With Wilson Benched, Joe Douglas Needs Some Personal Wins

[JetNation]

With the New York Jets no longer having a realistic shot at making the 2023 NFL playoffs, GM Joe Douglas could sure use some personal wins as the seasons second half plays out.  It’s been a disastrous few months for Douglas who saw his trade for Aaron Rodgers blow up in his face while Zach Wilson fell on his as the team’s primary second quarterback.  And that wasn’t all.

Douglas’ failure to add quality depth at wide receiver behind Allen Lazard and Corey Davis via the draft or free agency has left him with a Garrett Wilson and a bunch of guys who, at this point in their very young careers, can’t get open.  And while some may vilify Douglas for his handling of the offensive line, we’ll take it a bit easier on him there.  Why?  Because how many NFL teams are legitimately ten deep up front?  We ask because that’s what it would have taken to withstand the number of injuries the Jets have sustained in the trenches up front.

Zach Wilson joins the ever-growing list of Jets flops at quarterback after being taken second overall by Jets GM Joe Douglas.

The team started the season with Duane Brown, Laken Tomlinson, Connor McGovern, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Mekhi Becton up front.  This Friday against the Dolphins, it’s entirely possible that of those five, only Tomlinson will play as they trot out what will be their eighth different offensive line combination of the season.

So where can Joe Douglas get some wins over the second half of the season?  His 2023 draft class which has up to this point, been mostly invisible.

Second-round pick Joe Tippmann has done some good work at center and guard and remains the only player from the 2023 class who is seeing action on a regular basis.  Beyond that, Douglas has some talented yet rarely used players.

It starts in the trenches where first-round pick Will McDonald has been used sparsely, but has flashed high-end ability.  His elite get off makes him a player who should find his way to the quarterback if given some 3rd down reps.  The problem of course becomes taking Bryce Huff or Jermaine Johnson off the field to get McDonald on it.  But should Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich find a way to work him in for more playing time, it would undoubtedly boost the outlook of this year’s class as put together by Joe Douglas.

Fourth-round picks (120th overall) Carter Warren saw his first action at tackle this week when Mekhi Becton left the game with an ankle injury and while he wasn’t perfect, he did do some good things.  And while it’s certainly not saying much, he looked better than veteran backup Robert Turner did in his limited action this season.

Nice job by Carter Warren picking up a pair of blocks on the Breece Hall run. pic.twitter.com/gTk6WJAvtm

— Glenn Naughton (@JNRadio_Glenn) November 19, 2023

Warren was a player who lasted longer than many anticipated in this year’s draft.  This was due to missed time from injury at Pitt, but now that he’s healthy and rolling, getting him on the field should be a priority.  A better pass blocker than run blocker, Warren could establish himself as a legitimate candidate to win a starting tackle job next season.

Then of course there’s running back Israel or “Izzy” Abanikanda.  Perhaps the most explosive offensive player on the roster, the Jets have kept him in bubble wrap all season as the fourth back on the depth chart.  Following the release of Michael Carter last week, Abanikanda is expected to see more opportunities as the season goes on.  If he does, expect to do some things to alleviate concerns about the 2023 class.

Beyond that there isn’t much to say about Douglas’ pick.  Linebacker Zaire Barnes, defensive back Jarrick Bernard-Converse and tight end Zach Kuntz were projects when drafted and haven’t seen the field this season.  Although Bernard-Converse was active against the Bills and could work his way on to the field at some point as a safety/cornerback.

Coming off the heels of a historically good Joe Douglas draft class last season;  One that netted Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, Michael Clemons and Jeremy Ruckert, there were high hopes for what Douglas would follow that up with.  Up to now, it’s been a whole lot of question marks.  If some of those questions have positive answers in the coming weeks, it would go a long way in building both fan and owner confidence in Douglas’ ability to identify and draft talented players.

The post With Wilson Benched, Joe Douglas Needs Some Personal Wins appeared first on JetNation.com - New York Jets Blog & Forum.

Click here to read the full story...

[usanyj]

Joe really should be made to answer questions at a podium now, not at the end of the season, now. 

[AFJF]

3 minutes ago, usanyj said:

Joe really should be made to answer questions at a podium now, not at the end of the season, now. 

Thing I'm looking most forward to this offseason (hoping) is a legit insider (Breer?) breaking down WTF happened in that building from the moment last season ended.  There was some good, but there was a whoooole lot of "WTF are they doing and who's making that call" type of stuff.

When you're making a move for Aaron Rodgers, Woody is 100% getting involved.

There have also been a couple of reports that say the Jets are cash strapped, a theory that's supported by them demanding money earlier than usual from STH's.  Did they tell Joe he couldn't spend big on Aaron and then spend another $8-10 million on a QB2?

And I'm not trying to absolve Douglas here.  I'm just grasping at straws to figure out how he, or any GM, could make such a bone headed decision.  Everyone knew Zach wasn't good.  Woody announced immediately after the season that they were gonna' go get a vet.  But then they all deiced it's a good idea to have Zach as the top option if Rodgers got hurt?  Too much stupidity to fathom unless it was driven by pinching pennies.

[usanyj]

6 minutes ago, AFJF said:

Thing I'm looking most forward to this offseason (hoping) is a legit insider (Breer?) breaking down WTF happened in that building from the moment last season ended.  There was some good, but there was a whoooole lot of "WTF are they doing and who's making that call" type of stuff.

When you're making a move for Aaron Rodgers, Woody is 100% getting involved.

There have also been a couple of reports that say the Jets are cash strapped, a theory that's supported by them demanding money earlier than usual from STH's.  Did they tell Joe he couldn't spend big on Aaron and then spend another $8-10 million on a QB2?

And I'm not trying to absolve Douglas here.  I'm just grasping at straws to figure out how he, or any GM, could make such a bone headed decision.  Everyone knew Zach wasn't good.  Woody announced immediately after the season that they were gonna' go get a vet.  But then they all deiced it's a good idea to have Zach as the top option if Rodgers got hurt?  Too much stupidity to fathom unless it was driven by pinching pennies.

Or stubbornness and not wanting to admit you were wrong....I think if you make a mistake, admit it and move on (ala The niners with Lance), but Joe doubling down on Zach and not having an adequate, serviceable back up.

I think the most telling thing is Tommy Devito, who was not allowed to throw the football, 3 weeks later he has a 3 touchdown game and zach is still making the easy look hard. 

[More Cowbell]

The post is too long for me to read. I just don't  have it in me to spend so much time on this team anymore but JD could have survived this or looked better had he just traded Zach this past off season. As a fan, most understand  that the draft is rolling the dice. We got snake eyes with Zach. It happens. Stubbornness is his undoing. 

[AFJF]

36 minutes ago, usanyj said:

Or stubbornness and not wanting to admit you were wrong....I think if you make a mistake, admit it and move on (ala The niners with Lance), but Joe doubling down on Zach and not having an adequate, serviceable back up.

I think the most telling thing is Tommy Devito, who was not allowed to throw the football, 3 weeks later he has a 3 touchdown game and zach is still making the easy look hard. 

That's the thing though.  Jumping through every hoop to replace Zach with Rodgers was an admission that they'd screwed up in some way.  They even went so far as to say they played him before he was ready and took blame for that.  Well if that was the case (which it was), why in the world would you not do a true reset and make sure he's watching from the sideline as QB3 and putting in work during the week?

Makes no sense.

[AFJF]

26 minutes ago, More Cowbell said:

The post is too long for me to read. I just don't  have it in me to spend so much time on this team anymore but JD could have survived this or looked better had he just traded Zach this past off season. As a fan, most understand  that the draft is rolling the dice. We got snake eyes with Zach. It happens. Stubbornness is his undoing. 

TLDR:

Bad stretch for JD.  Rooks getting on field/playing well would be good for him.

[Augustiniak]

14 minutes ago, AFJF said:

That's the thing though.  Jumping through every hoop to replace Zach with Rodgers was an admission that they'd screwed up in some way.  They even went so far as to say they played him before he was ready and took blame for that.  Well if that was the case (which it was), why in the world would you not do a true reset and make sure he's watching from the sideline as QB3 and putting in work during the week?

Makes no sense.

Yes, trading for rodgers was an admission that wilson was/is never going to get it done. Nothing more needed to ever be said.  It also said that the rest of the team was ready to take the next step and it is.  I think as often happens with the jets hc/gm, there’s a game played as the hc needs to win games for his resume while the gm just wants to demonstrate this his draft picks dont suck.  So saleh hasn’t been in any rush to emphasize guys like izzy or ruckert and only played tippman early on b/c of injuries anyway.  Losing here often creates friction b/t the hc and gm.

[Adoni Beast]

With Rodgers likely to play 2 more season and that coinciding with Douglas and Saleh's tenure....Woody will most likely let this play out with the 3 of them and see where the chips fall.

The only deviation from this is if Rodgers pulls rank and says hey we need this GM or this HC. 

[playtowinthegame]

Joe Douglas' biggest mistake was holding onto his 2nd overall pick bust as long as he did. He tried to save face by bringing in Aaron Rodgers to win now and mentor Zach Wilson into a good starting quarterback. It blew up in his face. He doubled down on Zach Wilson by keeping him the starter on a team that had a chance to make the playoffs. He threw away the 2023 season because he desperately wanted Zach Wilson to pan out. He's ultimately responsible for the product he puts out on the field. For that, he gets a failing grade for 2023.

[Integrity28]

Meh.

FJD for real. I root for the laundry. Best thing for the Jets is to end the drought of GMs that have a 10% hit rate in talent acquisition. To think, Tanny (as bad as he could be), was the last GM that win more than he lost in roster additions. Until he started listening to Rex’s wish list, that is.

[AFJF]

4 minutes ago, Integrity28 said:

Meh.

FJD for real. I root for the laundry. Best thing for the Jets is to end the drought of GMs that have a 10% hit rate in talent acquisition. To think, Tanny (as bad as he could be), was the last GM that win more than he lost in roster additions. Until he started listening to Rex’s wish list, that is.

The hit and miss conversations are fun but useless.  I've seen people call anyone short of an all-pro a "bust".  

Fantasy football and Madden have skewed people's perceptions of what a good draft pick is IMO.

Then you've got the "This team is bad so therefore every player must suck so just cut everyone" folks because thinking and context are boring.

[Larz]

Wins ?

I’m hoping to go from laughingstock to just incompetent 

[GreenFish]

2 hours ago, usanyj said:

Joe really should be made to answer questions at a podium now, not at the end of the season, now. 

Saleh has been facing all the heat.

[usanyj]

Just now, GreenFish said:

Saleh has been facing all the heat.

And that's mostly the case...but I feel like this situation requires Joe to take the podium. They can do it together but Joe should be there.

[Same Old Jets]

Joe Sleepy Drunken Master Douglas. 

 

[Claymation]

2 hours ago, usanyj said:

Joe really should be made to answer questions at a podium now, not at the end of the season, now. 

About?

[Matt39]

2 minutes ago, usanyj said:

And that's mostly the case...but I feel like this situation requires Joe to take the podium. They can do it together but Joe should be there.

Woody was the main reason why Zach was brought back. Pauline reported this last offseason and Glazer had reported the Jets front office wanted to move on. Woody was then quoted saying he didn’t want to throw away Zachs arm talent:

[usanyj]

Just now, Claymation said:

About?

Why he did not prepare the team with a serviceable back up over the summer, then as a follow up, why did he not do anything after having physical proof the position was hindering the team at the trade deadline.

[Claymation]

5 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

Saleh has been facing all the heat.

What heat? Self inflicted perhaps.

All he had to say is that after long consideration we feel it is time to start Boyle. If the media pressed, this is our decision as an organization to start Boyle. 

[extmenace]

1 hour ago, AFJF said:

That's the thing though.  Jumping through every hoop to replace Zach with Rodgers was an admission that they'd screwed up in some way.  They even went so far as to say they played him before he was ready and took blame for that.  Well if that was the case (which it was), why in the world would you not do a true reset and make sure he's watching from the sideline as QB3 and putting in work during the week?

Makes no sense.

We’re going to see why Zach came in when we watch the jets vs the dolphins on Friday. 
 

the mistake here is once Rodgers was gone, the team should have realized that we didn’t have a qb2. We had a project with Zach and a clipboard holder that knows the system. You could name off plenty of qbs that were available. Had it been done in week 2, there would have been plenty of time to get the next guy ready. 

[GreenFish]

22 minutes ago, Claymation said:

What heat? Self inflicted perhaps.

All he had to say is that after long consideration we feel it is time to start Boyle. If the media pressed, this is our decision as an organization to start Boyle. 

He’s been saying that for over a year.

[Claymation]

3 minutes ago, usanyj said:

Why he did not prepare the team with a serviceable back up over the summer, then as a follow up, why did he not do anything after having physical proof the position was hindering the team at the trade deadline.

Do you think the Jets are winning the Super Bowl with Minshew as the QB?

If you say yes, then you are kidding yourself.

This season ended at the Saleh press conference after the 1st game when he announced that Rodgers tore his Achilles.  Any trades or acquisitions would have been putting horse feathers on a mule.

[Claymation]

3 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

He’s been saying that for over a year.

Didn't say it yesterday.

[Matt39]

4 minutes ago, Claymation said:

Do you think the Jets are winning the Super Bowl with Minshew as the QB?

If you say yes, then you are kidding yourself.

This season ended at the Saleh press conference after the 1st game when he announced that Rodgers tore his Achilles.  Any trades or acquisitions would have been putting horse feathers on a mule.

Do you think Minnesota trading for Dobbs was a poor use of resources?

[usanyj]

4 minutes ago, Claymation said:

Do you think the Jets are winning the Super Bowl with Minshew as the QB?

If you say yes, then you are kidding yourself.

This season ended at the Saleh press conference after the 1st game when he announced that Rodgers tore his Achilles.  Any trades or acquisitions would have been putting horse feathers on a mule.

Got it...so on someone's first day of work if they will never be CEO they should just quit?

That's not the answer. Of course our super bowl chance went out the window...but you still have to play the games, and with this playoff drought, trying to achieve a positive goal should have been the pivot. 

[Claymation]

2 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

Do you think Minnesota trading for Dobbs was a poor use of resources?

No, but do you think they will win the Super Bowl this year?

[Claymation]

2 minutes ago, usanyj said:

Got it...so on someone's first day of work if they will never be CEO they should just quit?

That's not the answer. Of course our super bowl chance went out the window...but you still have to play the games, and with this playoff drought, trying to achieve a positive goal should have been the pivot. 

[Matt39]

2 minutes ago, Claymation said:

No, but do you think they will win the Super Bowl this year?

Probably not. But I think Dobbs paired with the Jets defense could have been fun.

[usanyj]

1 minute ago, Claymation said:

Thats all well and good but at this point, after the injury to Rodgers, the goal should have shifted to breaking the longest playoff draught in sports...thats a feather in the cap and on to show the team grinds every week with their back against the wall, something to build on for the team going into next year...instead you didn't even bother loading the lifeboats, you just let it sink with everyone on board.

[Claymation]

4 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

Probably not. But I think Dobbs paired with the Jets defense could have been fun.

This offense has one really good player (GW), a couple of average players in Conklin and Hall. The rest are below average to God awful in this offense.

Dobbs is an exciting player but the running attack behind this line sucks. This team would still be one dimensional.

[Claymation]

6 minutes ago, usanyj said:

Thats all well and good but at this point, after the injury to Rodgers, the goal should have shifted to breaking the longest playoff draught in sports...thats a feather in the cap and on to show the team grinds every week with their back against the wall, something to build on for the team going into next year...instead you didn't even bother loading the lifeboats, you just let it sink with everyone on board.

Putting horse feathers on a mule doesn't change the fact that its still a mule.

[Integrity28]

1 hour ago, AFJF said:

The hit and miss conversations are fun but useless.  I've seen people call anyone short of an all-pro a "bust".  

Fantasy football and Madden have skewed people's perceptions of what a good draft pick is IMO.

Then you've got the "This team is bad so therefore every player must suck so just cut everyone" folks because thinking and context are boring.

That’s lovely. It’s not me, or what I’m doing here, but okay.

If guys are cut, non-contributors, or out of the league, I think it’s okay to criticize the GM. Context doesn’t matter there. Look at our draft history after 2010, when Tex began giving input to new additions after the 2008 roster turned over. 

The track record is abysmal and JD has simply extended it.

[RevisIsland610]

1 hour ago, Claymation said:

Do you think the Jets are winning the Super Bowl with Minshew as the QB?

If you say yes, then you are kidding yourself.

This season ended at the Saleh press conference after the 1st game when he announced that Rodgers tore his Achilles.  Any trades or acquisitions would have been putting horse feathers on a mule.

They might not be winning the SB with Minshew but they would certainly be challenging for the playoffs instead of having the worst offense in the league. For a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 12 years and counting it was inexcusable to do absolutely nothing to try and get better at the most important position in the sport. FAIL. 

[Claymation]

6 minutes ago, RevisIsland610 said:

They might not be winning the SB with Minshew but they would certainly be challenging for the playoffs instead of having the worst offense in the league. For a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 12 years and counting it was inexcusable to do absolutely nothing to try and get better at the most important position in the sport. FAIL. 

As Ricky Bobby said, "if you ain't first, you're last"