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10-05-2007, 07:32 AM
Currently the Jets stand at 1-3. A pretty rough start for a team that was in the postseason last year. There are a couple of playoff teams from last season with matching records or worse which is a testament to the parity in today's NFL. We've had our ups and our downs just like any other football team, let's take a closer look position by position.
THE OFFENSE
QB: Chad Pennington is currently completing 77 percent of his passes, an eye-popping number. Known as one of the smartest QBs in the game he reads defenses with the best of them and gets the ball to the open man. No one can ever say that he lacks toughness and heart as he's got both. It's starting to become apparent that his time may be up though as much as this Jets fan likes to watch him play. Fact of the matter is that our offense is too predictable as teams do not have to respect any routes beyond 10 - 15 yards due to Chad's physical limitations which allows them to key in on stopping the run and also makes the job of the corners a bit easier. Taking what the defense gives you is nice but playing conservative to the point that you don't even challenge a defense to defend anything but intermediate stuff just makes it too easy in this league.
Backing him up is the young Kellen Clemens, last year's 2nd round pick. He's a smart young guy with a strong arm and decent enough mobility to buy time. He's played extremely well the past two preseasons albeit against vanilla defenses but still, he's shown the physical ability and grasp of the game to warrant a shot to be the QB of the future. When Chad Pennington couldn't play week two against Baltimore Kellen Clemens stepped in and minus a shaky first half that saw him overthrow a wide open Justin McCareins for a touchdown (not that he would've caught it) and make a few other less than adequate throws it was a strong showing that gives this team hope that we may have our guy to take over the reigns once Chad's time is up. He took his licks from the exotic blitzing schemes of Baltimore and mastered the defense the 2nd half, namely the 4th quarter where he made all of the right reads, made accurate throws to give his WRs a chance to make plays, and threaded the needle so to speak when it was necessary, something that Chad Pennington doesn't have the ability to do. If not for a Justin McCareins dropped pass for a TD we may be talking about how he stepped in and stole one on the road. He's at least shown enough to warrant a shot if this season's deemed a wash. Overall the play of the QB position has been decent, nothing to write home about.
RB: At the top of the depth chart is offseason acquisition from the Chicago Bears, Thomas Jones. The versatile 8th year vet currently has 254 yards rushing on the season on 75 carries for a pedestrian 3.4 yards a carry to go along with 7 receptions for a 6.7 yard average. Overall, he's been a solid addition giving us a legitimate feature back but the conservative nature of our offense, facing two of the top run defenses in the game the first two weeks of the year, issues upfront blocking, etc. have caused his impact to be nothing to write home about thus far. With one 100 yard game to his credit most of it coming in the 2nd half, he's shown the ability to be a "closer" so to speak for this offense.
Backing him up is the speedy, shifty Leon Washington. The 2nd year vet out of Florida State has made his impact on special teams for the most part thus far with a kickoff return TD to his credit already. He's more than capable spelling Jones and is a good receiver that can cause matchup problems. He's got the only rushing score of the season by a RB for the Jets. Overall the play of this position has been solid and is tough to really call it less than that due to other issues including the blocking and playcalling.
FB: FA acquisition Darian Barnes hasn't really made much of an impact at all only suiting up for half of the games. One of the weak points of this offense, the lack of a lead blocker or even a receiving threat at the position to add another dimension to the offense.
WR: The depth may be lacking but the Jets may field one of the top 10 starting duos in football. Laveranues Coles the 8th year vet out of Florida State has had a solid start to the season with 24 receptions for 211 yards for a pedestrian 8.8 yards a catch with 4 touchdown grabs. The ypc average is deceiving due to the fact that he runs basically underneath routes for our offense and doesn't get the chances to use his speed to stretch the field often. The 4 TDs put him up there with the league leaders as he's shown great ability in the redzone for a smaller receiver.
At the other starting spot is the 4th year vet Jerricho Cotchery who continues to improve his game. Known for his good hands, ability to get yardage after the catch because of his RB-like mentality when the ball's in his hands, and deceptive speed he's currently ranked 4th in the NFL in receiving yardage with 388 yards on 26 grabs for a 14.7 yard average but no scoring grabs thus far.
Justin McCareins really doesn't deserve to have anything listed about him other than the fact that he's pretty much a waste of a roster spot. Stone hands is what comes to mind after he single-handedly or should I say double-handedly blew a late game comeback attempt at Baltimore. Brad Smith the 2nd year player out of Missouri looks to be taking over his role in the offense with twice the receptions on the season thus far. He combines deadly open field ability with improving hands and versatility able to line up at a number of spots. Wallace Wright rounds out the core. Overall this group is above average albeit lacking in depth.
OL: Mixed bag is the best way to describe this group. The 2nd year pro out of Virginia D'Brickashaw Ferguson mans the crucial left tackle spot and thus far has been solid. He had a few penalties last week in the Buffalo game which is unlike him but other than that you can't help but to like the way he's played this year. He's given up one sack on the year the first game of the season and since then has played good to great football. Completely dominating Jason Taylor, keeping Terrell Suggs in check, and holding Aaron Schobel to a few pressures but zero sacks after getting beaten badly by him in a late season game in 06 is encouraging. He's been pushed back a bit by bull rushers but he's improved to the point that he's no longer getting pushed around by them. An adequate run blocker and very good against speed rushers there doesn't seem to be a sophomore slump coming on for Brick.
The left guard position may be the weak point of the offensive line after the Jets jettisoned Pete Kendall off to Washington following an offseason dispute. It's tough to really give into the demands of a guy that's known as a career malcontent and didn't even give the front office until the start of free agency before he started to whine. He's 34 anyways, we were going to have to move on eventually. Adrian Clarke currently mans that spot and his play has been pretty marginal at best. He's proven to be a decent run blocker but he hasn't done all that well in pass protection which has forced more responsibility onto Ferguson who has responded quite well.
At center is arguably the team's best lineman Nick Mangold the second year pro out of OSU. Strong as a bull and athletic he holds his ground well against mammoth DTs. He looks to have all pro potential and is the strong point of this young offensive line.
Brandon Moore former undrafted free agent out of Illinois mans the right guard position. Fresh off of an offseason extension the classic mauler-type RG has played solid football. He's nothing to write home about in pass protection but he's more than adequate blocking the run. An improving young guard that has made the most of the opportunity.
At right tackle is the guy that battles Adrian Clarke for the title of weakest link. Anthony Clement a journeyman OT was signed in free agency before the 06 season due to the Jets' OL being decimated by injuries the season before and overall aging players. After a solid 06 campaign he was given another year and thus far has made the team regret it. There were capable OTs on the market but the Jets opted not to spend big in that area which is something that they can't really be faulted for. The 08 crop looks to be strong so it's likely his replacement will be taken there. Overall this group as I said earlier is a mixed bag that's starting to gel some.
The offense in a word? Predictable. It's too conservative and hardly challenges defenses. We're not the type of team that can just line up and do whatever we want like that. The playcalling also leaves something to be desired not integrating the run enough. Time will tell with this unit, it has enough guys to be a solid all around unit but the QB position may ultimately hold it back from reaching its potential.
Defense to come...
THE OFFENSE
QB: Chad Pennington is currently completing 77 percent of his passes, an eye-popping number. Known as one of the smartest QBs in the game he reads defenses with the best of them and gets the ball to the open man. No one can ever say that he lacks toughness and heart as he's got both. It's starting to become apparent that his time may be up though as much as this Jets fan likes to watch him play. Fact of the matter is that our offense is too predictable as teams do not have to respect any routes beyond 10 - 15 yards due to Chad's physical limitations which allows them to key in on stopping the run and also makes the job of the corners a bit easier. Taking what the defense gives you is nice but playing conservative to the point that you don't even challenge a defense to defend anything but intermediate stuff just makes it too easy in this league.
Backing him up is the young Kellen Clemens, last year's 2nd round pick. He's a smart young guy with a strong arm and decent enough mobility to buy time. He's played extremely well the past two preseasons albeit against vanilla defenses but still, he's shown the physical ability and grasp of the game to warrant a shot to be the QB of the future. When Chad Pennington couldn't play week two against Baltimore Kellen Clemens stepped in and minus a shaky first half that saw him overthrow a wide open Justin McCareins for a touchdown (not that he would've caught it) and make a few other less than adequate throws it was a strong showing that gives this team hope that we may have our guy to take over the reigns once Chad's time is up. He took his licks from the exotic blitzing schemes of Baltimore and mastered the defense the 2nd half, namely the 4th quarter where he made all of the right reads, made accurate throws to give his WRs a chance to make plays, and threaded the needle so to speak when it was necessary, something that Chad Pennington doesn't have the ability to do. If not for a Justin McCareins dropped pass for a TD we may be talking about how he stepped in and stole one on the road. He's at least shown enough to warrant a shot if this season's deemed a wash. Overall the play of the QB position has been decent, nothing to write home about.
RB: At the top of the depth chart is offseason acquisition from the Chicago Bears, Thomas Jones. The versatile 8th year vet currently has 254 yards rushing on the season on 75 carries for a pedestrian 3.4 yards a carry to go along with 7 receptions for a 6.7 yard average. Overall, he's been a solid addition giving us a legitimate feature back but the conservative nature of our offense, facing two of the top run defenses in the game the first two weeks of the year, issues upfront blocking, etc. have caused his impact to be nothing to write home about thus far. With one 100 yard game to his credit most of it coming in the 2nd half, he's shown the ability to be a "closer" so to speak for this offense.
Backing him up is the speedy, shifty Leon Washington. The 2nd year vet out of Florida State has made his impact on special teams for the most part thus far with a kickoff return TD to his credit already. He's more than capable spelling Jones and is a good receiver that can cause matchup problems. He's got the only rushing score of the season by a RB for the Jets. Overall the play of this position has been solid and is tough to really call it less than that due to other issues including the blocking and playcalling.
FB: FA acquisition Darian Barnes hasn't really made much of an impact at all only suiting up for half of the games. One of the weak points of this offense, the lack of a lead blocker or even a receiving threat at the position to add another dimension to the offense.
WR: The depth may be lacking but the Jets may field one of the top 10 starting duos in football. Laveranues Coles the 8th year vet out of Florida State has had a solid start to the season with 24 receptions for 211 yards for a pedestrian 8.8 yards a catch with 4 touchdown grabs. The ypc average is deceiving due to the fact that he runs basically underneath routes for our offense and doesn't get the chances to use his speed to stretch the field often. The 4 TDs put him up there with the league leaders as he's shown great ability in the redzone for a smaller receiver.
At the other starting spot is the 4th year vet Jerricho Cotchery who continues to improve his game. Known for his good hands, ability to get yardage after the catch because of his RB-like mentality when the ball's in his hands, and deceptive speed he's currently ranked 4th in the NFL in receiving yardage with 388 yards on 26 grabs for a 14.7 yard average but no scoring grabs thus far.
Justin McCareins really doesn't deserve to have anything listed about him other than the fact that he's pretty much a waste of a roster spot. Stone hands is what comes to mind after he single-handedly or should I say double-handedly blew a late game comeback attempt at Baltimore. Brad Smith the 2nd year player out of Missouri looks to be taking over his role in the offense with twice the receptions on the season thus far. He combines deadly open field ability with improving hands and versatility able to line up at a number of spots. Wallace Wright rounds out the core. Overall this group is above average albeit lacking in depth.
OL: Mixed bag is the best way to describe this group. The 2nd year pro out of Virginia D'Brickashaw Ferguson mans the crucial left tackle spot and thus far has been solid. He had a few penalties last week in the Buffalo game which is unlike him but other than that you can't help but to like the way he's played this year. He's given up one sack on the year the first game of the season and since then has played good to great football. Completely dominating Jason Taylor, keeping Terrell Suggs in check, and holding Aaron Schobel to a few pressures but zero sacks after getting beaten badly by him in a late season game in 06 is encouraging. He's been pushed back a bit by bull rushers but he's improved to the point that he's no longer getting pushed around by them. An adequate run blocker and very good against speed rushers there doesn't seem to be a sophomore slump coming on for Brick.
The left guard position may be the weak point of the offensive line after the Jets jettisoned Pete Kendall off to Washington following an offseason dispute. It's tough to really give into the demands of a guy that's known as a career malcontent and didn't even give the front office until the start of free agency before he started to whine. He's 34 anyways, we were going to have to move on eventually. Adrian Clarke currently mans that spot and his play has been pretty marginal at best. He's proven to be a decent run blocker but he hasn't done all that well in pass protection which has forced more responsibility onto Ferguson who has responded quite well.
At center is arguably the team's best lineman Nick Mangold the second year pro out of OSU. Strong as a bull and athletic he holds his ground well against mammoth DTs. He looks to have all pro potential and is the strong point of this young offensive line.
Brandon Moore former undrafted free agent out of Illinois mans the right guard position. Fresh off of an offseason extension the classic mauler-type RG has played solid football. He's nothing to write home about in pass protection but he's more than adequate blocking the run. An improving young guard that has made the most of the opportunity.
At right tackle is the guy that battles Adrian Clarke for the title of weakest link. Anthony Clement a journeyman OT was signed in free agency before the 06 season due to the Jets' OL being decimated by injuries the season before and overall aging players. After a solid 06 campaign he was given another year and thus far has made the team regret it. There were capable OTs on the market but the Jets opted not to spend big in that area which is something that they can't really be faulted for. The 08 crop looks to be strong so it's likely his replacement will be taken there. Overall this group as I said earlier is a mixed bag that's starting to gel some.
The offense in a word? Predictable. It's too conservative and hardly challenges defenses. We're not the type of team that can just line up and do whatever we want like that. The playcalling also leaves something to be desired not integrating the run enough. Time will tell with this unit, it has enough guys to be a solid all around unit but the QB position may ultimately hold it back from reaching its potential.
Defense to come...