New York Jets Best move: Eric Mangini’s teams made significant strides last year and they did it without benefit of a significant running game. The Jets traded for highly motivated running back Thomas Jones from Bears in an exchange of second-round picks and a seventh-rounder. Jones came into his own in Chicago and was the Bears' best offensive weapon for the last three seasons, rushing for 3,493 yards and scoring 22 touchdowns. Jones has power, strength, quickness and determination and wants to show the Bears they made a mistake in giving the starting running back job to unproven Cedric Benson. Worst move: The Jets should have improved their ordinary offensive line. They drafted rookie offensive tackle Jacob Bender of Nicholls State in the sixth round, but Chad Pennington and Jones received no other significant help on the line. That will prove to be a significant mistake for general manager Mike Tannenbaum. Grade: B
If they add we don't have a decent DT then this pretty much sums up the off season. That o-line situation will come back to hurt us.
I dont think the line was ordinary ,there were lots of good blocking last year ,chad didint eat the turf as much as some quarter back's. Another year in their system and I think those statements will turn out to be false.
The problem is Kendall. If he goes that is a big hole to fill. Brick and Mangold will be fine. The other O-linemen are not that good and Kendall helped a whole lot with them.
Rome wasn't built in a day and after investing heavily in the o-line last draft, this year they want to the other side of the ball. I don't think tangini will ever be willing to make big free agency splashes on the o-line, but will rather look to fill those positions in the draft or through late training cap roster pick ups (see Pete Kendall a couple of years ago). I would be surprised if the Jets don't add to the o-line toward the end of camp when expensive vets get cut in favor of younger/cheaper options...
I think the assesment of our O-line is accurate however, what is missing is the fact that we have not upgraded our D-line at all. Alot of retreads in camp but no one that scares anybody. We do not ahve a rusher that can get the QB on the D-line. That will hurt us this year.
our pass blocking was fine. it was the fact on running plays we had LB's at the line of scrimmage as soon as the ball snapped. that was kinda the problem.
That will not be fixed until we get a Qb who can throw it 30 yards or more on the fly. Makes no difference who we put on the line. You know the story take away the middle and make Chad throw outside.
losing kendall will be a hit to our 'ordinary' O line. i really hope we pull that kind from maryland in the sup draft....hes a big guy with nice size and would be a higher pick in the 'regular' draft if he was eligible. he was only academically inelligible, but said he still wishes to complete his degree. that will score him some points with even the staunchest of front offices. picking him up might help to move clement inside....thats reaching and hopeful on my part though....
i think moore is a pretty good player as well. i still dont understand all the moore hate around here (or dislike to be a little nicer). he was praised by mangini quite a bit over the course of the year. i think those 3 guys (brick, mangold and moore) are a pretty solid jumping off point. i like kendall, and i wish hed just stfu and play ball....but that wont happen. replacing him will be tough, but there are some other very unhappy guards in the league (like in jacksonville) that could turn out to be a good thing if they get cut.
If Moore can cut back on some of his mental errors (Penalties) they should be an above average Oline. All of these guys were learning a new offense and learning how to play with each other. Not to mention two of them were rookies. Jets fans are too quick to forget this. While Mangold and Brick were good last year...they were in fact rooks. Give this Oline some time and you will see the improvements. I think next season they will be improved simply off of the experience.
You can't look at this in a vacumm. Current needs (in oder of priority (IMHO)) CB - filled (maybe) RB - filled OL - not filled DL - sort of filled LB - filled
I agree those are the Jets needs. I would just rearrange the order. Football begins and ends with the Lines. OL - not filled (OG and RT) DL - partially/temporarily filled RB - filled CB - filled (maybe) LB - filled I don't think the biggest need was addressed during the offseason. And given the lack of quality depth on the Oline, and the impending lose of Kendall, it is one injury away from disaster. I do understand there are a lot of holes, and the FO also upgraded the CS with several key position coaching upgrades. But I would have rather see the FO finish with the Oline/Dline first.
