There's lots to be excited about next year as a Jets fan. 4 things in particular have me fired up. Which one has you pumped up the most? 1. Mark Sanchez- Year 2. He grew up a lot in the second half of the season, especially the playoffs. It looks as though he will be airing it out a little more next year even though the Jets will still be a running team. Its going to be fun to see him improve and become consistent. 2. Shonn Greene- Heavier load. It was such a pleasant surprise to see Greene in only his first year immediately show flashes of being a breakout back. I especially like the fact that he can just run over people. He is the future feature back of the Jets for a long time. He might end up being a more important draft pick than Sanchez. 3. Leon Washington- Full season? If this guy plays healthy for a full season, he creates a plethora of problems for other teams as a running back, on short passes, and special teams. He's a playmaker in every sense of the word. He can change the game in one play. Who knows where we would have been if we had him this year in the playoffs. 4. Kris Jenkins- Bulldozer. If Jenkins can come back 100%, he's going to engulf offensive linemen, kill the run and allow the blitz packages to work even better.
It's the return of Jenkins for me, if he's at near 100% the possibilities on defense are endless. His ability to occupy 2, sometimes even 3 blockers is incredible and really opens up pass rushing lanes
I love Jenkins, but let's face it... there is a GREAT chance that he doesn't finish out the year. History points us to that strong possibility.
Jenkins. Maybe not as exciting in himself, but our D was stomping on elite offenses one-handed, sometimes literally. It'd be good to see them running on all cylinders.
Hopefully the Jets will spell him more with Pouha so he's not worn down at the end of the year. Obviously that won't help much with random injuries, but at least he'll be fresher later in the year. Pouha did a commendable job replacing him.
The biggest note of difference for 2010 will be the emergence of Sanchez and the unvailing of the Jet's new balanced attack, meaning look for Mark to throw early and often. Should be a MUCH more fun team to watch! like i said in the TJ thread, letting TJ go definitely marks our transition from a 'run first' to a 'who knows' first offense. much, much harder to defend. and much more fun to watch. with the iminent departure of TJ, look for a new slot guy or for keller to move up and a new TE who can block and catch. also, with the expanded 'underneath routes' a slot guy will bring, look for a lot more screens to leon (finally) to round out our transition to a balanced attack. Rex WILL NOT put the load of a run first and then run some more offense on an injury prone Greene and a speedster coming off a compound leg farcture. Rex will transition about 30-40% of our 2009 run game to a 2010 passing game. if we can't get the 'right' slot guy or a reliable TE (so keller can move up), i would not be surprised at all to see a lot more brad smith on the field, even in the slot and in the backfield on screens. either way, our team will be moving from 'run first' to 'sanchize first'.
In theory that sounds great but I wonder if this style of offense would be the type we'd play even with Peyton Manning under center. Ground n pound is Rex Ryan's philosophy, I wonder how willing he'd be to stray from it. He seems like a fairly flexible guy and would be willing to let Sanchez air it out a bit next season but we'll see
I voted for beer, but Jenkins is the surest bet. The rest of those are questionable hopes that I'm more anxious than eager about.
1. Based on what I saw against the Colts in the friggin AFC championship, it looks like Sanch has it all. 2. I still have to see what Greene does against defenses earlier in the season (he didn't really play until later in the season) but whenever I saw him get a carry in the playoffs I was sure we were going to get positive yardage (unlike with Jones). 3. Leon is one of my favorite players and I can't wait to see Edwards and Cotchery on the outside with Keller across the middle and Leon coming out of the backfield. 4. Not a lot needs to be said about what Jenkins is going to do: plug up the hole and push the line back towards the QB.
I went w/Jenkins but Sanchez year 2 is a close 2nd for me. The defense continued to get better over the course of the season even without Jenkins, but I attribute that to the team becoming comfortable with the scheme and Rex/Pettine becoming more comfortable with the players' strengths/weaknesses. Now, bring back Jenkins who will demand 2 blockers at all times and that gives Rex an extra pass rusher or guy in coverage to work with. I see that as a HUGE addition. The question is, can he stay healthy. As for Sanchez, I cannot wait to see him continue to grow with all the experience he got last year and a full offseason. He appears to have all the tools, and I expect to see some very positive things with this offense as the training wheels come off.
I'm praying that we don't have to witness the return of Leon Washington. A second rounder would be nice.
Sanchez year two. Nothing more exciting than watching a young QB grow. Especially when they have so much potential. Hopefully there is an exciting year ahead. I say hopefully because I fear the backend of the secondary blowing goats and the age of the OL... good thing Sanchez is mobile. We lose 2 OL guys, it'll be 07 all over again.
I would have voted for beer, but, beer doesn't make our defense more dangerous that it already is....I voted for Jenkins.
even more reason why rex may skip drafting a slot guy and move keller up to the slot and draft a stud TE to help with the o-line (and also catch a few passes). either way, on 3rd and 1 or 2 or 3, we will be just as likely to pass as to run. As we will on 1st and 10. 2nd and 7. Take your pick. Rex said he's moving to a balanced attack. Which means adding new dimensions to our offense. Which means someone good out of the slot and leon out of the backfield. Edit: you can't throw 30 bombs to Bryalon to create a balanced attack so something new has to develop. Well, i guess you could throw 30 bombs to Braylon but he'd only catch the 3 poorly thrown balls in triple coverage that no human has the right to catch. The other 27 will bounce off his helmet, hands, or chest.
There's only one guy I can count on to never miss a game: Sam Adams. [X] Of course, beer. (Runner up: Sanchez.)
Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards: the NFL's next great QB to WR combination. Or so I can dream for 6 months...
