to player and personnel strentghs.

-sticking to a strict scheme and not exploiting defensive weaknesses on the opposing sideline.

The entire coaching staff is to rigid and it causes them to get outcoached by anyone with an ounce of flexibility and creativity.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

25 minutes ago, Sammybighead said:

Excellent post. I generally agree.

JD has shown growth and understanding and is evolving as a GM. I believe he's just getting better with time and if you fire a guy like that, you'll start from 0 with a guy that may just stink and refuse to get better. 

You can't ignore wiffing on zach at #2 as many a GM were fired for far less. That said, I think many would agree the decision itself to move on from Sam and draft a qb at #2 was correct. It's well documented the decision to take zach was a group collaboration were all coaches and scouts independently came to a decision on him then they compared notes. All of them agreed. If all your scouts and coaches are yelling "this is the guy", you'd be stupid to ignore them. If JD randomly took zach when everyone else said fields, then I'd be more worried.

I think JDs big error with zach was actually putting too much faith in Lafleurs input. Since JD has shown the ability to learn and adapt, I don't think he'd make that same mistake twice. I believe he learned from 2020 draft not to take big gambles on guys with health concerns. They made a concerted effort to avoid those guys and take high character guys that desperately want to win. 

I'm hopeful for JD. But I also recognize the reality that we're going into year 5 and he hasn't made the playoffs. Simple reality is most GMs never make it this far with such results. The other side of the coin is successful organizations identify a good GM and then ride out the ebbs and flows. Changing a GM and the direction of the organization every 3 years is a recipe for disaster.

Excellent post and insights.

Taking another relook at selecting Zach, what were JD’s reasonable options when his philosophy - like many others- was the Jets needed a franchise QB?

If JD didn’t have that philosophy or they could have anticipated what I consider the YIPs, then it’s easy and they trade the pick.  But many would agree with that philosophy that you need a franchise QB to win big including the 49ers who went all in to acquire one.

As for Zach’s mental state, that needs to be a big lesson learned even though I didn’t see him throwing passes in the dirt at BYU.  A key question might be, can this kid handle NY?  Year 1 or 3?  

 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

13 minutes ago, Integrity28 said:

I dunno, seems pretty emo to me.

What??  Great addition.

[Lurker89]

 

The only solution.. ..

 

[rangerous]

1 hour ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

A framework for discussion might be the following.  Interested in your answers…

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

Joe Douglas

1. Yes.

His BIG MISTAKES were his 1st draft, reaching for a boom/bust franchise QB in his 2nd draft & throwing him into a fire he wasn’t ready for, and signing Laken Tomlinson to a bad deal.

His BIG HITS mostly all came later:  AVT, DJ Reed, Sauce, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall.  Might even throw in the promising combo of JJ/Clemons.

2. Yes & believe we’ll see that even more this off-season.

He moved on from both Gase & Sam (the latter in his failed pursuit of a franchise QB).  Invested in ways to reduce injuries (eg, new field on the horizon).  Upgraded positions like CB & RB that some would have been fine keeping as is.

I give him credit for drafting elite players at non premium positions like Guard and RB after failing when he took boom or bust LT Becton over the safer non premium RT Wirfs.

3. Yes.  His management of the salary cap, trading assets overvalued by others, & draft philosophy have been instrumental in creating a competitive roster.  Missing on Zach is infinitely easier to fix than missing on trading for Russell Wilson.  Cutting players like Davis & Lawson will  result in minimum dead cap space.  The exception here is Tomlinson, which was a big miss.

Overall:  I keep him- the trend is our friend.  He absolutely crushed the last draft and the acquisition of DJ.  He failed trying to get a high upside franchise QB with few options available. Mac Jones is not that guy, waiting for the 2023 draft offered few options and the trade market was too risky/expensive.  That’s all important context.  However, this will be an infinitely BIGGER miss if Fields turns into that guy.  Right now he’s a dynamic runner and decent enough passer.

Robert Saleh

1. Mixed bag

There were mid season signs the team was turning the corner and learning how to win.

That fell apart:  team reverted to showing it knew how to ‘lose games’, Saleh made questionable decisions (4th down, clock management), and the team came out flat & showed little fight in must win games.

2. At times, but often when it is too late.

The word stubborn comes to mind.  Deserves credit for the Sauce pick which didn’t necessarily fit his philosophy.  Also for benching Zach.

However- he’s been stubborn with his scheme, stuck with Zach too long in multiple games (NE, Jags) and has failed to fix killer penalties & other crucial game losing plays (dropped passes).

He also failed to reverse the trend of coming out flat in must win games.

3. No.

He deserves credit for getting players who fit his scheme, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

However, he has failed to show flexibility to adapt the schemes to his best players and to minimize weaknesses.

The Jets still don’t leverage the shut down abilities of their corners or blitz heavily when the opposing QB (like Geno) are at the bottom of the league against pressure but at the top of the league when not pressured.

Overall:  Over confidence and inflexibility are my biggest concerns, the inability to move on from bad hires or strategically use his chess pieces, even if it means adapting his schemes.

If I’m Woody & JD, I want to see a plan that shows this is NOT the case.  If it’s the same old, I seriously consider moving on.

Some good points. I think saleh needs to be held accountable for the whole mighty ducks shirts or the players dressing in Christmas costumes before a key game.  Wtf is that?    The old days of the players being dressed in suits and ties may be gone but there seems to be some clear immaturity and lack of focus by the players and the coaches.

[GreenFish]

I think the communication between coach and gm has been good between Saleh and Douglas. I credit this to JD’s improved drafting. It’s well documented that he drafts according to the traits his coaches want for their scheme.

So, it’s hard to assess JD and Saleh separately. A player can bust under a poor scheme fit or under poor coaching. Is that JD’s fault or Saleh’s fault? Is Zach a bad prospect or a poor fit with the coaches or both? If we pass on Zach and SF drafts him, does he still bust?

I think as a unit, they both have gotten better. The Zach miss is a huge black eye.  But I think they’ve earned another year. Both should be tied at the hip.

[Integrity28]

53 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

What??  Great addition.

If you don’t like replies, don’t start a new thread for every feeling.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

5 minutes ago, Integrity28 said:

If you don’t like replies, don’t start a new thread for every feeling.

Thoughtful replies, I love.  Just not stupid ones

[56mehl56]

I remember way back when the things being said about Lafleur were being said about Ulbrich and at that time everyone was saying MLF was a keeper but Ulbrich needed to go. Keep in context MLF is in his 2nd year as being a coordinator. Let's see if can evolve with another off season.   

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

1 hour ago, 56mehl56 said:

I remember way back when the things being said about Lafleur were being said about Ulbrich and at that time everyone was saying MLF was a keeper but Ulbrich needed to go. Keep in context MLF is in his 2nd year as being a coordinator. Let's see if can evolve with another off season.   

You think we can wait that long?  I just worry the risk reward isn’t there.  JD and Saleh have wins to hang their hats on.  What positive signs do you see in LaFleur?

[TommyT]

JD it is easy, never listen to an another Chris Simms podcast. Saleh needs to find the balls he lost when he was collecting receipts. Lafleur needs to block his brother’s phone number and sit in the timeout chair. These simple steps may help for now.

[ChewyandtheJets]

Excellent post.  I think Douglas is a good GM.  He has had some good hits in FA and some whiffs.  Nothing too crippling though if Tomlinson doesn't improve that stings a bit more.  Hoping to discover he was hurt after the season end.  His trades have been A++.  That combined with his subsequent drafting has yielded us more young talent than we have had in an extremely long time (if ever).  These young guys are gaining valuable experience on the field and as leaders who hopefully are tired of all this losing.  The whiff on Bechton is injury related and since the player had little history of injury i chalk that up for the most part to bad luck and part of the business.  The whiff on Wilson was epically bad.  Not just for opportunity cost of what else that pick could have yielded but in the two years watching this kid regress and drag the team down with him.  One important thing to consider:  Trevor Lawrence was not available at the time we picked.  Of the QBs we passed on in that draft none are looking very good.  Lance went 3rd after the Niners gave up a haul and he has contributed absolutely zero.  Is anyone talking about canning their GM?  No, because winning makes it less relevant.  We were winning and I believe would've made the playoffs had White not gotten injured for those winnable home games against the Lions and Jags.  After that the team just collapsed but without that injury i believe the narrative on the team, season, coaching, and GM are totally different.  The guy I wanted after his huge semifinal playoff win was Justin Fields.  He is completing 60% of his passes with 17 TDs and 11 ints for a team that has won 3 games.  His running is all well and good and with that it opens up some passing lanes but he is by no means an established pocket passer and no sure thing to ever develop into one before all the hits he takes take their toll.  Time will tell but i am not pining away think ing we could have been our guy.  Mac Jones is a utility player who has shown some bitchy personality qualities.  Let the Patriots keep him.  To summarize, if any of these guys had panned out in a big way after we passed maybe my narrative on Douglas changes but in the absence of that I think both he and Saleh deserve another year to see what they can do with a healthier team and hopefully more competent play at QB.

[Jerichoholic]

Firing everyone and constantly starting over has worked so well for us in the past. I'm not sure why it's even a question. I say we just start over every year until we get an accountable staff and team that goes undefeated and wins the the sb.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[GangGreened]

2 hours ago, Coquito said:

They are all gone in 2024 so might as well rip the band aid off, now.

This is where it’s headed, I don’t understand why fans don’t see it.

It was harped over, and over, and over again that ZW would make or break these two.

[GangGreened]

9 minutes ago, Jerichoholic said:

Firing everyone and constantly starting over has worked so well for us in the past. I'm not sure why it's even a question. I say we just start over every year until we get an accountable staff and team that goes undefeated and wins the the sb.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

This is a stupid narrative that doesn’t even exist.

We gave Rex and Tanny plenty of time. Idzik got axed justifiably.

Bowles and Mac got plenty of time.

Gase got two seasons which was a long time considering he shouldn’t have even been hired.

Douglas is going into year 4. Saleh into year 3.

This is usually how long losers last in this league. They will both get 2024, but firing them then is not some some musical chairs game of HC/GM

[Beerfish]

I don't think any of them should be fired.   The one guy I would turf is Boyer.  He would be gone if I was in charge.

[dbatesman]

1 minute ago, GangGreened said:

This is a stupid narrative that doesn’t even exist.

We gave Rex and Tanny plenty of time. Idzik got axed justifiably.

Bowles and Mac got plenty of time.

Gase got two seasons which was a long time considering he shouldn’t have even been hired.

Douglas is going into year 4. Saleh into year 3.

This is usually how long losers last in this league.

Yeah, this makes no sense. Idzik and Gase were the only guys who got less than three years. Does anyone think we made a mistake letting them go too soon?

[kevinc855]

2 hours ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Overall:  Over confidence and inflexibility are my biggest concerns, the inability to move on from bad hires or strategically use his chess pieces, even if it means adapting his schemes.

Solid post and fair assessment. This has always worried me about Saleh. It's almost as if he thinks he is smarter then alot of people. He needs to step back a bit, a good leader admits mistakes, doesn't double down on them. Not sure about Saleh and his ability to do that. 

I think they are both here for 23. I also think no playoffs in 23 might be the end of both. 

[kevinc855]

11 minutes ago, Jerichoholic said:

Firing everyone and constantly starting over has worked so well for us in the past.

Worked out for the Giants. 

[dbatesman]

Just now, Beerfish said:

I don't think any of them should be fired.   The one guy I would turf is Boyer.  He would be gone if I was in charge.

Boyer has a lot to answer for. At least the offense can point to injuries and sh*tty QB play catching up with them. Our STs were top-5 for the first half of the season and then completely collapsed without any injuries, as far as I can tell.

[bostonmajet]

Seems to me, there is a real problem on Offense is some of the coaching hires - either MLF needs to be replaced, turn over play calling, or needs to get some help; the same is true for the WR and QB coaches for obvious reasons. By making changes it would show improvement with #2 - things are not working - time to adjust the coaching staff.

[GangGreened]

1 minute ago, dbatesman said:

Yeah, this makes no sense. Idzik and Gase were the only guys who got less than three years. Does anyone think we made a mistake letting them go too soon?

You could argue we held onto Rex and Bowles TOO LONG. Especially in the case of Rex where he should have just gone with Idzik.

The Jets are not impatient 

[Integrity28]

58 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Thoughtful replies, I love.  Just not stupid ones

You created a thread titled “unemotional perspective” and proceeded to give us a wall of text, that is effectively opinions  informed by the emotional response to this season… like every then jabroni that starts redundant threads for attention.

I pointed it out.

It’s not the reply that is stupid.

 

[Trotter]

2 minutes ago, kevinc855 said:

Solid post and fair assessment. This has always worried me about Saleh. It's almost as if he thinks he is smarter then alot of people. He needs to step back a bit, a good leader admits mistakes, doesn't double down on them. Not sure about Saleh and his ability to do that. 

I think they are both here for 23. I also think no playoffs in 23 might be the end of both. 

Kevin,

I appreciate your passion for this team but I must lay the blame on you.

You had the chance to take both of them out after the Jags game and did not get the job done.

 

[Integrity28]

2 minutes ago, kevinc855 said:

Worked out for the Giants. 

Ehhh, this time.

Every fire everyone and fix things happens after a fire everyone and it fails.

[Trotter]

2 hours ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

A framework for discussion might be the following.  Interested in your answers…

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

Joe Douglas

1. Yes.

His BIG MISTAKES were his 1st draft, reaching for a boom/bust franchise QB in his 2nd draft & throwing him into a fire he wasn’t ready for, and signing Laken Tomlinson to a bad deal.

His BIG HITS mostly all came later:  AVT, DJ Reed, Sauce, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall.  Might even throw in the promising combo of JJ/Clemons.

2. Yes & believe we’ll see that even more this off-season.

He moved on from both Gase & Sam (the latter in his failed pursuit of a franchise QB).  Invested in ways to reduce injuries (eg, new field on the horizon).  Upgraded positions like CB & RB that some would have been fine keeping as is.

I give him credit for drafting elite players at non premium positions like Guard and RB after failing when he took boom or bust LT Becton over the safer non premium RT Wirfs.

3. Yes.  His management of the salary cap, trading assets overvalued by others, & draft philosophy have been instrumental in creating a competitive roster.  Missing on Zach is infinitely easier to fix than missing on trading for Russell Wilson.  Cutting players like Davis & Lawson will  result in minimum dead cap space.  The exception here is Tomlinson, which was a big miss.

Overall:  I keep him- the trend is our friend.  He absolutely crushed the last draft and the acquisition of DJ.  He failed trying to get a high upside franchise QB with few options available. Mac Jones is not that guy, waiting for the 2023 draft offered few options and the trade market was too risky/expensive.  That’s all important context.  However, this will be an infinitely BIGGER miss if Fields turns into that guy.  Right now he’s a dynamic runner and decent enough passer.

Robert Saleh

1. Mixed bag

There were mid season signs the team was turning the corner and learning how to win.

That fell apart:  team reverted to showing it knew how to ‘lose games’, Saleh made questionable decisions (4th down, clock management), and the team came out flat & showed little fight in must win games.

2. At times, but often when it is too late.

The word stubborn comes to mind.  Deserves credit for the Sauce pick which didn’t necessarily fit his philosophy.  Also for benching Zach.

However- he’s been stubborn with his scheme, stuck with Zach too long in multiple games (NE, Jags) and has failed to fix killer penalties & other crucial game losing plays (dropped passes).

He also failed to reverse the trend of coming out flat in must win games.

3. No.

He deserves credit for getting players who fit his scheme, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

However, he has failed to show flexibility to adapt the schemes to his best players and to minimize weaknesses.

The Jets still don’t leverage the shut down abilities of their corners or blitz heavily when the opposing QB (like Geno) are at the bottom of the league against pressure but at the top of the league when not pressured.

Overall:  Over confidence and inflexibility are my biggest concerns, the inability to move on from bad hires or strategically use his chess pieces, even if it means adapting his schemes.

If I’m Woody & JD, I want to see a plan that shows this is NOT the case.  If it’s the same old, I seriously consider moving on.

They say timing is everything so I am responding after the Saleh press conference today.

I did not want a head coaching change but not so sure now.

He is making it very diffucult to back him 

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

Also it looks like this next HC cycle is a lot of Defensive candidates. I'm sure everyone would love Leslie Frazer.

[Gen X Jet]

2 hours ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Mile LaFleur

1. Has the individual gotten better in his role?

2. Shown flexibility to course correct?

3. Leveraged competitive strengths?

 

1. No, not one shred of evidence I can find.

His offense scored fewer TDs, seemed to get worse in short yardage & red zone .. even against weaker competition (a sign of predictable play calling), and continued to fail to start games strong.

I don’t care who the QB is, this is all damning!

Equally as damming is that players are going backwards, not getting better under his staff’s coaching.  Zach is a SHELL of his first game 2021 self.  Moore, Mims, Carter, Becton all have gone backwards from their promising rookie years.  

Where is the fire, the passion in the players?  Gone.


2. ~ NONE.

I’ve seen 3-4 opposing teams this year try to jumpstart their offense against the Jets by flashing up tempo no huddle.  Didn’t see that once by MLF, who seems as inflexible as a light post.

How about some pump fakes?

STOP and GO?

Hand-off, Lateral back to the QB?

More slants?

RB screens on all out blitzes?

A new opening drive script before it was too late.

 

3. Very little.

Garrett Wilson didn’t open the season as a starter.

Elijah Moore, for all his faults, has barely been used in space (a strength of his).  Little attempt to involve him in the O.

Tyler Conklin has not been schemed / motioned to get a LB 1:1 in coverage— a big strength of his last year.

Zack was rarely rolled out of the pocket by design, certainly not a part of his core play set.  Barely used his legs to run.

Uzomah has a 90% catch rate but has been underutilized in this phase.

It took half the season to get Bam Knight involved.  Instead, he was at risk being plucked from our practice squad.  
 

OVERALL:  It’s a clear move on for me.  Yes, we can blame it all on Zach or we can see the underlying red flags, trend lines, the stubbornness, the failure to inspire and call it a day. 
 

When's the last time the Jets had a player demand a trade, let alone two in the same season in the same position?

[Claymation]

1 hour ago, 56mehl56 said:

I remember way back when the things being said about Lafleur were being said about Ulbrich and at that time everyone was saying MLF was a keeper but Ulbrich needed to go. Keep in context MLF is in his 2nd year as being a coordinator. Let's see if can evolve with another off season.   

Can you give me an example of what MiLF is good at?