There are plenty of ways to describe the 2012 for the New York Jets. Disappointing, discombobulated, spotlight-studded, embarrassing, butt-fumble, etc. But the overarching description of the entire franchise from top to bottom throughout the last 2 seasons? Utter incompetence.
The Jets do a lot of things well. They also do a lot of things incredibly poorly, and often use the national spotlight to showcase their most egregious flaws. The focus of this post is to shed light on all the mistakes made this season and last, ranging from their general manager to the lowest player on the depth chart.
However, in order to move forward, we must first move backwards. We must travel back to a time when all was well in the Canyon of Heroes, where the Jets were the kings of the Concrete Jungle, where a brash, arrogant Rex Ryan commandeered a 9-7 bunch to the AFC Championship Game.
The group of players under Rex Ryan were skilled and they were tough. This was the scariest defense in football, ranging from Bart Scott (owner of a 6 year, $48 million contract), 30 year old Kris Jenkins, to rookie Darrelle Revis and newly signed (to a 4 year, $27 million contract) Lito Sheppard. Offensively, the Jets essentially traded their draft for rookie QB Mark Sanchez. Sanchez, only a starter for one season at USC, completed 65% of his passes his final year in college, throwing for 34 TD's and 10INT's. The Jets surrounded him with explosive, yet controversial Braylon Edwards, put Thomas Jones in the backfield, and placed a nasty, physical offensive line in front of him.
The blueprint, at least at first, looked destined for success. The Jets reached the AFC Championship game two years in a row. Granted, they could never get over that final hump, but the team in place was successful. Mike Tannenbaum looked like a hero, drafting a young QB who could "manage games", turning back the clock on football with a run first, defensive team.
Now have you picked up on my subtle hints?
Because the first signs of incompetence started during the two-year peak of success in New York. Convinced they had a team ready for greatness, despite never reaching the Super Bowl and never finishing with more than 11 wins.
See, Mike Tannenbaum made poor financial decisions and became complacent as a general manager. As his defense aged, Tannenbaum never made the requisite moves to inject youth into his squad. There was never an attempt to balance young, uptempo players with the wise veterans. Kris Jenkins faded away due to injury, his defensive line aged without much help. Instead, Tannenbaum elected to saddle his team with immovable contracts and cap problems, making a quick rebuild downright impossible.
This is where we find the Jets in 2012. For the most part, the defense is a decently talented bunch that lacks the essential star power to thoroughly carry a team, especially with Darrelle Revis sidelined for most of the year. Offensively, the team is a mess. The Jets haven't added a worthwhile playmaker, instead piecing together a puzzle centered around the ever-regressing Mark Sanchez, who has no business making another start in the National Football League.
This is where the incompetence lies.
How can a team who once had a talented Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery replace that void with the likes of Clyde Gates and Jeremy Kurley, all while pampering the troublesome Santonio Holmes?
How can a team let the likes of Alan Faneca and Damien Woody walk out that door without finding decent replacements?
How can a general manager be so horrendously bad at drafting? Mike Tannenbaum has laid claim to the likes of Vernon Gholston, Vladimir Ducasse, and obviously Mark Sanchez. He's used other high level picks to draft Kyle Wilson, Kenrick Ellis, and potential busts Quinton Coples and Stephen Hill. Hopefully, for Jets fans, the latter two will improve in their second seasons. Heck, the Jets only made 3 total draft picks in 2009! Not mention cutting veteran locker room presence Tony Richardson in favor of John Conner, simply because the head coach liked his nickname.
The incompetence lies within the general manager.
Now lets look at Rex Ryan. Ryan is a great defensive coach, perhaps even the best in the league. But Rex Ryan cannot manage a 53-man roster, cannot help talent grow, and does not know how to manage his quarterback situation.
Handed Tim Tebow in the offseason in a move which flummoxed the entire coaching staff, Rex Ryan has wasted a talented player on his bench on a team in desperate need for talented play makers. Rex Ryan simply refuses to play Tebow, instead, up until this week, loyally hitching his carriage to Mark Sanchez's horses, as his future potentially goes up in flames because of this.
I'm not saying Tim Tebow could start on that team. But to get him 70 offensive snaps over 15 games, on a team with a horrendous quarterback, invisible passing game, and generally flat offense, is downright pathetic. How can a "ground and pound" team, a team built for the run, not find a way to use Tim Tebow's explosive playmaking ability with his legs to their advantage? Is Sexy Rexy so enamored with Mark Sanchez's ability to stare down receivers and throw interceptions in triple coverages that he won't even give Tebow a chance? No, we are left to believe that a 7th round draft pick out of Alabama, Greg McElroy, will somehow save this team and potentially be the answer at quarterback. The same Greg McElroy who Ryan wouldn't even ACTIVATE for the better part of the season.
Ryan has lost control of the locker room and obviously is not on the same page with his front office. This much is evident by the daily "unnamed" source leaking information from both the locker room and the offices of the Jets. Heck, this team has more underlying turmoil than the Boston Red Sox, a task that didn't seem possible just 6 months ago.
To a degree, the incompetence lies with Rex Ryan.
And last, but certainly not least, is the players. I don't think we need to go into much detail about how badly Mark Sanchez has let his organization down. How the defense has gone from the best in the league, to one of the better defenses, and struggles to stop the run. How Bart Scott has declined so quickly, and how Mohammed Wilkerson has been asked to carry the entire defense.
If the Jets truly do want to succeed, they have to put themselves in a position to win. Mark Sanchez is no longer the franchise quarterback, that much is evident. Rex Ryan needs to either learn how to get the most out of his young players, or hire coordinators who can have a bigger role in the coaching staff to do his job for him. They need to fire Mike Tannenbaum, who has been forced to replace talent with scrap heaps because the Jets do not have the money to spend on strong role players. Ironically, they do not have money because of Tannenbaum's ludicrous decision making with previous contracts.
This team has zero direction. The general manager doesn't know how to rebuild, and hasn't put together a team talented enough to win. The coach loves to talk, but hasn't been able to coach his team up these past two years. They still make timely mistakes, and still underperform. It's time for a total overhaul in New York, starting from the top and ending at the very bottom.
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