The upcoming New York Jets off-season is likely going to disappoint a large portion of the team’s fanbase. Every need isn’t going to be filled. That being said, what do the Jets have to take care of, at a minimum, in the upcoming months for Mike Tannenbaum to do a satisfactory job?
It starts up front on both sides of the football, which means getting Sione Pouha signed to a 2-3 year deal to make sure he can keep anchoring the Jets run defense. On offense, that means bringing in a veteran right tackle to compete with Wayne Hunter, somebody along lines of a Vernon Carey. The offensive line should also be supported with a mid-round pick to develop.
Improving the pass rush is of equal priority. Mario Williams isn’t happening. There are a few decent stopgap players available in free agency like Anthony Spencer and Manny Lawson. If Tannenbaum is thinking big on draft day, it should be at this position. The Jets aren’t going to need to sell the farm to move up to get an elite pass rusher but if they need to move up to the 12-14 range to get their guy, Tannenbaum shouldn’t hesitate.
Safety is a position the Jets could address in free agency and support with a 2nd or 3rd round pick. Tyvon Branch or Michael Griffin are worth the investment on the open market and look for Jim Leonhard to be brought back on a veteran’s minimum deal to provide depth.
There is a need at wide receiver but compared to right tackle, linebacker, and safety the need is a luxury. Don’t be shocked if the Jets don’t add a starting caliber free agent at receiver. This is a run first team and the priority to spend in free agency at the position is lower than other spots on the team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Jets add a mid-round receiver with some size and go into camp with him, Jeremy Kerley and Patrick Turner competing for reps opposite of Santonio Holmes, with Dustin Keller having a much larger role split out at receiver, while the team signs a blocking tight end to pair with him.
Beyond that, another quarterback is going to be brought in. I have a tough time seeing it being anyone besides Chad Henne on a cheap, one year deal. It is a necessary, logical move considering his history with Tony Sparano.
Hypothetically, if Tannenbaum brought back Pouha, signed Vernon Carey to play right tackle, signed Branch or Griffin at safety, and Henne to be the backup quarterback and then on draft day got a pass rushing OLB in round one, along with a safety and wide receiver in the middle rounds. Would you consider that a successful off-season? I would.
Throughout the New York Jets off-season TOJ will be discussing their ongoing free agency and draft situation with various other writers. Today we talked with Donald Lappe from Jets 101 on a number of different topics -
NYJ101 – There is a lot of different things floating around about the Jets’ salary cap issues. Putting the salary cap craziness aside, what should be their first order of business when free agency opens?
TOJ - The Jets need to take care of their own first, which means bringing back Sione Pouha. This team has made a bad habit of letting leaders…and productive leaders at that walk away from the team. They need him back both as an anchor to their run defense in the 3-4 and one of the few people worthy of a “C” on his chest in the locker room.
NYJ101 – The guaranteed salary jump for Wayne Hunter basically means he’ll be on the roster this season. Are the Jets going to ride with him as their starter on the right side? Do you expect a new face to be brought in or will the competition be between him and some lesser-knowns(Howard, Ducasse, Rob Turner if he’s back)?
TOJ – I expect the Jets to bring in a mid-level free agent, maybe somebody like Vernon Carey and to spend a middle round pick on a right tackle. In camp, there should be an open competition for the job. Ideally, Hunter settles into a backup role and only plays in their “big” packages.
NYJ101 – The Jets are in the market for younger, somewhat cheap wide receiver to play across from Santonio Holmes. Any names that jump out at you?
TOJ – There are three that jump out: Robert Meachem, Laurent Robinson, and Pierre Garcon. Meachem in particular has the speed and upside to be a potentially great fit opposite of Holmes. I don’t think Indy is going to let Garcon walk but if they do, the Jets should take a long at him.
NYJ101 – You’re in the Jets’ War Room on draft day. What is the one thing you don’t let Rex and Tanny walk away from the draft without?
TOJ – A pass rushing outside linebacker. This problem has been ignored for far too long by the Jets front office. They need somebody who can get after the quarterback without Rex Ryan having to dial up a blitz.
NYJ101 – The Jets have shown a willingness to trade up and get their guy(Sanchez, Revis). They have a good amount of needs. Are you trading up for an impact guy or are you stockpiling picks?
TOJ – They haven’t had a high amount of draft picks in recent years, which has hurt their depth. However, after the compensatory picks are handed out the Jets should have 8-9 total picks this time around. While I would like to see them leave the draft with about that many players, I wouldn’t object to making a move to acquire Courtney Upshaw or another pass rusher.
NYJ101 – It’s pick No. 16 and Courtney Upshaw, Mark Barron and Melvin Ingram are all available. Who are you taking?
TOJ – Upshaw. He is somebody who played on a championship defense in college and can make an immediate impact getting after the quarterback.
TOJ – Are you confident in Shonn Greene as the Jets lead back? What kind of potential do you think Joe McKnight has in this offense going forward?
NYJ101 – I really am confident in Greene to be the main guy. There’s a lot of different opinions on Greene and I think that comes from his running style. He’s a plodder, but he wears on the defense as the game goes along. Early on in the season the Jets were quick to move away from him when the early returns in individual games were 2-3 yard per carry. I think a great example of the strength of Shonn Greene is the Redskins game. Before his 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter he only had 63 yards on 21 carries, but he helped the Jets control the pace of the game, chew up the clock and when the Redskins defense was tired at the end of the game he delivered the knockout blow.
McKnight has a great chance to grow in this offense. It’s an interesting parallel for him in his career with Tony Sparano coming in because he was supposed to be the next Reggie Bush at USC and now Sparano comes to the Jets after Bush was his feature back in Miami. He’s not going to see anywhere near the carries Bush did last season, but 5-10 carries a game and more of an emphasis on him in the screen game would be a nice step this season. On a team that is desperate for speed and big plays, McKnight has to get more touches on offense this season.
TOJ – Would you bring Jim Leonhard back on a veteran minimum deal to provide insurance at safety?
NYJ101 – Seems like the smart move. The injuries were really freak occurrences and the coverage issues with him and Eric Smith are a product of the pair more than any one player. While it’s easy to say the team needs an upgrade at safety, it’s a completely different thing to find an available one at a price that works. I think the best way the Jets can address their safety issues is with an improved pass rush. Leonhard is smart, tough and should be cheap.
TOJ – Would you eat the guaranteed money to Bart Scott and cut him anyway?
NYJ101 – This is a tough one. The problem becomes eating that salary and then finding a replacement that is legitimately better and doesn’t sabotage addressing the other needs the team has. I don’t think the team believes in Josh Mauga as an every-down linebacker. You have to keep Scott and hope that he has a bit of a bounce back season. He showed some flashes of the old Bart late in the season. He’s not going to be the player he was a few years ago, but getting one more season out of him is the way to go.
TOJ – Who do you think will be the team’s breakout player this year?
NYJ101 – Marcus Dixon. Dixon’s story is one worth reading about and the obstacles in his path to the NFL have turned him into a potential late-bloomer. He was an SEC recruit but ended up at Hampton(a lot like Kenrick Ellis), then went undrafted. At 6-4, 295, he can play the end spot in the 3-4 and showed an ability to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage – something the Jets defensive line doesn’t do very often. When he got consistent playing time over three games from weeks 13-15 he put up a combined nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. The Jets defense needs those negative plays as badly as their offense needs explosive plays. Dixon can provide that.
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Check out TOJ talking Jets off-season at Zone Blitz
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It remains to be seen how active the New York Jets will be truly be in free agency. Outside of bringing Sione Pouha back, they don’t have any of their own players who are major priorities. This team does have their fair share of holes to fill on both sides of the ball and limited cap space, which is why you won’t see many “big” names listed below. The Jets are going to fill some of their needs through the draft and not be able address some of their needs at all, yet through free agency here are a few names for them to consider.
1. Tyvon Branch – Safety – Oakland Raiders – A young player who has the ability to play both in the box and handle man to man coverage. He hasn’t missed a game the past three years, while LaRon Landry has missed 15 over the past two for those who want the guy with the bigger name. Pairing Branch with a 1st or 2nd round pick at safety, with Jim Leonhard on board at the veteran’s minimum for depth is a nice improvement from last year.
2. Robert Meachem – Wide Receiver – New Orleans Saints – The size and speed the Jets need opposite Santonio Holmes without breaking the bank. Meachem never posted monster numbers in New Orleans because he was one of about eighteen receiving options for Drew Brees. However, he averaged over 15 yards per catch last year and hauled in six touchdowns with limited reps.
3. Anthony Spencer – Outside Linebacker – Dallas Cowboys – The Jets need pass rushing options and on top of spending a 1st or 2nd round pick on one, they should add support via free agency. Spencer could be a solid starter in their system while providing more burst off the edge than Bryan Thomas could if he comes back after major surgery.
4. Vernon Carey – Right Tackle – Miami Dolphins – Carey moved to guard last year for the Dolphins but prior to that was a quality right tackle. He is obviously familiar with Tony Sparano and his system, making him an attractive, affordable option to compete with Wayne Hunter.
5. Tashard Choice – Running Back – Buffalo Bills – The Jets aren’t going to spend much at running back, if at all…but they could use another veteran to push Shonn Greene. Before having a falling out with Jason Garrett last year, Choice was a productive player for Dallas and the Jets should be able to get him at the minimum this off-season.
The New York Jets don’t have many of their own free agents to be worried about this off-season. It would be nice to bring Robert Turner back for offensive line depth, along with Jim Leonhard and Bryan Thomas on veteran minimum deals to provide insurance on defense. However, there is one move that Mike Tannenbaum absolutely needs to take care of and that is bringing Sione Pouha back.
I am aware the Jets don’t have excessive cap space but Tannenbaum needs to do some of that cap maneuvering he is so well known for to keep the Jets nose tackle. Rex Ryan’s defense needs a run stopper in the middle and Pouha has been the perfect fit the past few years. Kenrick Ellis showed last year that he is far from ready to be an every down player and Pouha, despite being 33, should still have 3-4 very good seasons left in him considering he has only been a full time player the past three years of his seven year career.
More importantly, Pouha is one of the few leaders left in the Jets locker room. He is a player who actually deserved the “C” on his chest last year. In the lockout extended off-season, he took the entire defensive line under his wing for workouts and helped guide them to a surprisingly productive year despite largely being a young and unproven group.
The Jets cannot keep letting leaders…and productive leaders at that, walk from their team. Pouha must be brought back in 2012 if this team is going to take steps towards improving their fractured locker room and 8-8 record.
We have seen two local sports teams pull stars out of the back of their roster in the past few months. First Victor Cruz for the New York Giants and more recently Jeremy Lin for the New York Knicks. Do the New York Jets have an opportunity to have such luck this season?
The real answer is who knows? You can never really see these things coming. Regardless of Cruz’s monster pre-season performance or Lin’s success at Harvard, nobody thought they’d produce the way they have been or they wouldn’t have spent any time on the bench to begin with.
However, the Jets might have a few young players who have the potential to become game changers in 2012.
The first one who comes to mind is a guy who you are going to hear plenty about in the coming months here, Jeremy Kerley. He showed enough in limited action last year to make us believe that with a bigger role, he could be one of this team’s top playmakers on offense. Kerley has something that many players on the Jets offense lack…straight line speed combined with excellent short area quickness.
Tony Sparano had a successful slot receiver in Miami with Davone Bess and there is no reason to think Kerley won’t be a large part of the Jets passing game. Beyond that, Kerley has the ability to run the Wildcat, while being a threat to complete passes down the field. Hey, the guy completed a pass to Matthew Mulligan last year…that takes talent. Kerley also showed flashes of being a very good punt returner last year and he should only grow in that role.
Outside of Kerley, Joe McKnight showed some big play potential last year and might be able to thrive in a Reggie Bush type role for the Jets. Austin Howard could turn into a capable right tackle. On defense, maybe a role player like Josh Mauga will turn into a quality starter to replace the missed tackle machine Bart Scott or Gerald Alexander will match his Twitter ability with on the field play at safety. You just never know.
Who do you think could be the Jets star in hiding?
No Randy Moss. I don’t want to hear about even a “curiosity” that is being reported already. Did we learn nothing last year about chasing names over needs? Do we forget what happened when we built our entire off-season around getting Nnamdi Asomugha because he was the biggest name on the market even though the team had no need for him? I know Mike Tannenbaum can’t forget the decline in production from his split end because Plaxico Burress was a sexier name than Braylon Edwards. Certainly Rex Ryan remembers the misguided decision to bring in the more “accomplished” Derrick Mason over invaluable glue guy Jerricho Cotchery.
Stop worrying about chasing names to grab headlines and worry chasing players who are going to improve this team in the long run.
Randy Moss is one of my favorite players of all-time. He didn’t play football last year. The year before, three different teams gave up on him. End of discussion. If you want a split end, go spend your money on Robert Meachem, Laurent Robinson or Pierre Garcon.
While we are on this topic…Jets fans, I love your optimism and I love your faith in the Jets to pull off big moves thanks to the past few years. That being said, let’s take a look at reality. Stop throwing around names like Vincent Jackson, Wes Welker, Marques Colston, coupled with the team signing Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, LaRon Landry and of course bringing back John Abraham, Jerricho Cotchery, and Braylon Edwards.
I understand the sentiment for former players and in some cases they could make sense. Edwards, for example actually makes some sense for a return and even that is a long shot. Cotchery isn’t coming back. Abraham isn’t coming back. And be relieved that I don’t think the Jets will be looking at free agents Jon McGraw or Erik Coleman to fill their safety needs.
When you look at the big names. The Jets aren’t splurging on a top line receiver. They have too many other needs this off-season and why are you dropping huge money on a receiver when you already sunk 50 million into one receiver in a run heavy offense? Peyton Manning has about a 1 percent chance of happening. Mario Williams has the best shot of coming here out of all the big names and I would say that is even very unlikely.
You want to win the AFC East? Go get pass rushing linebackers and safeties who have a chance of matching up with the Patriots tight ends. You want Sanchez to find stability in his fourth year? Get him a better offensive line and more threats in the running game.
Considering the disappointment of the 2011 NFL season, I find it fitting to kick off the next few weeks with a rant. Today’s topic is the New York Jets pass rush…or lack thereof.
In 2005, John Abraham had 10.5 sacks for the Jets defense. It is the last time a player on their defense has recorded double digit sacks in a single season. We are on six seasons and counting now…
We have long heard about Rex Ryan’s obsession with collecting cornerbacks. He seems to be of the belief that he can manufacture a pass rush from his blitz schemes if he is comfortable leaving the members of his secondary in man coverage. What we saw this past year was offenses caught up with what Rex was throwing at them. Blitz after blitz, not coming close to the quarterback and the pass rush not making nearly enough game changing plays.
If you are going to beat the elite quarterbacks in this league, you need to hit them. You can’t beat them with coverage, by loading up with top shelf corners. You need a pass rush that can consistently get after the quarterback and not always be aided by the blitz.
The Jets paid Calvin Pace a ton of money before the 2008 season to be this guy and despite being a pretty good all around player, he is nowhere near explosive enough to be a team’s top option as a pass rusher. In the draft, he looked to compliment him with Vernon Gholston…and we all know how that went.
Mike Tannenbaum went 0-2 prior to that season looking to substantially improve his pass rush and he appears to have been scarred from that, as the Jets have ignored pass rushers in free agency and the draft since. Four seasons have came and went. It is now time for Tannenbaum to make the pass rush his number one priority and give it another run.
There are plenty of reasons the Giants are 2-0 in the recent Conference Championship games and the Jets are 0-2 but a big one is the Giants ability to accumulate pass rushers over the years. Right now they have three (Pierre-Paul, Tuck, and Osi) who are head and shoulders above any of the Jets pass rushers. Hitting on Pierre-Paul compared to whiffing on Gholston makes a big difference.
Right now the Jets top pass rushing threat is a guy they found off the scrap heap in Aaron Maybin. He is a nice role player but considering his size and skill set, it would be foolish to rely on him as a top option.
The Jets need to seriously consider doing everything in their power to get a player like Courtney Upshaw, Melvin Ingram, or one of the other draft’s top pass rushing prospects on their roster. They also shouldn’t hesitate to add another outside linebacker who can get after the quarterback in the middle rounds to develop. In free agency, they should explore what it would take to sign Mario Williams, especially if New England is going to be after him. Williams is a long shot and if they can’t get him, they should look at adding a second tier free agent like Anthony Spencer who has long term potential.
This team can’t afford another off-season of putting the pass rush on the backburner, now is the time to aggressively pursue making a drastic improvement to it.
Sometimes it’s great to be a New York sports fan. Especially when you’re doing tequila shots in a NY located “Boston sports bar” and the bartender is wearing a Celtics shirt, the Celtics of course losing to the god awful Lakers (Nobody likes World Peace) only minutes before. I have to admit I felt a momentary lapse of sadness for this guy, who has in the last 5 days probably been bombarded with drunk Giants fans issuing proclamations that Boston sports are about to undergo a nuclear winter.
Which they are.
The Celtics are in the middle of a Ainge vs. Fans battle that is going to lose hearts, minds, and general optimism for about the next 2-3 years. The Boston Red Sox are being managed by Bobby Valentine (SERIOUSLY? METS MAN BOBBY V?), and are going to be the biggest target in baseball coming off a series of articles that paint the locker room as something out of Blue Mountain State and Animal House combined, the Patriots are going to undergo the “Belichick as GM” annual scrutiny, and anything less than using at least their two first round and two second round draft picks is going to turn away die hard Pats fans until Ryan Mallett starts suiting up and Tom Brady has a touch of gray in that hair, leading to a civil war between Mallett fans and Brady fans, and even a few ancient Bledsoe fans who will issue bible proclamations “for he who taketh that which is not his, that much will be taken away”.
So everything’s good in NY right? Maybe for the Giants, who are going to most likely dump guys that didn’t play this year and possibly trade Osi if they take a defensive end/outside linebacker in the first round of the draft. Jason Pierre Paul is doing his best impression of someone whose genuinely happy just to play for the Giants. Oh yeah, and he is doing the unthinkable in mastering a professional sports position in about 2 years, and will probably go to the Pro Bowl between 7 and 10 times in the next decade while Vernon Gholston starts a football summer camp and contemplates partial ownership opportunities of the IFL.
I’d like to add a general thank you to the Giant fans who gave me a couple bud lights and a few shots of tequila on the 7:16 AM train to Penn Station from Deer Park this past Tuesday (The day of the parade). Really helped me start my day right.
Meanwhile, the Jets have Wayne Hunter and Vlad Ducasse. Jealous yet? They have a half decent (no pro bowls, no all pro nods) receiver who may undergo the Burnett syndrome (who the Yankees are trying to shop as we speak, but are having a GlenGarry Glen Ross moment, Jack Lemon specifically) the next year as he and Mark Sanchez have a Days Of Our Lives style back and forth exchange of opinions, strategies, while everyone wonders why in god’s name the Jets have decided to completely revamp their receiving core every year of Rex Ryan’s tenure.
I’ll tell you why. Because Rex Ryan frankly has little to no interest on the offensive side of the ball. The case stated as thus: If he did, their line wouldn’t have been complete garbage, they wouldn’t have passed 63 times in a game, and they wouldn’t have signed someone like Derrick Mason because he was great 6 years ago.
All Rex Ryan cares about, genuinely lives or dies by, is his defense. And even that didn’t get it done, so for those of us who continually asked, “WHY IN GOD’s NAME IS CROMARTIE NOT PLAYING PRESS COVERAGE?!?!?!?!?! DENNIS THURMAN SAID HE NEEDS TO PLAY PRESS COVERAGE!” we got a whole lot of Mike Pettine, which is fine, except for the fact that the head coach is one of the best defensive coordinators in football. That’s like Mike Martz being your head coach, and having the offensive line coach call the plays.
So what do I make of Jeremy Lin taking over the Knicks? Fear, love, joy, apprehension, etc. etc. Why? Because for the first time in two years I saw glimpses of the D’Antoni system, which is going to die for a while once Carmelo gets the ball back in his hands. And pivots. Pivots back. Pivots again. Ball fake. Crossover. Stop. Pull up jumper. Basket. At times, Carmelo might work better with a bunch of cardboard cutouts stationed at various points throughout the floor, because no point guard is going to run this system while Carmelo is around.
What could fix this? Dumping Amare with a first round pick and getting Deron Williams/Brandon Jennings/ anyone not 38? (sorry Steve) Maybe. That would at least let Lin start off the bench and Shumpert go back to being “anything but a point guard”. So what’s stopping it? James Dolan’s heart of pure evil. That and the fact that Mike D’Antoni is probably going to be coaching the Clippers next year. (Just a strange thought).
I frankly don’t care what happens with the majority of the Yankees roster, as long as they kick the piss out of Bobby Valentine’s Red Sox at least 8 times next year. To add to this wish list, I and others will hope that Kuroda and Pineda keep their ERA under 4, A.J Burnett will play for the Pirates, and Bob Lorenz gets real loose on air and admits his hatred for the amount of corporate advertising around the new Yankee stadium.
Despite the inherent ugliness, I will be at Yankees stadium, where for every pregame I will find myself looking out at the beautiful rooftops of the projects from the Target shopping center parking garage, wondering if I’m going to be walking/crawling/running out of the stadium and hoping my record improves from last year’s 0-3.
For now, it’s winter? (49 in February). Time to be productive and attempt to crawl upwards in my analysis of the 4-12 Buccaneers and Browns. At least there are serious changes coming to both organizations.
Free agency opens March 13th but that doesn’t mean it is too early to start breaking down potential options for the New York Jets, who have some work to do. Regardless of what one of the Mike’s (Lombardi, Florio, Francesa) in the mainstream media would like you to believe the Jets aren’t that far away from being a playoff contender. And in this day and age, when you are a playoff contender, you are a Super Bowl contender because once you get into that tournament anything can happen.
For today, I am going to work off Pete Prisco’s top 50 free agent rankings, despite strongly disagreeing with his ordering it still provides a good overview of who is available. I will also include a few other players that could interest the Jets who aren’t listed there. Let’s go through their positional needs -
Wide Receiver – Without question the Jets need a new starter opposite Santonio Holmes but don’t expect them to make a splash here by pursuing one of the big name players like Vincent Jackson, Marques Colston, Stevie Johnson, or Dwayne Bowe. If the Jets were smart they’d focus their attention on a less pricey speedster like Pierre Garcon or Robert Meachem. Laurent Robinson could be another intriguing option, coming off a very strong year in Dallas. Wanting Braylon Edwards back is a good sentiment but I highly doubt it happens.
Tight End – Look for the Jets to add a blocking tight end to pair with Dustin Keller. Anthony Fasano isn’t a free agent yet but there is chatter he could be released if he doesn’t take a pay cut. If he does hit the open market, don’t be surprised to see Tony Sparano encourage the Jets to pounce on him.
Running Back – The Jets could use another back to provide depth and push Shonn Greene. Ryan Grant is an option with high potential but he could be out of their price range. Tashard Choice and Derrick Ward are cheaper options who have been productive in the past.
Backup Quarterback – Chad Henne makes the most sense here. He knows Sparano’s system, is talented enough to push Sanchez, while still not having enough success in his career yet to have a problem being a backup.
Right Tackle – Demetrius Bell is the best option out there but I have tough time seeing Buffalo letting him walk. Vernon Carey could receive a look because of his history with Sparano. Beyond that, you are looking at a collection of mostly scrap heap veterans or taking a risk on a player like Jared Gaither, who has looked great at times but has injury and attitude questions surrounding him.
Linebacker – Most people feel the Jets will address their need for a pass rusher at outside linebacker through the draft. If they go the free agency route, I don’t see them throwing a big money offer at Mario Williams as some people have suggested. Anthony Spencer is a cheaper option with some upside. Jarrett Johnson and Jameel McClain are Ravens who could receive a look from Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine. Manny Lawson is also a free agent who the Jets were rumored to have some interest in last off-season.
Safety – Considering the Jets could very well need not just one but two safeties, they should take a long look at a very intriguing safety market. LaRon Landry is a big name but is inconsistent in coverage and injury prone. Tyvon Branch would be a better option if he hits the open market, which is a big if. Reggie Nelson and Michael Griffin are good mid-level options who would be an upgrade over Eric Smith, Jim Leonhard, or Brodney Pool.
For all the talk us Jets fans have been dealing with in terms of coaches and players staying or leaving in the past couple of weeks. Here are three players who will be around next year that should be ready to take their play to the next level -
Jeremy Kerley - Prior to the departure of Derrick Mason, Kerley saw limited action. However, after Mason was traded to Houston, Jet fans saw just how much potential Kerley had. Working out of the slot position, Kerley managed to haul in 29 receptions for 314 yards and one touchdown. Not only did Kerley show how bright of a future he has with the Jets, he also provides the offense with game breaking potential, something this offense lacks. Kerley demonstrated his versatility by running the Wildcat effectively and connecting on his only throw of the season for 41 yards. I believe Kerley has the ability to be a solid slot wide receiver for many years to come with the Jets.
Muhammad Wilkerson - Even though he looked overmatched at times this season, overall Wilkerson made a strong impression as a rookie, Wilkerson is just 22 years old and has plenty of room for improvement. He started in all 16 games for the Jets this season, making a total of 49 tackles and 3 sacks, including one for a safety in Week 2 against the Jags. This is a guy who has a ton of natural ability at the DE position, and it’s important that he continues to develop because we all know after watching the Super Bowl this past Sunday, it takes a solid D-Line to beat Brady and the Pats.
Jeff Cumberland - His season was cut short after just three games due to a torn Achilles. It was unfortunate to see because I think a lot of people saw a big upside to Cumberland. He will be entering just his third season in the NFL next year, and barring any setbacks from his recovery, I fully expect to see Cumberland a part of the mix next year, having both Dustin Keller and Jeff Cumberland gives the Jets a solid duo at the TE spot.
