Countdown To The Draft: NY Jets, Jets, Jets Edition

QB: Mark Sanchez was the right pick for the Jets in the first round of last year’s NFL Draft. Sanchez had a decent rookie season and was asked to manage the game and not make many mistakes as the Jets decided last season to run the ball most of the season. The Jets lead the league in rushing. Sanchez’s stats last season (2444 passing yards, 12 td’s and 20 int’s) were dismal, but were expected from a rookie QB. To be a good solid NFL QB it takes time to develop, its vary rare you see a rookie QB come into the league and put up good stats in his first year as a starting quarterback. The Jets have unproven depth in backup QB’s Kellen Clemens who has fell out of favor with the Jets and Erik Ainge who hasn’t developed as NFL QB yet. The Jets need to take of the training wheels on Mark Sanchez in year two and let him start throwing the football more. Teams know that he is no longer a rookie quarterback and will start stacking the box to stop the NFL’s leading rushing attack.  

RB:The Jet’s running game last season was great when the team had Thomas Jones who ran for a career best 1,402 yards and 14 td’s. But for some odd screwball reason the Jets decided not to resign Jones because of his age. Why not resign a key contributor to your offense who ran for a career best last season? Jets fans will definitely be missing Jones production this upcoming season. Jets did sign L.T. (LaDainian Tomlinson)  to their roster this off-season, but L.T. has more miles on him than Thomas Jones. The question is how much does L.T. have left in the tank? How much better can the Jets offense be with a declining player? We will see in this upcoming season and the Jets better hope he has a lot left. Shonn Greene had a good rookie season. Towards the end of the season when Jones was nicked up or ineffective Greene came in and ran for an effective 508 yards. But can Greene carry the load for the whole season?  The Jet are also hoping that Leon Washington can come back healthy from a fractured leg that ended his season early last year. Washington should be ready for training camp.

WR/TE:The Jets are expecting a lot more production from Braylon Edwards, who they traded for in the middle of the season. Edwards has big playmaking talent but his hands are inconsistent. Edwards nickname should be ”The Magician” for knowing how to be appear (being productive) in some games and disappear (non-productive) in other games. Jerricho Cotchery is a solid no. 2 receiver (57 catches for 821 yards last season).  Cotchery just needs to be more consistent and a more precise route runner. Who is the Jet’s slot receiver? Brad Smith is strictly a trick play player who is versatile enough to line up in different wildcat formations. David Clowney can be a decent slot receiver if given a chance to get on the field, but the Jets run a power run first offense. The Jets have a good young TE in Dustin Keller (45 catches for 522 yds. in 2009). Keller runs good routes and has good speed.

OL:The Jets have the NFL’s best offensive line hands down. The Jets lineman are big, powerful and play with a nasty mean-streak. They are very competitive and don’t like to get beat upfront. This unit consists of RG Damien Woody, C Nick Mangold, LG Alan Faneca, LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson and RT Brandon Moore: to some Moore is consider the weak-link, but its hard to tell when your unit leads the league in rushing. Mangold, Faneca and Ferguson went to the Pro Bowl this past season. Faneca is the oldest lineman and made the Pro Bowl for the ninth time at the age of 33. Mangold is one of the best young centers in the league. Ferguson is a solid LT who excels in pass protection. Moore and Woody are savvy veterans who are great in run blocking (just ask the Bengals defense in the playoffs).

DL:The Jets need to get younger on the defensive line. The Jets haven’t resigned free agent end Marques Douglas. Depth behind Douglas is unproven and remains to be seen if Mike Devito is ready to takeover. Jets are hoping Kris Jenkins can make a full healthy return from a torn ACL that sideline him for the season in mid-October of last season. Jenkins is also in his 30’s so the Jets need to start looking for his replacement. DT Sione Pouha filled in decently for the injured Jenkins, but struggled mightily against bigger o-lineman.

LB:David Harris was a beast against the run as an inside linebacker last season. Harris is one of the most underrated ILB in the game. Harris had 127 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 ints, and 2 force fumbles last season. Its easily to say Harris will be in a few more Pro Bowls over the next few years if healthy. The other ILB is Bart Scott who had a down season in my eyes. He struggled a lot in pass coverage. Scott is good at the point of attack, but struggles with covering TE’s. The Jets need to find a pass rush with their OLB’s. It is time to say and admit that Vernon Gholston is a bust. Some people say he is an over-rater, but how can you say that when he is never on the field. Gholston is strictly a work out warrior. He posted better stats at the NFL Combine than on Sunday’s in the NFL. The only way his career could be saved is if he goes to a 4-3 system or maybe the Jets can try him at end since Douglas hasn’t been re-signed. Calvin Pace had a good year as the other OLB as he finished the season with 8 sacks. Pace just needs to be more consistent.

CB’s/S:On paper the tandem of Darrell Revis and newly signed Antonio Cromartie looks to be one of the NFL’s best. But Cromartie hasn’t had a good season since his rookie season when he had 10 interceptions. Maybe a change of scenery might get Cromartie to play again at a high level. He will get his chances of picking of some passes because teams will throw a lot his way, because  teams will avoid throwing to the next best CB next to (Asmougha of the Raiders, yeah i said it!) is Darrell Revis. Revis has great covering skills and is a shutdown corner. He has fluid hips and great ball awareness. The Jets need to find a replacement for Kerry Rhodes, who was traded to the Cardinals. The Jets are hoping newly signed safety Brodney Pool, can be the answer, but Pool has to stay healthy. Jim Leonhard is the starter at SS. Leonhard had a solid last season as he finished with 76 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The only knock on Leonhard is his size. He is undersized but makes up for his size with quickness and good hands.