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I think that this aspect might be overrated a little bit.
I’m talking about the Jets’ young core.
“The predictions at the beginning of the season were pretty dire, and I think some young stars emerged and an extraordinary core emerged,” said Jets owner Christopher Johnson.
With all due respect to the Jets’ owner, I just don’t see it.
Who are we talking about?
Yes, the rookie safeties look like they can be very good.
I would say these two are solid core players for the Jets moving forward.
But who else are we talking about?
Robby Anderson.
Who else?
The right tackle Brandon Shell is okay, but his story is still being written.
Jordan Jenkins is a good role player as a #2 OLB, who can do a solid job opposite a dynamic edge-rusher.
The Jets’ edge rush wasn’t very good this past year, and their cornerback play was sub-par. They don’t have a young cornerback in the pipeline who looks like a long-term answer in the starting lineup.
One of the Jets best players in 2017 was their 38-year-old quarterback. Obviously not part of young core.
Neither is Jermaine Kearse who was very good, but not young by NFL wide receiver standards.
My point is simple – the young core isn’t as strong as the Jets’ brass seems to believe.
The Jets’ personnel department has a lot of work to do, and stop pretending their young core is better than it is.
The Jets have three picks in the first two rounds – the sixth pick overall, and two second round picks – one at the beginning of the round and one in the middle.
They need to hit all three of these picks out of the park.
And they need to do a much better job in free agency than the last time they had a lot of money to spend in 2015.
Christopher is a great guy, but I think he might be using the word “extraordinary” too often.
Remember, he said that the duo of Jets GM Mike Maccagnan and head coach Todd Bowles as “quite extraordinary.”
I respectfully disagree with Mr. Johnson about the Jets’ young talent core and their GM/coach tandem.
Yes, they have some young talent, but it doesn’t strike me as a cut above of any other NFL team’s young talent. All teams have some good young talent.
And the GM and coach combo, that led a team to back-to-back 5-11 seasons, are they “quite extraordinary?” That might be a little premature.
The Jets have a lot work to do this off-season.
They need to use their large cap space, which could be between $80-100 million, and their three premium draft picks, and knock this off-season out of the park. They need to do a better job of having a cap surplus than they did in 2015.
Speaking of “extraordinary,” that is what the Jets need out of their off-season – an extraordinary off-season.
One that when we look back at it, the word “extraordinary” won’t be hyperbolic.
Which is certainly the case as we speak today when describing their young core.
January 16, 2018
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