New York Jets Deep Dive – The Black Hole

Joe Caporoso on the limitations the New York Jets are facing over the next 20 games as they approach becoming the football version of the New York Knicks

There are two sports teams I am fans of: the New York Jets and the New York Knicks (fun!). When I was younger, not married, not a father and not working in sports full time, I had a companion site for this one “Turn On The Knicks.” It stuck around for a few years but ultimately fizzled out when I couldn’t put the necessary time into it and couldn’t physically stomach covering them because of their prolonged incompetence and hopelessness. I still love basketball and consider myself a Knicks fan but apathy has long set in.

As for the Jets? For a variety of reasons this hasn’t happened yet (I like football more and I am better at talking football than basketball) but for the first time since I’ve been “covering” the team, they are entering the Knicks stratosphere of prolonged incompetence and hopelessness. The black hole of perpetual losing propped up by weak willed excuses and increasing profits for owners who don’t need to win to make money.

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Author: Joe Caporoso

Joe Caporoso is the Owner and EIC of Turn On The Jets. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, MMQB and AdWeek. Caporoso played football his entire life, including four years at Muhlenberg as a wide receiver, where he was arguably the slowest receiver to ever start in school history. He is the VP of Social Media at Whistle Sports View all posts by Joe Caporoso

The Myth of the “#1 WR” in Modern NFL Offense

Dan Essien takes a look at what the true value of a #1 wide receiver is and if the Jets need one as bad as many think.

The concept of a “true #1 wide receiver” has been around for a while. It’s one of those buzzword categories we usually tack into every team’s checklist, similar to “shutdown corner.” But with the current direction of offenses in the NFL, it’s worth re-examining what the value of a “#1 wide receiver” really is now. To do so, let’s look at the top scoring offenses in the NFL and what role a true #1 receiver does or does not play. Then we’ll examine where the Jets situation on offense stacks up.

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New York Jets 2019 Training Camp Preview – The Beginning Of The End?

Joe Caporoso takes a deep dive on the state of the New York Jets organization heading into 2019 training camp

The New York Jets take the field later this week for their 2019 training camp in Florham Park, New Jersey. This has been a dark “era” of Jets football as the post Random Rex AFC Championship Game years have faded into the second longest playoff drought in franchise history and the third longest playoff drought currently in the NFL.

After being the only team in the NFL to not meet or exceed six wins once in the past three years, the Jets finally took a sledgehammer to the stagnant, ineffective Mike Maccagnan/Todd Bowles regime by canning both of them, hiring Adam Gase as the Head Coach and rebuilding the front office around recently hired GM Joe Douglas. Their roster had a splashy makeover in some areas with the headline additions of Le’Veon Bell, CJ Mosley, Kelechi Osemele and Jamison Crowder while was surprisingly stagnant in other areas like center, cornerback and edge rusher.

Is 2019 the beginning of the end of this generally miserable era of football or was too much damage done in the past 4 (6? 8?) years to expect a corner to truly be turned this season? Here is what to watch for this August while we all try to figure out the answer…

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Author: Joe Caporoso

TOJ Podcast – Tuesday Deep Dive, What Does A Jets Playoff Season Look Like?

TOJ Podcast: Joe Caporoso with a deep dive podcast on what needs to happen for the New York Jets to be a playoff team in 2019…

Joe Caporoso with a solo deep dive on what needs to happen for the New York Jets to be a playoff team in 2019…

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Author: Joe Caporoso

New York Jets Organization – Corner Turned Or Ready To Explode?

Joe Caporoso with a deep dive on the current state of the New York Jets organization

The New York Jets are entering a unique season, which makes it difficult to pin down realistic 2019 expectations . There are a multitude of factors pointing to a major leap forward balanced with a few potentially combustible situations. Did the Jets turn a corner this offseason or are they careening towards more organizational turn over during Sam Darnold’s rookie contract?

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Author: Joe Caporoso

Deep Dive – New York Jets Passing Game Flexibility

Joe Caporoso on the New York Jets passing game options and flexibility with their current depth chart

The New York Jets have an intriguing collection of pass catchers heading into the 2019 NFL Draft. It is a far from a perfect group and could use further depth but there has been a tangible improvement in talent, explosiveness and versatility compared to last year’s group. Last season the top five most targeted players on the team were Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, Quincy Enunwa, Chris Herndon and Elijah McGuire. This season (and this is unlikely to change regardless of what happens in the draft) Kearse and McGuire have been swapped out with Jamison Crowder and Le’Veon Bell, respectively.

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Author: Joe Caporoso

Deep Dive – New York Jets HC Adam Gase’s Tenure With Miami Dolphins

Joe Caporoso with a deep dive on Adam Gase’s tenure with the Miami Dolphins…

The New York Jets decision to hire former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase has received a mixed response from both fans and the media. Let’s focus in on his three year tenure with the Dolphins and examine recent historical comparisons of Head Coaches who went directly from one job to another with no years between.

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Author: Joe Caporoso

New York Jets – How Do You Miss The Playoffs 8 Years In A Row?

How does a NFL team miss the playoffs for 8 seasons in a row? Joe Caporoso walks down the winding road of New York Jets missteps since 2010 that have led to the franchise’s worst stretch of football since the 1970s…

The New York Jets are not one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. You already know that. After winning their lone Super Bowl in 1968, they returned to the playoffs the following year only to get knocked out by the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs. After that, Jets football became a wasteland. The team did not make a single playoff appearance from 1970-1980. They went 11 straight season (11!) without a winning season before finally breaking the drought in 1981 with a 10-5-1 record and first round playoff exit.

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Author: Joe Caporoso

New York Jets – A Culture Of Celebrated Mediocrity

Joe Caporoso on the New York Jets prolonged cultural of mediocrity and how it is impacting expectations around the organization

“We’re 4-5. We have nothing to be overconfident about.” – Todd Bowles

“There are still some areas we need to improve upon – We’re still only 4-5.” – Mike Maccagnan

The above quotes from the current New York Jets Head Coach and General Manager were given shortly before their favored team would take on the reeling Tampa Bay Bucs, in a game they would lose 15-10. Despite talking about avoiding a let down and being overconfident, the Jets played like a team who thought they would be entitled to a win. It seems ludicrous that a 4-5 team who hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010 could play in such a way but that is exactly what happened.

It has been an uneven three years for Bowles and Maccagnan but their quotes heading into the Tampa Bay game showed an appropriate alignment on an important reality: the Jets are mediocre and people need to stop being content with it if this organization ever wants to pull itself out of the purgatory muck of mediocrity they have been mired in the past seven years.

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