New York Jets: Off-Season Preview
If the 2016 New York Jets’ season had taken place inside the realm of EA Sports’ Madden NFL, the reset button would have been pressed some time around Week Six. A poor showing from the first whistle to the last, the campaign was particularly marred by several instances of some players ‘giving up’ on second-year head coach Todd Bowles. A top-to-bottom refit of the roster is on the cards ahead of the 2017 season.
2016 Season
Given how Ryan Fitzpatrick played in 2016, you wouldn’t believe it was the same quarterback who was the subject of a drawn out contract negotiation process. The 34-year-old finished with 17 of the worst interceptions you’re likely to ever see, and was benched down the stretch.
Assault-victim Geno Smith made a start, before snapping his ACL in one of the more Jets-ier moments of the season.
Bryce Petty played in six games, delivering nauseating QB play before finishing the season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
Injuries were the tale of the season for the Jets, ending the year with an astonishing 19 players on the injured reserve list. Present on the list were several big parts of the mildly successful 2015 season, including wide receiver Eric Decker and centre Nick Mangold.
Adversity is not foreign to NFL teams, and the Jets’ lack of success in 2016 can be attributed to a lack of player commitment. In the first half of their Week 13 clash with the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, the Jets crumpled. Giving up some of the widest of all the wide open touchdowns you’re ever likely to see, you wondered if the players really wanted to be there.
With this in mind, wholesale changes will be on the mind of General Manager Mike Maccagnan.
Off-season moves already made
The Jets have approached this season by cutting the old, no longer performing talent on their team. This has seen termination of the contracts of former All-Pro corner Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, tackle Ryan Clady and kicker Nick Folk. Guard Brian Winters was re-signed to a four year extension after seeing a fair amount of snaps in 2016.
The house is looking a bit cleaner, but it’s time for some new furniture.
Notable free agents
With the retention of Winters, the Jets’ re-signing work may already be done. Cornerback Marcus Williams is a restricted free agent and should be re-signed by the team as a result of his positive if injury-affected season.
Geno Smith is also up for renewal, and the organisation will have to make a decision on the 39th overall pick from the dreadful 2013 draft.
Reading the list of the Jets’ other free agents would be enough to make a fan’s stomach turn, so we’ll move onto how the team could be getting better.
Top three team needs
If the Jets can’t get a decent quarterback under centre in 2017, their supporters can forget about the playoffs. NFL-ready options include engineering a trade for Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, or Tyrod Taylor, although developments in recent days have suggested Cousins and Garoppolo will be staying in their parishes for next season at least. Taylor presents an interesting scheme fit, with his superior speed adding a new dimension to the offense. In the draft, sitting at sixth overall could be conducive to adding one of the top three quarterbacks in the class; be that DeShone Kizer, Deshaun Watson, and Mitch Trubisky. Thinking with regards to scheme fit (and personal profile), the national champion Deshaun Watson stands out as a player the Jets might take a chance on.
Offensive tackles are integral to any January run, and the Jets are in dire need at the position following the retirement of D’Brickashaw Ferguson before the season and the subsequent release of Ryan Clady. There are free agents available, such as likely one-year gap-filler Andrew Whitworth and former Jaguar Kelvin Beachum. Whitworth will not be a long-term solution, and Beachum was deeply flawed in Jacksonville, so the Jets will likely turn to the draft. It’s probable the Jets wait until round two to address the need given the need for a QB on Day One and the lack of premium talent in the draft pool, so targets could be Utah’s Garrett Bolles, Temple’s Dion Dawkins, or Western Michigan prospect Taylor Moton.
As the Jets endure a heart-wrenching farewell to Darrelle Revis, the front office will be searching for a defensive back who can provide adequate coverage skills and effort. A.J. Bouye, Logan Ryan, Prince Amukamara, Stephon Gilmore, Dre Kirkpatrick, and DeShawn Shead all present themselves as candidates capable of leading a secondary. Once again, given the need at quarterback it seems as if the Jets won’t deal with their need at corner early in the draft (if at all given the potential free agent signings), but Alabama star Marlon Humphrey and Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore would be on the table inside the top ten picks.