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For those Jets fans with clear eyes, the start of the last two football seasons portended a sense of doom. We just knew in advance that those teams were ill-equipped to compete on a consistent basis.
This upcoming season, though, feels different. With Jets veterans reporting to training camp on Wednesday, there is some mystery that hasn’t been felt in these parts very often this decade.
Besides a new GM and coach, the Jets made numerous offseason acquisitions through free agency and the draft, players who are expected to make significant impacts in support of second-year quarterback Sam Darnold. We won’t know until the opening kickoff against the Bills at MetLife Stadium September 8 just how much of an impact, but, for now, fans can hope for better days ahead.
On the other hand, 50 years of failure can take a toll on a fanbase, and this team still certainly brings multiple question marks to camp. Why shouldn’t we be skeptical that these Jets have the answers after all that we’ve witnessed in the past?
Depth is a major issue. In my last post, I wrote about the tight end concerns in the wake of Chris Herndon’s four-game suspension. If only that was the Jets’ sole area of top-heaviness. Unfortunately, Gang Green would be hard-pressed to tread water if an injury took out a quarterback, cornerback, wide receiver, offensive lineman, or basically anywhere except running back and the defensive line.
Building a roster one-through-53 will be coach Adam Gase’s primary objective this training camp. In addition, the Jets will need to cross off the following items on their preseason checklist before they can feel confident in their ability to tackle the real games:
1) Keeping Darnold On Track
My apologies for stating the obvious, but a large portion of Gase’s grade this season will be tied to how well he develops the franchise quarterback. Darnold showed signs last season that he’s the real deal. He can make all the throws while also exhibiting the improvisational playmaking ability that many of the current great ones possess. However, he was also prone to the mistakes that are typically associated with young QBs.
Darnold now has to scrap much of what he studied last season. Gase is installing a new system, with different terminology, different route trees and different protection schemes. It can take time for some veterans to master, never mind a 22-year old.
Reporters who attended Jets minicamp noted that Darnold had both good days and bad days while gaining familiarity with how Gase wants to attack defenses. I expect that to continue through the preseason games. As long as there is a discernible progression in Darnold’s performances, Gase will pass this test.
2) Creating Organic Chemistry
This course has an underrated degree of difficulty. It’s not just Darnold who has to set up his linemen and connect with his receivers. The team as a whole has to mesh. Much of a club’s success is based on trust, and one weak link in the chain can result in an ambush from opponents. For instance, marquee free-agent acquisition Le’Veon Bell is an extraordinarily patient running back. In 2017, Bell’s last season of record before holding out in Pittsburgh all last season, his 3.11 average seconds behind the line of scrimmage were the longest of any back with more than 175 attempts, per NextGenStats. To maximize Bell’s effectiveness, Gase will have to design plays that risk blowing up until the Jets’ linemen properly adjust their techniques for the new timing.
If either side of the ball isn’t getting it done, an undercurrent exists that could potentially threaten this season. Gase and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are both notoriously volatile. They promise to have their respective units go at each other hard throughout training camp, trash-talking all the way. While this could provide a boost towards preparing the Jets for the rigors of the regular season, such disunity can sometimes cause teams to splinter. The Jets have some adults in the locker room — linebacker C.J. Mosley, nose tackle Steve McLendon, tackle Kelvin Beachum, to name a few — but this is otherwise a young team containing a few players who haven’t always displayed the requisite maturity on the field.
Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com 3) Putting the Special Back In Special Teams
Former general manager Mike Maccagnan spent a fortune on free agents in March before he was fired. Curiously, no money was allocated towards retaining two Pro Bowlers who were already in house—kicker Jason Myers and returner Andre Roberts. In addition, safety Terrence Brooks and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, two key coverage contributors, were also set free.
Special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, one of a few from former coach Todd Bowles’ staff who survived the purge, orchestrated the league’s top unit last season, according to Profootballfocus.com’s grading scales. He will be hard-pressed to repeat that feat given the personnel changes.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago when the Jets were infamous for their special teams incompetence. It will be on Boyer to find replacements in camp who can keep the team from a catastrophic regression.
Kicker Chandler Catanzaro returned to New York after spending last season splitting time between Carolina and Tampa Bay. While he doesn’t have Myers’ leg, Catanzaro tied for the league lead last season with only 20% of his kickoffs returned, per ProFootballFocus.com. He just needs to get more consistent on field goals in the 40-49-yard range, but he’s 5-for-5 on kicks over 50 yards in the last two seasons.
Replacing the dynamic Roberts, who took a punt and a kickoff to the house last season, the club’s first such scores since 2012, figures to be more problematic. Backup running back Ty Montgomery is an experienced kick returner, but he’s nothing special. PFF graded him as the league’s third-worst returner with at least 10 returns last season. As for punts, running back Trenton Cannon was drafted in 2018 for his potential as a returner. Unfortunately, he couldn’t catch the ball in his limited tryout last preseason. He probably won’t survive the cut this summer. Greg Dortch, a petite but speedy undrafted free agent signing, will get a look. My guess is that this season’s punt returner is currently in some other team’s training camp.
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