Mike Tannenbaum has been the GM of this team for over 6 seasons. He has had some success. He assembled a team that made 2 AFC Championship appearances. That's nothing to turn your nose up to. This is a franchise that has had very little post season success. I think he is smart and talented. That being said the NFL is about winning and any GM is probably going to get one or maybe two strikes regarding Head Coach choices... and then they are out. We have seen some major blunders from Mr. T, 1st round busts, trading away draft picks like tic-tac's for low character players, big flashy moves that produce headlines but not wins. I like his guts, but he simply got to cocky.
Everyone thinks Rex Ryan is the proprietor and cultivator of bravado in the Jets organization. He's a puppy compared to the big dawg in the big chair. Mr. T earned his spot, worked his way up and made some excellent moves in his first few years. He re-built the O-line, scored some nice mid-round players like Neon Leon and Brad Smith, and scored with building a foundation with guys like Revis, Harris and Mangold. He went after solid veteran FA's like Thomas Jones and also created an environment where some of the players he inherited started to shine like Rhodes and Cotchery. If you forget about the move to sign Favre and letting Pennington walk to the Dolphins his first 3 years were very solid.
He made a mistake signing Mangini before he was truly ready to be a HC. But he built a solid unit and also a solid coaching staff after firing Eric. Our 2009/2010 coaching staff was amazing. The only big issue was signing Mangini's replacement as a HC when he is wired to only be a coordinator. Rex Ryan was passed over in Baltimore when he was the air apparent. In one of my first posts on this blog I asked the question... why???
Ozzy Newsome ran the risk of a mutiny from his players by passing on Rex, but he did it anyway. It's because he simply can't do the job. This is when Mr. T's ego started to explode. He had a strategy.. build a sick defense and solid offense with an O-line built to run the ball. Then draft your QB as the final step. It allows a rookie a chance to win from the get go. That's what happened. Unfortunately the huge mistake at HC started to pull the team down. Ryan allowed the locker room to get out of control and also pressured some horrible draft picks. The wheels fell off mid 2011 and it's only got worse as the months have progressed.
Sanchez is a lost cause, we are handcuffed to Holmes for at least 2 more years, we have zero backfield threat, the right side of our O-line is a mess, ZERO pass rush, and the oldest, clunkiest LB corps in the league. This is a major reclamation project and the team is in worse shape then when Mr. T took over. By the end of this season it will be 3 out of 5 years without a playoff birth including 2 in a row. Sparano and the offensive coaches are useless, and if you dump Rex his group of defensive coaches need to go too.
It's easier to say who should stay then who should go.
- You can build around D'Brick, Slauson, and Mangold on the O-line. You need a new RG and RT.
- You can build around Kerly and Hill. But you need 2-3 receivers including a big name #1 via trade or free agency.
- Keller needs to go and we have no major threat at the TE spot. Cumberland can hang around another year but you need 2 TE's.
- Powell, McNight, Greene... all garbage. This whole squad needs to be re-built. We need a game changer here. No idea where we find one. You need 3 RB's.
- Our defensive line is OK in my eyes. we have 5-6 solid guys. Wilkerson ad Couples can be very disruptive, but they are useless with a bunch of 30 something LB's running around creating no pass rush at all.
- We need to surround Harris and Davis with a couple of savvy veterans and a couple of high motor OLB's from the draft. I like McIntyre the big white kid and I guess Maybin can hang around for the right price. But we need 1 solid pass rushing OLB via trade or free agency and 2 big bucks from the draft.
- I Love our saftey's! Bell and Laundry have been a breath of fresh air. Watching Leonhard and Smith get beat for 3 years was a nightmare. These 2 free agent pick ups were an A+ move by the front office.
- We need to dump Wilson and give Cromartie a solid book end corner moving forward. We need at least 2 CB's.
There is a guy who wears #24 that may seem like he would be the perfect fit for that aforementioned book end spot at corner. Granted that he is the best of the best, BUT he will be coming off a major injury and will want crazy cash to re-sign here after next season. If you look at the needs I detailed above you will see the need to sign a bunch of free agents and that won't be possible with the contact Revis will demand. You will also see the sheer number of holes we need to fill. In review: RG, RT, 2-3 WR's, 2 TE's, an entire backfield, 3 OLB's, 2 CB's........ Oh,and a franchise QB!
Out of that group we need at least 6-7 solid starters. That's a crazy number and it probably won't be possible in one offseason. It will also require more than 7 draft picks per year. If we sit back and just take what ever players fall to us in the draft it will take a decade to fix this thing. The Jets need the right person in charge and they need to be aggressive like Jimmy Johnson was in Dallas. Trade Revis for picks and make it happen in the draft. It's not just about the getting a bunch of picks it's about who you draft.
This is the definition of a rebuilding team. That equals 2-3 years before we see the playoffs again. I don't know who the GM or HC should be, but you need a dynamic duo to do this right.
