alright less than a month to go till preseason. time to start this thread








this constant entrance and subsequent exit of coaches is getting annoying. we really need some dam continuity at the coaching positions. thankfully i think we finally have a guy who will finally stick around in ryan. schotty on the other hand will probably take a head coaching job next year.

Lots of questions as we start the season:

1. Who's gonna be claim the starting QB job? its hard to say for sure, but obviously most have to think it will be Sanchez. however you cant discount the possibility of Clemens performing well this preseason and the coaches having no choice but to declare him the starter. he has to earn it but if he does the team will be clearly better with him and capable of making the playoffs imo.

2. The WR corps. A lot of you are worried about this, but as long as the OL stays healthy this is not a concern. Stop looking at Keller as a TE, he is the #2 receiver. Stuckey is #2 on the WR depth chart, but he is clearly the 3rd receiving option, and Clowney/Smith 4th/5th. This is adequate because of how often they'll be running the ball. Ryan LOVES the OL. The ravens ran the ball almost 600 times last year to about 460 pass dropbacks. expect a similar ratio. If Sanchez is the starter, maybe even more runs. For those of you still unconvinced, keep an eye on the Plaxico situation. If he gets the nod from Goodell to play this season, I wouldnt be surprised to see tannenbaum move quickly.

3. What can we expect from Gholston? Forget that we drafted him in 2008. This kid is still a rookie. He missed half the offseason and then mangini gave him gigantic book to memorize. His number of plays were minimal, and usually in garbage time. And oh, forget that book now, new coach new defense. He's a rookie. So what can you expect? Anything, nothing, inbetween. Impossible to say, but we will get an idea soon enough. This time he was here the entire offseason, and with Pace out for 4 games, he will see plenty of action.

4. Is the defense as good as its being talked up? How much will the loss of Pace for 4 games hurt? I think this is the season we get to appreciate how good Kerry Rhodes is. There is alot of talent on this defense, but make no mistake, Rhodes is the star and this season the defense is built around him. The loss of Pace is a small setback but he is by no means an elite force that will be sorely missed, not for only 4 games anyway. If this unit is not as good as advertised, they will not make the playoffs. But obv I think it is

Preseason:
Aug 14 - vs. St. Louis 7:00 PM
Aug 24 - @ Baltimore 8:00 PM
Aug 29 - @ NY Giants 8:00 PM
Sept 3 - vs. Philadelphia 7:00 PM

Regular Season:
Sept 13 - @ Houston 1:00 PM
Sept 20 - vs. New England 1:00 PM
Sept 27 - vs. Tennessee 4:15 PM
Oct 4 - @ New Orleans 4:05 PM
Oct 12 - vs. @ Miami 8:30 PM
Oct 18 - vs. Buffalo 4:15 PM
Oct 25 - @ Oakland 4:05 PM
Nov 1 - vs. Miami 1:00 PM
Bye
Nov 15 - Jacksonville 1:00 PM
Nov 22 - @New England 4:15 PM
Nov 29 - vs. Carolina 1:00 PM
Dec 3 - @ Buffalo 8:20 PM
Dec 13 - @ Tampa Bay 1:00 PM
Dec 20 - vs. Atlanta 1:00 PM
Dec 27 - @ Indianapolis 4:15 PM
Jan 3 - vs. Cincinnati 1:00 PM

If Clemens starts, I think they can win 8-10, mayyybe 11 games. If Sanchez, it gets pretty unpredictable with about the same ceiling. Regardless, I think you can expect a pretty competitive season from this team with lots of close games. This team stayed very healthy last year, hopefully they can avoid key injuries again this year, especially on the OL

T(thread)OTY, POTY, T(team)OTY.

I'm so pumped for this season. Granted, I don't think we'll make the playoffs, but I think we will see a bright, bright future.

I have a lot more to add, with my thoughts, predictions, etc, but I will save that for when I have time to write it out.

Finally, a topic worth posting in


J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS

Im too depressed about the Mets season to talk intelligently about the Jets.

Give me until August to contribute to this thread. By then I will have gotten over another losing Mets season.

My first thought: The QB situation


I have been a Sanchez fan for a while. I thought he should of gotten the nod over Booty at USC, but understood completely that Booty gave them the best chance to win at that time. When the Jets drafted him, I thought he should start day one. He is the future for the Jets, and I truly believe that he will bring the Jets to a superbowl or two. But I don't think he should start game one.

When you look at the schedule, you see that the first four games is without question the hardest four game stretch for the Jets this year. Houston, NE, Tenn, and then NO. The first three have great defenses that attack the QB, and NO is a team that will score at will, and their defense is slowly starting to take shape. These teams can knock around even the best of offensive lines, and if they get to Sanchez, he can develop the David Carr disease. Would he? I don't think so, but anyway, why risk it.

If we start Clemens and he fails, after 8 or 9 games, there is no problem to put Sanchez in. If the season is sour early on, there is no reason why we can't pick and choose when to start Sanchez (obviously against teams with poor defenses). More time on the bench is great for Sanchez, learn the team more, the playbook, and get a feel for the NFL. His biggest knock was his experience, so we don't have to rush him to face the toughest teams. At best, if Clemens does well this season, we end up with a situation a la Brees/Rivers in SD a couple of years back. If not, we give Sanchez the reigns of the team, and smile as we watch the future of the Jets.

Starting Sanchez early on has very small benefits, with potential terrible outcomes. The Jets don't need to rush Sanchez early on, there is no pressure to make the playoffs for Ryan's first year, just show the fans and the rest of the league that the Jets are building, and in a year will be scary. Let the future relax, get some experience when he can, and enjoy himself. He doesn't have to go into week one thinking it is all on him.

Discuss.

Next, I'll write about the receivers (when I have the time)

I don't expect us to make the playoffs but I think we are capable of beating anybody.

Depth chart:

QB: Clemens, Sanchez, Ainge

I can see Clemens starting for the beginning of the year. He has been in Schotty's system for 4 years. He also has a gun of an arm that can prevent safeties from stacking the box. Sanchez only had 16 starts at USC, so I don't mind it if they bring him along slowly.

RB: Jones, Greene, Washington
FB:Richardson

We'll end up running the ball ~35 times a game. I see Jones getting 15 carries a game, and Greene/Washington getting ~10 each. Hopefully Leon's contract situation will get resolved soon, since his return abilities help so much in the field position battle.

WR: Cotchery, Stuckey, Clowney, Smith, some other bums

Yeah, um, our WR corps sucks. Clowney is the only one that can get any sort of separation. Plaxico FTW?

TE: Keller, Owens, Simmons, Bullock

We still need to sign a blocking TE. Franks was no good, apparently. Keller is more a WR than a TE since he can't block.

LT: D'Brick, Kracalik
LG: Faneca, Daniels, Turner
C: Mangold, Parenton
RG: Moore, Hunter, Slauson
RT: Woody, McKee, Thompson

We have a very good run blocking O-Line, but meh-ish in pass protection (especially Faneca). We're gonna run a lot more than last year, so opposing defenses will try to stack the box constantly. They'll have their work cut out for them. We don't have any depth, so injuries can be devastating.

DE: Douglas, Brown, Pitoitua, Kroul
NT: Jenkins, Pouha, Green
DE: Ellis, Devito, Potter, Westerman

Again, not a lot of depth. Ryan did a good job Baltimore after Kelly Gregg went down so he should be able to overcome injuries. I can't wait to see some the 3-4/4-3 gadgets Ryan uses.

Ghoulston may play DE in the 4-3. I also expect to see Pouha get a lot of playing time. I'm gonna laugh my ass off the first time Ellis drops into coverage.

OLB:Pace, Ghoulston, Kobel
ILB: Scott, Izzo, Trusnik
ILB: Harris, Murrell, Renkart
OLB: Thomas, Kobel, Cummings

The strength of our defense, lead by Scott. Pace's suspension means we will finally see Ghoulston in action. I expect big things from him in both OLB and DE duties. Being able to drop back in coverage is an essential skillset in Ryan's defense, so

CB: Revis, Coleman, Strickland
FS: Rhodes, Cook, Fitzhugh
SS: Leonhard, Smith
CB: Sheppard, Lowery, Carroll

Baltimore lead the league in INTs last year thanks to Ed Reed. With Revis shutting down one WR and Leonhard stuffing the run/roaming around, I can see Rhodes leading the league in INTs and pick sixes. Sheppard and Lowery will compete to start opposite Revis. It's safe to say our biggest weak point on defense last year is no longer a liability.

I'm tortured right now between getting a Revis or Rhodes jersey. hmmmmmm

gholston officially named starter while pace is out

Yes...Great thread

I think Clemens starts but gets the quickest hook ever. Looking at the Jets sched its likely they start the year 0-4 (knock on wood). Fans (and prob Woody) will be calling for KC's head, regardless of how he does.

It happened to Warner when he was leading the Gints to a playoff spot...I expect Sanchez to end the year as starter

agree w/ what debo said

i expect to be 2-2 in those first 4, houston and tennesee are both very winnable games imo. houston has a decent offense but their defense was ranked 29th last year by football outsiders. as for tennessee, just imagine how our defense would be without jenkins. haynsworth is better, and their offense isnt that scary at all

New Orleans will be more winnable than Houston. Houston will be much better on defense this year, and it's the season opener. NO will be coming off 2 straight road games when we play them.

FWIW, Tennessee has a sick O-line, and a lot of D-line depth to mollify Haynesworth's absence.

I'd be VERY happy to head down to Miami with a 2-2 record.

A sick explanation of the 46 defense we are sure to see under Ryan this year:

http://www.jetsinsider.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=196796

seems like a lot of responsibility for rhodes, but i think hes ready for it

<3

Looks like Leon will get his new contract before the start of the season, thats good news. I wonder if Thomas Jones will stay with the team.

Jones doesnt have a choice, he has 0 leverage and if he wants any chance at better money following this season he has to perform this year

I agree, I wonder if the team will trade him for draft picks.

Thats a pretty awesome explanation, albeit extremely simplified. My only problem with the article is it doesn't talk about the weaknesses of it and why its not used on a high scale since the 1985 bears used it. But its a basic understanding and the author did a tremendous job doing that.

I ran the 46 defense when I played in a PS3 Madden league. Some players couldnt adapt, and others adapted well and burned me bad.

Well its main weakness is pass defense. Nothing against Kerry Rhodes but he isn't Ed Reed and that was a tremendous playmaker to have when you run this defense. On top of that, the zone blocking scheme nullifies a lot of the advantages that the 46 can give. The Tackles have become extremely good at cutoff blocks and teams aren't afraid to leave backside players unblocked because unless the player makes and outstanding read and outstanding play on the same down, they have no chance of getting to the point of attack.

Its a nice wrinkle to have, but it has some glaring weaknesses that teams can exploit easily in 2009. I wouldn't expect to see much of it this season unless Rhodes improves to Reed or Polamalu status.

With all that said, its a tremendous defense for high school and lower division colleges where all the athletes are on one side of the ball.

rhodes is def on par with such guys, though hes much much more similar to polamalu than reed. reed is a guy you basically want running around the secondary 100% of the time because he covers so much ground. rhodes and polamalu are much better in varying roles as they excel in multiple areas. they may not posess the same ball hawking skills as that of reed but they are better tacklers, better blitzers, and overall function better in strong safety role closer to the line of scrimmage, as oppose to reed who is most often 15+ yards beyond the trenches

so rhodes is not the ideal safety for the 46, but this is simply a formation that rex will choose to use on occasion, as he will vary his fronts often, not to mention that the jets really dont have the line players to run this formation consistently anyway

Yeah, the 46 defense will get burned by teams like the Patriots who run spreads and can adapt well. It sort of like the wildcat offense. You shouldn't be running it as your base defense, since it's very exploitable. It simply something you do a few times a game to confuse the opposition and keep them on their toes. If done in the correct situations while adjusting correctly, you can cause a lot of headaches for opposing OCs.

I was just giving a second opinion on the defense, the article just didn't discuss any weaknesses, thats all guys. Sorry.

the input is appreciated needle, besides youll be a jets fan before the end of the season anyway, youll be criticizing fanecas pass protection on a weekly basis before you know it

Drove by the practice facility not long ago, figure I'd take a picture and post it, its from my phone so its not that great. Picture is from the side of the rode, closest spot before you can go inside the fences into exxon(or whatever its called now).



Its a pretty impressive structure. Thats the indoor facility.

That is exactly how my defense got exploited.
My defensive backs would get torched either playing man to man or by playing zone. Either way one on one matchups did not go so good with my defensive backfield.

FYI, I played with the Jets in Madden 09