Joe Douglas is not a "Terrible GM"

[Jet_Engine1]

Is he great? Nope. Is he top 15? Not today. But is he "terrible"? "Incompetent"? "Downright awful and should be fired tomorrow"? No. 

 

Right now, the Jets Roster is considered a Top 10 roster in the league, not by me or other random Message board posters, but by MANY Football pundits, commentators:

 

- With 2024 training camp and the season around the corner, the 33rd Team website ranked the Jets roster as the sixth best in the league and the No. 1 defense.

- "If all goes right for the New York Jets in 2024, they could have an argument for ranking even higher on this list," NFL writer Ian Valentino stated. 

- "They have the league's top cornerback, Sauce Gardner," according to NFL Senior Writer Marcus Mosher. "Although he has only been in the NFL for two seasons, he's been a two-time All-Pro selection and the 2022 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. But Gardner isn't the only reason the Jets rank so highly on this list. Quinnen Williams might be the NFL's best defensive tackle. He is just as good against the run as he is as a pass-rusher. Williams is only 26 and has improved every season. Williams and Gardner might be the NFL's best duo. "And don't forget about Quincy Williams, who is coming off an All-Pro season at linebacker. The Jets have three All-Pro defenders who are all in the primes of their careers. For that reason alone, they are No. 1 on our list."

-  According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Jets’ roster is ranked 4th best in the NFL for 2024 

- "Jets have top 5 roster heading into 2024: Aaron Rodgers is the most important player for the Jets and the biggest factor for a potential Super Bowl run, but the Jets have set themselves up with a group of players around Rodgers that make up one of the best rosters on paper in the NFL" The Sporting News 5/31/2024

 

Thats just a quick snapshot of what the "Media" is saying about the roster Douglas has built. "Terrible" GMs don't get those kinds of articles written about them. 

 

Is Joe Douglas perfect? Is he great? No, he is not. But right now, the Jets are drafting to the mean of the NFL, instead of being an outlier for futility. There are plenty of mid round guys playing significant roles on the team from the past few drafts, and aside from two GLARING, OBVIOUS misses, the drafting has been pretty darn good of late:

-2021 was a bit... rough (more on that later), but AVT is a starting OG and when healthy and left at his natural position, seems like a very high ceiling player. Michael Carter II (DB) is a very good player for the team, and Jamien Sherwood (5th rounder) seems like he's the heir apparent to CJ Mosley.

-2022 Speaks for itself.

-2023 is a work in progress, but Tippman looks to have overcome his shotgun snap problems and is the starting OC. Will McDonald was a head-scratcher but if he fills the role of DPR and can put together a 10+ sack season, he's a valuable commodity. Zaire Barnes is a seems like solid depth (that's more than you expect from the typical 6th Rounder). Israel Abanikanda seems to have been eclipsed by other new RBs, but he has size, speed, and has flashed as a runner.

-The 2024 draft seems to be trending in the right direction, but it's still too early to really know. Olu Fashanu may be a lockdown OT for a decade once Tyron Smith moves on and the rest of the draft has plenty of talent with Braelin Allen seemingly the stand-out.

 

And over that time, let's not dismiss the UDFA's the Jets have brought in that are significant contributors (or were) to the team... Huff, Gipson, Brownlee, etc. This current Jets FO has found more UDFA Talent in the last few years than the organization as a whole did in the 25 years prior - since probably Chrebet. 

 

Free Agency: What a mixed bag. Carl Lawson (whose existence someone only recently reminded me of) was a swing and a miss. Dude was always hurt. Corey Davis... bro... WHO could have predicted he would just flake out and retire? I'm sorry, I know we have some ambiguous, nebulous inferences that there was some type of "Family problem" or possible, speculative "Health Issue" that led to his random and ill-timed retirement... but still. Retire during Pre-Season? Really? With ZERO explanation? And then the Jets bend over backwards for the guy, to the point that they granted him a free and clear release because he said he wanted to be "close to home"... and he goes and tries out for THE BILLS on August 14th? Umm, What?? Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb were swings at meeting two needs, WR Depth and making AROD happy. Cobb is gone, and Lazard, well, he needs to get his sh*t together this year. FA is almost always a crap shoot, but aside the current O-Line with Moses, Smith, and Simpson, the team is mostly built off the draft at this point. If the O-Line is top 10 this year, the FA record starts looking a LOT better...

 

The BAD

The 2020 Draft is, in no uncertain terms, a black hole, with Ashtyn Davis the sole survivor of the virtual "Covid Draft". Mekhi Becton seemingly found every pre-draft concern and majored in them. His impressive size and athleticism at 6'7 365lbs made him look like the prototype and he was productive in college. But there were issues there the Jets couldn't overcome. Denzel Mims remains an enigma, as he is now currently completely out of the league. The rest of that draft is... forgettable. Total miss. 2020 was Douglas' first draft as THE GM of a team. It was a weird year. He was dealing with Adam Gase. It was 4 years ago. The roster has completely flipped since that draft, and the consequences have been navigated. 2020 was a terrible draft, and it seems like a lot of us still have a bit of a hangover from it since Becton was only recently let go, but it has not been indicative of the way the draft has gone since...

 

THE GIANT, UGLY ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

No, it isn't Becton, JD himself, me, or The Crusher.... 2021 First Round Pick Zach Wilson completely hamstrung any progress and seemingly negated any other talent advantage the Roster had. He was grossly over-drafted. They had Darnold under contract, and while he was floundering, he still could have been the cheap bridge QB to build around for a year. The flaws in Wilsons game were on tape, but a very low-level schedule of opponents and a dominant O-Line made him look statistically better than he really was. He was immature. Small. And he sunk ANY potential the team had for 3 full seasons. It's hard to argue what the bigger mistake is... DRAFTING Wilson at #2 or continuing to reinforce the failure that he was displaying for his entire career in NY. SO far, much of the criticism Douglas receives is directly tied to #2. The win-loss record. The underperforming Offense. The "noise" and distractions. This was a move that should not have been made... but once it was and it was revealed very quickly that the team had no future moving forward with an underperforming, floundering QB, alternative solutions needed to be implemented (A disinterested Joe Flacco, Mike White, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemien are NOT "Serious" backup plans). The team chose to baby and coddle the player and sink the prospects of 52 other players, a Multi-Billion Dollar franchise, and massive fanbase for unclear reasons. Was that Douglas' doing, or higher up the chain of command? We probably won't find out for a while, BUT it happened on JD's watch, so he gets to lie in that bed. 

 

SO, taking EVERYTHING into account over the past 5 years since JD was hired in June of 2019... is he a "terrible" GM? I would say No, he is not. He had a VERY rough start and has managed to overcome it. He took a roster that in 2019 was on an XFL level and transformed it into an arguable Top 10 level collection of players in the course of 4 years. This was not a team a few pieces away, this was a roster and an organization that was suffering from organizational, systemic toxicity and insanity from the Gase years. A Team DEVOID of talent, not just undermanned. There were mistakes made (lol), but right now, they have seemingly largely overcome. The Defense is Top 3 in the league... possibly better (Get your ass to work, Reddick). The Offense has a LOT of talent... Garret Wilson and Breece Hall are game changers. Allen may also be at that level, tbh. Still a little thin at WR for my taste, but if Mike Williams is 85% of who he was for the Chargers and manages to stay mostly available, there is potential for the Offense to be top 10 - IF Rodgers stays upright. Thankfully, the O-Line seems as solid as its been since the Brick/Mangold days ON PAPER. We shall see... 

 

Oh, and a final note... and be honest. If you went back to 2021 and told yourself, yeah, it looks like we're hurting at QB, but in a few years, we're going to have Aaron Rodgers at QB going into a season with good Offensive Playmakers, a Game changing Running Back, and a top 3 defense... you would have said, "Where do I sign up?".

 

Anyway, that's all I have for today. Go away now...

 

 

 

[Matt39]

His record is bad, his drafts have been bad, his free agent signings have been bad, but he’s actually good. 

[Guilhermezmc]

The guy is living out of one draft that he had like 6 top 50 picks, he's ass.

[nj meadowlands]

He's 27-56 so

[bicketybam]

[Jet_Engine1]

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool. Good talk. I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood going to Mass, when the congregation just mumbles the responsorial reply "Lord, hear our prayer..." without even listening to what their praying for. Like an automatic email reply... lol

[bicketybam]

6 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool.

They just needed the thread title 😅

[Jet_Engine1]

5 minutes ago, bicketybam said:

Stated facts. 

[nj meadowlands]

5 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool.

You want us to perform a close reading of a manifesto about a 27-56 GM (a record that generously includes a 7-9 record from his first season when he was hired after the draft) that has been written about at length?

[Jet_Engine1]

9 minutes ago, Guilhermezmc said:

The guy is living out of one draft that he had like 6 top 50 picks, he's ass.

Its amazing how the 7 selections in the 2022 Draft somehow constitutes a full team roster. Its like a miracle...

 

[Jet_Engine1]

3 minutes ago, nj meadowlands said:

You want us to perform a close reading of a manifesto about a 27-56 GM (a record that generously includes a 7-9 record from his first season when he was hired after the draft) that has been written about at length?

At this point, I expect nothing much from a large portion of the population of the country, especially expecting them to read something longer than a TikTok post or anything that may defy their own predetermined opinion that they construe as factual.

 

SO.... no. I suppose not.  

[Trotter]

in my opinion your are spot on.

Let's go C- mainly because of Zippy/Becton which is as you say - not terrible.

Funny because he gets killed for those picks and he should yet most of his detractors feel he lucked into Sauce, Garrett, Breece, AVT etc.

If and it is a big if Rodgers stays healthy and they win 10-12 and are in the playoffs - will he still be considered terrible - fire immediatly?

I am guessing those that simply want him gone will also say he lucked into Rodgers because of Woody if he has a good year.  

[Claymation]

13 minutes ago, nj meadowlands said:

He's 27-56 so

What does that have to do with this year's team/roster?

[nj meadowlands]

8 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

At this point, I expect nothing much from a large portion of the population of the country, especially expecting them to read something longer than a TikTok post or anything that may defy their own predetermined opinion that they construe as factual.

 

SO.... no. I suppose not.  

I agree with you on this, just probably not in the way you're thinking.

[slimjasi]

I agree that he's not a terrible GM and agree with a lot of your post. 

Having said that, he's going to continue to get sh*t on until the team makes the playoffs under his leadership. Just the way it is. 

[nj meadowlands]

6 minutes ago, Claymation said:

What does that have to do with this year's team/roster?

The title of the thread is "Joe Douglas is not a terrible GM"

[GreenFish]

11 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

At this point, I expect nothing much from a large portion of the population of the country, especially expecting them to read something longer than a TikTok post or anything that may defy their own predetermined opinion that they construe as factual.

 

SO.... no. I suppose not.  

Can you paraphrase what you just said? Way to long.

[GreenFish]

He, more often than not, makes good decisions. It hasn't translated because his decisions at QB haven't worked out. Zach was an all-time bust and Rodgers got hurt.

[Claymation]

5 minutes ago, nj meadowlands said:

The title of the thread is "Joe Douglas is not a terrible GM"

Again, what does that have to do with this year's roster?

[nj meadowlands]

Just now, Claymation said:

Again, what does that have to do with this year's roster?

What does this year's roster, before any games have been played, have to do with Douglas' track record and whether he's a terrible GM?  We can revisit that at the end of the season.  Right now he's 27-56.  Hopefully in January his winning percentage will have improved significantly.

[Jet_Engine1]

22 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

I agree that he's not a terrible GM and agree with a lot of your post. 

Having said that, he's going to continue to get sh*t on until the team makes the playoffs under his leadership. Just the way it is. 

And deservedly so. Everyone should be held accountable for their production at work. Never argued otherwise. 

[Jet_Engine1]

29 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

Can you paraphrase what you just said? Way to long.

I Had GPT condense it LOL

 

Joe Douglas, the New York Jets’ General Manager, isn’t terrible. While he’s not great or in the top 15, he’s far from incompetent. The Jets’ roster is now considered a top 10 in the league, with many pundits ranking it highly. For instance, the 33rd Team website ranked the Jets’ roster as the sixth best and their defense as No. 1 for 2024. NFL writers highlight stars like Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams as key reasons for this high ranking.

Douglas has had some draft successes, especially in recent years, with players like AVT, Michael Carter II, and Jamien Sherwood from 2021, and promising picks from 2023 and 2024. However, his 2020 draft was a disaster, with only Ashtyn Davis remaining from that class. The biggest mistake was drafting Zach Wilson in 2021, which hampered the team’s progress.

Despite some free agency misses, Douglas has built a strong roster mainly through the draft. Overall, he’s not a terrible GM, having transformed the Jets from a struggling team to one on the verge of high-level competitiveness in four years.

[Green Ghost]

@Jet_Engine1 He’s been here 6 years now.  I’d wait until the guy fields a team with a winning record before I tried to convince anyone how good a GM he is.
Your way works also, I guess.

[Matt39]

57 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool. Good talk. I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood going to Mass, when the congregation just mumbles the responsorial reply "Lord, hear our prayer..." without even listening to what their praying for. Like an automatic email reply... lol

I appreciate your post. But compare his time here with what the Lions have done. That’s probably a fair benchmark. This team is also heavily built via FA, which is the sign of a poor GM.

[Jet_Engine1]

7 minutes ago, Green Ghost said:

@Jet_Engine1 He’s been here 6 years now.  I’d wait until the guy fields a team with a winning record before I tried to convince anyone how good a GM he is.
Your way works also, I guess.

Yes. Thats what I did here. I told everyone how good of a GM JD is....  that's my MO here...

 

"Not Terrible" ≠ "Good"

 

[Jet_Engine1]

14 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

I appreciate your post. But compare his time here with what the Lions have done. That’s probably a fair benchmark. This team is also heavily built via FA, which is the sign of a poor GM.

QB. QB. QB. QB. QB..... A QB that they traded for, that was considered "broken" that got his sh*t together. Thats the difference between the Jets and Lions.

 

A QB. 

 

Did I mention... QB?

 

 

AS for building through FA, the Lions Roster is constituted of as many FA's as most other teams, including the Jets..

 

Just a few Lions players signed in 2023 alone... 

• Signed Steelers CB Cam Sutton: 3 years, $33 million

• Signed 49ers CB Emmanuel Moseley: 1-year, $6 million

• Signed Bears RB David Montgomery: 3 years, $18 million

• Signed Broncos G Graham Glasgow: 1-year, $4.5 million

• Re-signed S C.J. Moore: 2 years, $4.5 million

• Signed Eagles S C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 1-year, $8 million

• Signed Cowboys LS Jake McQuaide: 1-year, $1.3 million

• Signed Texans LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin: 1-year, $1.8 million

[Testaverde9819]

1 hour ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

Is he great? Nope. Is he top 15? Not today. But is he "terrible"? "Incompetent"? "Downright awful and should be fired tomorrow"? No. 

 

Right now, the Jets Roster is considered a Top 10 roster in the league, not by me or other random Message board posters, but by MANY Football pundits, commentators:

 

- With 2024 training camp and the season around the corner, the 33rd Team website ranked the Jets roster as the sixth best in the league and the No. 1 defense.

- "If all goes right for the New York Jets in 2024, they could have an argument for ranking even higher on this list," NFL writer Ian Valentino stated. 

- "They have the league's top cornerback, Sauce Gardner," according to NFL Senior Writer Marcus Mosher. "Although he has only been in the NFL for two seasons, he's been a two-time All-Pro selection and the 2022 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. But Gardner isn't the only reason the Jets rank so highly on this list. Quinnen Williams might be the NFL's best defensive tackle. He is just as good against the run as he is as a pass-rusher. Williams is only 26 and has improved every season. Williams and Gardner might be the NFL's best duo. "And don't forget about Quincy Williams, who is coming off an All-Pro season at linebacker. The Jets have three All-Pro defenders who are all in the primes of their careers. For that reason alone, they are No. 1 on our list."

-  According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Jets’ roster is ranked 4th best in the NFL for 2024 

- "Jets have top 5 roster heading into 2024: Aaron Rodgers is the most important player for the Jets and the biggest factor for a potential Super Bowl run, but the Jets have set themselves up with a group of players around Rodgers that make up one of the best rosters on paper in the NFL" The Sporting News 5/31/2024

 

Thats just a quick snapshot of what the "Media" is saying about the roster Douglas has built. "Terrible" GMs don't get those kinds of articles written about them. 

 

Is Joe Douglas perfect? Is he great? No, he is not. But right now, the Jets are drafting to the mean of the NFL, instead of being an outlier for futility. There are plenty of mid round guys playing significant roles on the team from the past few drafts, and aside from two GLARING, OBVIOUS misses, the drafting has been pretty darn good of late:

-2021 was a bit... rough (more on that later), but AVT is a starting OG and when healthy and left at his natural position, seems like a very high ceiling player. Michael Carter II (DB) is a very good player for the team, and Jamien Sherwood (5th rounder) seems like he's the heir apparent to CJ Mosley.

-2022 Speaks for itself.

-2023 is a work in progress, but Tippman looks to have overcome his shotgun snap problems and is the starting OC. Will McDonald was a head-scratcher but if he fills the role of DPR and can put together a 10+ sack season, he's a valuable commodity. Zaire Barnes is a seems like solid depth (that's more than you expect from the typical 6th Rounder). Israel Abanikanda seems to have been eclipsed by other new RBs, but he has size, speed, and has flashed as a runner.

-The 2024 draft seems to be trending in the right direction, but it's still too early to really know. Olu Fashanu may be a lockdown OT for a decade once Tyron Smith moves on and the rest of the draft has plenty of talent with Braelin Allen seemingly the stand-out.

 

And over that time, let's not dismiss the UDFA's the Jets have brought in that are significant contributors (or were) to the team... Huff, Gipson, Brownlee, etc. This current Jets FO has found more UDFA Talent in the last few years than the organization as a whole did in the 25 years prior - since probably Chrebet. 

 

Free Agency: What a mixed bag. Carl Lawson (whose existence someone only recently reminded me of) was a swing and a miss. Dude was always hurt. Corey Davis... bro... WHO could have predicted he would just flake out and retire? I'm sorry, I know we have some ambiguous, nebulous inferences that there was some type of "Family problem" or possible, speculative "Health Issue" that led to his random and ill-timed retirement... but still. Retire during Pre-Season? Really? With ZERO explanation? And then the Jets bend over backwards for the guy, to the point that they granted him a free and clear release because he said he wanted to be "close to home"... and he goes and tries out for THE BILLS on August 14th? Umm, What?? Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb were swings at meeting two needs, WR Depth and making AROD happy. Cobb is gone, and Lazard, well, he needs to get his sh*t together this year. FA is almost always a crap shoot, but aside the current O-Line with Moses, Smith, and Simpson, the team is mostly built off the draft at this point. If the O-Line is top 10 this year, the FA record starts looking a LOT better...

 

The BAD

The 2020 Draft is, in no uncertain terms, a black hole, with Ashtyn Davis the sole survivor of the virtual "Covid Draft". Mekhi Becton seemingly found every pre-draft concern and majored in them. His impressive size and athleticism at 6'7 365lbs made him look like the prototype and he was productive in college. But there were issues there the Jets couldn't overcome. Denzel Mims remains an enigma, as he is now currently completely out of the league. The rest of that draft is... forgettable. Total miss. 2020 was Douglas' first draft as THE GM of a team. It was a weird year. He was dealing with Adam Gase. It was 4 years ago. The roster has completely flipped since that draft, and the consequences have been navigated. 2020 was a terrible draft, and it seems like a lot of us still have a bit of a hangover from it since Becton was only recently let go, but it has not been indicative of the way the draft has gone since...

 

THE GIANT, UGLY ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

No, it isn't Becton, JD himself, me, or The Crusher.... 2021 First Round Pick Zach Wilson completely hamstrung any progress and seemingly negated any other talent advantage the Roster had. He was grossly over-drafted. They had Darnold under contract, and while he was floundering, he still could have been the cheap bridge QB to build around for a year. The flaws in Wilsons game were on tape, but a very low-level schedule of opponents and a dominant O-Line made him look statistically better than he really was. He was immature. Small. And he sunk ANY potential the team had for 3 full seasons. It's hard to argue what the bigger mistake is... DRAFTING Wilson at #2 or continuing to reinforce the failure that he was displaying for his entire career in NY. SO far, much of the criticism Douglas receives is directly tied to #2. The win-loss record. The underperforming Offense. The "noise" and distractions. This was a move that should not have been made... but once it was and it was revealed very quickly that the team had no future moving forward with an underperforming, floundering QB, alternative solutions needed to be implemented (A disinterested Joe Flacco, Mike White, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemien are NOT "Serious" backup plans). The team chose to baby and coddle the player and sink the prospects of 52 other players, a Multi-Billion Dollar franchise, and massive fanbase for unclear reasons. Was that Douglas' doing, or higher up the chain of command? We probably won't find out for a while, BUT it happened on JD's watch, so he gets to lie in that bed. 

 

SO, taking EVERYTHING into account over the past 5 years since JD was hired in June of 2019... is he a "terrible" GM? I would say No, he is not. He had a VERY rough start and has managed to overcome it. He took a roster that in 2019 was on an XFL level and transformed it into an arguable Top 10 level collection of players in the course of 4 years. This was not a team a few pieces away, this was a roster and an organization that was suffering from organizational, systemic toxicity and insanity from the Gase years. A Team DEVOID of talent, not just undermanned. There were mistakes made (lol), but right now, they have seemingly largely overcome. The Defense is Top 3 in the league... possibly better (Get your ass to work, Reddick). The Offense has a LOT of talent... Garret Wilson and Breece Hall are game changers. Allen may also be at that level, tbh. Still a little thin at WR for my taste, but if Mike Williams is 85% of who he was for the Chargers and manages to stay mostly available, there is potential for the Offense to be top 10 - IF Rodgers stays upright. Thankfully, the O-Line seems as solid as its been since the Brick/Mangold days ON PAPER. We shall see... 

 

Oh, and a final note... and be honest. If you went back to 2021 and told yourself, yeah, it looks like we're hurting at QB, but in a few years, we're going to have Aaron Rodgers at QB going into a season with good Offensive Playmakers, a Game changing Running Back, and a top 3 defense... you would have said, "Where do I sign up?".

 

Anyway, that's all I have for today. Go away now...

 

 

 

He took away our best pass rusher and hasn't replaced him yet. 

 

He drafted the worst QB in NFL history number 2 overall

 

He drafted becton over maybe the best olineman in the NFL Whirfs

 

 

He took a RB high( bad draft philosophy)

He took a QB on day 3 ( bad draft philosophy)

 

He passed on an excellent QB class to draft a OT who isn't starting 

 

 

Do you want me to keep going???

 

 

[Jetsfan80]

1 hour ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool. Good talk. I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood going to Mass, when the congregation just mumbles the responsorial reply "Lord, hear our prayer..." without even listening to what their praying for. Like an automatic email reply... lol

 

1 hour ago, nj meadowlands said:

You want us to perform a close reading of a manifesto about a 27-56 GM (a record that generously includes a 7-9 record from his first season when he was hired after the draft) that has been written about at length?

 

55 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

Can you paraphrase what you just said? Way to long.

JE just got a taste of how @Sperm Edwards must feel every day.  

[Dcat]

1 hour ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

Is he great? Nope. Is he top 15? Not today. But is he "terrible"? "Incompetent"? "Downright awful and should be fired tomorrow"? No. 

 

Right now, the Jets Roster is considered a Top 10 roster in the league, not by me or other random Message board posters, but by MANY Football pundits, commentators:

 

- With 2024 training camp and the season around the corner, the 33rd Team website ranked the Jets roster as the sixth best in the league and the No. 1 defense.

- "If all goes right for the New York Jets in 2024, they could have an argument for ranking even higher on this list," NFL writer Ian Valentino stated. 

- "They have the league's top cornerback, Sauce Gardner," according to NFL Senior Writer Marcus Mosher. "Although he has only been in the NFL for two seasons, he's been a two-time All-Pro selection and the 2022 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. But Gardner isn't the only reason the Jets rank so highly on this list. Quinnen Williams might be the NFL's best defensive tackle. He is just as good against the run as he is as a pass-rusher. Williams is only 26 and has improved every season. Williams and Gardner might be the NFL's best duo. "And don't forget about Quincy Williams, who is coming off an All-Pro season at linebacker. The Jets have three All-Pro defenders who are all in the primes of their careers. For that reason alone, they are No. 1 on our list."

-  According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Jets’ roster is ranked 4th best in the NFL for 2024 

- "Jets have top 5 roster heading into 2024: Aaron Rodgers is the most important player for the Jets and the biggest factor for a potential Super Bowl run, but the Jets have set themselves up with a group of players around Rodgers that make up one of the best rosters on paper in the NFL" The Sporting News 5/31/2024

 

Thats just a quick snapshot of what the "Media" is saying about the roster Douglas has built. "Terrible" GMs don't get those kinds of articles written about them. 

 

Is Joe Douglas perfect? Is he great? No, he is not. But right now, the Jets are drafting to the mean of the NFL, instead of being an outlier for futility. There are plenty of mid round guys playing significant roles on the team from the past few drafts, and aside from two GLARING, OBVIOUS misses, the drafting has been pretty darn good of late:

-2021 was a bit... rough (more on that later), but AVT is a starting OG and when healthy and left at his natural position, seems like a very high ceiling player. Michael Carter II (DB) is a very good player for the team, and Jamien Sherwood (5th rounder) seems like he's the heir apparent to CJ Mosley.

-2022 Speaks for itself.

-2023 is a work in progress, but Tippman looks to have overcome his shotgun snap problems and is the starting OC. Will McDonald was a head-scratcher but if he fills the role of DPR and can put together a 10+ sack season, he's a valuable commodity. Zaire Barnes is a seems like solid depth (that's more than you expect from the typical 6th Rounder). Israel Abanikanda seems to have been eclipsed by other new RBs, but he has size, speed, and has flashed as a runner.

-The 2024 draft seems to be trending in the right direction, but it's still too early to really know. Olu Fashanu may be a lockdown OT for a decade once Tyron Smith moves on and the rest of the draft has plenty of talent with Braelin Allen seemingly the stand-out.

 

And over that time, let's not dismiss the UDFA's the Jets have brought in that are significant contributors (or were) to the team... Huff, Gipson, Brownlee, etc. This current Jets FO has found more UDFA Talent in the last few years than the organization as a whole did in the 25 years prior - since probably Chrebet. 

 

Free Agency: What a mixed bag. Carl Lawson (whose existence someone only recently reminded me of) was a swing and a miss. Dude was always hurt. Corey Davis... bro... WHO could have predicted he would just flake out and retire? I'm sorry, I know we have some ambiguous, nebulous inferences that there was some type of "Family problem" or possible, speculative "Health Issue" that led to his random and ill-timed retirement... but still. Retire during Pre-Season? Really? With ZERO explanation? And then the Jets bend over backwards for the guy, to the point that they granted him a free and clear release because he said he wanted to be "close to home"... and he goes and tries out for THE BILLS on August 14th? Umm, What?? Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb were swings at meeting two needs, WR Depth and making AROD happy. Cobb is gone, and Lazard, well, he needs to get his sh*t together this year. FA is almost always a crap shoot, but aside the current O-Line with Moses, Smith, and Simpson, the team is mostly built off the draft at this point. If the O-Line is top 10 this year, the FA record starts looking a LOT better...

 

The BAD

The 2020 Draft is, in no uncertain terms, a black hole, with Ashtyn Davis the sole survivor of the virtual "Covid Draft". Mekhi Becton seemingly found every pre-draft concern and majored in them. His impressive size and athleticism at 6'7 365lbs made him look like the prototype and he was productive in college. But there were issues there the Jets couldn't overcome. Denzel Mims remains an enigma, as he is now currently completely out of the league. The rest of that draft is... forgettable. Total miss. 2020 was Douglas' first draft as THE GM of a team. It was a weird year. He was dealing with Adam Gase. It was 4 years ago. The roster has completely flipped since that draft, and the consequences have been navigated. 2020 was a terrible draft, and it seems like a lot of us still have a bit of a hangover from it since Becton was only recently let go, but it has not been indicative of the way the draft has gone since...

 

THE GIANT, UGLY ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

No, it isn't Becton, JD himself, me, or The Crusher.... 2021 First Round Pick Zach Wilson completely hamstrung any progress and seemingly negated any other talent advantage the Roster had. He was grossly over-drafted. They had Darnold under contract, and while he was floundering, he still could have been the cheap bridge QB to build around for a year. The flaws in Wilsons game were on tape, but a very low-level schedule of opponents and a dominant O-Line made him look statistically better than he really was. He was immature. Small. And he sunk ANY potential the team had for 3 full seasons. It's hard to argue what the bigger mistake is... DRAFTING Wilson at #2 or continuing to reinforce the failure that he was displaying for his entire career in NY. SO far, much of the criticism Douglas receives is directly tied to #2. The win-loss record. The underperforming Offense. The "noise" and distractions. This was a move that should not have been made... but once it was and it was revealed very quickly that the team had no future moving forward with an underperforming, floundering QB, alternative solutions needed to be implemented (A disinterested Joe Flacco, Mike White, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemien are NOT "Serious" backup plans). The team chose to baby and coddle the player and sink the prospects of 52 other players, a Multi-Billion Dollar franchise, and massive fanbase for unclear reasons. Was that Douglas' doing, or higher up the chain of command? We probably won't find out for a while, BUT it happened on JD's watch, so he gets to lie in that bed. 

 

SO, taking EVERYTHING into account over the past 5 years since JD was hired in June of 2019... is he a "terrible" GM? I would say No, he is not. He had a VERY rough start and has managed to overcome it. He took a roster that in 2019 was on an XFL level and transformed it into an arguable Top 10 level collection of players in the course of 4 years. This was not a team a few pieces away, this was a roster and an organization that was suffering from organizational, systemic toxicity and insanity from the Gase years. A Team DEVOID of talent, not just undermanned. There were mistakes made (lol), but right now, they have seemingly largely overcome. The Defense is Top 3 in the league... possibly better (Get your ass to work, Reddick). The Offense has a LOT of talent... Garret Wilson and Breece Hall are game changers. Allen may also be at that level, tbh. Still a little thin at WR for my taste, but if Mike Williams is 85% of who he was for the Chargers and manages to stay mostly available, there is potential for the Offense to be top 10 - IF Rodgers stays upright. Thankfully, the O-Line seems as solid as its been since the Brick/Mangold days ON PAPER. We shall see... 

 

Oh, and a final note... and be honest. If you went back to 2021 and told yourself, yeah, it looks like we're hurting at QB, but in a few years, we're going to have Aaron Rodgers at QB going into a season with good Offensive Playmakers, a Game changing Running Back, and a top 3 defense... you would have said, "Where do I sign up?".

 

Anyway, that's all I have for today. Go away now...

 

 

 

I'm going to wait for @Sperm Edwards' summary.

[Jetsfan80]

7 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

QB. QB. QB. QB. QB..... A QB that they traded for, that was considered "broken" that got his sh*t together. Thats the difference between the Jets and Lions.

 

A QB. 

 

Did I mention... QB?

True but the process behind the Zach Wilson selection was horrendous.  

If the process had been decent and JD had done everything in his power to ensure Zach wasn’t the anointed QB1 for 2 years and unquestioned QB2 for a 3rd it would have been far more forgivable to be in the QB situation we’ve been in since ‘21.

[Matt39]

7 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

QB. QB. QB. QB. QB..... A QB that they traded for, that was considered "broken" that got his sh*t together. Thats the difference between the Jets and Lions.

 

A QB. 

 

Did I mention... QB?

Of course it’s QB. It’s other stuff too, but QB matters the most obviously. Joe did himself no favors not tackling the Zach disaster head on in year one. Everything the Jets did with Wilson was wrong, which in essence cancels everything else good he did out because of the refusal to move on. It was evident his first camp that he couldn’t  play. Then the Jets decided to hide him instead of admitting their mistake.

Wilson wet his pants in the green and white scrimmage his rookie year and they pretended it wasn’t happening. 

[The Crusher]

He certainly needs some wins to really have this conversation but so far so good at this point in this season. 

[Sperm Edwards]

3 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

 

JE just got a taste of how @Sperm Edwards must feel every day.  

Everyone here gets a taste of Sperm every day -- and you all love it (though I'll grant you, some more than others). 

[bitonti]

1 hour ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I see the usual suspects just dropped their pre-loaded Bot-Responses without even reading a word of what I wrote.

 

Cool. Good talk. I'm suddenly reminded of my childhood going to Mass, when the congregation just mumbles the responsorial reply "Lord, hear our prayer..." without even listening to what their praying for. Like an automatic email reply... lol

ok so I read your words

Do you think Joe Douglas deserves a raise? Because he's headed into the last year of his deal and guys like that either get a raise or get fired

 

[Trotter]

6 minutes ago, Matt39 said:

Of course it’s QB. It’s other stuff too, but QB matters the most obviously. Joe did himself no favors not tackling the Zach disaster head on in year one. Everything the Jets did with Wilson was wrong, which in essence cancels everything else good he did out because of the refusal to move on. It was evident his first camp that he couldn’t  play. Then the Jets decided to hide him instead of admitting their mistake.

Wilson wet his pants in the green and white scrimmage his rookie year and they pretended it wasn’t happening. 

if i have this incorrect you have my apologies but aren't you the guy who for years has stated that Zach was a result of Woody and Zach's uncle with Jetblue?

IF your theory is true - JD has nothing to do with Zach nor could he change anything. Point is you can fault JD for alot but based on many of your threads, JD drafting, keeping Zach is not one of them