Alright, Alright, I’ll Talk About the New York Jets

With football ending the lockout and kicking off the most chaotic free agency period in league history (which was more of a representation of the time-frame and less of the players), there have been a lot of topics and stories to cover. I was disappointed in the NFC West for not making bigger splashes, but I loved the roundtable and hearing what my co-columnists had to say about the goings-on of the sports world. Unfortunately, I neglected the one thing in football I care most about:

J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

Gang Green has teased me these past two seasons, reaching the AFC Championship and falling just short of the Super Bowl. Each year, head coach Rex Ryan boasts that his Jets will win the Super Bowl, and with each successful yet unsatisfying season, I vacillate between believing him and ignoring him. It’s so much fun to get caught up in the guarantees and think before a single meaningful game has been played that this is the year your team reaches and wins the Super Bowl. It also leaves an extremely barren heart when they fail.

So let’s get rid of the emotion and breakdown exactly what the Jets have done from the end of last year until now and see if a Super Bowl run truly is in their future.

Quarterbacks: Starting with the less flashy, Mark Brunell is back as the backup/mentor to Mark Sanchez. Brunell was originally cut, only to be brought back for less money. Former QOTF (my new acronym for Quarterback of the Future) Kellen Clemens and spy Kevin O’Connell have been cut, leaving the third place on the depth chart for late-round pick Greg McElroy from Alabama.  He’s looked solid in camp, you know, playing against other third-teamers.

As for Sanchez, this is the year. He has to put everything together: the accuracy, the scrambling, the play-calling, the progressions. He has shown flashes of greatness, and he has shown flashes of complete ineptitude. The latter were less prevalent in Year Two, but for the Jets to truly contend for the Super Bowl, he’ll need to make sure we see none of it in year one. Look for Sanchez’s completion percentage to get above 63% this season.

Running Backs: Again, not much change here. Like Brunell, LaDanian Tomlinson is making less money this year after a contract negotiation. LT figures to see less touches this season as he really wore down at the end of last year. The Jets need to be smart about keeping gas in his tank for the postseason. This means Shonn Greene is going to carry the majority of the load. He’s vastly improved his receiving abilities and has focused on his fumbling problems, so my main concern for Greene is staying healthy. Also, the Terminator, John Conner, takes over the fullback position full-time. Opposing defenses beware.

Last point on running backs: you heard it here first, Joe McKnight is going to make an impact. Every day since he vomitted in camp last year, he’s gotten better and better, and he had a chance to showcase that against the Bills in Week 17 last year. I’m not saying McKnight is going to blow up and lead the league in rushing, but he will have a role in the offense and will be effective in that role. Don’t be surprised if he sees some Wildcat action and leaves you in awe rather than leave you shaking your head.

Wide Receivers: This is a hard pill to swallow. The 2010 Jets had Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, and Jerricho Cotchery. Holmes is back, but Edwards and Cotchery have been replaced with Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason. Now, I will say that Mason is an upgrade over Cotchery, even at the advanced age of 37. Cotchery was disgruntled and injured, and foolishly squandered $4 million dollars this year for less money and less playing time with Pittsburgh. The Burress signing I still fail to understand. He’s 34, hasn’t played football in two years, and already has an injured ankle. This guy was worth $3 million guaranteed, and Edwards could only get $1 million from San Francisco plus unreachable incentives? Edwards is seven years younger and HAS BEEN PLAYING FOOTBALL THE PAST TWO YEARS! Now, he probably got a low contract because of his recent bar fight while on probation, and he needs to show more maturity, but he’s still a very competent receiver with improving hands and a big frame. Maybe the Jets shouldn’t have brought back Edwards, but Malcolm Floyd was available for the same money Burress got, and he’s a big target as well. Burress could be explosive, I understand the logic, but he’s just older and out of football shape, and that frightens me.

For tight ends, Dustin Keller should have a bigger role this year (I feel like I’ve said that each of the past two years), but that loss of Ben Hartsock in the blocking game is huge. No, not really, blocking tight ends are a dime a dozen. Matthew Mulligan will do just fine.

Defensive Line: As it has been famously known, Shaun Ellis was offered very little to remain a Jet, and the rival Patriots gave him four times as much to divulge all of Rex Ryan’s secrets and play defensive end for them. The Jets still have improved their line, in a way that is recently uncommon to them: the draft. First-round pick Muhammad Wilkerson and third-round pick Kenrick Ellis have both impressed at DE and DT, respectively, and have re-energized what was an aging line. They both have great size and strength, and with a little learning, could really develop into a destructive three-man front with Sione Pouha or Mike Devito. Also getting back into the rotation is Ropati Pitoitua, who suffered an ACL injury last preseason and missed the entire season, just as he was about to make an impact. Many people view the Jets’ defensive line as a weakness, but I think it’s improved over last year, and it could be by a large amount.

Linebackers: Not much has changed here. David Harris inked a new long-term deal, and it is much deserved. Bart Scott did more with his mouth than his tackling last year, and took a paycut for it. Bryan Thomas and Calvin Pace are on the outsides, and they are looking to benefit from the help on the D-Line. The value here is the backup, Jamaal Westerman. Westerman is a smart player from Rutgers who excelled on special teams last year, and is turning heads at OLB in practice. He’s playing his way into the rotation and could be an effective edge rusher this season.

Defensive Backs: The Jets missed out on Nnamdi Asomugha, and had to overspend to bring back Antonio Cromartie, but Darrelle Revis is still here. Revis hasn’t slowed down a step and is still very young, and another year under Cromartie’s belt might prove very beneficial for him. Donald Strickland returns to the team after spending a year on the West Coast, and he’ll replace Drew Coleman in nickel and dime packages. James Ihedigbo left for greener pastures, but Eric Smith, Brodney Pool, and Jim Leonhard are still at safety, and Rex can draw up diverse and complex blitz packages for each of them out of the backfield.

Special Teams: Mike Westhoff is still the coordinator, so this unit will be top-5 regardless. Kicker Nick Folk is losing a camp competition to unproven Nick Novak, and practice squad punter TJ Conley is losing his own competition to Chris Bryan, an Australian football player. Whatever decision Westy makes, you have to figure it’s the right one.

What does this breakdown tell you? Not much has changed, really. Some aspects are better, some aspects are worse, and it seems pretty even. Looks like another AFC Championship loss for the Jets. What piece of jewelry can I break this year?

Matthew Wolfe is already depressing himself about losing in football. And this is him being optimistic. To cheer him up, leave a comment below, email him at matthew.wolfe86@gmail.com, or tweet him @MattWolfe53.