Mission To Civilize New York Jets Coverage
A Badlands Sunday rant on the New York Jets needing to be aggressive in free agency this offseason…
Joe Caporoso with solo thoughts on the state of the New York Jets headed into the 2021 league year and why fans should not be scared of the team investing heavily in free agents…
Also don’t miss yesterday’s two articles (teasers below)
Badlands Robert Saleh Docuseries, Episode 3 – Stephen Ruiz joins Joe and Connor on the new offensive system for the New York Jets
Joe Caporoso and Connor Rogers are joined by Steven Ruiz to break down the New York Jets new offensive scheme, how their prospective options at quarterbacks would fit into it and how the rest of the unit should be built…
For access sign up for new $5 deep dive tier, exclusively on Patreon which will also give you access to Connor Rogers exclusive Jets NFL Draft Guide coming in early April…
Joe Caporoso with a deep dive into the worst season in New York Jets history
The New York Jets have been a bad football team for a long time. If you are a fan around my age (33), you have seen two distinct eras of Jets football. From 1997 through 2010 the Jets were a team who won much more than they were given credit for and a consistent contender despite what felt like unnecessary and outdated “LOLJETS” jokes. From 2011 until today, they are every bit the “LOLJETS” circus we were promised before that 14 year stretch of sustained competence. This “era” of Jets football is on track to peak in a historical way in their tenth straight season of missing the playoffs, a drought that will put them potentially in the top five of all big four professional sports teams and potentially number one in the NFL, if the Browns and Bucs make it to the postseason this year.
James Kuntz breaks down Asthyn Davis’ rise from walk-on to the New York Jets by talking with the people who saw his growth first hand…
When Ashtyn Davis was drafted by the Jets, many fans were confused.
At the time, safety was arguably the team’s strongest position, but it soon became clear why Davis was the Jets’ choice. Davis was a consensus top-45 prospect who slipped to pick 79 due to injury. In addition, the Jets were entering a contract year with safety Marcus Maye and under pressure to extend super-star safety Jamal Adams to a record-setting contract. The Jets believed that Davis not only presented inordinate value as a third round pick but could also provide the team with flexibility in its upcoming contract negotiations with Adams and Maye.
Greg Armstrong with a deep dive on how New York Jets fans should assess Sam Darnold in 2020
Maybe it’s because of the quarantine, maybe it’s because of not having any sports for the last three months or maybe it’s just being noticed more because of the first two but the heat is being turned up on Sam Darnold as he enters his third year. It’s certainly warranted; we’ve seen a good bunch of flashes from Darnold that make you buy all of his future stock of being a top 10-12 QB in the league. Then we see some mind boggling throws and stretches where thoughts creep in of wanting to move on sooner rather than later.
James Kuntz with a deep dive on New York Jets third round pick, Jabari Zuniga
Perhaps the most unpopular Jets Draft Pick of Day 2 is Florida Defensive Lineman Jabari Zuniga. Zuniga is simultaneously an intriguing and confusing prospect: despite being listed as an EDGE Rusher, Zuniga is far more effective on the interior. Adding even more complexity to his evaluation is the fact that, when lined up as a 4-3 end, Zuniga’s above-average explosiveness is often nullified by his inability to consistently react to the snap on time.
Finally, although Zuniga possesses the strength to consistently cave the pocket with his bull rush, he rarely sacks the Quarterback. The question is inevitable: how should we view a player with such anomalous versatility and evident physical talent, who consistently fails to show up on the stat sheet.
First, it’s worth examining how he performs in the two most important phases of play for defensive linemen: pass rush and run defense.
Joe Caporoso with a deep dive on New York Jets 2nd round pick, WR Denzel Mims
The New York Jets used their second round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims. Let’s take a deeper dive into his game, projected role and how he could impact the team’s offense. Check out our other 2020 draft pick deep dives…
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.
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.
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…
