Changing Of The Guard

By admin Posted On April 13, 2006

By Tyson Rauch

Ever since the changing of the guard within the NY Jets there seems to be a sense of optimism amongst Jets fans. The feeling is that the Jets have the management team in place to lead this team in the right direction and with a few tweaks the team can be competitive. The question I ask, where is this optimism coming from? Have Jets fans learned nothing in the past 20 years? The Jets as they are currently composed have to be considered one of the 5 worst teams in the NFL. Lets start from the top.

1) The new general manager has minimal experience evaluating personnel as well as developing a successful front office staff. This has to raise a flag, as he will completely rely on scouts and the head coach€™s feedback, which leads to #2.

2) The head coach has only one year of game planning experience and the level of responsibility within his former team is still in question depending on whom you speak to. This gentleman has minimal experience in clock management, game management, or personnel evaluation. Well maybe his staff can help in this area?

3) The coordinators hired to work with the neophyte head coach also lack game planning and game management experience. Ok so it could be a case of the blind leading the blind.

4) A successful football team is built from the offensive and defensive lines, as they are the foundation. The New York Jets currently have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL with two spots still open. The defensive line regardless of the formation remains a problem with problems at tackle and end where generating a pass rush could be a major problem with the departure of John Abraham.

5) The quarterback position is composed of a veteran quarterback coming off of his second shoulder surgery and a strong- armed gunslinger who has been known to make poor decisions and take too many sacks.

6) The secondary is mediocre at best and with the trading of John Abraham will be exposed more than ever as the Jets will have to blitz and scheme to hide their flaws.

So again I ask, what is there to be optimistic about? Counting on an inexperience front office to draft the pieces needed to remedy the Jets problems? Sure sounds risky especially since they have never been responsible for a draft before. Sign Free Agents? Well so far I do not think the signing of Kimo or Dyson are winning the Jets 6 games this season. So far the Jets have only done what they do best. Which is to kick their loyal fans again. How is that? They took the cheap way (or what they try to call innovative) out while going through the process of rebuilding the organization. Instead of acting like the major market team that they should be, they acted like the Green Bay Packers and went small time.The only time the Jets act big time is when they raise ticket prices, which is great coming off a 4-12 season and the future bleak. Nice job boys. Some Parting Shots: Why do people bother to predict a record of a team in April? The draft, free agent moves and injuries drastically change the status of a team. How did Jay Cutler go from the savior of the franchise to a mid first round pick? Do any of these draft experts know what the hell they are talking about or are these jobs handed out to every armchair quarterback? At what point will the head coach of the New York Jets be scrutinized as Eric Mangini and not Bill Belichick€™s shadow? At what point will the front office be evaluated for their own moves and not the model they are supposedly following in New England?