Do Jets Have the Depth to Avoid Repeat of Disastrous 2023?

[JetNation]

Believe it or not, it wasn’t all that long ago when the Jets were viewed by the sports books as a top 10 team to win the Super Bowl.  In fact, they were ranked seventh in the NFL behind the Chiefs, Eagles, 49ers, Bills, Bengals and Cowboys prior to the start of the 2023 season.

Of those seven teams, only the Jets and Bengals missed the playoffs.  The Bengals by one game with a record of 9-8 while the Jets finished up the season at 7-10.

Ravaged by injuries, the Jets season was realistically over as soon as it started.  Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was lost just minutes after week 1 kicked off.  The offensive line was under constant assault from the injury bug.  Duane Brown, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Wes Schweitzer, Joe Tippmann and Connor McGovern all missed time at one point or another.  And it didn’t end there.

Running back Dalvin Cook was cooked, offering no punch at all out of the backfield.  The slew of Aaron Rodgers’ friends who were added amounted to little more than wasted roster spots and cap space.  Randall Cobb, Robert Turner and Tim Boyle were of no real use on Sundays.  So the question is, how much better is the depth of 2024 compared to 2023?

When @nyjets head coach Robert Saleh was asked why rookie RB Izzy Abanikanda isn't seeing the field he told very stupid fans that it was because his pass protection isn't good enough.

Meanwhile, here's Dalvin Cook in pass pro vs Atlanta yesterday. pic.twitter.com/FSyfbzJ490

— Glenn Naughton (@JNRadio_Glenn) December 4, 2023

 

Quarterback: Having Tyrod Taylor behind Aaron Rodgers over the likes of Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian is a huge upgrade from a talent perspective.  However, there are durability issues with Tayler which the Jets will hope won’t be an issue.

Running Back: With Cook gone and rookies Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis on board, the Jets should expect to have more life in the backfield over a plodding veteran with no punch or burst.  Second year running back Israel Abanikanda is the most explosive back on the roster not named Breece Hall but there’s no lock he’ll make the cut.

Wide Receiver: Allen Lazard was an abject failure as the team’s number two receiver but with Mike Williams added via free agency and Malachi Corley in the third round of the draft, Lazard as a backup with Rodgers back in the fold could be good value.  The Jets could look to add another receiver before the season kicks off but that trio with Xavier Gipson and Jason Brownlee should be plenty of firepower.

Offensive Line:  This is the big one.  Having used fourteen different linemen (11 different combos) in 2023, there had to be a serious influx of starting caliber players brought on board.  By signing free agents Tyron Smith and John Simpson, trading for Morgan Moses and drafting Olu Fashanu, Gang Green, by our count anyway, has six potential quality starters (Smith, Simpson, Tippmann, Vera-Tucker, Moses and Fashanu) a proven backup in Wes Schweitzer and another backup who the Jets are high on in Carter Warren.

That’s eight spots the team should be happy with and room for at least one more.  Could Connor McGover return?  Or might the team like Jake Hanson, Chris Glaser or Xavier Newman enough to keep them on the active roster?

Whatever the Jets decide, the O-line situation is much improved over last season but this (or any other) unit won’t survive if they suffer injuries on the same level that they did in 2023.

 

 

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[rbstern]

My prediction:

If Aaron Rodgers stays on the field and plays at 80 to 90% of his career productivity, Jets win four to five more games than last year.

If Rodgers goes down, and Taylor comes in and remains upright, they win 2 to 3 more games than last year.

If we get 3 QBs into the depth chart for a significant part of the year:  Stick a fork in it.

[Larz]

#2 seed.  Home playoff game 

[Bronx]

[SAM SAM HE'S OUR MAN]

[David Harris]

I was hoping IOL depth would be improved. Wonder if Max Mitchell could go inside since he can’t go outside.

[Jack Straw]

If Allen Lazard is on the 53, then the only right answer to, "do the Jets have enough depth," is a resounding no.

[Green Ghost]

All of this is fluff.

The only thing that matters in 2024 is the season Aaron Rodgers puts together. If he’s a top 10-13ish rated QB, we should be a playoff team that can do some damage in the post season. 
If he gets injured and misses too many games, or struggles to play the way he did a couple years ago, we won’t be. Tyrod Taylor isn’t taking this team anywhere.

[AFJF]

2 minutes ago, Green Ghost said:

All of this is fluff.

The only thing that matters in 2024 is the season Aaron Rodgers puts together. If he’s a top 10-13ish rated QB, we should be a playoff team that can do some damage in the post season. 
If he gets injured and misses too many games, or struggles to play the way he did a couple years ago, we won’t be. Tyrod Taylor isn’t taking this team anywhere.

Blocking is pretty overrated.

[Green Ghost]

6 minutes ago, AFJF said:

Blocking is pretty overrated.

My point exactly!

[Claymation]

53 minutes ago, Larz said:

#2 seed.  Home playoff game 

Where do I sign?

[Claymation]

21 minutes ago, Jack Straw said:

If Allen Lazard is on the 53, then the only right answer to, "do the Jets have enough depth," is a resounding no.

Lazard as of right now is the 3rd best WR entering Training Camp.

Corley may eclipse him eventually.

[Jack Straw]

11 minutes ago, Claymation said:

Lazard as of right now is the 3rd best WR entering Training Camp.

Corley may eclipse him eventually.

I can find you 3 WRs better than Allen Lazard in my local Trader Joe's.

[Green Ghost]

6 minutes ago, Jack Straw said:

I can find you 3 WRs better than Allen Lazard in my local Trader Joe's.

The problem is, we’re paying this one $11 mil this year, and until Williams shows he can go, Lazard is #2 on the depth chart.

[sourceworx]

The biggest cause of last year's disaster is in Denver now. 🙂

[Claymation]

20 minutes ago, Jack Straw said:

I can find you 3 WRs better than Allen Lazard in my local Trader Joe's.

Well, they are not on the NY Jets at the moment.

[Green Ghost]

14 minutes ago, sourceworx said:

The biggest cause of last year's disaster is in Denver now. 🙂

Zach was the worst QB in the league his first two seasons.
I’m not disagreeing with your point, but I’m giving at least equal blame to the GM and CS that watched him f**k up all that time, then made him QB2 last year.

[DoubleDown]

So you're telling me the Jets won the offseason championship again.  Yeah!

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

On paper, looks good.

So does disaster relief insurance.

But then the unexpected disaster hits.  It almost always hits .. the Jets

[Jets and Redskins]

Even if Rodgers gets hurt Taylor a legit pro. He not great but Taylor can play average football. We could win ten games with defense and running the ball.

[Jack Straw]

44 minutes ago, Green Ghost said:

The problem is, we’re paying this one $11 mil this year, and until Williams shows he can go, Lazard is #2 on the depth chart.

Sunk cost fallacy. 

[Jetsplayer21]

17 minutes ago, Jets and Redskins said:

Even if Rodgers gets hurt Taylor a legit pro. He not great but Taylor can play average football. We could win ten games with defense and running the ball.

Taylor was EASILY the best qb in nyc last yr. Daniel jones and Zach tough call who was the worst ha. 

[bicketybam]

36 minutes ago, Jetsplayer21 said:

Taylor was EASILY the best qb in nyc last yr. Daniel jones and Zach tough call who was the worst ha. 

[Green Ghost]

55 minutes ago, Jetsplayer21 said:

Taylor was EASILY the best qb in nyc last yr. Daniel jones and Zach tough call who was the worst ha. 

Cool. I’m sure you’ll love watching the guy if Rodgers misses any time. Don’t blink though… he gets hurt quicker than a gallon of milk goes bad. 

[jamesr]

#2 seed.  Home playoff game 

Game - singular? That would imply we lose.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[slats]

1 hour ago, Green Ghost said:

Cool. I’m sure you’ll love watching the guy if Rodgers misses any time. Don’t blink though… he gets hurt quicker than a gallon of milk goes bad. 

It’s so interesting to get a jints’ fans’ perspective. 

[Green Ghost]

44 minutes ago, slats said:

It’s so interesting to get a jints’ fans’ perspective. 

What were the odds bickety would react to this the way he did? It’s nice to see you two hitting it off so well lately.

 

[bicketybam]

23 minutes ago, Green Ghost said:

What were the odds bickety would react to this the way he did? It’s nice to see you two hitting it off so well lately.

 

You take this stuff too seriously. Go touch some grass 😅

[Green Ghost]

11 minutes ago, bicketybam said:

You take this stuff too seriously. Go touch some grass 😅

Like a moth to a flame… 😉
Wish I could go touch some grass though. Sprained some ligaments in my hip Sunday. Going stir crazy spending so much time in the house and on this board.

[Jetsplayer21]

On 5/9/2024 at 3:29 PM, Green Ghost said:

Cool. I’m sure you’ll love watching the guy if Rodgers misses any time. Don’t blink though… he gets hurt quicker than a gallon of milk goes bad. 

That’s a cute story brother lol.
 

Unintelligent fans do not understand how most qbs injuries happen from them trying to make a play, not sacking themselves like Zach, or just running and falling running into back of own lineman..  giants OL was even worse than jets last yr.. Taylor extended plays with his legs, he didn’t go to the school of Zach Wilson and just take a sack when feeling heat.. Remember Mike white , he would stand in pocket and make huge throws while getting pummeled.. Zachary could never do that.. Rodgers got hurt foolishly trying to extend a place, when a pile of crap OT who shouldn’t have been on the field tripped on his gums.. 

[rangerous]

I think it’s a valid concern given the injuries the team had to contend with over the past two seasons.  But last season they were ranked 7th before the season with those very same players that turned out to be mostly scrubs (brown, becton, Tomlinson, etc).  Just how did they get so highly rated with those guys?  No doubt the jets have talent but this ranking seems to be more because they brought in Rodgers.

[Bobby816]

If any team losses their starting QB, they wont have the same expectations. So losing a QB hurts us no more than it hurts any other team.

It's the most important position in team sports.

But we did get a good backup. After now seeing the schedule... I think we are 12-5 or better team with Rodgers playing the whole season.

 

I see the only 2 other players on this team that if they got hurt would really hurt our season to cost us a couple wins.

 

1. Breece Hall. He's IMO a top 3 back in the NFL this year. To go from him to rookies is a HUGE difference for our running game and his pass catching abilities out of the backfield. He will be 100% this year which is great. He played the whole year last year in essence coming back fast. So I'm optimistic about his health.

 

2. Garrett Wilson. Now we have depth after him. But no one even close to as good as him. I think he has a top 10 WR season this year with AR. But Williams health is a concern. Corley is a rookie and a slot guy and Lazard at this point is just vet depth. If Williams looks good and close to 100% and can stay healthy, losing GW wouldn't hurt us so bad. But I'm not optimistic that MW will look like the MW we know Week 1. Likely takes him a few weeks.

 

Most the other areas I think we have enough depth at with starting talent where we could be ok with the loss. Obviously losing a guy liek Sauce would be bad. But we'd still have Reed and MC2. That's just an example on why I dont have a guy like that on my list of 2.

[FidelioJet]

On 5/9/2024 at 12:20 PM, rbstern said:

My prediction:

If Aaron Rodgers stays on the field and plays at 80 to 90% of his career productivity, Jets win four to five more games than last year.

If Rodgers goes down, and Taylor comes in and remains upright, they win 2 to 3 more games than last year.

If we get 3 QBs into the depth chart for a significant part of the year:  Stick a fork in it.

There’s a pretty good chance we will get to a third string QB.

[slats]

17 minutes ago, FidelioJet said:

There’s a pretty good chance we will get to a third string QB.

Why is that? Prior to last year, Rodgers hadn’t missed a start in five straight seasons. Jets have built a solid OL in front of him. Biggest concern was the age/injury history of the tackles, but the Jets might have the best backup tackle situation in the league. Last piece is a backup guard. Rodgers may not be as mobile as he used to be, but he knows how to protect himself/get rid of the football. 
 
Oh wait, sorry, you were just doing your thing again. By all means, quintuple down. 

[viffer]

On 5/9/2024 at 12:30 PM, Bronx said:

For the 50th year in a row...