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Headline – “Five reasons why the Jets could be doomed to another poor season.”
And the articled gave us five reasons why.
It was on ESPN.com.
Obviously things don’t look great for the Jets right now.
However, nobody has any idea what is going to happen in free agency, the draft, undrafted free agency and so forth.
The Atlanta Falcons weren’t very good in 2015. They got off to a good start, and then collapsed.
In 2016, they did a terrific job adding key pieces like free agent wide receivers Mo Sanu and Taylor Gabriel. They fortified the interior of their offensive line which was a problem the year before with center Alex Mack and guard Andy Levitre. They added the complimentary pass rusher they needed in Dwight Freeney, who not only gave them an extra edge rusher, but was a great mentor to Vic Beasley, the other edge rusher, who exploded in Year Two with 15.5 sacks. They also added a big play safety in Keanu Neal in the draft.
The Dallas Cowboys had an amazing 2016 season thanks to two draft picks – Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott.
The point I’m making is simple.
With the right moves, you can turn things around really fast in the NFL.
I’m not saying you can go right to the Super Bowl and win. That is hard to do. But you can right your ship and get to the playoffs.
Mike Maccagnan needs a tour-de-force this off-season and he knows it. His 2016 draft class had very little impact. Look, I understand some guys take time, but the Jets got almost no bang-for-their-buck in Year One of their 2016 draft class. That is a problem. There is no way around that. Darron Lee really did very little to move the Jets needle in Year One. Not saying he had to make the Pro Bowl in Year One, but the Jets needed a little more. In fact, the entire draft class had little impact. I’m not writing them off by any stretch, just talking about Year One.
Maccagnan needs to knock free agency and the draft out of the park. Maccagnan didn’t have a great year in 2016.
And I do think the Jets will land a QB, like Mike Glennon, Brian Hoyer or A.J. McCarron who can do a solid job if given a quality supporting cast. Solid running game, defense and special teams, so the quarterback can be a game-manager.
And picking near the top of the first and second rounds, the Jets can land two immediate starters with picks six and 38, two high quality selections. A really good personnel department should be able to reel in two starters in those slots. I have always viewed the top of the second round, almost like a late first round pick, because players with first-round grades usually slip to that area.
Look, I have no idea what is going to happen, but I’m not going to sit here and say the Jets are “doomed.”
The way the NFL is setup, designed for parity, you can become relevant pretty quickly if you play your cards right.
February 9, 2017
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