I have been pretty clear about my disappointment with the moves the Jets have made this offseason. I have also made it clear that I see us as 8-8 or worse and not a playoff contender. However, the offseason has not been all bad.
I like Rex as a coach and the assistants he has brought with him from Baltimore. Pettine and Thurman are the real deal and should have a big impact on our defense. I like Bart Scott's fire and Lito Sheppard will compliment Revis and Lowery very well. I'm also glad that Coles was given his walking papers. From the moment we released Mangini and through the early signings of Scott and Sheppard I was a thrilled fan. Then things went bad.
I disagree with the overall direction of the team after the first week of free agency. I have already made it crystal clear that our defensive line and wide receiver departments are grossly understaffed. We have done nothing to address these holes in our armor. We became focused on the QB position from the moment we officially released Favre and I feel the Sanchez draft trade was a mistake. He's here and I hope I am wrong about this, but I was in favor of signing Jeff Garcia as an insurance policy and letting he and Clemens/Ratliff battle it out in camp. Not only do I think Brett Ratliff has a lot of potential, but I am also a big fan of Abrahm Elam. Apparently Eric Mangini is also a fan of these players because he made sure they were included in the blockbuster trade that landed us Mark Sanchez via the Browns #5 overall pick.
Obviously Mangini was willing to deal with his former boss and he wasted no time trading and dumping players that he didn't want when he became to head coach in Cleveland. Braylon Edwards was unhappy and was coming off a lack luster season. We could have scored him with a package of Thomas Jones and Sean Ellis. We could have dumped two old, past their prime players and addressed a major hole on our team.
We could have stayed at #17 in the first round and picked up Chris 'Benie' Wells and took a DE like Fili Moala from USC in the 2nd round. We could have still scored Shonn Greene in the 3rd. Wells, Washington and Greene would have been a nasty dynamic backfield. Edwards, Cotchery, Keller and Stuckey would have been an excellent WR corps. We could have addressed our D-line with our other draft picks if we wouldn't have traded them all away. Great teams are built through the draft.
As for the QB position, Kellen and Ratliff could have fought it out. I'm sure one of those guys is a future starter in this league and Garcia could have took the reigns if they weren't up the job.
With an upgrade at the WR position, a quality competition between a veteran and a couple of youngsters at the QB spot and some fresh D-lineman from the draft all combined with our established strengths we would have been a playoff team. By mortgaging our entire draft and future on an unproven signal caller with 16 college starts we begin the rebuilding process again.
Mr. Johnson is going to pay a lot of money in 2009 for a team that won't be playing any games in January or February of 2010.
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