A new way to look at the Jets

Nobody saw this season from the Jets (except for maybe my dad), like I said on my podcast, if you told me that the Jets would be 4-5 going into Week 10 and the Giants would be 1-7, I would’ve thought you were insane. But, that’s where we are in the season, and a possible 8-8 playoff run is in play for gang green.

With that being the case the Jets would find themselves currently picking at 13 in the upcoming draft. Clearly, that’s way too late to get one of the high valued quarterbacks coming out of the draft, but maybe that’s okay…

I promise I’m not insane and I haven’t gone off my rocker, it may be okay to give up on the dream of Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, or whomever you thought the Jets would draft this coming April.

I say, look at the option of drafting offensive line help before you draft a quarterback. In the 2012-13 season the top two quarterbacks taken in the draft were Andrew Luck (1^st overall to the Colts) and Robert Griffin III (2^nd overall to the Redskins), but there is a stat that might surprise you.  Luck was sacked 41 times in his rookie year and 32 times in his sophomore season. Griffin was sacked 30 times in his rookie season and 38 times in his sophomore season. If you aren’t sold yet, Cam Newton was sacked 35 times in his rookie season, 36 times in his sophomore season, Carson Wentz sacked 33 times last year and so far, 23 times this year, and Jared Goff was sacked 26 times and 10 times so far this season.

What this says to me is that the Panthers, Colts, Redskins, and teams in general don’t plan for a new quarterback correctly. Other than the Cowboys in my mind, ever over team wants to get the quarterback first before they branch out to other position groups. This has been the way to do things for years and has delivered teams championships, but the Cowboys way of building that offensive line first is the way to go. Especially with this current Jets team. The defense is playing inspired football and with a young core of guys that will continue to grow and be hungry, what better way to better this team, and build a Super Bowl contending team than through the offensive line?

This may just be my way of thinking, but I love offensive and defensive line play, and I think it translates to wins more than anything in the NFL. It has been one of the sayings in the game that you “have to win the battle in the trenches.” Of all the things in today’s NFL, having good line play is the most important thing. With all the freak athletes like J.J. Watt, Miles Garrett, and Von Miller (just to name a few), having a good offensive line is imperative.  The Jets when you compare, don’t have a line to keep a quarterback clean. The best offensive lineman that the Jets is a guy that they signed in the offseason in Kevin Beacheum. Beacheum is the highest rated O-Lineman on the Jets with a grade of 70.5 (38^th among tackles) while playing 560 snaps this year. The others on line are just not good. Brian Winters has a grade of 47.4 (42^nd among guards) playing 455 snaps, James Carpenter has a grade of 44.0 (48^th among guards) playing 560 snaps. Wesley Johnson has a grade of 38.8 (34^th among centers) playing 560 snaps. Brent Qvale has a grade of 46.1 (55^th among tackles) playing 283 snaps. And, the worst offensive lineman as far as grading goes that the Jets have on roster is Brandon Shell who has a grade of 43.5 (60^th among tackles) on 310 snaps. Surprisingly, Josh McCown has only been sacked 26 times this year, but with this line the way it is, putting Rosen, Jackson, or Darnold behind it wouldn’t advance the rebuild that much.

Building the team through the offensive and defensive line is the way to build your team in 2017. The Jets has started that with the end of the Idzik-Ryan era and is continuing to build with the culture that is being built this year. The secondary has been playing better with the drafting of Adams and Maye, Lac Edwards has the 2^nd most punts inside the 20-yard-line this season (19), and having playmakers like Bilal Powell, Quincy Enunwa (who just happens to be hurt), Jermaine Kearse, Robby Anderson, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins. The culture that has been established this year shows that the Jets have a plan in place, and moving to the trenches must be the next move to bring this team a Super Bowl.

Offensive Lineman in college who will be draft ready like Tony Adams from N.C. State, Quin Ficklin from Utah State, and Andre James from UCLA are guys that I would like to see walking up on the stage in Dallas this coming April. The reason I want guys like these are because these are the best lineman prospects in the upcoming draft so far. This will be adjusted when the combine rolls around, but for now these are the guys I want to see in a Jets uniform instead of Rosen, Jackson, or Darnold.

Adams this season for the Wolfpack has not allowed a sack or a hit on the quarterback and only allowed seven hurries in 355 offensive snaps and is the best offensive guard thus far in college football. Adams can also play center. Ficklin for the Aggies of Utah State has allowed two sacks, two quarterbacks hits, and only five hurries in 382 snaps and is the best center in the FBS. For offensive tackles, that’s where Andre James comes in. James has only allowed two sacks, no quarterback hits, and 10 hurries in 399 snaps for the Bruins, and of course is the best offensive tackle in college football. “The Big Uglies” as they are often refereed as will bring this rebuild along more from a year to year basis than any of the quarterbacks in this draft.

As far as the quarterback situation for the upcoming season, the Jets have a couple of options. They can either trade their second round pick this year and first rounder next year to Kansas City for Alex Smith. They could sign Kirk Cousins to a deal that would be most costly because Cousins wants to get the contract that he has worked so hard for; and I don’t know if Mike Maccagnan would feel comfortable giving that much money to Cousins and handicapping the Jets salary cap for years to come. This would possibly halt the rebuild for the Jets. They could do what they did Ryan Fitzpatrick following the 2015 season and bring him back. However, I think you need to learn from your previous mistake.

Honestly, I would either trade for Alex Smith, or I would let go of Christian Hackenberg, sign another younger quarterback, and draft a quarterback in the later rounds of the draft. I would give the keys to the car to Bryce Petty. Not only because I’ve vouched for him in the past, but because if he is the backup quarterback that you truly want, let him show you what he truly has against live play. You can draft a quarterback next year or the following year once you truly establish the culture in the locker room.

By that time at the latest, Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye would be going into their 4^th season, Darron Lee and Jordan Jenkins would be going into year five, and if you give that an established defense to a rookie quarterback that you want to be the cornerstone quarterback that you want to run your franchise.

Going quarterback in this draft could be a repetition of history like with Andrew Luck and RGIII. In both cases, they have been bothered by the injury bug throughout their careers, and the Jets do this it will be detrimental to the rebuild—setting the franchise back even more.