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Tough question, gotta pose it . . .
The Jets’ Twitter account posed the question a few days ago: “What’s the move in free agency?”
There was a shot of Adam Gase and Joe Douglas to start the video, and the led to many fans tweeting that the team should fire the coach.
“New head coach sounds nice,” tweeted Puneet Singh.
As we pointed out, they should have left Gase out of the free agent video. Let things calm down, but that is a moot point right now. Clearly they are going to keep tweeting stuff with him in there like today – Headline – “Leigh Torrance joins Adam Gase’s staff as assistant DB’s coach.”
This lead to a number of “Fire Gase” responses. Was Gase’s name necessary in his headline? Just say, “Leigh Torrance joins staff as assistant DB’s coach.” Let things simmer down while you come up with a plan to help Gase’s PR issue.Â
But getting back to free agency.
Their number one need is clearly an game-wrecking edge-rusher. When was the last time they had one of those? John Abraham. This is a enormous need for Gang Green.
Many fans and reporters would disagree with me about. They would say that offensive line is the Jets #1 need.
Look, we can debate this all day, but clearly they are doing to address both, however, I would still contend edge-rush is #1. I have always been from the Bill Walsh-Jimmy Johnson school of throught that you build championship teams with elite quarterbacks and dominating defensive lines. Those are the two most important things.
And plus Joe Douglas has a tremendous eye for offensive line talent with the poster child for that being Baltimore Ravens guard Marshall Yanda, a 2007 third-round pick, who might get Hall-of-Fame consideration. Or Baltimore’s 2013 sixth-round pick Ryan Jensen, who is now in Tampa Bay, and one of the best centers in football. Douglas was in Baltimore’s personnel department back then, and they leaned on the former Richmond OT when it came to offensive line picks.
So if you let Douglas do his thing, he should be able to build a really good line, and it might not cost a fortune.
Plus, if you really take a step back and evaluate their line situation, it’s not the total rebuild some would leave you to believe. First of all, Jon Harrison is under contract for next year, so he will be in the mix, and perhaps the starting center. They liked how Alex Lewis played, so they will likely re-sign him to play left guard, and it probably won’t cost a lot. Kelvin Beachum played well down the stretch and is a serviceable left tackle. It might be hard picking at 11 to find a plug-and-play rookie left tackle, so bringing back Beachum is a strong possibility. As for right tackle, that could end up being last year’s third-round pick Chuma Edoga.
And let’s not forget, Douglas signed a bunch of linemen during the season, like Leo Kaloamatangi and Jimmy Murray, who he clearly likes, because he signed them. So maybe some of them could be in the mix.
I have said it before, and I will say it again – if you are going to spend money in free agency on an lineman, Washington’s right guard Brandon Scherff would make a lot of sense. Not only is he a terrific right guard, but he would bring an attitude to the line.
But this idea that they basically need a whole new line is hyperbole.
February 12, 2020
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