Some future stars & busts in the 2015 draft...

Every year I like to post some players who stand out to me in the draft. In the past I have shown a pretty good eye for who are the guys who translate well into the pros and who won't.

Here's this years list, and for the record, they are all not a perfect fit for the Jets, but they are all going to shine.

Kevin White, I think he is the best WR in this draft. My only reservation is that he disappeared in some games during his time in college. He is easily frustrated. But he is a rare specimen.

Dante Fowler JR... may be the Kahlil Mack of 2015. Well rounded.

Shane Ray... my pick for the Jets. He is a long term starter. I think he's a cut above Calvin Pace and will be more consistently productive.

Brandon Schreff... best O-linemen in the draft. Period. Should be top 10. For the record, if I'm the Bucs and I can't trade that pick, I take him.

La' el Collins. You'll hear this name for a long time. 10 year starter.

D.J. Humphries. If you needed to completely rebuild an O-line you have 3 perfect guys in the first round here.

Owamagbe Odighizuwa... the next Demarcus Ware. Yup, I said it.

Laken Tomlinson... 1st round talent that will be available in the early 2nd. Maybe one of the best values in the draft.

Byron Jones, CB, another 1st rounder that will slip.

Dorial Green-Beckham.... not a 1st rounder because of the Josh Gordon like concerns, but he's a s good as Dez Bryant. No question. Mid second rounder is where I'd pull the trigger.

Some more names, Eli Harold DE/OLB, Philip Dorsett WR (my pick for the Jets), Ali Marpet OT, Garrett Grayson QB, Nick O'Leary TE, Kyle Emanuel ILB, Duke Johnson (my pick for the Jets), Jay Ajayi RB (LOVE this guy, perfect for the Cowboys), Obum Gwachum DE/OLB, John Miller G, Ellis McCarthy DT, Josh Robinson RB, Cody Riggs CB  and Bryan Bennett QB.

Finally some busts...

Victor Beasley (especially if he goes to a 3-4 team), Winston/Mariota, Gurley/ Gordon (Gurley won't stay healthy and Gordon won't live up to his draft spot... like Mark Ingram), Amari Cooper (at best a #2 WR), and Devin Funchess... don't think anyone will know how to use him.

Bad Liars

Lord help me! All of the smoke screens and misinformation that gets thrown around this time of year in the NFL (National Fake League) is so transparent.

Whats being said:

Tampa has all but started printing Winston jerseys. They are making it clear (too clear) that they want the embattled Florida QB. I think there is about a 60% chance he lands there, and for me, 60% is pretty good. My reservations revolve around Lovie Smith wanting to hitch his wagon to that horse. He doesn't seem like a Lovie guy.  I could easily see them trading out, going with Mike Glennon at QB and stockpiling draft picks to rebuild that horrid O-line.

The Titans have said publicly that if Mariota is there with the 2nd overall pick he will be their starter week 1. WOW. Could that be anymore ridiculous. They are obviously bating teams who are QB thirsty to give up their next couple of drafts to move up for this guy. The Titans taking Mariota with the 2nd pick is as far from reality as me fucking Eva Mendez.

The Eagles are saying that Bradford is the second coming of Peyton Manning. LMFAO!!!! They traded for this guy to try and use him as bait to move up in the top 10 to snag Mariota. If he is their starter week 1 then I can officially label Kelly as a moron. The Eagles leaked that the Browns offered them their #1 pick (I don't know which one) for Bradford the day after the trade. When have you EVER heard of an NFL team discussing trades that didn't happen??? It's all about inflating this guys value. I think that's why they gave up more than the Rams in the trade. The Jets better not fall for this garbage.

The Bears and Chargers are saying their overpaid QB's are not on the block. Seriously???? Both of these guys collected gargantuan pay checks in 2014, they both were relatively healthy, and neither led their teams to the playoffs. Rivers has said publicly that he's not interested in signing an extension. WHY would either one of these teams not ship those guys out of town on the next bus if they could get any decent value in return??? You know who's not on the fucking trade block???? Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers,  Andrew Luck, Calvin Johnson, Demarius Thomas, JJ Watt, Russell Wilson and Darrell Revis. That's it.... 8 guys.. and Thomas is a stretch. Everyone else is up for grabs.... for the right price. Trust me.

This could possibly be the most exciting first round of any NFL draft in history. You may see a guy like Mariota slip deep into the first, or a team may mortgage their future moving up for him. I see at least 4 trades in the first round, and as many as 8. I also think at least one Superstar QB gets moved during that prime time event.

My dream would be any QB besides Geno or Fitz being our week 1 starter, but more specifically Rivers landing here would make us a legitimate playoff contender. He has 2-3 more good years left. He's spent his whole career in a small media market, and finishing up in NY (where he was technically drafted originally) would be perfect for him to get the recognition he deserves. What a great way to give a big F U to the Giants for drafting and trading him.

I wouldn't want to lose our #6 overall. We need a game changer with that pick. If we land Rivers... (I'd give up next years 2nd round pick conditionally... if he's still on our roster in 2016 The Bolts get our 2nd, if not it's our 3rd.) then I take Shane Ray with our first pick, then offense the rest of the way. Dorsett in the 2nd, Duke Johnson in the 3rd, Nick O'Leary in the 4th/ late 3rd (might have to move up). I'd also consider Jake Long at LT (if he's healthy) and move D'Brick to RT.

These smoke screens are pathetic, but tis' the season. In 5 short weeks the 2015 season will come into focus.

First 48 hours of free agency...

Ok, we have totally revamped our secondary in 48 hours. We signed (or resigned) the dynamic duo known as Revis & Cro, as well as Buster Skrine, a talented young guy from Cleveland. So before we make any more moves and before the draft we have Revis, Cro, Milliner, Skrine, McDougle, Pryor, Allen and Jarrett. Not too shabby. Went from an F to a B+ as a secondary.

We also added James Carpenter a guard who was a #1 pick in 2011 from the Seahawks. He's a B- guy, and an upgrade at the position for us. As of right now we don't have a ton of desperate needs. We need an impactful outside pass rusher, another RB, and another TE. I feel like I'm forgetting something. OH!!!! A QB.... the centerpiece to the whole team.

As well as the free agents I mentioned we also traded for Brandon Marshall & Ryan Fitzpatrick and resigned David Harris & Bilal Powell. I can't complain about any player we have brought in or resigned. All good moves. But I have some major concerns with the contract that Revis signed and the fact we let Harvin walk. And sadly I think both of these moves will have more of an impact than all of the good things that have happened.

First the Harvin thing. Because of the ridiculous contract we gave Revis our stock pile of cap cash has quickly dwindled. It made the luxury of a 10 million dollar x-factor guy like Harvin less feasible. Decker and Marshall both missed time with injuries in 2014. I think Harvin was an important piece to the puzzle in 2015. Not only do we lose him but he's definitely signing with The Bills or the Pats. We had until March 19th to make a move with Harvin. Trading him for anything is better than letting him walk to your division rival. His contract was crazy, but you had time to let teams talk to him, and if they could agree on a new contract they would easily give up a late round pick. Just cutting him was dumb.

And as for Me-vis, I mean Revis. He's going to be 30 years old this summer. He isn't worth 16 million this year. Corners hit the wall, with zero warning, right around 29-30 years old. Last season was probably his swan song. He has absolutely NOTHING left to prove moving forward. He is guaranteed 39 million dollars. He has a ring. He's back on a team, playing for an owner who dumped him when he was recovering from an injury and his future was in doubt. Now he gets to take Woody's money and sit back and fade away.

Obviously Woody knew fans would be thrilled to get Revis back and he's trying to sell tickets. So he told our new GM to do anything needed to resign him. If Woody would have just done this in 2010 the contract would have made sense, and he would have never ended up in New England. Now we decide to make him the highest paid CB in the league... when he's on the downside of his career.

I know, and our front office knows this is a 2 year deal for 39 million. He will make 16 million this year, 16 million next year and he is scheduled to make 15 million in 2017, when he will be 32. No way we pay a guy at that age that much money. So if we cut him in 2017 we eat 7 million in dead money against our cap. That's unacceptable. Brandon Marshall makes 7.5 million. That gives you an idea of what we are losing with that dead money.

With all that being said, it will be nice to see #24 in green & white again. And he does improve our defense dramatically. The biggest mistake over the past week was not finding a way to bring Nick Foles to the NY Jets. He was the best guy available, everyone knew he was on the block, he is a rare talent that has proven he can play in the NFL, and he's young. That was a potential 10 year starter for us. Without a franchise QB, everything else is just academic.

St Louis got Foles for Bradford... and Philly threw in a 2016 2nd round pick!! That's nuts. If we would have offered our 2016 2nd round pick Philly would have pulled the trigger. We could have also packaged Harvin and let Kelly negotiate a new contract before the trade is official. Bottom line is we could have had Foles and our team didn't get it done.

Right now we have Smith, Fitzpatrick and Simms. If we take Mariota at #6 (if he's even there) we most likely start Fitzy and Mariota takes over mid season. And he will struggle. Not only does that put our new leadership on the hot seat, but it also means we can't take Fowler Jr or Shane Ray with our #6 pick. It also sets up a scenario where in 2016 we have a wildcard highly drafted QB as our starter.... and if he is a bust we will be hitting the reset button yet again heading into 2017 with Revis's ridiculous contract hanging over the head of our new GM.

The biggest move that Mac and 'Super' Bowles needed to make in their first few weeks in charge was getting us a QB. And we will never see a situation again with a QB this good & young, with a guy as nuts as Kelly who is willing to deal him. This was a one shot deal. And the New York Jets missed horribly. Like usual.

Legend or Complete Idiot?

Chip Kelly has lost his mind. This guy is a cautionary tale. He was a flashy college coach who ran a gimmicky offensive system and brought a lot of attention to the Pacific Northwest. He parlayed that gig into the HC position of the Philadelphia Eagles. He inherited a team with enough talent to make the playoffs his rookie year. He had a QB emerge in Foles who had 27TD's and 3 INT's. A guy he didn't draft BTW.

In year two, with a team made up mostly of guys he didn't bring in they win 10 games with Sanchez filling in for an injured Foles. He follows that up by having a show down with The Eagles front office, his friend Tom Gamble gets fired (literally thrown out of the building) and Kelly emerges as not only the HC but is given complete control of personnel decisions. He has accomplished NOTHING in his first 2 years in the NFL, and essentially got a promotion.

So a guy with zero pro personnel experience is running your team. What does he do in his first few weeks with the power?

First he lets Jeremy Maclin walk without even trying to resign him, he trades debatably the best RB in the game (a guy who fits his offense perfectly) McCoy for a LB with one year of experience and who missed the entire year with an injury, then he trades Foles for a QB who missed the entire season with an injury (Bradford), then he signs Ryan Mathews who missed most of the season with an injury, and finally Demarco Murray, who has had major injury issues.

Remember he already has Darren Sproules on the roster. So they have more money tied up in the RB position than before he dumped McCoy. You just paid more for the same, or possibly less production. And every player he is bringing in has major durability concerns.

Now I remember a hyped up college coach who came into the league and traded away the best RB in football, and took a lot of heat for it. Jimmy Johnson had a vision just like Kelly does. But Johnson inherited a 1-15 team, and he traded for draft picks. Then he drafted the right guys.

Trading proven homegrown players for other teams injury prone cast offs is just dumb. I don't claim to know more about football than Kelly, but he is alienating a very finicky fan base and setting himself up for failure. He has zero experience and a ridiculous ego.  That rarely end well. In 18 moths or less, and I stress OR LESS we will know if he will be seen as a legend or a complete idiot.

Marshall & Harvin

Brandon marshal will be a NY jet in roughly 12 hours when the New league year begins and free agency officially opens. Our new GM wrestled this elite wide out from Chicago yielding only a 5th round pick. Outstanding anyway you look at it. I am a fan of Marshall, since he turned his life around that is. He was a raging hard on his first few years in the league. But, he had the courage to get diagnosed, seek treatment and talk about it publicly. Even though he is 30 years old, I think he will have a very significant impact on the field and in the locker room as well for the next 2 years.

Percy Harvin is now considered expendable. WTF does that mean? If you want Harvin cut you:

• ...don't understand the CBA and the requirement for each team to spend 89% of its cap over a 4 year period. We are on pace for 72% 2 years into it. We need a 10 million dollar guy on our roster.

• You believe that by keeping Harvin we have too many playmakers on offense. Sure with Marshall and Decker we have a solid #1 and #2 WR now, and Kerly is an excellent slot guy, but Harvin contributes by running the ball, catching it, in the slot, on the outside and he can win us 2 or 3 games just from a few spectacular special teams plays.

• You think he is too injury prone. Well, that just proves the point that if we can afford it, we can't let playmakers walk. Decker and Marshall both missed games last year with injury.

• You don't think one step ahead. This is chess not checkers. Think it out... cut Harvin, The Ravens, Pats or Dolphins sign him, we are weaker, our AFC rivals are stronger, now it's week 17, we are tied with Miami for the final wildcard spot. Harvin torches us. WAS HE WORTH 10 MILLION THEN???

The simple solution with Harvin is to renegotiate and get him 7.5 million a year for 2 years guaranteed. That would put him at the same pay grade as Decker and Marshall, and it's more than he will get on the open market. It's also better for him, because he's scheduled to make 10.5 million this year and its not guaranteed. So if he blows out his knee the 1st game of the season we cut him and his career is over and he's broke. There's no "insurance" on his current higher paid deal.

I listed a scenario in my last post regarding drafting Mariota. I said the only way I'd draft him and keep him would be if we somehow landed Marshall in a trade and kept Harvin & Decker. Well, we will know in about a week if the Jets are going to keep Percy. If we have those 3 savvy veterans who all have different strengths which are also very complimentary to one another, I do take Mariota with the #6 overall pick.

I let him, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith fight it out all summer. The guy who gives us the best chance to win week one starts. Fitzy is a guy I always liked and he had his best years working with our new OC Gailey. I also haven't totally given up on Smith. The way this plays out is simple.

Either Fitz or Geno wins the week 1 starting job. If it's Fitz, Smith is most likely released. If it's Smith, he gets his final chance to steal the long term starting job. Watching Geno, his best games have been at the end of his first 2 seasons. It seems like once the playoffs are out of sight, Geno relaxes, the game slows down and he actually looks good. Maybe with the Duck coming to town he will sense that the public perception is that it's just a matter of time until Super Mariota takes over. He will play with nothing to lose, and might actually do well.

However, I think Geno and/or Fitz will most likely last 5-7 weeks. They both have a chance to help us win, but I doubt they will. Fitz is too old, and Geno is not dedicated enough. So week 8, Mariota takes over, and gets some valuable experience, heading into 2016. This isn't a sexy prediction, but we just don't have enough of a draw to land the free agents we would need to be competitive this season.

Marcus Mariota

Ok, last year I really took notice of this kid. This past college season I fell in love. But I realized that his NFL transition will be a challenge. I also have some issues with his frame. He's skinny and that's especially dangerous for a mobile QB. But, as I read back over my posts here from the past few months I noticed that I have waffled a lot. I've been all over the map with this guy. At one point he looked like the clear #1, but I think Winston has settled in at that spot. Tampa loves him, and he is way bigger and NFL ready.

So Mariota suddenly looks very much like he may be available with our #6 pick. This is where I stand. Taking a guy in the top 10 who is not a day one starter, no matter what position he plays, is simply a waste. I think Geno will beat this guy in the preseason. I also think the microscope that is the NFL's biggest market is the wrong place for a guy like this. However, Chan Gailey is a guy who could realistically do wonders for this kid.

This is where I start to waffle. So I'll make it clear:

If Harvin and Decker are our top 2 targets going into the draft I pass on Mariota at #6 unless we can do a draft and trade like the Chargers did with Eli in 2004.

If we make some-sort-of move and land a #1 WR to compliment Decker, Harvin and Kerly I would consider Mariota at 6. There are rumors about Brandon Marshall being traded to the Jets. With Marshall, Decker, Harvin, Amaro, Kerly, Ivory and Spiller.... This might be enough to give this guy a leg up and win games as a rookie.

The final scenario would be a team late in the first round trading up for a WR like Cooper or White and swapping 1st rounders with us (as well as a bunch of additional compensation for us obviously). If that were to happen, and Mariota slips down to the late 1st I'd take him there. Anywhere from picks 25-38 would be the sweet spot to take him. Then he could sit year one and learn.

He has the character, leadership, he solid when dealing with the press but he's also reserved and humble, which is ideal in NY. Eli has all of these qualities... and two rings to go with it. Not being an exciting press conference guy can serve you well in the Big Apple sports world. He also brings that dynamic ability to run with the ball that is so important in the new millennium NFL. When 325lb guys can run a sub 5 40 yard dash, you need a mobile QB. It's not a black and white decision, and I hope the Jets make the right one.

"Absolute Bullshit" the triumphant return!

I used to have an ongoing series called Absolute Bullshit back before I started boycotting this blog because the Jets were stuck in the mud with Rex Ryan as their coach. Now that I've been back full force for the last few months I thought I'd bring this series back. My last installment was in July 2010. Whoa.

This time around I wanted to quickly comment on 'anonymous sources" and how ridiculous it is to use them in pro sports. The whole concept of anonymity in the media revolves around national security and leaks from within the government and military that could bring severe legal ramifications to the squealer. The NY Jets is not a subject that is worthy of evoking this concept.

When ANY MEDIA SOURCE mention's an anonymous source I immediately disregard every word that follows. It's simply a way to start a rumor that benefits the writer and or some sleazy agent who's trying to drum up publicity for their client. It's all about getting more attention with zero facts.

The latest ridiculous rumor that was floated by some beat writer, who doesn't deserve to be named, is that Woody has given our new GM a clear directive to land Revis in free agency. This is not true. I don't work in Florham Park, but I know this is absolute bullshit. It's a way of getting readers to buy, and retweet, and talk about your stuff as a NFL writer during the offseason. There is NOTHING to report right now regarding the Jets. They have laid low. So this garbage starts to surface.

Even ESPN carried the non-story. What a joke. It does real fans a disservice by being bombarded with misinformation all the time. These media lowlife's should simply be boycotted. Instead of FireJohnIdzik.com how about FireRichCrimini.com or FireManishMehta.com ??? These guys degrade fans and this organization on a weekly basis and spread fake rumors. FUCK EM'

Next up I wanted to comment on the Buffalo Bills. The team was sold a few short months ago and what has followed has been text book rookie moves by their owner. Terrance Pegula is lost in the weeds.

First he had a coach who he inherited that took the team to the best record they have had in over a decade. They were one win from making the playoffs, which hasn't happened up there for 15 years!!! He has an opt out clause in his contract that allowed him to simply resign and collect a 4 million dollar pay off during a small window after the regular season finale.

Their coach blindsided them by exercising this option in the 12th hour. It should have been the first order of business, back when he first bought the team, to lock this guy down and make sure he wasn't thinking of leaving. It should have also been revisited the day after their last game. Instead they not only lost their coach but their outstanding defensive coordinator Shwartz. They also began their coaching search almost a week later than the other teams who were in the market and had done zero prep work because of the surprise nature of the move by Marrone.

Their next move was jumping on Rex Ryan. They chose a guy who has shown zero ability to field a productive offense or establish a starting QB. Buffalo's main issue, offense. They picked a defensive guru to coach maybe the best defense in football. And brought in a cast off offensive coordinator who fielded a horrendous offense in San Fran last season with an amazingly dynamic, mobile young QB.

This is obviously not smart. Picking the guy with the biggest mouth can and will energize the fan base, but when the team has a worse record next season than it had this year the honeymoon will be over. It's short sighted, winning is all that matter in the NFL, and Rex is not a winner as a HC. You have to go for the non-sexy "smartest guy in the room" choice. For the record I think Frank Reich would have been the best choice.

There next move was letting Rex hit the podium (his fav place) and begin making promises. He criticized the Bills defense for only being top 5 ranked. He said his expectations are to be #1 in 2015. This is a guy who progressively drove the Jets defense which was #1 in 2009 down to the bottom of the league in scoring defense giving up over 400 points this past year. And scoring defense is what counts. The 2011-2014 Jets defenses didn't give up a lot of yards because we had the worst average drive starting position for opposing offenses and were #1 in turn overs. If the other team starts their drives on your side of the field that often you don't yield much yardage.

Rex's next move was to bring over a bunch of coaches who were total failures here in NY, including the offensive coaches. Loyal to a fault, his main flaw. Never demanding results or accountability. He probably felt guilty that he got them all fired, so in his never ending quest to be liked, he hires them again.

Next they put together this absurd trade sending a young talented MLB who was runner up for DROY in 2013 for a 27 year old RB with over 1,000 carries on his resume and a 11 million dollar a year cap number. Who pays a RB that kind of money in the "RB by committee" culture of the new millennium NFL? And he doesn't even fit their ground and pound system, he needs space to be effective. He's not a grinder. But it looked good to the average Madden GM, so they jumped all over this trade.

Most recently they traded for Matt Cassel from Minnesota. This is a guy who hasn't played in a while, was definitely going to be released, who most likely would have retired, and there is at least 2-3 guys who are free agents who are FAR better than him including Sanchez. WHY would you make this move for this guy??? I don't care what they gave up, it's just dumb.

This "Rexperiment" in Buffalo may last a while, but I predict it ends badly and has very little success along the way. I thought Woody Johnson was the worst owner in football. But someone has taken his title.

Revisiting my 2010 draft thoughts..

A day before the 2010 draft, where we had a late 1st round pick and sadly took Kyle Wilson, I posted my draft analysis. It's not perfect, but the final break down was surprisingly accurate for an amateur like me. Here it is: My final toughts on the 2010 draft

 

"Stars: Bryan Bulaga Tackle, Jimmy Clausen QB, Joe Haden CB, Sergio Kindle OLB, Jerry Hughes LB, Demarius Thomas WR, Charles Brown Tackle, Colt Mccoy QB, Nate Allen safety, Mardy Gilyard WR, Linval Joseph DE/DT.

 

Busts: Sam Bradford (injury issues and the Rams are a horrible organization... if he went to a different team my opinion may change), Eric Berry safety, Taylor Mays safety, Jared Odrick DE, Tim Teabow QB, Anthony Davis tackle, Arrelious Been WR, Golden Tate WR, Jahvid Best RB."

 

There's a few guys on there who will be available this offseason including Bulaga, Clausen and Hughes. I have expressed interest in Clausen and Hughes, Bulaga has proven to be too injury prone for my taste.

 

If you look at the list of "Stars" a bunch of them have panned out and even guys like McCoy and Joseph proved to be good values considering where they were picked. My only big miss was Gilyard.

 

If you look at the list of "Busts" Berry was the only guy I totally got wrong, and all of those guys were projected 1st rounders. I still consider Tate and Davis busts because they have taken so long to develop. Tate didn't make his mark until this year.

 

Ultimately I wanted the Jets to pick Hughes at #29... and he was available. He started his career slow, but I think it was because he was with the wrong team.

 

 

The seemingly eternal QB dilemma

It's the ultimate challenge for any NFL team. How do you find a franchise QB? When I look at the best who ever did it, you have a 6th rounder in Brady, a 3rd rounder in Montana, a cast off in Brees, a guy no one wanted in Moon, a guy who sat on the bench for 2 years behind another legend in Rodgers, and two #1 overall picks in Elway and Peyton. So obviously there is no clear formula. Like the great Duane "Bill" Parcells once said, you can't just dial 1-800-QUARTERBACK.

The honest answer is you have to get lucky. There has to be a perfect storm like what we saw in New England. A good coach with a chip on his shoulder who is not at all afraid to make the tough decisions. A talented guy who made a bad call with his college choice and didn't get to play enough to be drafted high... also with a chip on his shoulder. A franchise quality guy goes down with a major injury.... and the next thing you know... poof... you have a HOF QB and multiple Super Bowls.

Elway is the only clear cut situation where a team took a guy #1 overall, stuck with him no matter what and eventually made it to the top of the mountain (I don't count Indy because they dumped Peyton once he began to age). And it took a long time and a lot of patience in Denver. So even if we had the #1 overall pick, it means nothing.

I think the solution has been clearly illustrated by the Seahawks. They rolled through a lot of guys during Carrolls first few years. And they settled on a 5'11" 3rd rounder who was a one year starter in Wisconsin. Seriously? What they proved is you have to leave no stone unturned.

For some reason this organization has been all about crowning a guy and letting him flounder for years. We have essentially evaluated Sanchez and Smith over a 6 year span. That's crazy. That's about 100 games if you include the post season. In this day and age you need a clear QB comp in your preseason, and a guy needs to have a short leash during the season. We have had a few guys on the roster over the last few years that we never even looked at, and we have spent too much time with guys like Brunell and Vick as our back ups who do nothing to push the starter. Its been a horrid formula.

This offseason I have suggested some possibilities at QB. I like Clausen and Moore as stop gaps, I haven't totally given up on Geno, and I would also like to see Simms get a shot as well. In the draft we may take Mariota, and I was very high on this guy because of his intangibles, but the more I understand how much he has to learn on the field I just think it's a waste of a top 10 pick. I'd take him late 1st/ early 2nd like Bridgewater and Carr went last year. But he won't last that long because it's a weak QB draft. This is a Alex Smith year, not a Eli/ Big Ben year. One guy who we can probably land in the 4th or 5th who I like is Bryan Bennett. I mentioned him a few weeks ago.

There are a few other guys who are out there who are untested prospects. Brock Osweiler is a 6'7" former 2nd round pick who has been wasting away on the bench in Denver just like Rodgers did in Green Bay. We could probably land him for a conditional draft pick now that Peyton has signed on for another year.

The only true solution this year to land a guy who could be a legitimate long term franchise guy is working out a trade for Nick Foles. I have been talking about this since December. Chip Kelly has shown he is rebuilding his roster and isn't attached to any player he didn't bring in. So I am sure Foles is available. Unfortunately if we wait until the draft I think Tennessee trades out of the #2 spot and gets Foles. That's why we need to act now. The only way we attract high quality free agents this year is with Foles as QB, meaning it needs to happen now. Sadly I doubt it will.

5 days Until Free Agency Opens

As free agency approaches I wanted to discuss a few players who I think would be excellent additions to the NYJ. We are looking at over 50 million dollars in cap space this offseason and that's if we pick up the option on Percy Harvin. We have until March 19th to make that decision. That's great news for us, because if we do land a top guy like Maclin or Cobb during the first week of free agency we can dump Harvin if we want. Harvin will count 10 million against our cap if we don't cut or get him to renegotiate. So if he is released we have over 60 million to spend this offseason.

There are rules attached to the CBA that say a team must spend at least 89% of the salary cap over a 4 year period. We are half way through that 4 year period and we have spent a little over 70%. So we have to spend significantly in 2015 and 2016 to catch up and not be in violation of the CBA. This should be kept in mind as I suggest prospective free agents. I will be more aggressive than I usually would this time of year.

Lets get right to it and look at QB's. What's available this year is depressing. Sanchez, Locker, Mallet... it's a who's who of 'who's he'? You may remember some of these guys, but if you do it's not for anything good. Two guys stand out to me. Two former teammates from Carolina... Jimmy Clausen and Matt Moore.

Clausen is a guy who simply never got a chance. I think he could be a diamond in the rough. He was a 2nd rounder from Notre Dame who landed with the Panthers. He started a few games and then the Panthers drafted Newton and Clausen never came close to the field. He went to the Bears last year (I wanted him last year as well) and he ended up replacing a healthy Cutler and looked good, before being snake bit again with an injury. I was pretty impressed that he beat out Cutler and got the mid season start. I doubt he's a long term answer, but he could be a good stop gap if we take a rookie QB who needs some time to sit and learn. He is also not that old, so if we did strike gold and Jimmy emerges as a legitimate starter, he could be a 5+ year starter. Remember he has very little mileage on him.

Moore is the definition of a stop gap. He could start the first half of the season and allow for an environment where we can ease in a rookie. I like him because he seems to have the intangibles. He carries himself as a leader, he has more TD's than INTs in his career, and he believes in himself. Players will follow him. His intangibles are key, and he has helped develop Tannenhill in Miami so he knows how to help a rookie make the transition. he would also be a solid back up. So a two year deal on this guy could cover all the bases.

I like Ahmad Bradshaw, CJ Spiller and Reggie Bush at HB.

Reggie has never been used properly in his career. He's a pass catcher and a 3rd down back. That's it. And that can be a very important position. If we signed him for short money, and keep Powell and Ivory we have a great compliment of runners. If you limit Bush to 3rd down he can have a huge impact. Defenses will have fits dealing with him in that scenario, and less carries will keep him fresher and ideally healthier. He has some gas left in the tank and for the right money he's a no brainer.

Spiller is a similar back. Injury prone, game changer, and he has a history with our new OC. He would be a nice compliment to Ivory. He just can't be looked at as a primary back because his health is unreliable. he has expressed enthusiasm about reuniting with Gailey, so that's also a positive. Give Chan one of his guys.

Finally Bradshaw. I absolutely love this guy. He is so dynamic and runs hard. He plays with fire and that's so important in the locker room. He's coming off a season ending injury, he has a history of injuries and he's getting old. But a guy like this paired with Ivory is the ideal scenario for us moving forward. Just like the other 2 backs I mentioned Bradshaw can't be counted on physically, but with solid depth in our backfield he is a good addition on a 1 year deal with a 1 year option. I think he would be open to returning to NY.

I'll move to WR's now. I won't discuss all of them but my list is (in order of my interest);

• Torrey Smith
• Randal Cobb
• Jeremy Maclin
• Eddie Royal
• Stevie Johnson
• Kenny Britt
• Hakeem Nicks

Mr Smith from the Ravens: I don't know why this guy has never really been on my radar, but it looks like he's definately hitting the market. He's the lighting fast, field stretching deep threat that we have lacked since Moss, (wow that's like a decade). He's the perfect compliment to Decker Harvin and Kerly. He's a great character guy off the field. He's missed 2 starts in 4 full seasons. He's avaeraged over 17 yards per reception. He's very experinced in the post season.

 

If we keep Harvin it's essentially a one year deal. So Decker, Smith and Kerly will have the multi year deals and Harvin will get his 10 million for one year, where we desperately need to spend anyway. Any decent QB should be able to work with a fearless slot guy with great hands like Kerly, an elite deep threat like Smith, an all purpose game changer like Harvin (who even lines up in the backfield) and a big bodied, well rounded end zone threat like Decker. 

 

Cobb, Maclin and Royal are all savvy veteran guys. All these guys do is get open. Cobb and Decker as our two top guys for the next 3-4 years is a great duo. Cobb has reportedly turned down a 9 million dollar a year deal in Green Bay. If he wants more than 9 million a year, I pass on him, no matter how much we need to spend. Decker is at about 7.5 million annually so we need to be careful paying a wideout more than him.

 

As for the final 3 guys I listed, Johnson, Nicks and Britt. They are complimentary guys. If we can't land one of the top free agents at this position we need to keep Harvin. No question. If we do land Cobb or Smith maybe we consider dropping Harvin. But a WR corps of Decker, Harvin, Britt and Kerly isn't too shabby. It will be hard to attract bluechip WR's with Geno as the face of the franchise.

 

One area where we absolutely need to make a splash is O-line. The heavy hitters (no pun intended) are Iupati, Wisniewski and Franklin. We need at least one of them. Wisniewski would be interesting because we could move Mangold to guard and Wis' would play center. I'd move Giacomini to the other guard spot and we are one RT from a kick ass O-line. We can take a guy like Franklin or draft one.

 

I think we need an upgrade at FB. I am a big fan of that position. Some teams don't even use one. In Gailey's spread offense I'm not sure if he needs one. But if he does, Kuhn and Hynoski are both outstanding. Conner is a joke and Bohanan is a C+ guy at best.

 

At TE I see some options in the draft but Jermain Gresham is a perfect compliment to Amaro. I also like Moeaki. He had one good year in KC a few years back and since then his star has faded. I'd take a shot at a retread like him. He's still fast.

 

I'll start of the defensive side of the ball with LB. my 2 favorite guys are Jerry Hughes and Jason Worilds. These guys are in their prime and ready to bring a real threat at the OLB position to this defense, which we haven't had... since like Parcells was the coach. I hope we move on from the Coples experiment and put #98 back on the D-line. Hughes is a guy I wanted the Jets to draft. I wrote about him on this blog and I was sure he would be a great pass rusher in the NFL. His first 2 years in Indy he got lost in the mix with guys like Freeny and Mathis. But the last 2 years in Buffalo he has registered 20 sacks and is one of the top pass rushers on the market. And I doubted myself??? LOL

 

I'll list the defensive backs I'm interested in the same as the WR's:

• Kareem Jackson
• Devin McCorty
• Perrish Cox
• Antonio Cromartie
• Laron Laundry
• Dwight Lowery
• Brandon Meriweather

 

I feel we need 2 savvy veteran CB's and a veteran safety. Also please take note that Revis is not on my list. His career is down hill from here. I'm not interested. Period. From the list Cro would be a good fit because he's obsessed with NYC, he played decently for Bowles and he would be a really good nickel at this point of his career IMHO. He's a playmaker. McCorty is more important to us than most fans realize. We have a good role player in Antonio Allen and a guy in Pryor who was a disaster in 2014. I am honestly really worried about Calvin. He shows little to know instincts. I hope Bowles can help him, but he needs a guy like McCorty to balance our defensive backfield.

 

So I listed a bunch of guys who I think would be good contributors to the NYJ and who play the game the way I respect. Obviously we won't take them all.

I think we realistically take:

• Sam Acho (who I didn't mention)
• Cromartie
• Torrey Smith
• Gresham
• Matt Moore
• Spiller
• Stevie Johnson
• Franklin

...and my final 2 are real reaches but hopefully Hughes and McCorty. I'd also love the CB's Jackson and Cox, but for some reason I don't think we land either. Fingers crossed.