Still a little early for football but never too early to preview a team heading into training camp. The Jets are coming off a dismal year that started off with a lot of promise. They had just beaten the undefeated Titans and were sitting at 8-3 amidst the talk of a Giants - Jets Super Bowl when everything went down hill. Well it's now time to prep for the 2009 season and let's look at what the Jets have done this offseason and look toward what they will do or not do this coming year.
First off, I love the move of getting Rex Ryan. He is the type of coach that the Jets have needed for a while, a fiesty guy who will introduce an aggressive defense and overall style of play. Don't likw so much that he was flapping his gums so much during the OTA's but a guy who should accomplish more than Herm Edwards and Eric Mangini.
The next thing that needs to be straight with everyone is that people should not get overly excited should the Jets win 10 or 11 games this year, Ryan's first as a head coach. Remember in Mangini's first year that he won 10 games and the Jets made the playoffs and everyone dubbed him "Mangenious". People tend to forget that the year before the Jets had gone 4-12 and were the beneficiaries of an easy schedule. Now their schedule this year is not easy, but there are more winnable games than not. They play the AFC and NFC South this year, two of the more tougher divisions in the league. However, in those divisions lie the Jaguars, Titans, Saints, and Bucs. These are .500 teams at best this year, all games the Jets should win. The other two AFC non-divisional opponents they play are the Raiders and Bengals, enough said. Solid defensive play and 13-17 points will win all of these games.
Now we all know about the additions of Bart Scott, Lito Sheppard, and Jim Leonard, as well as the Calvin Pace suspension and Vernon Gholston having to step up. We all also know that Bart Scott, Pace and Gholston, Kerry Rhodes, and Kris Jenkins are not Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed, and Haloti Ngata. The challenge for Ryan is to get them to play on a similar level. Jets fans should not expect Ryan to come in here and produce the defense he had in Baltimore in just one year. The defense will be good, but there will be growing pains and it will be a few weeks into the regular season before this defense really hits its stride.
While the defense will be good enough to keep the Jets in games, its the offense that is questionable to win them games. Mark Sanchez was a good draft pick and seems to have all the tools for a franchise QB, the only concern is that he only started one season at USC and if that will be enough the make the leap now the NFL. More than that are the unhappy duo of Thomas Jones and Leon Washington who both want new contracts and rightly so with what they contributed to this team last year. The Jets have a very good offensive line and they need those talented backs to be there to provide for a solid running game. Though its not completely clear what the Jets cap situation is with all the spending they did last offseason and this past one. Another reason for the necessity for a good ground game is the possibility of the lack of a passing game. Coles left for free agency and that leaves Jericho Cotchery as the main target for Jets QB's. Cotchery in my opinion is a No. 2 at best and the question is who is going to step up to help him out. The Jets seem to be depending on Chansi Stuckey, Brad Smith, and Clowney to get the job done along with TE Dustin Keller. Not necessarily a pass offense that scares you, especially with either a rookie QB, or Clemens who has not even 10 starts in his career.
While the Jets have improves their defense, the other teams in the division have done their part to improve as well. We start with the Dolphins who won the division last year and have brought back hometown hero Jason Taylor. They also drafted QB Pat White, a player who looks like he is tailor-made for the Wild-Cat offense. Other than that they return most of the team that went 11-5 last year. Next is the Buffalo Bills who if you have not heard added T.O. to their mix of offensive talent. If Buffalo's offensive line can mesh, this is going to be one dangerous offense with Marshawn Lynch, Lee Evans, Owens, and Parrish. Last but not least we come to the Patriots who also went 11-5 last year and now get back Tom Brady. In addition to Brady, they got him some veteran toys to add to their already explosive offense in Fred Taylor and Joey Galloway. I can only imagine what a 3-Wide set with Moss and Galloway split wide and Wes Welker in the slot, and Ben Watson can do to any defense. Also the additions of veteran corners Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden should help make up for the loss of Mike Vrabel.
It is my feeling that the Jets will be the kind of team that the Ravens up until last year have been known to be. Good defense, mediocre offense. However, 2-3 wins in the division, wins over the teams mentioned at the top of the post, and 1 upset over either the Texans, Colts, Panthers or Falcons can have this team playing in January. Early Prediction; 10-6 and making the playoffs as the 6th seed.
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