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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Thursday Morning Quarterback

More Thoughts From Tampa Bay
Left guard James Carpenter has usually been a rock for the Jets. When he was signed as a free agent from Seattle it looked like an excellent pick up and it paid off the first two years here. But the caliber of his play against Tampa Bay was atrocious. He was constantly getting beat and he seemed out of place when trying to block most of the game.  His play in general this year has not been good. He is only 28 years old. Either his game is slipping quickly or he has an injury that is not disclosed. He is listed at 321 pounds but looks slower and heavier than he has been his first two years. He used to be one of the most reliable players on the OL with regard to penalties. That is slipping also. I’m hoping this year is an anomaly and he can turn it around next year. When he is going good, he is solid.

Mudbowl Memories
The offense was so inept I had flashbacks of the 1983 “Mudbowl” AFC  Championship playoff game against the Miami Dolphins. In that game to say the Jets could not sustain any kind of offense would be an understatement.  Jets quarterback Richard Todd was 15-37 throwing for a whopping 103 yards. He was intercepted five times and was sacked four times. The Jets rushed for 62 yards versus 56 yards in Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Except for the importance of that 1983 game, the way the Jets were moving the football this past Sunday was eerily similar to me without the mud and the interceptions.

Morris Claiborne Clarification
I mentioned in my last article that I would not pursue DB Morris Claiborne for a multi year contract. After getting some e-mails from Green Rewind fans, let me explain. I have no problem signing Claiborne for one year. When he is on the field, even though he has his share of penalties, his play has been solid. The problem is keeping him on the field. Some players are just injury prone (see former first round pick pick Dee Miliner) and can never stay healthy. The Jets may be better served using some of the large cap money they have for a free agent like Trumaine Johnson (Rams), Prince Amukamara (Bears) or Justin Bethel (Cardinals)and draft another defensive back.

More Robby Anderson
I have been gushing about wide out Robby Anderson. The upside for this player is huge. I mentioned before how he has either been overthrown, not seen, or under thrown at least seven times this season. Just for fun let’s compare stats this year to some other well known receivers. All first or second round draft picks: Amari Cooper (Raiders), Sammy Watkins (Rams formerly of Bills), Jarvis Landry (Dolphins)

R. Anderson 10 Games  35  Rec.    64 Targeted    568 Yards  16.2 Ave.   69 Long    5 TDs 
A. Cooper      9 Games   38   Rec.   77 Targeted    462 Yards  12.2 Ave.   64 Long    3 TDs
S. Watkins      9 Games   21  Rec.   34 Targeted    372 Yards  17.7 Ave.   67 Long    4 TDs
J. Landry        9 Games  61   Rec.   97 Targeted    472 Yards    7.7 Ave.   29 Long    5 TDs

Anderson was a great undrafted free agent find by the Jets. As the season moves on, defensive backs are slowly giving him more room with a bigger cushion. The quick out is not one of Josh McCown’s best passes. If the Jets can utilize Sefarian-Jenkins more (2 straight weak games) and give more reps and passes to Chad Hansen, this may loosen things up for Anderson. Still one has to wonder how he would be doing this year with a Brady, Braes or Wentz as his quarterback. 

Offensive Linemen In 2018 draft
After the Jets offensive line played so poorly, I did some research about offensive linemen. It is fair-good class with anywhere from 4-6 first round picks. Mark my words, offensive linemen will be a premium in the upcoming draft. Quenton Nelson, who is ranked the best in the country (by far) has been described by a couple of NFL scouts that right now he would be in the top 50% of all guards in the NFL. If the Jets were not so QB desperate I would pick him. One player I like a lot is is Isaiah Wynn of Georgia. He is a rare athlete who can play tackle and center.  He has also played some guard. Versatility is huge with the offensive line. Here we go:

PLAYER                POS     Proj. Rnd SCHOOL             CLASS        HT    WT
Quenton Nelson         G              1          Notre Dame           Sr            6-5    329
Orlando Brown           T              1          Oklahoma               Jr.           6-8    360
Mike McGlinchey       T              1          Notre Dame            Sr.          6-8    312
Chukwuma Okorafor  T             1-2        Western Michigan  Sr.           6-6    330
Isaiah Wynn               T-C           2-3        Georgia                  Sr.           6-2    302
Connor Williams        T              2-3        Texas                      Jr            6-6    320
Martinas Rankin         T              2-3        Mississippi State    Sr           6-5     305
Billy Price                G-C            2-3        Ohio State               Sr           6-4     312
Tyrell Crosby            OT             2-3        Oregon                   Sr           6-5      320
Will Hernandez          G              2-3       Texas-El Paso         Sr           6-3      330
Braden Smith             G              2-3        Auburn                   Sr            6-6      303
Frank Ragnow             C             2-4        Arkansas                Sr            6-5      319



What The Jet Scribes Are Saying

Rich Cimini, ESPN
Christian Hackenberg is 26 games into his professional career and he has yet to step foot on the field, creating an air of mystery around the former second-round pick. Curious observers want to see him play, especially now that the New York Jets are playoff long shots, but the organization has made its position clear. They won't sacrifice wins to develop young players. "We're focused more on the Carolina Panthers than getting into that debate," quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates said Tuesday, commenting on why Hackenberg is a nonfactor. "Of course, we'll have that conversation at the end of the season. As an organization, this is professional football. This isn't Triple-A.

"We're going to play the best players that give us the opportunity to win at all positions. That's our philosophy and Josh [McCown] is our starter. He gives us the opportunity to win on Sunday and that's what we're focused on. We're focused on a very good Carolina Panthers team. ... At the end of the year, we'll have more conversations about the future."Basically, Bates reiterated what coach Todd Bowles said on Monday. Bowles said he can't envision a scenario where he'd replace McCown with Hackenberg or Bryce Petty, barring injury. Of the three quarterbacks, Hackenberg got the most game reps in the preseason and it didn't go well, resulting in his third-string status.

Brian Costello, NY Post
I have had a very hard time this season figuring out the Jets offensive line. Sometimes it looks like a good unit to me. Other times it looks terrible. Sunday was the latter. They don’t seem to have in-between games. They either play really well like they did last week against Buffalo or they look awful like Sunday against the Buccaneers. They gave up six sacks to Tampa on Sunday. The Bucs entered the game with a total of eight sacks, the fewest in the NFL. Josh McCown was hit 14 times and is probably a bit sore today. The ground attack was no better. They managed just 56 yards rushing, and Jets running backs had no holes to run through. Gerald McCoy and Robert Ayers were constantly in the Jets’ backfield, blowing up plays. Right guard Brian Winters really struggled with McCoy, just getting beat repeatedly. The offensive line looks like an area that Mike Maccagnan must address this offseason. The problem is the team is locked into a number of these players next year. The contracts of Winters, Kelvin Beachum and James Carpenter make it financially stupid to move on from them next year. Right tackle Brandon Shell is developing, and I don’t think the Jets would move on from him. The only player they can easily replace is center Wes Johnson, who is a free agent after this season. So, re-tooling this line for 2018 won’t be easy.


Manish Mehta, NY Daily News
If Josh McCown warmed the cockles of your heart or the Gang Green Soul Train dancers pumped you up, know this: The fairy tale portion of the Jets season is over.It’s time to get serious and fill up the Tank again.Refocus yourselves on what really matters for this star-crossed franchise pushed to the margins for the better part of its existence: FINDING A FRANCHISE QUARTERBACK. Rejoice, Suck for Sam truthers. Your guy should be back in the picture. Get giddy, Frozen for Rosen folks. Your dude is a real possibility. Revel, Awful for Allen believers. Your quarterback could be in green-and-white in six short months.What’s old is new again: USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen should take center stage for the Jets now that it’s become abundantly clear that Todd Bowles’ team won’t be making the playoffs this season. Sunday’s sloppy and sluggish loss to the Buccaneers revealed that the Jets simply don’t have enough firepower yet. They make too many mistakes and don’t have nearly enough difference makers. They can’t get off the see-saw because they don’t have the requisite game changers to permanently send this ship in the right direction.

        “We lost a unanimous decision in a 12-round fight,” Bowles said of his team’s latest defeat.

Maybe they would throw a few more haymakers if they didn’t have to trot out so many tomato cans………….
……….Every win over the final six games will cost Maccagnan more draft capital to trade up for Darnold, Allen or Rosen.There are 10 teams with more losses than the Jets, including their buddies who share MetLife Stadium, but a lot can change over the rest of the regular season. Smart Jets fans always understood that there’s only one way out of this mess. In case you’re wondering, UCLA at USC on Saturday night. 8 pm. ABC. Darnold vs Rosen.
Dare to dream. 

                                 

              

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