I misspoke: Brandon Moore wasn't as good as he has been last year. IMO, his skills are diminishing. Is he a good guard? Yes. But he's not the same guy he was in 2009.
That's no argument. If we spend it now when we need to then great. What possible reason would you keep it until next year. We have a total of 4 FAs and only two would they even want to bring back, Leonhard and Pouha. The only valid argument is your second point that there is no one to spend it on now because they waited too long.
The Oline as I see it: Honest assessment. Slauson- has been awful this year. Is that a function of no off season and a revamped line? Is it because he is trying to compensate for Baxter with no Mangold? We will not be able to tell for at least another month. Hunter- Has gotten markedly better from his debacle against Ware. However, there is nowhere to go from up when you are graded against a large orange cone. His pass blocking has since been ok, run blocking , bleh. Moore- He has been less than average, well terrible. I think the obvious reason is that his surgery was more complicated than what we have been told. He was most likely rushed back because Ducasse is nothing more than a speed bump. Mangold- The game he had in Dallas was bad. He also started the season off slow. However, before he went out in the Jags game the run game was just starting to hit it's stride. Greene was reeling off some runs and Sanchez was getting time. Then the injury. Mangold is the least of the concerns other then the injury not being able to properly heal. Ferguson- is the only Olineman with a positive grade (PFF prior to Balt) and that is because of his pass blocking being more of the grading component than run blocking for an LT. The biggest disappointment I have with him, is that he should have stepped it up more with Mangold out. He should be helping with line calls and protection calls. For example the Ed Reed sack, is on several players, namely Sanchez and Ferguson for not adjusting.......wtf? I don't know if that is a function of the coaching staff wanting the info and line calls centralized with Mangold. As a veteran you would think Brick would step it up in that area. It doesn't look like he did............ I would grade Baxter but what am I going to say about an UDFA that is in way over his head, and shouldn't be, through no fault of his own. Ducasse- is almost at the level where he can be an on the field cut. Wow is he uber bad. I would shelve him till next season and see if he can improve by next off season. With all the OTA's and individual attention, if he doesn't improve than the team can cut bait. He is going to get someone killed at present. I wouldn't even trust him in the jumbo package. As a whole, the unit will probably be revamped a bit in the offseason. It really is too difficult to tell at this point how bad the regression is. There was no offseason and 2 new members and 1 that is coming off surgery. I do think when it was apparent that Ducasse was terrible and Turner injured a vet should have been signed. I hope with the rollover cap money restructuring (Sanchez) and inevitable cutting of players the Jets will have some room to revamp things a little bit............. Edit: I didn't read BGA prior to writing this.......he echoed many of the same themes.........
Starks was signed back by the Steelers yesterday to a one year deal. WTF. So he had a neck & weight issue. Steelers are in the same boat as we are on offensive protection and road grading. They went and are trying to fix it. He would have signed with us. Tanny should have approached this hard. Denny is getting upset!
Nice post, and FTR I have been on Hunter's case from Opening Day, but he did look a bit better against the Ravens. Moore no doubt is affected by his surgery, but he's also older, and that is a difficult combo to predict he will return to 09 form. Ferguson - at the risk of revealing my ignorance, but how many LT's make the calls for the OL? I thought that was an interior lineman's job. But yeah, he's whiffed completely on a couple of plays this season. Unless he turns it up a notch this is not looking like a pro bowl season. Slauson. I have seen no improvement at all over last year, when he was the worst starter on the team. I know many here think he got better as last season went on, and I agree he did, up to a point. But I also thought that should have been followed by further development this year, and I have not seen it. Problems with Mangold being out have no doubt affected him, as they have Moore, but it's more like others on the line have played down to or even worse than Slauson's level, rather than that he's gotten any better. Otherwise we would have been complaining about how he's the weak link in a very good OL. As it is, he is just one of the mediocre players on the line. Mangold gets an incomplete for his play, but his importance to the team is now more brutally clear than ever. It's not just holding down Center, snapping the ball. His role in directing the line is even more clear than before, and in guiding Sanchez in what to do as well. I only hope he comes back strong, and doesn't have a nagging, ongoing problem with his ankle.
