The Fortunes of a Middling Team Turned Around By ONE Remarkable Draft!

[32EBoozer]

Idzik —> Maccagnan —> Douglas

After two strong pushes to reach the Super Bowl failed, the Jets turn over the keys of the kingdom to John Idzik who completes 2 drafts of futility (Coples/ Hill + Milner/   Richardson*/ Geno) only to be replaced by MacDaddy who selects Pryor/Amaro then Leo*/D. Smith then Lee+Hack then Adams/Maye then Darnold/Shepherd & finally nails one with QW in 2019. 
 

Mercifully, and with Adam Gase help, JD comes on board and spectacularly appears to fail in 2020 with @Big Bust/Mims/Davis followed by ZW miss/ AVT hit in 2021. At this point we are one of the worst managed teams in football for the last decade….. and then a miracle happened!

After trading away JA and a terrible 2021 season, JD has Sauce and GW fall in his lap, trades up for JJ and Breece and found a gem in Rd. 4 in Clemons.

Due to the addition of the DROY & OROY + a talented young RB & the ascension of QW to All-Pro the rest of the league took notice of these up and coming Jets. In particular, a disgruntled 4X MVP Qb who lavished praise on the Jets and their young players and coach. Joe Douglas took notice and after a horrendous year of Qb play by Zach began to plan for making a move for AR when GB began floating the idea of a trade.

JD jumped on Nathaniel Hackett, selling him on the idea of going “all in” on a Rodgers trade. He also brought in Rodgers pal and top FA receiver Allen Lazard… Rodgers was now openly pushing to leave GB and committed to the Jets as the only team he would play for.

The rest is history and the terms of the trade open for criticism or praise. The point of this post was, if not for the 2022 draft, there is no way Aaron Rodgers considers coming to the Jets and the fortunes of this franchise are now on a stunning trajectory. How it plays out, no one knows, but hope has been restored at 1JD and among the fan base.
 

The Jets are the talk of the NFL and taking part in 5 prime time games! This was due to the fact that JD wasn’t willing to hitch his wagon to Zach Wilson and made a huge investment on an aging gunslinger who’s looking to make one last push for a ring…. all thanks to 1 great draft!

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

Just wait till Ruckert breaks out. 
 

Thank you JD! Thank you!

[Jet Nut]

Should add Mitchell in as a find. 

[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

In terms of transformation, I’ve been most impressed by the CB and EDGE situations.

Maccagnan essentially ignored both positions.  (He ignored everything other than safety really.)

End of Macc era:

Trumaine Johnson, Busta Skrine, Mo Claiborne, Daryl Roberts, Parry Nickerson, Rashard Robinson 

Brandon Copeland, Jordan Jenkins, Josh Martin, Jeremiah Attaochu 

Now:

Sauce, DJ, MC2, Echols, Bryce Hall

JJ, Carl, Clemons, JFM, Huff, Wilburt McD

[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

They’re not going to fire Saleh no matter what (because Rodgers likes him) but the man truly has no more excuses.

For the first 2 years of pathetic losing he basically blamed Maccagnan and Gase.

This offseason he makes LaFleur his scapegoat.

Look the roster.  It’s absolutely stacked, and he’s got a HOF QB.

I’m sorry but if he doesn’t get it done this year, it’s on him.  He can repeat all the slogans he wants.  There can’t be any more deflection or finger pointing or “positive vibes only” or “go find a beach and a book” type stuff being presented as some kind of solution to actual problems.

 

[32EBoozer]

28 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

Should add Mitchell in as a find. 

The injury kept him in reserve right now. Could be added this season!

[Sperm Edwards]

16 minutes ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

In terms of transformation, I’ve been most impressed by the CB and EDGE situations.

Maccagnan essentially ignored both positions.  (He ignored everything other than safety really.)

End of Macc era:

Trumaine Johnson, Busta Skrine, Mo Claiborne, Daryl Roberts, Parry Nickerson, Rashard Robinson 

Brandon Copeland, Jordan Jenkins, Josh Martin, Jeremiah Attaochu 

Now:

Sauce, DJ, MC2, Echols, Bryce Hall

JJ, Carl, Clemons, JFM, Huff, Wilburt McD

You must be forgetting Macc's drafted edge rushers. Ignored? Hah!

• 3rd rounder Jordan Jenkins. At least he legitimately belonged on an NFL roster, and good enough to start on some bad Jets rosters, so I'll give him that.
• Then Dylan Donohue, most famous for driving drunk the wrong way through the Lincoln Tunnel. His official team picture looked like one of those mugshots from The Faces of Meth. 
• Finally Macc's Magnum Opus 3rd round "steal" with "first round grades" Jachai Polite, who couldn't even make it to a rookie roster spot that most 6th rounders glide through - on good teams - just out of pure benefit of the doubt reasons.

And at corner?

• Don't you remember Juston Burris was one of our annual biggest steals of the draft? All offseason after that 2nd year, like half the posters here were penciling him as a starting CB2 in his 3rd season, and evidence of Big Macc's drafting prowess. Then Burris barely makes the roster, and gets outright waived in October.
• Plus more "steal" day 3 picks - Parry Nickerson & Bless Austin - instead of just drafting a day 1-2 corner like a normal putz. 

Plus we didn't need to draft corners high, because we doubled-down on high pick safeties. Remember, that's where the league trend was headed, as I was told by my football betters.

...FFS. The man was absolute NFL franchise poison. Hiring him as GM in the first place was bad enough; how few functioning synapses must Chris Johnson have had to actually reward him with a contract extension after multiple seasons of failure? ****ing idiot.

Well, thanks for encouraging my trip down Memory Lane. In fairness, it helps to enjoy this offseason, and what's to come, that much more. 

[peebag]

When was this so called "breakout"?

[Jetsfan80]

11 minutes ago, peebag said:

When was this so called "breakout"?

The day Aaron Rodgers decided this roster was good enough to make becoming a Jet his top choice, with no # 2 option listed.  

[jgb]

1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

The day Aaron Rodgers decided this roster was good enough to make becoming a Jet his top choice, with no # 2 option listed.  

Amazing to have a HOF QB pick us and not just to use us to boomerang to Minnesota 

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, jgb said:

Amazing to have a HOF QB pick us and not just to use us to boomerang to a Minnesota 

And to the “choosing us for how long?” crowd:  Next priority - convince him to have his reign last as long as a presidential term so he can face his old team in the regular season.

[jgb]

1 hour ago, Sperm Edwards said:

You must be forgetting Macc's drafted edge rushers. Ignored? Hah!

• 3rd rounder Jordan Jenkins. At least he legitimately belonged on an NFL roster, and good enough to start on some bad Jets rosters, so I'll give him that.
• Then Dylan Donohue, most famous for driving drunk the wrong way through the Lincoln Tunnel. His official team picture looked like one of those mugshots from The Faces of Meth. 
• Finally Macc's Magnum Opus 3rd round "steal" with "first round grades" Jachai Polite, who couldn't even make it to a rookie roster spot that most 6th rounders glide through - on good teams - just out of pure benefit of the doubt reasons.

And at corner?

• Don't you remember Juston Burris was one of our annual biggest steals of the draft? All offseason after that 2nd year, like half the posters here were penciling him as a starting CB2 in his 3rd season, and evidence of Big Macc's drafting prowess. Then Burris barely makes the roster, and gets outright waived in October.
• Plus more "steal" day 3 picks - Parry Nickerson & Bless Austin - instead of just drafting a day 1-2 corner like a normal putz. 

Plus we didn't need to draft corners high, because we doubled-down on high pick safeties. Remember, that's where the league trend was headed, as I was told by my football betters.

...FFS. The man was absolute NFL franchise poison. Hiring him as GM in the first place was bad enough; how few functioning synapses must Chris Johnson have had to actually reward him with a contract extension after multiple seasons of failure? ****ing idiot.

Well, thanks for encouraging my trip down Memory Lane. In fairness, it helps to enjoy this offseason, and what's to come, that much more. 

Whiffing is actually worse than ignoring. Macc sucks.

[Jetsfan80]

Just now, jgb said:

Whiffing is actually worse than ignoring. Macc sucks.

Especially when whiffing THAT badly on guys who had no hope of working.

@Sperm Edwards forgot to add ol’ stiff hipped Lorenzo Mauldin to his list.  Like…who the f**k is NOT aware by now how important athleticism is to the EDGE spot?  F**king Macc….

[jgb]

1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Especially when whiffing THAT badly on guys who had no hope of working.

@Sperm Edwards forgot to add ol’ stiff hipped Lorenzo Mauldin to his list.  Like…who the f**k is NOT aware by now how important athleticism is to the EDGE spot?  F**king Macc….

The two most predictive elements of EDGE success (beyond college production) are weight and 3-cone. Mauldin— 16th percentile 3-cone.

[rangerous]

It’s more than just one draft. Sure the 2022 draft was exceptional but it’s also the way Douglas has emphicised the whole team and has taken steps to upgrade position by position. Not to say all of his moves have worked out but it doesn’t take many core winning players to turn a team around. The rest will follow. Winning is contagious.

[32EBoozer]

2 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Especially when whiffing THAT badly on guys who had no hope of working.

@Sperm Edwards forgot to add ol’ stiff hipped Lorenzo Mauldin to his list.  Like…who the f**k is NOT aware by now how important athleticism is to the EDGE spot?  F**king Macc….

Yeah, but MacDaddy loved him because he had a great story overcoming gangs, urban violence  and family tragedy. Yeah, let’s grab him in the 3rd! Lulz!

[Rhg1084]

Jets have found 5 blue chip players in the draft which has built the foundation of this team. All the additional talent built around these guys has been gravy. JD has done a remarkable job 

Quinnen

AVT

Sauce

GW

Breece 

[Rhg1084]

2 hours ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

They’re not going to fire Saleh no matter what (because Rodgers likes him) but the man truly has no more excuses.

For the first 2 years of pathetic losing he basically blamed Maccagnan and Gase.

This offseason he makes LaFleur his scapegoat.

Look the roster.  It’s absolutely stacked, and he’s got a HOF QB.

I’m sorry but if he doesn’t get it done this year, it’s on him.  He can repeat all the slogans he wants.  There can’t be any more deflection or finger pointing or “positive vibes only” or “go find a beach and a book” type stuff being presented as some kind of solution to actual problems.

 

Do you give Saleh credit for taking the defense from ranked 31st to ranked 3rd?

[Larz]

agree, but I think beating the packers last year and having defensive schemes that Rodgers said frustrated him was a big factor too. 

[Rhg1084]

3 minutes ago, Larz said:

agree, but I think beating the packers last year and having defensive schemes that Rodgers said frustrated him was a big factor too. 

Exactly, Rodgers saw first hand how dominant this defense is. That was probably Qs best game of the season, go back and look at those highlights he dominated. Rodgers took a look at our offense and saw GW and Breece and was like “screw it I’m going there.” Bring me Lazard and Cobb and time to go to work! 

[ChewyandtheJets]

It’s interesting it seems like a positive post but yet you say Douglas had Gardner and Wilson “fall in his lap”.   Not sure I get that way of thinking.   So the busts you reference are all on the GM but the excellent picks were all no brainers that we shouldn’t credit him for?

[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

55 minutes ago, Rhg1084 said:

Do you give Saleh credit for taking the defense from ranked 31st to ranked 3rd?

Sure, but he underachieved with only 7 wins.

In critical moments, the team choked.

CJ Mosley offside vs BUF, NE punt return TD, awful clock management and 4th string TE uncovered for 60+ yard walk-in TD vs Detroit.

Laid a complete egg at home in prime time vs JAX.

The way the QB situation has been managed for 2 years has been a lesson in what not to do.

[Rhg1084]

26 minutes ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

Sure, but he underachieved with only 7 wins.

In critical moments, the team choked.

CJ Mosley offside vs BUF, NE punt return TD, awful clock management and 4th string TE uncovered for 60+ yard walk-in TD vs Detroit.

Laid a complete egg at home in prime time vs JAX.

The way the QB situation has been managed for 2 years has been a lesson in what not to do.

Fair enough. Saleh has been both good (defensive turnaround) and questionable (as noted by you points). This obviously is a huge year for him.

[Jet Nut]

33 minutes ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

Sure, but he underachieved with only 7 wins.

In critical moments, the team choked.

CJ Mosley offside vs BUF, NE punt return TD, awful clock management and 4th string TE uncovered for 60+ yard walk-in TD vs Detroit.

Laid a complete egg at home in prime time vs JAX.

The way the QB situation has been managed for 2 years has been a lesson in what not to do.

It’s amazing how much is placed on the HC.  Like Saleh didn’t tell Mosley enough times not to jump offsides on a 3rd and 4?  
 

[peebag]

2 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

The day Aaron Rodgers decided this roster was good enough to make becoming a Jet his top choice, with no # 2 option listed.  

Rodgers record w/ the Jets is 0-0 last I checked.

Once again Jets winning the off season.

[Hal N of Provo]

31 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

It’s amazing how much is placed on the HC.  Like Saleh didn’t tell Mosley enough times not to jump offsides on a 3rd and 4?  
 

I’m hopeful the Jets have a GM and Coach, but I’m not there yet with then.  
 

Saleh did well with the defense 2nd year.   
 

HORRIBLE job with the entire offensive staff.  Saleh has lots to prove this season. JD let that disaster happen.  That entire offensive staff was clueless.

The hope is JD and Saleh seem to have learned from mistakes.  If they learned than it’s and expensive investment.  There is a decent chance that’s what it is.

[Joe W. Namath]

1 hour ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

Sure, but he underachieved with only 7 wins.

In critical moments, the team choked.

CJ Mosley offside vs BUF, NE punt return TD, awful clock management and 4th string TE uncovered for 60+ yard walk-in TD vs Detroit.

Laid a complete egg at home in prime time vs JAX.

The way the QB situation has been managed for 2 years has been a lesson in what not to do.

Saleh is one of the best, young coaches in the league.  We are extremely lucky to have him.  He is our bill cowher.

[Saul Goodman]

Just think where we’d be if Douglas didn’t blow the entire 2020 draft and most of the 2021 draft picks. 

[The Crusher]

3 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

Saleh is one of the best, young coaches in the league.  We are extremely lucky to have him.  He is our bill cowher.

Maybe, except Bill Cowher had winning teams. Other than that, maybe? 

[Jetsfan80]

31 minutes ago, peebag said:

Rodgers record w/ the Jets is 0-0 last I checked.

Once again Jets winning the off season.

Oh well then let me hop in my Time Machine then.

 

…….

 

Yep we win the SB!

[Jetsfan80]

3 hours ago, jgb said:

The two most predictive elements of EDGE success (beyond college production) are weight and 3-cone. Mauldin— 16th percentile 3-cone.

Surprised it was that high tbh

[Joe W. Namath]

11 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

Maybe, except Bill Cowher had winning teams. Other than that, maybe? 

Bill cowher was handed a decent roster from a hall of fame coach.  Robert Saleh was handed a ground up rebuild from one of the all time worst head coaches of all time.

[Flashlite80]

3 hours ago, rangerous said:

It’s more than just one draft. Sure the 2022 draft was exceptional but it’s also the way Douglas has emphicised the whole team and has taken steps to upgrade position by position. Not to say all of his moves have worked out but it doesn’t take many core winning players to turn a team around. The rest will follow. Winning is contagious.

Joe D had a great 2022 draft.  His first draft was a collossal fail.  His second was mediocre at best, since he blew the 2nd overall pick, the regression of Carter and the issues with Moore.  We don't know about his last draft yet but we do know he was caught flatfooted in the first round and selected 2 other players who didn't receive a draft grade below 350.  If McDonald was their pick all along, he should have traded back for more picks before the draft.  

We do know that, while he did a good job building the defensive line, his efforts on the offensive line have to be considered a massive failure despite a great AVT pick.  This is the 4th rebuild of the offensive line.  The first three didn't provide anything resembling adequate protection.  The latest version has injury questions at both tackles, a free agent bust at LG and a rookie center.  Not good considering the tremendous amount of money and draft capital he invested there.

The Rodgers deal was mishandled.  We were the only team crazy enough to absorb $110MM of salary cap on a 39 year old QB coming off a down year.  It should work out fine but at the very least he should have gotten the deal done earlier.  We were passive through most of free agency while we waited, supposedly to squeeze a better deal.  Then we gave them everything they wanted anyway.

I believe this team will be a lot of fun to watch.  That doesn't mean Joe D. did a good job.  If this draft flops and we miss the playoffs, he'll be looking for a job.  This is a make or break year and Joe D. went all in.  He may be a genius who finally turns this franchise around or he may be the blind squirrel who finally found the nut in the 2022 draft.  Let's hope he's a genius.  If he's wrong, the cap will lead to years of losing before we can think about winning again, as dead cap and no #1 pick leaves this team woefully short of talent. 

[southparkcpa]

23 minutes ago, Joe W. Namath said:

Bill cowher was handed a decent roster from a hall of fame coach.  Robert Saleh was handed a ground up rebuild from one of the all time worst head coaches of all time.

Stop... His QB's from 92 to 97 were Neil O'Donnel, Mike Tomzak and Kordell Stewart.  

[Jetsfan80]

1 minute ago, southparkcpa said:

Stop... His QB's from 92 to 97 were Neil O'Donnel, Mike Tomzak and Kordell Stewart.  

Uh Saleh was handed Zach Wilson, so….