Last Year:
The Green and White were one of the biggest surprises in 2002 all through the season. It was surprising to watch them go 1 - 4 and it was suprising to turn the ship around and go 10 - 4 the rest of the way. Chad Pennington was a star for this team with a league best 104.2 QB rating and he was the reason for most of their success. With him out of the picture now, can this team find a way to win once again? Can Herm Edwards work miracles for the J-E-T-S-S-S-S one more time? Is Testaverde still capable of running this offense? Up until the wrist fracture of Pennington a few days ago these were questions that the team was not faced with but are now a reality. The Jets have fallen off of cloud 9 but don't forget that they have dealt with adversity before.
What we Learned from Last Year:
Clearly we have to scrap what we learned from this offense because Pennington won't be running the show for about 12 weeks, so here's what we learned.
In case you're wondering, Curtis Martin can still run the ball. Come draft day in the fantasy pools, everyone knows about Lamont Jordan. He's a very talented back who is waiting in the wings, but for some reason people shy away from Curtis. Even the media, or analysts always focus on Lamont Jordan every single time he touches the ball even though Curtis Martin has been one of the steadiest backs in the league the past decade. He's still a baller, and he's still one of the reasons this offense has success. He will be even more important this year. Lamont Jordan is a great backup plan for this team should anything happen to my favorite Martin.
The first thing people think of when they look back at the Jets poor start is how bad Vinny played. Nobody bothers to take a look at the fact that Curtis was hurt and ineffective. In the first four games of the year Martin was only averaging 8 carries a game. In their one close loss out of the first four losses, and the rest of the season Martin averaged a bit more than 19 carries the rest of the way. Pennington is a great quarterback, but I would faster blame the Jets poor start on an ineffictive running game than Vinny Testaverde. What people need to understand is that Vinny is not a great QB, but he is good. He can be above average, but he relies heavily on the running game to relax the secondary for him. If he doesn't get his support from Curtis or Lamont, and he has to carry the team, then he can't do it.
The second and most important thing to learn from this team is to never underestimate them. Very few teams can handle adversity like they did last year and all of that credit should go to Herm Edwards. Think about it for a second. After week four last year, this is what the Jets had gone through: An easy win in Buffalo, everything looked good. An ass-handling by the Patriots at home where the Jets barely got one touchdown. Followed by two more 20+ blowouts where the Jets didn't even get one touchdown. Not only that, the Jets lost their starting QB, and couldn't have tackled a cripple. No team in the league was more demoralized. Herm first got the team to have faith, and then to turn that faith into confidence. If I was a bookie, and at the end of week four I put out a proposition bet of Do you think the Jets will make the playoffs? Yes -110, No -110 nobody would have bet yes. I could have made the odds +500 on yes and nobody would have taken that. Only Herm Edwards would have. Even though Pennington is injured, don't count this team out.
What has Changed?:
Starting with the departures of Laverneus Coles and Chad Morton, most people believe this offense will lose a step. Right away I can tell you it won't. It may be hard to judge now because there will be a different QB running the show and most likely a different version of the offense now. Santana Moss and Laverneus Coles are virtually the same type of player. Both with great speed, both with decent hands, and both are not very tall for the mold of a receiver. Laverneus is a good receiver, and he is definitely above average but he really benefitted from playing in a perfect system last year. The short pass/West Coast offense that this team used was a perfect fit for Coles and he really thrived in it. Doesn't mean that he won't do well somewhere else, but I think he looked like a superstar in this offense. Unless he plays in a similar offensive scheme, he might not play AS well somewhere else as he did in New York. Hopefully that makes sense. Santana Moss or Curtis Conway should just step in for him and he probably won't be missed too much. The only concern about Moss and Conway is health. Not sure if they can both stay healthy for a whole year. I think one thing that this team could really use is a tall, well-built receiver. Somebody who can go up and catch a few balls instead of these short speed guys. Even a reliable tight end wouldn't hurt.
On defense the team added Dewayne Robertson who should step right into the starting tackle position and hopefully pay dividends. John Abraham is an unbelievable end, but at times he looked to be on his own last year. Shaun Ellis is also starting to come around as he improved quite a bit last year but if this team can get more pressure upfront look for them to be very effective. At corner they are fairly solid with Donnie Abraham and Aaron Beasley. Both guys are fairly dependable but depth behind them is a question mark. The lack of depth was fairly evident when Oakland shredded them to bits last year. Unfortunately the team didn't really get anyone to help the group out. The linebackers are the forte of the defense. Cowart, Jones, and Lewis are an underrated bunch but they are always close to the ball. With some more help from the line this corps should have an easier time of things. The defense was a 'middle of the pack' defense last year but they played well enough for this team to win. With Testaverde starting the team might have to rely on the defense a bit more this year but they should be up to the task.
Many people always watch games on Sunday and wonder what really makes a "good" head coach. A good coach isn't necessarily a guy who is very emphatic on the sidelines yelling at the refs and making facial expressions at every call. A good coach is somebody who can get his team to believe into a common goal and motivate his team to have faith in something that they normally might not. A good coach can get his team to go on the field each Sunday and give their best damn effort that their body can exert. Herm Edwards is a good coach. If Mike Tice was the coach of this team I would have written them off like the other 90% of football fans have. With Herm Edwards as the coach I'm telling you not to forget about this team so soon. As long as Curtis Martin can run the ball and keep the pressure and attention off of Vinny then this team will have a chance. Last but not least, another reason why this team had so much success last year was the element of surprise. With Pennington being out for 12 weeks nobody believes in the team once again. Except for Herm Edwards.
O/U:
I currently don't have a total for this team. Once again I'll just re-iterate the point of not underestimating them. I'm not trying to tell you that they will be as successful as last year, but I don't think that this team will be as bad as Joe Public thinks. They play: @Redskins, Cowboys, @Texans, @Eagles, Giants, @Raiders, @Colts, Jaguars, Titans, Steelers.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Well we all know that with Pennington out more people will start to take a chance on Testaverde. Might not be a bad idea because you'll have the starting QB of a decent team. Everyone knows about Lamont Jordan, but I wouldn't recommend taking a chance on him unless he's still around and you just need to fill a roster spot. Curtis Martin is always available in the late first to second round because many people pass over him during the 'premier running' back stage of the draft. He's still not much of a sleeper. If you need a defense, you might want to try out the Jets D. They will definitely try to beef up their play with the thinking that they won't get as many points from the O with Vinny at the helm as they would with Chad. Their a pretty decent defense to begin with, and with some extra motivation they might be able to crack top ten.
The Green and White were one of the biggest surprises in 2002 all through the season. It was surprising to watch them go 1 - 4 and it was suprising to turn the ship around and go 10 - 4 the rest of the way. Chad Pennington was a star for this team with a league best 104.2 QB rating and he was the reason for most of their success. With him out of the picture now, can this team find a way to win once again? Can Herm Edwards work miracles for the J-E-T-S-S-S-S one more time? Is Testaverde still capable of running this offense? Up until the wrist fracture of Pennington a few days ago these were questions that the team was not faced with but are now a reality. The Jets have fallen off of cloud 9 but don't forget that they have dealt with adversity before.
What we Learned from Last Year:
Clearly we have to scrap what we learned from this offense because Pennington won't be running the show for about 12 weeks, so here's what we learned.
In case you're wondering, Curtis Martin can still run the ball. Come draft day in the fantasy pools, everyone knows about Lamont Jordan. He's a very talented back who is waiting in the wings, but for some reason people shy away from Curtis. Even the media, or analysts always focus on Lamont Jordan every single time he touches the ball even though Curtis Martin has been one of the steadiest backs in the league the past decade. He's still a baller, and he's still one of the reasons this offense has success. He will be even more important this year. Lamont Jordan is a great backup plan for this team should anything happen to my favorite Martin.
The first thing people think of when they look back at the Jets poor start is how bad Vinny played. Nobody bothers to take a look at the fact that Curtis was hurt and ineffective. In the first four games of the year Martin was only averaging 8 carries a game. In their one close loss out of the first four losses, and the rest of the season Martin averaged a bit more than 19 carries the rest of the way. Pennington is a great quarterback, but I would faster blame the Jets poor start on an ineffictive running game than Vinny Testaverde. What people need to understand is that Vinny is not a great QB, but he is good. He can be above average, but he relies heavily on the running game to relax the secondary for him. If he doesn't get his support from Curtis or Lamont, and he has to carry the team, then he can't do it.
The second and most important thing to learn from this team is to never underestimate them. Very few teams can handle adversity like they did last year and all of that credit should go to Herm Edwards. Think about it for a second. After week four last year, this is what the Jets had gone through: An easy win in Buffalo, everything looked good. An ass-handling by the Patriots at home where the Jets barely got one touchdown. Followed by two more 20+ blowouts where the Jets didn't even get one touchdown. Not only that, the Jets lost their starting QB, and couldn't have tackled a cripple. No team in the league was more demoralized. Herm first got the team to have faith, and then to turn that faith into confidence. If I was a bookie, and at the end of week four I put out a proposition bet of Do you think the Jets will make the playoffs? Yes -110, No -110 nobody would have bet yes. I could have made the odds +500 on yes and nobody would have taken that. Only Herm Edwards would have. Even though Pennington is injured, don't count this team out.
What has Changed?:
Starting with the departures of Laverneus Coles and Chad Morton, most people believe this offense will lose a step. Right away I can tell you it won't. It may be hard to judge now because there will be a different QB running the show and most likely a different version of the offense now. Santana Moss and Laverneus Coles are virtually the same type of player. Both with great speed, both with decent hands, and both are not very tall for the mold of a receiver. Laverneus is a good receiver, and he is definitely above average but he really benefitted from playing in a perfect system last year. The short pass/West Coast offense that this team used was a perfect fit for Coles and he really thrived in it. Doesn't mean that he won't do well somewhere else, but I think he looked like a superstar in this offense. Unless he plays in a similar offensive scheme, he might not play AS well somewhere else as he did in New York. Hopefully that makes sense. Santana Moss or Curtis Conway should just step in for him and he probably won't be missed too much. The only concern about Moss and Conway is health. Not sure if they can both stay healthy for a whole year. I think one thing that this team could really use is a tall, well-built receiver. Somebody who can go up and catch a few balls instead of these short speed guys. Even a reliable tight end wouldn't hurt.
On defense the team added Dewayne Robertson who should step right into the starting tackle position and hopefully pay dividends. John Abraham is an unbelievable end, but at times he looked to be on his own last year. Shaun Ellis is also starting to come around as he improved quite a bit last year but if this team can get more pressure upfront look for them to be very effective. At corner they are fairly solid with Donnie Abraham and Aaron Beasley. Both guys are fairly dependable but depth behind them is a question mark. The lack of depth was fairly evident when Oakland shredded them to bits last year. Unfortunately the team didn't really get anyone to help the group out. The linebackers are the forte of the defense. Cowart, Jones, and Lewis are an underrated bunch but they are always close to the ball. With some more help from the line this corps should have an easier time of things. The defense was a 'middle of the pack' defense last year but they played well enough for this team to win. With Testaverde starting the team might have to rely on the defense a bit more this year but they should be up to the task.
Many people always watch games on Sunday and wonder what really makes a "good" head coach. A good coach isn't necessarily a guy who is very emphatic on the sidelines yelling at the refs and making facial expressions at every call. A good coach is somebody who can get his team to believe into a common goal and motivate his team to have faith in something that they normally might not. A good coach can get his team to go on the field each Sunday and give their best damn effort that their body can exert. Herm Edwards is a good coach. If Mike Tice was the coach of this team I would have written them off like the other 90% of football fans have. With Herm Edwards as the coach I'm telling you not to forget about this team so soon. As long as Curtis Martin can run the ball and keep the pressure and attention off of Vinny then this team will have a chance. Last but not least, another reason why this team had so much success last year was the element of surprise. With Pennington being out for 12 weeks nobody believes in the team once again. Except for Herm Edwards.
O/U:
I currently don't have a total for this team. Once again I'll just re-iterate the point of not underestimating them. I'm not trying to tell you that they will be as successful as last year, but I don't think that this team will be as bad as Joe Public thinks. They play: @Redskins, Cowboys, @Texans, @Eagles, Giants, @Raiders, @Colts, Jaguars, Titans, Steelers.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Well we all know that with Pennington out more people will start to take a chance on Testaverde. Might not be a bad idea because you'll have the starting QB of a decent team. Everyone knows about Lamont Jordan, but I wouldn't recommend taking a chance on him unless he's still around and you just need to fill a roster spot. Curtis Martin is always available in the late first to second round because many people pass over him during the 'premier running' back stage of the draft. He's still not much of a sleeper. If you need a defense, you might want to try out the Jets D. They will definitely try to beef up their play with the thinking that they won't get as many points from the O with Vinny at the helm as they would with Chad. Their a pretty decent defense to begin with, and with some extra motivation they might be able to crack top ten.
