Off-season Progress Report

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

Might be fun to check back.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

I would have given JD a D last year before the season started, which turned into an F.

I was fine with the Rodgers trade and happy with his pay cut but was vocally unhappy not getting a legit backup QB, not drafting a mid round QB, not triple downing on Offense, drafting McDonald round 1, bringing back Lawson, Mosley remaining at $17M salary, and not making a trade at the deadline.  I considered the Rodgers crew part of the deal so accepted them but hated throwing money at Cook.

So far this year, JD gets a high mark (A) for going all in without mortgaging the future.  Smart contracts, smart trade, complimentary players, bringing in winners and booting losers, adding some nastiness to an OLine that is moving to a power game, and adding players who should be extra motivated.  He’s added 3 new legit starters to the OL, a dangerous #2 WR and a real backup QB.  Still a lot of work to be done given the injury risk that made a few of them available.  Quality depth is critical.

[HighPitch]

there is a pattern here where every off season, in general, jd gets a lot of praise but then the season turns out to be a disaster.

 

seems like this is repeating itself..

 

is it just me?

[FidelioJet]

There's an awful lot of recent season ending surgeries and age on this offense.

We'll inevitably lose 3 or 4 starters by week 6 and, once again, I'll hear - it's not JD's fault guys got hurt...

No more of that.  There are real and concerning injury risks on this offense.

[The Crusher]

4 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

There's an awful lot of recent season ending surgeries and age on this offense.

We'll inevitably lose 3 or 4 starters by week 6 and, once again, I'll hear - it's not JD's fault guys got hurt...

No more of that.  There are real and concerning injury risks on this offense.

Me thinks 6 games  is a little generous, but I appreciate your optimism. 

[FidelioJet]

1 minute ago, The Crusher said:

Me thinks 6 games  is a little generous, but I appreciate your optimism. 

Well, week 6 is the AVT week.  That's usually the death knell.

[The Crusher]

3 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

Well, week 6 is the AVT week.  That's usually the death knell.

AVailable Till week 6? Got it!! 

 

[Larz]

Free agents are available for a reason, but just a little too much recent injury history for me to give him the A

 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

Lots of good thoughts.

I’m not quite sure how JD could have filled 3 starting OL and 1 starting WR any better this offseason, given our cap situation and assets. 

Would love to hear the moves others would have made in this market with the Jets cap and available free agents.

There was a guard or 2 that received up to $20M per year.  We got 3 legit starters for $24M + the equivalent of a high 5th rounder.

At WR, a guy like Ridley got a ridiculous contract.  Same age as Williams and probably the same overall risk level.  Williams had played 13 or more games in 5 consecutive seasons before last year’s injury.  We inked him to a 1 year prove it deal.  

These moves do not vindicate JD’s major past blunders; in fact they are mostly a correction of them.  His overall grade remains poor until it doesn’t.

But I’m very impressed with how he has planned & executed this offseason to date.  The poll is about THIS OFFSEASON.

The final grade will need to consider how he builds contingencies in event of injuries, something he failed to do with Rodgers last year (and post Davis retirement).  Still lots more to do!

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

42 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

There's an awful lot of recent season ending surgeries and age on this offense.

We'll inevitably lose 3 or 4 starters by week 6 and, once again, I'll hear - it's not JD's fault guys got hurt...

No more of that.  There are real and concerning injury risks on this offense.

What do you do from this point out Fidelio to mitigate the Smith, Williams, AVT and QB injury risks?

A couple contracts you can restructure or extend and our draft picks..

 

[FidelioJet]

3 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

What do you do from this point out Fidelio to mitigate the Smith, Williams, AVT and QB injury risks?

A couple contracts you can restructure or extend and our draft picks..

 

that's over 35% of the projected starting offense.  What you do to mitigate that is not be so reliant on it.  We're hear now and let's hope they all stay healthy.

But we should also be clear there are real risks and concerns with these signing.  JD is gambling here.   These aren't no brainer signings where he would just be "unlucky" if the injuries mount up.

[Beerfish]

Surprised people are ignoring the weakness of our safety position.  Both in starters and depth.

[CTJetsFan]

I gave him a B.

JD for sure addressed the most glaring positional needs (O-line, WR, backup QB, d-line depth) and got them all at better than fair contracts, but I knocked him down a grade due to the health history of some of the guys we're bringing in and relying on to be key contributors (Smith, Williams, Kinlaw).

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

22 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

that's over 35% of the projected starting offense.  What you do to mitigate that is not be so reliant on it.  We're hear now and let's hope they all stay healthy.

But we should also be clear there are real risks and concerns with these signing.  JD is gambling here.   These aren't no brainer signings where he would just be "unlucky" if the injuries mount up.

I get it and it’s a good debate.  In any debate, here are some key questions back:

1. Did Jets have any choice this offseason not to be reliant on it?

2. Who was the durable quality LT you would have signed?

3. How about WR #2?  At what cost?

4. Oh, I’ll give you backup QB.  1 injury prone guy backing up a 40 year old coming back from an Achilles?  But Minshew, Brissett, and even Darnold had better opportunities elsewhere.  Fields?  Wentz?  Jimmy G?  I kind of preferred Winston but he might be betting on leapfrogging Watson in Cleveland.  Draft should absolutely be in play. 

 

[Darnold Schwarzenegger]

My biggest question is, 

Why is Zach Wilson still on the roster? 

please cut him

 

[Long Island Leprechaun]

3 hours ago, FidelioJet said:

There's an awful lot of recent season ending surgeries and age on this offense.

We'll inevitably lose 3 or 4 starters by week 6 and, once again, I'll hear - it's not JD's fault guys got hurt...

No more of that.  There are real and concerning injury risks on this offense.

That's the nature of FA especially for OL. Who would you have pursued that would be an improvement on JD's approach?

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

Just now, Long Island Leprechaun said:

That's the nature of FA especially for OL. Who would you have pursued that would be an improvement on JD's approach?

That’s my point as well.

Understandably so, it seems like there is a lot of emotion or historical bias in the assessment of JD’s performance this offseason.

Yeah, We are the Jets.  Of course Rodgers got hurt 4 plays in after playing all games in 7 of the previous 8 seasons.

We all predicted AVT would suffer back  to back season ending injuries to different parts of the body, a guy who had no injury history in college.

Of course it was easy to predict that the college durable Breece Hall would suffer a season ending injury his rookie year.  

JD failed last year because he had no contingency for Rodgers and relied too heavily on him lifting an otherwise weak offensive roster.   Horrible mistake that he seems to be correcting.

His final offseason grade should center on our final OL & WR depth chart and also adding a 2nd RB, 3rd safety, and other depth. 

[FidelioJet]

7 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

That's the nature of FA especially for OL. Who would you have pursued that would be an improvement on JD's approach?

You can't look at this off-season in a vacuum.  It's JD's body of work that put us in the situation where we need to revamp almost the entire OL with injury prone youth and aging vets.

 

[FidelioJet]

17 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

JD failed last year because he had no contingency for Rodgers and relied too heavily on him lifting an otherwise weak offensive roster.   Horrible mistake that he seems to be correcting.

JD literally, IMO, had the worst off-season I've ever seen by any GM we've ever had in any one given year.   Giving him credit because guys got injured is absurd.  

Question for you...when AVT goes down for the season - is it going to be - How can JD predict a used to be healthy player got hurt? 

I've never seen this level of excuse making.  His only mistake was not having a better back up? So the Jets were going to the Super Bowl last year with Tyrod Taylor?

[RedBeardedSavage]

I like the roll-of-the-dice on Kinlaw.

I think he'll be good here and then get a massive deal from someone else next offseason. 

[FidelioJet]

30 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

That's the nature of FA especially for OL. Who would you have pursued that would be an improvement on JD's approach?

Are you saying the nature of free agency is to pay over the hill guys coming off season ending injuries to be written in as starters?

 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

15 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

JD literally, IMO, had the worst off-season I've ever seen by any GM we've ever had in any one given year.   Giving him credit because guys got injured is absurd.  

Question for you...when AVT goes down for the season - is it going to be - How can JD predict a used to be healthy player got hurt? 

I've never seen this level of excuse making.  

Wait, I actually blamed JD for last offseason.  I would have given him a D at that time.  An F in retrospect.

Did you read what I wrote this entire chain?  Sometimes teams also need a little luck and the key injuries last offseason weren’t necessarily to those with lengthy injury histories.  JD failed to have a contingency in place and frankly is lucky to have a job (something I’ve written over and over).

In grading him this offseason, you have to look at what he was able to accomplish with the assets he had, who was available, the contracts that have been given out, whether he mortgaged a future he might not be a part of, whether he has given the Jets flexibility heading into the draft, and whether he has learned from his mistakes.

In looking at that criteria, I don’t know if he could have done much better.  But the final grade is TBD and he would be very wise to continue investing in our OL & WR.

Is that not fair?  Also, feel free to answer my above question on how you would have built the roster this offseason.  Who is your LT?  WR?  LG?  RT?  Very curious because I respect your opinion.

 

[FidelioJet]

3 minutes ago, OtherwiseHappyinLife said:

Wait, I actually blamed JD for last offseason.  I gave him a D at that time.  An F in retrospect.

Did you read what I wrote this entire chain?  Sometimes teams also need a little luck and the key injuries last offseason weren’t necessarily to those with lengthy injury histories.  JD failed to have a contingency in place and frankly is lucky to have a job (something I’ve written over and over).

In grading him this offseason, you have to look at what he was able to accomplish with the assets he had, who was available, whether he mortgaged a future he might not be a part of, whether he has given the Jets flexibility heading into the draft, and whether he has learned from his mistakes

In looking at that criteria, I don’t know if he could have done much better.  But the final grade is TBD and he would be very wise to continue investing in out OT & WR.

Is that not fair?  Also, feel free to answer my above question on how you would have built the roster this offseason.  Who is your LT?  WR?  LG?  RT?

 

This was the quote:

"JD failed last year because he had no contingency for Rodgers and relied too heavily on him lifting an otherwise weak offensive roster.   Horrible mistake that he seems to be correcting."

I was simply pointing out that it was FAAAAR worse than one mistaken.

[Long Island Leprechaun]

19 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

You can't look at this off-season in a vacuum.  It's JD's body of work that put us in the situation where we need to revamp almost the entire OL with injury prone youth and aging vets.

 

Sorry, but that's an evasion. You're joe this off season with existing roster. What do you do?

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

22 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

This was the quote:

"JD failed last year because he had no contingency for Rodgers and relied too heavily on him lifting an otherwise weak offensive roster.   Horrible mistake that he seems to be correcting."

I was simply pointing out that it was FAAAAR worse than one mistaken.

I agree it wasn’t one.

1. No legit back-up

2. Not going O in round 1

3. Relying on Duane Brown and Max Mitchell as the pencilled in starters 

4. Not pivoting away from Zach between Rodger’s injury and the trade deadline

5. Not adding a #2 WR after Davis retired 

6. Not adding OL & WR help at the deadline

7. Not drafting a mid round QB

Almost all are related to relying too heavily on Rodgers’ health and ability to lift up an otherwise weak offensive roster.   4 & 6 were post Rodgers injury.  Big mistakes as well.

BTW, I made similar points in my OP.

Lastly, we both share injury concerns.  It’s actually implied in the way I structured the survey questions.  

[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

NFL offseason is brutal

8 months of waiting around for another meaningful snap

I'm all in favor of 18 game regular season

Cut the preseason games to 2, who cares

EPL is the best

Offseason is like 4 weeks or whatever but in reality more like 1 or 2

During the summer the top teams even come to America for friendlies

The top players at the top clubs get like 1 to 2 weeks to go vacation with their families before it's back to the grind

[JoeNamathsFurCoat]

I want to be optimistic on John Simpson, but as far as 1y wonders who get any kind of bag from the Jets, the history is not good.

On the bright side, he couldn't be worse than Tomlinson.

[Wit]

4 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Surprised people are ignoring the weakness of our safety position.  Both in starters and depth.

Cheaper to pick safties up after the draft. Also June first cuts.

[doitny]

4 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Surprised people are ignoring the weakness of our safety position.  Both in starters and depth.

because its defense. one thing we can say about Saleh is he always finds somebody that works on defense.

Adams was a UDFA. there was another guy last year who they cut i forget his name i thought was good. Pinnock.... Ashston Davis.....

he will find somebody that will be cheap to free up money for somewhere else and he will be just fine.

 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

8 minutes ago, Wit said:

Cheaper to pick safties up after the draft. Also June first cuts.

I’d personally love to see Ashtyn come back on a team friendly deal.  Took him a few years but he turned into a playmaker, something we don’t really have despite our strong cover guys.  

[rangerous]

I went with Simpson as best pickup mainly because he’s not on a one year deal.  I get that left tackle is more important than a guard but so many sacks and pressures were right up the middle last season so they can’t be discounted.  Overall things have gone well. Douglas filled in some holes without breaking the bank or even impacting the teams future contracts or draft.

[Beerfish]

2 minutes ago, doitny said:

because its defense. one thing we can say about Saleh is he always finds somebody that works on defense.

Adams was a UDFA. there was another guy last year who they cut i forget his name i thought was good. Pinnock.... Ashston Davis.....

he will find somebody that will be cheap to free up money for somewhere else and he will be just fine.

 

You do realize that the jets, instead of using a pick on a 2nd olineman or Wr like they should in the next draft will be drafting a safety in the 3rd or 4th round.  There are cheap vet fas out that and we need a S more than a 4th dlineman or another Wr.

[FidelioJet]

1 hour ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Sorry, but that's an evasion. You're joe this off season with existing roster. What do you do?

Not having 4 of 11 starters on offense coming off surgeries and season ending injuries would have been a good start.  Especially with one of them being a 41 year old QB.

Now, if you're asking which players - there were plenty of guys not coming off season ending injuries that he could have signed on the OL and WR...

[bicketybam]

1 hour ago, FidelioJet said:

JD literally, IMO, had the worst off-season I've ever seen by any GM we've ever had in any one given year.   Giving him credit because guys got injured is absurd.  

Question for you...when AVT goes down for the season - is it going to be - How can JD predict a used to be healthy player got hurt? 

I've never seen this level of excuse making.  His only mistake was not having a better back up? So the Jets were going to the Super Bowl last year with Tyrod Taylor?

No, just the playoffs. It took a special kind of suck with your boy Slappy, to **** up a playoff appearance.

[bicketybam]

4 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

Not having 4 of 11 starters on offense coming off surgeries and season ending injuries would have been a good start.  Especially with one of them being a 41 year old QB.

Now, if you're asking which players - there were plenty of guys not coming off season ending injuries that he could have signed on the OL and WR...

So your answer is "Not what Joe did." Weak.