The Jets signed Robert Turner as an undrafted free agent out of New Mexico. He slowly worked his way up from the practice squad to become a primary backup, special teamer, and extra tight end in jumbo sets who even got a bit of work on the defensive side of the ball in goal line situations. Turner's 2011 was short lived. He broke his leg in the preseason opener against Houston during a freak chain of events started by a missed Vladimir Ducasse block. He eventually was placed on IR. That is not exactly the way the note on which one wants to hit free agency, but it is where Turner finds himself.

I think of Turner a lot like Wayne Hunter. He has been good when the Jets have gone to power sets with six linemen. He was particularly valuable against the Steelers in 2010 when he was used as an extra blocker to extend the edge and help Hunter against Lamarr Woodley. I think similarly he would probably have his moments if pressed into more extended duty but would be exposed over the course of a long season. In the brief stints where he had to go in for Nick Mangold like during the AFC Championship Game in January 2011, there seemed to particularly be a real dropoff. What Turner is most reliable for is chippy play that can lead to killer penalties at bad times such as a personal foul he took late in the fourth quarter against the Texans that killed the Jets' field position heading into a critical drive.

I think Turner is probably gone. I have three reasons for thinking that. The first is the broken leg he is recovering from. It is a serious injury. The Jets might want to look elsewhere for a guy who could be a play from starting at a critical position. The other two reasons are Jonathan Feinsod and Neil Schwartz, Turner's agents. Those names might sound familiar. They should. They represent Darrelle Revis. The Jets hate dealing with them. Mike Tannenbaum was once caught on camera talking about how difficult it is to remember they are actually people. Dealing with them to keep Revis was a necessity, but the Jets have let more marginal contributors like Chris Baker, Marques Murrell and Marques Douglas represented by the pair walk in recent years rather than having to negotiate new contracts with them.

I would be inclined want the Jets to shop for a more proven backup, but I would not protest too heavily if Turner returned. How about you?

If you want Mike Tannenbaum to invest late round Draft picks to develop linemen for depth, Caleb Schlauderaff is the man for you. The Jets acquired Schlauderaff from Green Bay at the end of the preseason for a conditional pick. Schlauderaff was Green Bay's sixth round pick in 2011. Let's say the Jets gave up their sixth for him. The best way to think of it is that Schlauderaff would be the Jets' sixth round pick in 2012.

Schlauderaff struggled in preseason for the Packers. He was probably not going to make their team. He only got 14 snaps in the regular season with the Jets, many as an extra tight end in power run packages. Not that anybody could come to much of a conclusion with such a scant sample size but he fared fine in those snaps.

It is difficult to say what the future holds for Schlauderaff. He is not a huge guy for his position at 305 pounds. Scouting reports indicate he was a technically sound run blocker coming out of school but not a guy who could get a huge push. He is more of a zone blocking guy. It sounds like he was more of a fit in Bill Callahan's blocking scheme than in Tony Sparano's. Many players end up defying their college scouting reports once they learn the ropes in the NFL. Since the Jets used a pick on him, they might as well see what they can get. He likely will at least get a chance to replace Robert Turner as the primary backup interior lineman.

I vote stay. How do you vote?

If one piece of information could sum up Vladimir Ducasse's development in two years with the Jets it is that he could not even get a look to start over Wayne Hunter. When looking at reasons for the failures for the 2011 Jets, Ducasse's abject failure to improve rates highly on the list. The Jets had a gaping hole at right tackle. Ducasse was nowhere near being ready to fill it.

Even worse, he was not even capable of serving as a fill in for depth. Think of the difference Ducasse could have made when Nick Mangold got hurt. The Jets could have put Ducasse at left guard and moved Matt Slauson to center. Things eventually got so desperate that they tried this briefly against the Ravens, where Ducasse missed a block that almost got Mark Sanchez killed.

Two years into his career, Ducasse is roughly at the same place he was when the Jets drafted him. He can be very powerful when he gets off the ball quickly and drives defenders in the run game. He looks like he is playing in slow motion, though, when he has to diagnose what is happening in front of him. Throw a twist or a stunt at him, and the defender might be all the way past him by the time he moves. Perhaps the most brutal example was when he lined up as an extra tight end against the Eagles and held when the defensive end made an inside move even though he had D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Matt Slauson inside to help.

You can make any excuse you want. You can say the Jets have asked him to move to different positions. You can say he was a project coming out of school. The bottom line is he needs to get a lot better. At the very least, drafting him in the second round looks like one of Mike Tannenbaum's biggest mistakes. A second round pick should be able to contribute in a meaningful way by the end of his second season. Ducasse did a bit of decent work as an extra blocker in jumbo sets. That is it. You take athletes who are so raw it will take them four years to contribute in the fifth round, not the second. Perhaps then any complaints we have about Ducasse should really go to Tannenbaum. If Vladimir went in the Draft where he should have, we might view his development through a different lens.

Ducasse has a lot of ability. He is strong and nimble. He has yet to translate that into production on the football field. His salary is next to nothing so it worth trying to get something out of his natural athleticism. It is difficult to get hopes too high, though. For every raw athlete who learns technique, nine don't. Perhaps an offseason of work will do wonders for his game. If there is not some sort of substantial improvement, though, Ducasse might not make it out of preseason.

Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward once made beautiful music together. Word has gotten out this weekend that the Steelers might be ready to move on from Ward. With a likely opening across from Holmes, could the Jets have interest in the four time Pro Bowler, former Super Bowl MVP, and 1,000 career reception guy?

While Ward was once a top flight receiver, his game has fallen off greatly. Ward's athletic ability is deteriorating quickly. He lost his starting job in 2011 and saw his playing time rapidly diminish. If you watched him, you saw his ability to explode and separate is just about gone. At age 35, that process neither stops nor reverses itself for wide receivers. It continues to happen quickly. He only had 46 catches, 381 yards, and 2 touchdowns, all the lowest totals since his rookie season. As his body continues to deteriorate, he might not even be capable of putting up those numbers in 2012. He is not a threat downfield anymore. His ability to create room on short stuff is just about gone too.

Any interest in Ward would be about his name and the player he used to be, not what he can do now. He might be a fiesty competitor and willing to mix it up as a blocker, but signing him would probably be Derrick Mason redux. I think the Jets should stay away. How about you?

Lost in the brutal year Wayne Hunter had on the other side was the subpar year D'Brickashaw Ferguson had, his least effective season by far since 2007. Yes, he made the Pro Bowl, but that was based on reputation like so many others. According to Pro Football Focus, Brick missed 15 blocks that led to either a sack or a quarterback hit. That is in the top ten among tackles. Brick's run blocking also fell off. A year after they averaged 4.8 yards per run to the left side, the Jets averaged under 4 in 2011. Ferguson did not seem to get the same push.

I have heard some very logical explanations for Ferguson's relative struggles. One was the level of competition. DeMarcus Ware, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Trent Cole were among the pass rushers Ferguson faced. Compounding the problem was Wayne Hunter on the right side. With Hunter struggling so much, the Jets had to send most of their help his way, leaving Brick alone frequently for these difficult matchups. There is a lot of truth to that, but it is still a problem. The Jets gave Ferguson a huge contract in 2010 for a reason. He is supposed to be able to handle difficult assignments on his own. Few get the kind of money he got because few are capable of doing the job.

For the time being, I am willing to write off his bad year as part of a chain reaction to Hunter's play. One weak link on the offensive line affects everybody else. A bad right tackle means the guard has to give extra help, which means the center has to do more and so on. Ferguson has a fantastic track record. Entering the year, one could have made a compelling argument he was only behind Joe Thomas and Jake Long at his position and barely so. He is also in his prime at age 28 and early in a new big contract. Despite the struggles, this is easy. Brick will stay.

The pickings seem to be pretty slim in the free agent market for offensive tackles. Jeff Backus might be among the best options out there. The Detroit left tackle is exceptionally durable, having started every game for his entire 11 year career. He was one of the few decent pieces during a brutal stretch in MoTown.

Backus would purely be a stopgap for the Jets, buying them some time to find or develop a long term answer at right tackle. At 34 he is near the end of his career. He is the prototypical guy who does everything well but nothing exceptionally. He is an adequate pass protector. Aroound 6.3% of his pass blocking plays resulted in a missed block that impacted the quarterback. That is neither great nor terrible. He has enough athletic ability to hold up fine but not enough to dominate. Moving to the right side where the pass rushers are usually not as dynamic and where the quarterback can see them coming would probably help improve his numbers. As a run blocker, he is technically sound, but he is not going to blow anybody away with his 6'5" 304 pound frame. The Lions averaged a solid 4.2 yard per run to the left side in 2011.

I think Backus would be a certain upgrade over Wayne Hunter and a decent stopgap. Unfortunately there are no slam dunk answers at right tackle so I think the Jets should take a look if the Lions do not lock him up before free agency begins.

Matt Slauson is a study in value. The 25 year old has completed his second year as a starter. At this point he is a middle of the pack lineman. He is neither near the very top nor very bottom in terms of disruptions caused as a result of a blown block in the passing game. He flashes dominance at times as a run blocker and is a big part of the team's success running right when he pulls. Runs to his left side were under 4 yards per carry for the Jets, though. He is still young enough to improve from middle of the pack into a top tier lineman like Brandon Moore did, but there are no guarantees.

The Jets could probably stand to improve their play at left guard, but there are other vastly more glaring needs and very limited resources to tend to those. Slauson is the kind of guy you would not want to be the best lineman on your team on a big contract. When he is the fifth best lineman on your team on a cheap rookie deal as he was in 2010 and could be again should the Jets upgrade right tackle, he is great value.

I vote stay. How do you vote?

The free agent pickings for an established starting tackle to potentially replace Wayne Hunter are slim. The Jets could potentially turn their attention to a young backup with starting ability. One such option is Cincinnati free agent to be Anthony Collins. Collins was a fourth round pick out of Kansas by the Bengals in 2008. The 26 year old has been blocked from starting by Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith this year. When he has been called upon, he has received some high marks from Bengals fans.

Collins has been an incredible pass blocker when called upon. In his four year career, he has missed a block allowing either pressure, a hit or, a sack on an elite level 4.1% of pass blocking plays. Since his rookie year where he had a few rough games, that becomes an astounding 2.2%. This year on 89 pass blocking plays, he allowed only a single pressure.

Collins is less successful as a run blocker, where scouting reports indicate he struggles to get a push. An examination of the numbers bears this out. In the past two seasons, he has played every snap in four games. This year the Bengals averaged 7.2 yards per carry against the Texans running to the right side, an excellent number against a fantastic defense. There is a catch, though. Most of the production came on one huge run over 40 yards. Against the Rams, the Bengals averaged 4.1 yards running right, but the Rams allowed 4.8 per carry this year so that is below the normal output. Last year the Bengals averaged 2.0 against San Diego and 3.3 against Baltimore running right with Collins in the lineup.

Collins is an interesting case. He would be a clear upgrade over Wayne Hunter. His pass blocking skills would make him a no brainer for a team running an offense based on a passing attack. For a team presumably moving to a power run based offense, it becomes less clear Collins is the right guy. He does have the kind of frame at 6'5" and 317 pounds to potentially develop into a punishing run blocker at tackle with the right coaching. Cases like this seem to be Tony Sparano's specialty. Since he was a backup, he probably is not going to get big money. He has shown starter potential, though.

This is not a case like Wayne Hunter of a guy being a career backup. Collins is younger and was blocked by some good players. Hunter had a lot of ups and downs when he was pressed into duty in 2010 like brutal performances against Mario Williams and Cameron Wake. Collins has been rock solid as a pass blocker for three years, including stonewalling James Harrison. When looking at the other options relative to cost, I think making an aggressive push for Collins would be the right play for the Jets even if he is only given the chance to compete for the starting job. What do you think?

Obviously Nick Mangold is not going anywhere. He is the best center in the NFL and entering his prime. The Jets signed him to a deserved extension in 2010 that will keep him in green and white for a long time. Jets fans have been very lucky to have had top notch center play for a long time starting with the signing of Kevin Mawae in 1998. Mangold took over in 2006 and has continued the incredibly high level of play. Few teams have gotten such consistently high caliber play out of a position like the Jets have from center.

Mangold's 2011 was not his best year. He had a few bad snaps like the killer one against the Giants on the goal line. There were some bouts with penalties like the pair he had against San Diego, one of which wiped out a touchdown. His iron man streak ended as a high ankle sprain forced him to miss the first two starts of his career and hindered him a bit after he returned. Be clear about one thing, though. Mangold at less than his best is still arguably the best interior lineman in the game. He consistently won his battles in both run blocking and pass protection even when faced with top notch competition.

If you need evidence, look at the way the line struggled when he was out of the lineup against the Raiders and especially the Ravens. With Mangold in the lineup, normally the offensive line has an anchor up the middle. The center handling a tackle by himself has an effect that radiates. Guards can turn their attention further outside to assist the tackles. When the center cannot win a one on one, the guards have to help, which means less blockers available outside.

Colin Baxter's play in those games was a monument to Mike Tannenbaum's poor job building depth along the offensive line, but I think the Jets probably would have only fared marginally better with somebody like Robert Turner. Mangold is so good that a dropoff to even an average player is monumental and almost impossible to overcome.

Lucikly he will be back in 2012.

Brandon Moore made his first Pro Bowl in 2011. It was interesting because it might have been his least effective year since 2007. Moore was still a very good right guard. The Jets ran for over 4 yards per carry on his right side, and his pass protection was almost spotless. The team was, however, less dominant running right than in previous years.

A lot of the problems can probably be put at Wayne Hunter's feet. The right tackle struggled a ton through much of the year. Life is a lot easier on a guard with a tackle like Damien Woody next to you dominating. Brandon had to help out his struggling tackle a lot more than he had in recent years. Moore did not seem to have the same impact. Beyond the decreased productivity in the run game, I really do not have a ton of numbers. My eyeball test said Moore was still effective but winning his matchups less frequently than in the past.

Cutting Moore would save the Jets $3 million. Under different circumstances, it might make sense for the Jets to save money, but this is the case currently. Brandon is 32. If the team had a young cheap guy ready to slide in, it could be time for a move. The Jets do not on the surface appear to have one, though. Vladimir Ducasse is extremely raw to put it charitably. Perhaps Caleb Schlauderaff is ready to elevate his game like Matt Slauson was two years ago. Perhaps the Jets will find a new guard in the Draft. I would not like to see them take than chance, though.

I vote stay. How do you vote?

The Jets apparently had until today to cut Wayne Hunter to prevent his 2012 salary from being guaranteed. They failed to do so, meaning they will pay their 2011 starting right tackle whether he is on the roster or not.

In other contract news, the Jets apparently have decided to keep RT Wayne Hunter, whose $2.45 million salary for '12 became guaranteed on Wednesday, a source confirmed. This is a head scratcher.

Calling it a head scratcher would be an understatement. We have been over why Hunter should not return plenty. I suppose the Jets still might cut him, but that certainly would not fit Woody Johnson's recent (let's be nice and call it) frugal nature. The Jets held an entire press conference the day after the season ended with no other purpose than for Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan to lie blatantly to the media about Brian Schottenheimer returning hoping the Jaguars would hire him and save Gang Green a few bucks. The Jets also might make Hunter a backup again, but he would be one expensive backup. The money allocated to him could better go to more productive players. Yes, the Jets might lose him if they cut him and tried to re-sign him for cheap, but he is not the only backup tackle available. He certainly is not good enough to take extraordinary steps to keep.

Maybe the Jets worked out some sort of paycut that we will find out about in the hours and day ahead. Short of that, I am stumped for an explanation on this one.

We saw Wayne Hunter's ceiling this year. It is a decent backup swing tackle. For limited stretches, he can play great football. He can be a good blocker as an extra tight end in jumbo formations. He does not have the focus or the consistent technique necessary to successful man a tackle position full time. He will be exposed in a big way if forced to do so.

Hunter played a handful of great games, but the overall body of work was really poor. He allowed Mark Sanchez to either be sacked or hit 22 times. No other tackle in the league had more missed blocks resulting in his quarterback getting clocked more. Hunter was not responsible for Sanchez's inaccuracy, ill advised decisions, or inability to read a defense, but having such poor pass protection at right tackle certainly made matters even worse. Wayne was actually not bad in the run game. The Jets averaged over 4 yards per carry to the right side, but they were not as productive running his way as they were with Damien Woody. If you are going to be that bad in pass protection, you had better be the most dominant run blocking tackle in the league. Hunter is not.

Cutting Hunter can save the Jets over $2 million against the cap, money that can be spent on getting a good right tackle. If the Jets want to cut him and bring him back as a backup at the league minimum, I would not have a huge problem with it, but he cannot come back at his current salary.

I vote go. How do you vote?

The New York Giants are the 2011 NFL Champions. They defeated the New England Patriots tonight 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI to win their fourth Super Bowl. It is the second title for the Giants in five years. The Patriots now have gone seven years without winning it all.

What does this mean for the Jets? Mainly it means a long offseason of insufferable Giants fans, players, and friendly media. There are a few things we can take from this, though, beyond watching the Pats fall heartbreakingly short.

This is Eli Manning's second Super Bowl win. For his first three years in the league, he looked uncannily like Mark Sanchez has. A lot of people gave up on him at that point. None of that means Sanchez will follow the same path and develop into a top tier quarterback. There are a lot of questions about almost every aspect of his game on the field and off the field right now, but three shaky years can be overcome.

Even more, it shows you don't need to have a super team to win in the NFL. The Giants were not a great team. They were an average to slightly above average team. Just about every significant aspect of their team was near the bottom of the league except their passing game. They just got hot at the right time and got a bunch of bounces to go their way. It can happen to anybody.

Some have billed it as the biggest nightmare matchup for Jets fans. The truth is just about nobody aside from the fans of these two teams is happy about seeing these two teams meet in the Super Bowl.

So far in the Playoffs, my prediction record is 7-3, although oddly the three losses were all games where I felt really confident in my pick. Today I like the Giants. I think the Patriots are a better team over the course of a sixteen game season, but the Giants are a real matchup problem for them. The Giants have the quarterback and receivers to exploit New England's horrible secondary and the pass rush to disturb Tom Brady. Rob Gronkowski's health also could be an issue. Then we finally will be done with this horrible NFL season.

Leave your Super Bowl thoughts below. Just a few hours remain until the NFL has a new champion.

Tonight is the voting and announcement of the 2012 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, this August. Two men with significant ties to the Jets have a shot.

One is Bill Parcells, who served as head coach from 1997 to 1999. He took over after the Rich Kotite disaster and restored the franchise's credibility, getting to the AFC Championship Game in 1998. After successful stints with the Giants and the Patriots, his success with the Jets enhanced his legacy further.

More significant is a man Parcells brought to the Jets, Curtis Martin. Martin, the five time All Pro, 2004 NFL Rushing Champion, and 10 time 1,000 yard rusher, was a Hall of Famer on the field. Even greater, though, were his class and grace in the locker room and off the field.

I will not get my hopes up for Curtis because this entire system is painfully flawed. There are ridiculous artificial caps on the number of players who can make it, and many deserving people have to wait years and years due to the subjectivity of writers.

You can watch the proceedings on NFL Network or on nfl.com.

If the Jets go to the discount bin looking for a quarterback this offseason, they might well turn their attention to Lions backup quarterback, Shaun Hill, who will be a free agent. Hill has 26 career starts in nine seasons in the league with Minnesota, San Francisco, and Detroit. He saw extended stretches as a starter with the 49ers late in 2008, again in early 2009, and with the Lions when Matt Stafford spent much of 2010 injured.

Hill fits the solid backup/below average starter category. He is accurate on short passes with a 61.7% career completion percentage. He does not have the arm to get the ball into tight widows for big plays down the field as his 6.6 average per attempt would indicate. He does protect the football, though, with only 23 career interceptions in 941 attempts, an excellent rate of 2.4%. His 84.7 career rating reflects this adequate but not spectacular ability and track record.

I would like to see the Jets grab a guy like David Garrard or Jason Campbell with more of a track record. I want a starting caliber quarterback. I think the perception by signing Hill due to his limited playing time would be that he would be Mark Sanchez's backup. Hill still would likely be a lot better than the 2011 mode of Mark Sanchez and fit the mode of a ball protecting game manager a team built on defense and the run game would want. I feel the quarterback position is too important to grab a cheap career backup, but Hill would probably be my preferred choice if that is how the front office decided to go.

If you are looking for some alternative programming for tomorrow's game, Animal Planet is having its annual Puppy Bowl tomorrow, where they have puppies run around a miniature football field for two hours with footballs. This apparently is an actual competition with a winner based on how many puppies carry balls into the end zone.


A reader named Monica was kind enough to send us a video previewing the event and this e-mail.

Hey John,
First of all, my husband and I love Gang Green Nation, keep up the good work :)
So, I asked my husband to send you this video but he wouldn't because he thought you guys wouldn't care. I told him that you guys would love it because it's realated to football and it's got puppies (I mean what's not to love about puppies and football). Anyway, I'm sending it to you myself, post it if you think other fans would like it, I think they would.

We here at GGN like to avoid marital disputes, but I was actually planning on writing about the Puppy Bowl anyway so score one for Monica. Monica, just please don't be too hard on your husband. Any loyal reader of GGN is a good man. Monica's husband,realize you are lucky to be married to a very smart woman.

Puppy Bowl takes place on Animal Planet starting at 3:00 PM Eastern tomorrow. It will not overlap with the Super Bowl, but it might at least give you a nice distraction from all of the pregame hype.

You have to pick in this post. You cannot root for both teams to lose. You cannot root for a meteor to hit the stadium. Which team are you rooting for Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI?

I will be pulling for the Giants just because I view the Patriots as a much bigger and more bitter rival. My dislike for an opponent the Jets see twice a year with plenty of players, coaches, and front office members switching sides trumps a team the Jets see once every four years in a game with any meaning.

I get that some will probably pull for the Pats, though. I am sure some of you have insufferable Giants fans to deal with as friends and family. The Giants and their fans also seem pretty obsessed lately with the Jets. How many shots do they take in the press even though Week 16 was over a month ago? Were the Jets constantly talking about the Giants during their deep postseason runs the last two years? They can do whatever they want since they won, but isn't it kind of sad the Jets are so in their heads that they won't stop talking about them? For a team that claims to hate talking, they sure do their share of trash talk. At least the Jets don't put up a fake air of being above smack talk.

Let us know. Who are you pulling for?

Of all the moves Mike Tannebaum made in 2011, one could argue the trading of Dwight Lowery right before the start of the season made the least sense. The team got only a late round pick in return. The move destroyed the safety depth. Instead of having what looked like a solid rotation of a strong pass defender in Lowery, a versatile guy in Brodney Pool, and run stoppers in Jim Leonhard and Eric Smith, the team traded Lowery, buried Pool on the bench, and rolled with Smith and Leonhard. The rest is history.

Lowery was the converted cornerback the Jets moved to safety due to injuries near the end of 2010. He was excellent at the position in college. He showed some really good signs at the end of that year for the Jets. Dwight's strength was never man to man coverage, but most tight ends are easier to cover than wide receivers so he had a leg up there. Where he is really good was playing centerfield. He has adequate range and excellent instincts. He is something of a ballhawk.

Dwight is small for the safety position at 5'11" and 198 pounds. He is not overly physical as a run stopper. With the league geared more and more to the passing game with athletic tight ends, the ability to play the run has become more of a luxury and the ability to play the pass more of a necessity when it comes to the safety position. Even if his average athleticism will prevent him from ever being a star, Dwight is solid against the pass.

He is probably going to be affordable and surely an upgrade over what the Jets had at safety in 2011. He also knows the system. The question is whether the Jets can get over whatever problem they had with him that made the team inexplicably trade him. My guess is whatever the problem was has not gone away, and I am not sure the egos involved would be willing to admit a mistake.

I do not think Dwight Lowery would be the greatest signing in the history of mankind, but I think he would be a definite upgrade so I would not have an issue with the Jets bringing him back. Would you?

Josh Baker ended up on the roster as a result of Jeff Cumberland's injury. The undrafted free agent from Northwest Missouri State made enough of an impact in preseason to stick on the practice squad early in the year before Cumberland's injury earned him a promotion.

Baker was an unsung guy in his time with the Jets. He served as a second fullback and third tight end and also got work on special teams. At 244 pounds, he is small for a tight end. He is more of an h-back, in short essentially a hybrid of the tight end and fullback positions. In limited action, he looked decent as a blocker and nimble with the ball in his hands.

Baker made some plays when he had the chance. His big kickoff return in the fourth quarter against the Redskins when they were trying to kick it away from Joe McKnight gave a struggling offense a short field. Baker also scored a touchdown running a route from the backfield against the Giants. He also played pretty well on special teams.

Guys at the back of the roster usually need to play well on special teams to earn their keep. They should also ideally be young, cheap, and with potential to develop. Baker fits all of these descriptions. His knack for big plays and on special teams makes him worth keeping. I think he has at least earned a chance to fight for a roster spot next year. He might never amount to anything, but he also might be a really good h-back, a decent blocker who is quick enough to burn linebackers when he goes out on routes.

I vote stay. How do you vote?

Jeff Cumberland can be an exciting guy to project. There are not many 6'4" 260 pound men who can run a 40 yard dash in a 4.4 range. He showed a flash of what he might be capable of becoming on a 33 yard reception against the Cowboys. His second season ended prematurely two weeks later at Oakland when he tore an Achilles tendon trying to make a contested catch in the end zone. This brought Jets fans a lot of pain because it greatly increased Matthew Mulligan's playing time.

An interesting note about Cumberland's brief 2011 campaign is that he was used as a blocker almost twice as frequently as a receiver. He had been viewed primarily as a receiver coming out of Illinois, but he certainly is big enough to be an effective blocker at his position. His limited blocking work was not bad. There are not many effective tight ends with his size-speed combo. At the very least, perhaps he can provide the Jets with an internal option to finally provide an effective blocking tight end who does enough as a receiver to keep defenses honest when he is in the game. Hopefully he can become a full time tight end who allows the Jets to move Dustin Keller around. This is ambitious I know for a guy with 3 catches in 2 seasons, but we can dream. Can't we?

It is always difficult to tell the true effect of coaching, but I think players like Cumberland provide really good test cases. Good coaches can take raw players with loads of natural athletic ability and refine their technique. I think Cumberland will eventually become as good as the coaching he receives. I want to see how good that is so I vote stay. There is no reason to move on from one such cheap young guy with good athletic ability.

Anthony Spencer is a 28 year old free agent to be. He has spent his entire five year career as an outside linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys. For the last three years, he has started across from DeMarcus Ware. Will he get a look from the Jets?

For information about Spencer, let us go straight to the source, SB Nation's Cowboys site, Blogging the Boys.

Spencer is terrific against the run and can also cover but OLBs are measured on disruptive and Spencer has never quite put up the numbers many were hoping for.

The word about his play against the run and in coverage sounds good. His production as a pass rusher looks pedestrian on the surface. He has never registered more than 6 sacks in a season.

I would like to big a bit deeper, though. Sacks only tell part of the story. There are other measures of success as a pass rusher. Hurrying and hitting the quarterback also have big impacts. They forced rushed, inaccurate passes, make the passer uncomfortable, and give receivers less time to get open. Late in Eric Mangini's tenure, the Jets had decent sack numbers, but their pass rush was anemic because they generated no pressure on plays where they did not get a sack.

Looking at Pro Football Focus' numbers on Spencer's sacks, hits, and pressures suggests he is an extremely productive pass rusher. Since he became a starter in 2009, he disrupted the quarterback on 11.7% of plays he was a pass rusher. That is really good. By comparison, Jason Pierre-Paul of the Giants is doing so at a 9.5% clip in this monster year he is having.

Does this make Spencer an elite pass rusher? Probably not. There is certainly a mitigating factor. Playing across from Ware probably helps him a lot. Other teams are usually sending every extra blocker they have at Ware and away from Spencer. Spencer also has lined up against right tackles a lot, who tend to be less nimble or productive as pass protectors. He also has a really good pass rushing nose tackle in Jay Ratliff drawing blockers up the middle. Spencer is a guy who gets a lot of favorable matchups.

I think Spencer is a very well rounded linebacker. He is probably a better pass rusher than his sack stats would suggest and not quite as good as the deeper numebers would indicate. He is still likely better at getting to the quarterback than anybody the Jets have. This series is not meant to talk about money.

It is unclear what Spencer is going to command. Perhaps in a market that could have Robert Mathis and Mario Williams as premier pass rushers, Spencer will come at a more reasonable rate. Perhaps he will still demand Calvin Pace money. For almost every player, a certain price makes sense and one does not. I do like him as a player, though, so I think the Jets should take a look at him at the right price.

When looking at realistic quarterback options for the Jets to pursue, I think Jason Campbell of the Raiders should be at the top of the list. The 30 year old is not a franchise quarterback. He would probably not be an available free agent if he was. He is an adequate quarterback, though.

Campbell is not necessarily a guy who will hit really difficult passes for huge gains. He can hit enough to move the chains, though, and give a passing game credibility. He has a career completion percentage of 60.8% and a passer rating of 82.8. Just as significantly, he protects the football. His 2.3% interception rate ranks him in a tie for sixth all time. The ideal situation would be for the Jets to have a dynamic passing game. What the Jets need at a minimum is simply a credible passing game that does not turn the ball over and gives the defense a chance to control the game. Campbell can do that. As an added bonus, going back to his college career, he has had a new offensive coordinator almost every year so he is adept at learning new offenses quickly.

Campbell probably wants a starting job, but he frankly is probably not good enough for some team to just hand him one, particularly coming off a broken collarbone which ended his 2011 season in October.

In some of these posts regarding quarterbacks in the past, I have noticed some imply guys like Campbell would not be interested to come in and be the backup. I am not suggesting he should be the backup. I think he (or any other quarterback) should be put on equal footing with Mark Sanchez and be given a chance to win the job if he plays better in camp and preseason. If Sanchez is not better than a middle of the pack guy like Campbell by his fourth year, he should not be the starting quarterback for the New York Jets. This team is ready to win now. If Sanchez is not going to be able to carry his share of the load, the Jets need to be able to plug in a guy who can.

The Jets cut Ben Hartsock last year. Hartsock was a solid run blocker but ran horrible routes, had terrible hands, and was responsible for too many penalties. They replaced him with a new player to serve as the primary blocking tight end, Matthew Mulligan. Mulligan is a solid run blocker but runs horrible routes, has terrible hands, and is responsible for even more penalties.

If nothing else, Mulligan saved the team money. Hartsock would have made over $1.5 million to give the team next to nothing. Mullgian was at least cheap.

That does not mean he is worth keeping, though. A lot of backup linemen could fill Mulligan's role more effectively. It would be nice for the Jets to find a second tight end who could block well but was a credible enough receiver to keep a defense honest.

Mulligan is a free agent. The Jets own his rights exclusively. There is no reason to use them to keep him around. I vote go. How about you.

I have been looking forward to this profile because I think the comments for this player will be funnier than any other. Fire away below.

Dustin Keller is an average tight end. It might not sound right, but there is strong basis for this opinion. Dustin is a very good receiver for his position, faster and more athletic than a lot of guys. He is arguably a top ten pass catching tight end. He is coming off his best receiving season, 65 catches for 815 yards.

While the pass catching part of his game is good, he is an extremely poor run blocker, one of the worst at his position. It has been kind of an odd thing for a team that wanted to pride itself around its run game has a tight end so much more adept at receiving than blocking.

Keller is a good receiver, but he has not been the kind of player defenses have had to game plan around. He does not present the physical mismatches a Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham does. He has not consistently broken games the way Antonio Gates or Dallas Clark did at their best.

Keller has been a nice complimentary player who can create favorable matchups. Part of this has been due to his inconsistent quarterbacking, but Dustin has to take some of the blame also. His route running can be inconsistent. He also does not come up with a lot of catchable balls. I am not talking about Santonio Holmes style brutal drops either. There are a lot of balls within his grasp in traffic that he does not come up with. There are also numerous instances where he just does not look for a pass coming in his direction.

I was not shocked to hear the rumors of the Jets potentially shopping Keller because of all this. NYJetsCap.com indicates getting rid of Keller would free up a little more than $1 million in cap space. I would not recommend the Jets doing this. I think Keller can be exploited to create favorable matchups with the offense, and he seems to be the only receiver Mark Sanchez has a bond with right now. I have come to think, however, that Keller is not the full time tight end the Jets have been using him as. I think the team should find a more complete guy capable of run blocking and receiving and move Dustin around more. Have him play tight end, but also split him wide in base sets to either isolate him against a slower linebacker or smaller corner. Use him out of the backfield. He can probably be better exploited.

What do you think?

I guess this is as good of a time as any to talk about Peyton Manning. Plenty of rumors are swirling around the status of the four time MVP. Could he end up with the Jets?

I have long been skeptical of the notion the Jets could land Manning. I have said as much both to people on this site and in person. It is great to bounce the idea around, but there was not even any indication whether the Colts were willing to part with him or whether he wanted to continue his career after a neck injury kept him from playing in 2011. Indications are that Manning might indeed be leaving Indianapolis.

If Peyton does want to continue his career, he is in the driver's seat. He can pretty much choose the team he wants. Manning has more than enough money set aside. While I expect him to command a salary in line with other top tier quarterbacks, I do not think he is going to simply sell himself to the highest bidder. The last few years of his career will present him a chance to enhance an already incredible legacy.

To determine where he will end up, we would have to answer many questions that are not known. What team would give him the best supporting cast? Which coaching staff would he feel most comfortable with? Would he want to play in a big market? Would he want to go to the NFC so he would not compete with the Colts? Would he want to play in a warm weather city? Would he want to play in the same city as his brother? How much would he want to reunite with Tom Moore? I cannot answer these questions. You cannot either. Only Peyton can. We can only talk about whether the Jets should be interested if Manning can be had.

First I think we need to recognize that any team that signs him is going to do a thorough medical examination. Not doing so for a guy coming off a serious neck injury would be irresponsible. Suffice it to say any team that brings Manning in is going to be sure he is past the neck ailment.

If Manning is healthy and interested, I do not see any real debate. For the Jets not to go all in to try and land him would amount to malpractice in my book.

Peyton Manning is not Brett Favre. Favre was older when the Jets got him. Manning is a much better player than Favre was. There is something else to consider. The Jets gave Favre a middle of the pack defense, not a top five unit like the Jets could give Manning. Had the Jets given Favre the kind of supporting cast the team has now, his time with the Jets might have ended differently. Just look at what happened a year later when the Vikings gave Favre a complete football team.

The Jets might have other holes to fill like safety and outside linebacker. Quarterback is more important than any of them. If you have a top tier quarterback, you are a contender in the NFL. If you have a top tier safety or outside linebacker, you might not be. To suggest these are higher priorities would be inaccurate in my book. For all of their issues at these spots, the Jets were still a top five defense. Having a 21st ranked passing game was the big reason the team missed the Playoffs. Turn it into a top tier passing game, and this team is as good as any in the league.

How about that hole at right tackle? Manning's incredible pocket presence would make pass protection look a lot better. He has an innate ability to know just when to get the ball out. The man won the MVP with Tony Ugoh protecting his blind side for Pete's sake.

Manning coming to the Jets would mean the end of Mark Sanchez. The team would need to get rid of Sanchez to clear over $9 million in cap space to make it work. I think it would be worth it. Manning would give the Jets top tier quarterback play for the next two to three years. There is no indication that would be the case with Sanchez. The Jets are a team ready to win now. What is holding them back above all else is an anemic passing game. Manning would probably greatly increase the numbers of Dustin Keller and Santonio Holmes. Some say the team doesn't have the money. Mike Tannenbaum should find the money to make it work.

Manning also might be the one quarterback who could convince Rex Ryan to open up the offense and rely on the passing game. Combine the defense Ryan has with an offense that can put up a ton of points, and the Jets become very dangerous.

I cannot say whether Peyton Manning would have any interest in the Jets even if he chooses and is healthy enough to play in 2012. I can think of at least one team in need of a quarterback that would provide a more attractive option, the San Francisco 49ers. He would get the same great defense, a better run game, better weather, a team out of the AFC, and less of a circus. What I can say is that the Jets should do everything in their power to try and get him if there is a chance.

Tonight is the Pro Bowl, the NFL's All Star Game. If you are one of the few with any interest in this exhibition or are feeling deprived of football on this Sunday before the Super Bowl, this is the thread for you. Nothing is on the line today. You will see vanilla, passive play , which goes against the essence of the sport, since nobody wants to get hurt. It is still football for you.

Four Jets are involved in this game, Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore, and D'Brickashaw Ferguson. How a top five defense only lands one player in this game while a bottom feeding offense nets three is anybody's guess.

Few have very much interest in this game so I would not imagine anybody being interested in an illegal stream to the game, but do not ask for one or post one just in case.

Leave your thoughts below.

I think one of Terry Bradway's biggest errors as general manager of the Jets was not finding a way to afford Kareem McKenzie. McKenzie was a very good right tackle for the Jets who signed with the Giants after the 2004 season at the young age of 26. Bradway thought converted tight end Adrian Jones could fill the void. He was wrong. It took the Jets three years until the signing of Damien Woody to adequately replace McKenzie.

McKenzie is now on the wrong side of 30. Would the Jets be wise to try and bring back the pending free agent. I am not so sure of that. While Kareem helped to lock down the right tackle spot for years for the Giants, there are real signs he is in deep decline. According to Pro Football Focus, McKenzie was beaten in pass protection to allow either a pressure, hit, or sack on 9.3% of plays in which he was a pass blocker this season. That is Wayne Hunter territory. He would probably cost more than Hunter because of his good reputation for past work.

How about run blocking? McKenzie was part of the blocking unit that helped the Giants rush for less yards than any other in the league. They only ran for 3.5 yards per carry. In fairness, the Giants were stronger running to McKenzie's right side, averaging 3.9 per run to that side and 4.1 off right tackle. That is not the indication of dominant run blocking, though.

While I think the Jets should have found a way to pay McKenzie back in 2005, bringing him back would be chasing the past. He is on the downside.

What do you think?