Operation Get On The Same Page

It’s so important for

the coaches and the personnel department to be on the same page when it comes to the draft, and personnel moves in general.

And while that seems like a pretty obvious statement, that wasn’t always the case in the past in Jetsland.

Rex Ryan and John Idzik, and Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles/Adam Gase, weren’t always on the same page. In fact, in a story we broke here, Maccagnan and Bowles weren’t on speaking terms for a stretch of time.

As the old saying goes, “A house divided can not stand.”

So moving forward, if the Jets finally want to turn this thing around, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh need to be on the same page at all times.

And one good thing about the limitations on scouting this off-season, and there aren’t many good things about that, is that the new Jets’ new coaching staff and Douglas’ personnel staff, got to spend a ton of time together, in Florham Park, and get on the same page.

It’s incumbent on Douglas and company to get players who truly fit what Saleh and his staff are looking to do.

“There are so many different styles of offense and defense in the college game and the NFL,” Jets senior personnel consultant Phil Savage told the team’s website, in a rare interview. “What we are trying to do is identify the best fit our systems on offense, defense and special teams. But even beyond that, how are they are going to fit in the locker room, how coachable is the player.

“When you making a coaching change and you have a new staff coming in, coach Robert Saleh and his staff come in with draft requirements, different skill sets at different positions.”

And the myriad meetings this off-season, more than usual since there was less road scouting, were of the utmost importance to get the Jets’ coaching and scouting staffs on the same page.

“Any time you are doing through a transition between coaching staffs, there going to be a bit of a learning curve,” Savage said. “I know in our recent draft meetings, I learned something with every position group we covered from Coach Saleh, the position coaches and coordinators.”

In general terms, what are the Jets looking for in players?

“I would say as a general rule, we want to identify and acquire big, fast, physical, tough and smart players,” Savage said.

But then beyond that, guys that fit what the position coaches need, like what offensive line coach John Benton is looking for in his zone blocking scheme, which looks for mobile, athletic linemen, not guys who operate in a box. And with that said, running backs, who fit are also good zone players, like the running back the Jets signed in free agency, Tevin Coleman, a one-cut runner who doesn’t dance a lot.

Or what linebacker coach Mike Rutenberg needs as his position – faster players who cover more ground than the team’s old 3-4 scheme.

You get the idea.

And after months of extensive meetings between the coaches and personnel department, more than a regular off-season, the Jets should be ready to roll with a good draft value board come Thursday night.

April 28, 2021

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