This was originally a comment in one of the other report card thingies, but I figure it's long enough and for-Gods-sake-get-away-from-the-ledge positive enough that it needed its own FP.  Cheers all, OnceYoureAJet.

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Take it easy pal! While our offense played worse than any other team in the league this week, our defense is actually pretty good you know! What people don’t realize (and I gander that Rex or Pettine would be remiss to ever let these words come out of their mouth) – is that we were actually a better defense last year when Jenkins got hurt! As monstrous as he is, his real value lies in the vocal contributions that he will give to the D along with Scott and Leonhard. Statistically – we won’t go down (or if we do, it’ll be more because our weak links will be weaker since Ropati is out and Green is now in again). Think about it: Rice and McGahee averaged 1.5 YPC, and that was with Jenks out – and the Ravens were one of the better running teams in the league this year! People weren’t taking Rice 3rd/4th in their fantasy leagues for nothing. Mike DeVito and Sione Pouha are pro-bowl caliber run stuffers, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

AFA our secondary, I thought we did an OK job other than the penalties. Those will go away. I was impressed with our rookie Wilson (not so with Cromartie unfortunately) and Eric Smith in particular for stepping up and being role players the way that they did. Obviously everyone’s been lavishing praise on Revis and Leonhard, and they certainly deserve it, but we read about that stuff ad nauseam.

And c’mon. You pretty much invalidated your entire argument by putting a B+ anywhere near our special teams. That was one of the most amazing games I’ve seen in a long time for special teams, and the only slip-up was obviously the Braylon running into the kicker. And that, i think we can all agree, was bullshit.

Here are my grades:
QB: F (I’m jumping on the anti-Schotty train too, sad to say, but put a hefty bit on Sanchez too)
RBs: LT(A-), SG(D) [LT did everything he needed to and more. Shonn didn’t and coughed up a fumble. I expect him to have a huge game against NE though).
Receiving corps: (F) We made a mistake going into this game with only 3 WR and 2 TE, although I must say that I am (1) happy that we got Clowney, (2) sad to see Woodhead go, (3) surprised that we didn’t use Cumberland and Keller’s athleticism more, and (4) downright upset that Bray and J-Co weren’t more involved.

KEEP IN MIND that we had offensive possession for just over 20 minutes versus the Ravens’ almost 40, and even then the majority of our plays were time-eating runs. So we didn’t run many plays at all, and therefore the offense didn’t get a chance to get into a rhythm.  **So these stats should be treated as an ABERRATION, since we were one of the least-penalized and best-ball-controlling (32:00+ average/game) teams in the league last year**

Defense:
Front 3/4: (A-) (Sione, Shaun Ellis, and DeVito were monsters. Still waiting for VG to get a sack, although I’m really hopeful for this season!)
Pass rush: (B-) While our run stuffing stayed strong, our ability to pass rush suffered since their OL didn’t have to double our DL nearly as much. Calvin, come back!
Linebacker corps: (A) Wowowweewah Bart Scott, David Harris, Bryan Thomas (!!!), and Jason Taylor did an outstanding job getting penetration through the gaps and in the flats. Monster job.
Secondary: Revis/Safeties (A-), Wilson (B-), Cro (C-). For his first career start, Wilson did an admirable job. Cro, on the other hand, needs to work on those fundamentals. YOU ARE SINGULARLY GENETICALLY TALENTED. PLEASE LIVE UP TO YOUR POTENTIAL.

Special Teams: Weatherford/Folk/ReturnTeams (A), Blocking teams ©. ’Nuff said.

So yeah overall I think we’re going to have to get MUCH better on offense, but our defense is going to be amazingly good this year. LETS GET SOME WINS, JETS!!! And by week 4, we’ll have Pace, Pool, and Holmes in the game.

That’s when we start REALLY fucking people up.

I had a fleeting thought a second ago reading about the upcoming Gladiator match on Monday night - we JETS know that we're good, and our philosophical foundations are based on (1) Ground and Pound and (2) Organized Chaos. 

Here's a perfect mix of the two - what if, after every touchdown, we went for 2-point conversions?

via assets.espn.go.com

 

Let that set in for a bit.

Cotch and Bray (Tone when he comes back) spread real wide running quick slants, Keller on a quick sit 2 yards in, LT as a flat option, goal-line jumbo with T-Rich or the Terminator lead blocking up the strongside A gap for our War Machine?  I'd bet on that every single time.  It'd be like Ronaldo's taking a penalty kick in soccer - the goalie's gotta pick a side, and if he picks right, we're screwed; but 9 times out of 10, that's a goal, baby. That's JET football, and I'd be freaking excited for every single touchdown.  We would piss defenses off so much!  And when's the last time you saw 32 points scored by a team?  I'm literally salivating thinking about how perfect it would be for us to try it this year.

RR: "The message to the rest of the league is, hey, the Jets are coming, and we're going to give you everything we got. And I think that's going to be more than you can handle."

You KNOW we're coming for you, and we're still going to beat you.  I know it's going to be looked down upon, but when have we ever stuck to conventions?  God Bless the #JETS, b*tches.

Poll

Unprompted 2-point conversions?

16%

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME

13 votes

44%

Good idea, never gonna happen

35 votes

21%

That's an awful idea. We'd lose games if we did that.

17 votes

16%

Are you out of your F------ MIND?

13 votes

78 votes | Poll has closed

OK Jets fans.  Brace yourselves and get ready for this one.

We all know that the JETS had the best defense in the league this year, and looking at the fact that we allowed so few points per game and so few passing yards per game (allowed over 30 yards/gm LESS than the next best team), I wondered just how good we were on the all-time scale.

So I set out on gathering stats on so-called "yeared" defenses - that is, defenses that were so good, they became known for the years in which they achieved ultimate success.  The teams that I compared with the JETS this past season were the '02 Bucs, the '00 Ravens, the '08 Steelers (a little iffy, I know, but bear with me), and the '85 Bears.  There are certainly other teams who have had amazing defenses, but I did not want to overextend my reach by including them and, frankly, I'm a bit too lazy to compile all of that right now.  Furthermore, there are teams who have had outstanding defenses but who have not won the Super Bowl (including our beloved JETS this past year), and those teams are excluded as well.  The point of this exercise is not to quantify and compare the best defenses ever, but rather to identify key statistical trends common to those defenses and to apply them to the '10 JETS to identify areas where we can get better.

I'll give you the skinny right now: we are not on the BOAT scale for two reasons.  (1) We did not win the Super Bowl in our vaunted-defensive season and (2) we allowed over 224 points (14 Pts/Gm) in the regular season.

Stats after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

One of the best up-and-coming stats-driven NFL sites is ProFootballFocus.com, and they just released a great article on AFC East draft needs along with a visual assessment of whether or not the need is nonexistant (green) or severe (red), with a few shades in between.  I'd've put this in a Fan Shot, but I feel like no one really looks at those.. amiright?

http://profootballfocus.com/articles.php?tab=articles&arc=&id=154

I like the assessment, and I think it shows just how well-equipped we are headed into Thursday.  JETS, BABY!

With the explosive offseason we've been having so far, a few Jets Tweeps have been wondering about just how much 1st round talent we've got on our roster at this point. Everyone's listed after the break.

 

Continue reading this post »

Like many of you, I'm scrounging the internet trying to find something - anything - relating to Jets news on this fine day.  Luckily, I've found something that I think will keep me occupied.

The NFL has made TREMENDOUS strides in increasing its presence both on television (via NFL Network) and online (NFL.com), and it continues to do so because of awesome applications like the WAR ROOM.

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Click here to go to the Jets' WAR ROOM!
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Continue reading this post »

Let me be the first to admit that I was wrong about the Jets and Cromartie.  I didn't think that they'd pursue him, but lo and behold, on New Year's Eve we get the golden nugget that Cro will be a Jet for the low price of a 2011 3rd round pick.  I still think that he has a LOT to work on, especially on the attitude front, but I'm willing to cast my suspicions aside if he lets his game speak.

But now that the Jets have two bona-fide shutdown corners in their secondary, what should we call our backfield?  I'm gonna go ahead and suggest a few in the poll below, but leave some comments if you've got better suggestions!

Poll

What nickname should we give the Jets' secondary?

5%

Hawaii (i.e. a collection of islands)

5 votes

5%

F-24 and F-31

5 votes

32%

Cromartie Party on Revis Island

27 votes

10%

Something else (leave your comments below!)

9 votes

45%

Alcatraz (Thanks, JETSFAN IN SC)

38 votes

84 votes | Poll has closed

So about a month ago, I was perusing about ProFootballFocus.com trying to get a gauge on how the Jets' offensive rushing performance was this season from a statistical perspective.  One thing that particularly stuck out to me was just how low of a rating TJ got on PFF's halfback charts. (45th/63 in rushing for all HBs who had taken part in at least 25% of total snaps).  So I emailed the guys at PFF and asked why exactly that was - especially since TJ had just come of of a 1400 yard - 14 TD season.

Their response after the jump.

Poll

Do you still think that the Jets should have kept Thomas Jones on the roster and given him his due $5.6m salary?

33%

Yes

8 votes

66%

No

16 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

There's a lot of buzz going around the interwebs today about the Jets' interest in Veldheer, first from Leberfeld on Scout.com with a cryptic "The Jets are showing a lot of interest in a massive OT from a small school."

This article from the Detroit News seals the deal.

The 6'8" 312lb mammoth of a man would be drafted to eventually replace G Alan Faneca, 32, or OT Damien Woody, 33 - both of whom are nearing the ends of their contracts.  He runs of sub-5.0 40, puts up 34 reps of 225, but only has a 33" reach.

On CBS' NFLDraftScout.com profile, Veldheer checks out as 80th overall, 9th-best OT (remember that there's a lot of buzz going on about the OTs - some mocks have 5+ going in first round), projected to go in the 3rd round.  I sincerely hope that he falls to the Jets in the 5th (thanks for the check David - you're right that this probably will never happen), and I sincerely hope that we don't jump the gun and take him in the 2nd.  What do you think?

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BTW I think the poll is a bit messed up since I incorrectly wrote that we have a 4th when we don't.  Ehhh I'll leave it up for curiosity's sake.

Poll

What do you make of the Jets' interest in OT Jared Veldheer?

3%

Draft him in the 2nd

1 votes

34%

Draft him in the 4th

9 votes

30%

Trade down to get him in the 3rd

8 votes

30%

Don't waste a draft pick on an OT

8 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

So you've all no doubt seen that the Chargers will be shopping CB Antonio Cromartie next season.  Let me say this unequivocally - there is no way in all the world that the Jets pick him up.

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=forum_framed.posts&forum=2&thread=1584335&page=1&pc=4

Just take a look at that hilariously embarrassing spoof of Cromartie and some other Chargers on Facebook during the Divisional Championship against the Jets and tell me that this guy in any way, shape, or form deserves to be on this NYJ team.  Thanks for finding that, GGN. 

I don't think he's necessarily bad at what he does, although his stats aren't all that good compared to other corners (ranked 38th in coverage of all CBs playing in >50% of snaps, 33rd overall), but I think that anyone in the Jets FO who takes a look at this tape will have a very difficult time convincing anyone that Cro showed anything but disdain and lack of respect for Gang Green (and Shonn Greene, for that matter).  Not to mention that he completely gave up at the end of that game.  Seriously look at the MMA link - it's so hard to watch.

Talk about Leigh Bodden, Dunta Robinson, Carlos Rogers, or anyone else from the draft (thanks for the shoutout, Jaime S!) to fix our CB woes, but please leave Cromartie out of the discussion in the future.

 

EDIT:  Forgot to add this heartbreaking one from Kissing Suzy Kolber on LT's dismissal from the team.  PLEASE don't let this be us with TJ next year.  BRING HIM BACK!

Poll

Should the Jets pursue Antonio Cromartie for next season?

32%

Yes

21 votes

67%

No

43 votes

64 votes | Poll has closed

I know that many of you will say that the following are just that - rumors - but could there be any truth to them?  I'd cast judgment myself, but I'm not a frickin' ESPN insider (I'm not giving in... yet).  Anyone with insider status want to fill us outsiders in?

First, "Could Rhodes land with Ravens?" Jets might be parting ways with outspoken safety this offseason.
Also, "Bodden off to a Pats Rival?" In a weak class of free agents, Pats CB could draw interest.

I linked the second article because I think that Bodden would be a great addition to our secondary if the Pats release him and if we don't land a premier CB in the draft.  I'm curious to see whether the 'rival' that the article title references is none other than the JETS.

who could we offer in trades according to the final league year // final 8 rules?  Specifically, could we offer Lito and our 1st (+more, probably) in a trade for a higher 1st rd. pick to get Kyle Wilson or Joe Haden?

And since the Jets are notorious for not using their actual picks and instead trading up to specifically get the player that they want, do you think that this is a scenario that could play out?  Not necessarily with Lito, of course, but in general?

As most of you draftwatchers already know, the mock drafts that have been touted by 'experts' around the sportswriting world have been MEH, at best.  While perusing the great internets, I happened upon a great little site in footballsfuture.com with an impressive lining of mock drafts in the forums.  This, IMO, is one of the better ones and is 100 times more realistic than any of Todd McShame's, or any sports writer for that matter.  It's got trades AND full commentary and was created by some 'MaddHatter' guy, so leave comments on his post if you feel so inclined.

Here's some key trades and acquisitions:

The Denver Broncos trade Brandon Marshall (WR) and their 1st (#11), 3rd (#80), and 2011 3rd to the St. Louis Rams for their 1st (#1). 1. Denver Broncos – Ndamukong Suh (DT) - Nebraska
7. Cleveland Browns - Joe Haden (CB) – Florida
11. St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford (QB) - Oklahoma
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Dez Bryant (WR) – Oklahoma State
25. Baltimore Ravens – Arrelious Benn (WR) – Illinois
26. Arizona Cardinals – Kyle Wilson (CB) – Boise State

29. New York Jets – Jared Odrick (DT) Penn State
32. Indianapolis Colts – Donovan Warren (CB) Michigan
Miami trades their 2nd (#43) to Arizona for Anquan Boldin (WR) and their 3rd (#89)
45. Denver Broncos – Damian Williams (WR) – Southern California
48. Carolina Panthers – Golden Tate (WR) – California
49. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Perrish Cox (CB) – Oklahoma State
51. Houston Texans – Patrick Robinson (CB) – Florida State

61. New York Jets – Kareem Jackson (CB) Alabama

What do you think?  If you were GM, who would you pick for the Jets instead?

Poll

How realistic was this mock draft?

12%

Realistic

19 votes

27%

Ehhhh

43 votes

22%

Not realistic

35 votes

37%

Are you serious?

57 votes

154 votes | Poll has closed

Let me start by saying that Nnamdi Asomugha is overrated and the Jets would be asinine to attempt to acquire him considering how much they would have to offer.  I'm not saying that he isn't good - because he certainly has his positives - but all this attention he's been getting is a little bit ridiculous considering his stat sheet.  And for God's sake, please don't ever compare him to Revis.

Why, you ask?  Well, since he's been touted as a 'shutdown corner' alongside Revis, it would be advantageous to first actually define what 'shutdown corner' actually means.  In my eyes, a SC is defined primarily by one thing: stopping completions in his area of coverage, rather than making a play after the completion is made.  Assuming the opposing QB throws a catchable ball, this means a SC must either defense the pass, make an interception, or be intimidating enough to force the QB to throw the ball to another receiver.  Following this, the statistical metrics that would define a good SC are (1) percentage of receptions completed into the CB's coverage, (2) passes defensed, (3) interceptions, and (4) number of times the player was thrown at in coverage.

Now let's look at the stats (ProFootballFocus) from the 2009 regular season:

Player -------------- % Caught -- # PD -- Ints -- Thrown at
Nnamdi Asomugha -- 75% ------ 2 ----- 1 -------- 28
Darrelle Revis --------- 36.9% --- 23 ---- 6 ------- 111

Honestly, do yourself a favor and just look at the link to the PFF stat page above and stare at those numbers for a few minutes.  Not only does Nnamdi let three out of every four balls thrown his way get caught, but he's only intercepted the ball once all season and defenses only about 7% of passes (whereas Revis defenses about 21%).  In fact, the only thing Asomugha has going for him is the fact that QBs just didn't throw at him very often, which might indicate that the intimidation factor is present.  But upon further investigation, it's more likely because the Raiders are being thrown at less often!

I really could go on and on, but seriously since I looked at the PFF stats from the first link, I have trouble convincing myself that Asomugha is even a top 20 CB.  People have been enamored with him since the 2006 season when he had 8 interceptions, but he's only had 3 total since then and the magic hasn't seemed to wear off.  I'll just add insult to injury by saying that it's a bonafide travesty either Leon Hall or Johnathan Joseph didn't get voted into the Pro Bowl instead of Nnamdi.

So, moral of this story - please stop with all this 'OMFG REVIS + ASOMUGHA DOMINATIONNNNNN' garbage.  Look for real CB talent (Kyle Wilson // Perrish Cox // Joe Haden) in the draft.

Poll

Do you think Asomugha is a shutdown cornerback, despite his stats?

66%

Yes

88 votes

33%

No

45 votes

133 votes | Poll has closed

Since everyone was obsessing about the whole Rex Ryan one-finger salute and the consequent fine, no one picked up on the TRUE story, that of why Coach was down at the MMA event with Jay Glazer in the first place. If you listen to the audio clip on WFAN's Boomer and Carton show (courtesy of jetstwit.com), you'll hear Glazer drop a HUGE hint as to what the Jets are planning to do with our favorite underperforming LB, Vernon Gholston.

"So [Ryan] wanted to get involved in those talks and he wants to send a bunch of the Jets out there - I know Gholston he wants to send..."

So it would appear as though the NYJFO wants to give #50 one final chance to prove his mettle for the 2010 season, a fact also corroborated by GM Tannenbaum's comments and general tenor about Gholston in the end-of-season presser he gave a week ago.

The only reason I bring this up is to try to narrow the focus of the 1st round pick away from DTs and LBs and focus solely on CBs (I'll put it at 95% that we'll go that route).  Ryan and crew will move forward with Scott, Harris, Gholston, Pace, and Thomas as their primary LBs, and with Ellis and Jenkins getting back to prime form for the beginning of the season, I think that most of our bigtime offseason acquisitions will be in the back 4 (see numerous CB scouting reports on revisisland.com, GGN, jets blog, etc.).