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Q)What is your outlook for the offense?
Jeremy Bates – Jets offensive coordinator: Right now, I don’t have a crystal ball, so we are still trying to figure out what we do best. We are throwing the whole playbook at them and deciding what we can feature and maybe some things we can put in the background and work on next Spring. I will say this, there is a good vibe. There is good energy with the offensive unit. It is exciting to be here right now on the offensive side.
Leberfeld: There’s talk this time of year about win totals for NFL teams.
And even more so this year with some states implementing sports gambling after Supreme Court ruling allowing all states to take bets on games.
New Jersey has some legal sports books already open, at places like Monmouth Racetrack and the Borgata Hotel and Casino.
The Westgate Sports Book in Las Vegas has the Jets over/under at six wins.
While all over/under bets are difficult to predict due to injuries, which there are many in the NFL, I find this Jets over/under a particularly tough one to predict.
Why?
Because I don’t know who the quarterback is going to be.
Aside from not knowing who the quarterback is going to be in Week One, I don’t know who the quarterback is going to be the entire season. And I’m not saying that from an injury-perspective.
If you told me today that Josh McCown is going to be the starter for the entire 2018 season, I would go with the “over” in a heartbeat.
Hey, they won five games with him last year in 13 starts, and the Jets have what seems to be an easier schedule this year, and more talent.
As I’ve said many times before – quarterbacks in their mid-late 30’s, in they still have the requisite arm talent, they can do some of their best work in the NFL. The position is SO mentally challenging. It takes so many years to get comfortable with the mental aspect, which has so many moving parts, it’s like a Rube Goldberg Machine. So if you are still in one piece physically after a decade or so in the league, you can really kick butt mentally at that position.
I really think McCown is in a good place right now.
If he’s the quarterback for the entire 2018 Jets seasons, I think they should have a terrific season offensively.
And should go over six wins.
If Sam Darnold is the starting from the beginning of the season or takes over mid-way, all bets are off, so to speak.
I think Darnold is a fine prospect and could turn into a franchise QB for the Jets, but I’m not into rookies starting. If you told me he’s going to start from the beginning of the season, or some games along the way, my prediction of the Jets going over six wins is out the window.
Darnold has a lot to work on, including cutting down on fumbles, interceptions and reading defenses. I think he needs to sit this year, unless the Jets are out of the wildcard hunt, in December, and then give him some starts.
So when asking Bates or anyone else to predict what kind of offense the Jets will have, you need to define who the quarterback is going to be before answering that question.
July 10, 2018
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