Rochesterfan

Actually - he now becomes affordable for the price most teams seemed to value him at. The Jets paid 12 million of the guaranteed money - that leaves essentially the 4 years and under 40 million or just under 10 million per season - I believe. It actually makes him much more trade-able because his annual cost is significantly lower - I can see a higher round pick (2nd/3rd) for him or maybe more for a team that thinks this moves them to late in the round.

The issue is if Johnson didn’t want to do the work to search for a coach and a GM - why give the GM you want to fire a big say in hiring the HC. Additionally - why give that same GM the keys to the biggest FA haul in years for the Jets? If you think he is a bad GM - why let him spend and put you back into Salary Cap jail. If you are getting rid of the GM for doing a bad job - why do you let him run the final draft - to the point that the coach literally did not participate at all in the draft prep and running of the draft. Finally - if you were getting rid of the GM for performance- wouldn’t you have some legitimate people in mind and be moving on this process. The head coach just made a trade of a former 1st round pick and cut players to sign a punter. There is work and fires to be put out. In the end - you put together these 3 points and it is obvious they had no intention of getting rid of the GM, but the actions of the new coach forced their hand. Gase was not happy with the FA players signed - nor the money and it is obvious that he was not happy with the pre-draft and draft action. Someone had to go - so say bye bye to the GM. It may not be wrong based on the draft history, but I do not think it was part of a plan - it just needed to happen once you look closely at the 2 guys involved.

Hate to see this for any player/team, but I just do not have much sympathy for this player - such a waste.

I agree - similar to what we did with Lawson, but they had to make the decision on the 5th year option for L. Williams last year before 2018 played out. He was still a potential rising start and they hoped he would continue to develop - with some stability. If they had not made the decision on a 5th year - there is a good chance he would be playing elsewhere this year already. It is impossible to say what the Jets truly think of him because they signed off on the extension and obviously are now having 2nd and 3rd thoughts about that.

Because the 5th year option already has him being paid as a top 10 DLineman at north of 14 million per year. L Williams is a good player, but he is not open of the top 5-10 players in the league and to extend him - they are going to need to give him a huge contract that they do not feel he is worth. It is very similar to the Shaq Lawson situation in Buffalo, but the Bills chose not to give the 5th year option that would overpay - allowing them time to negotiate a contract more in line with play. The Jets gave the 5th year option and now have a guy that they feel is overpayed and it will be harder to negotiate a new deal at significantly less than he is making this year. Therefore - they will let him go test FA and see what he is worth and they stand a big chance at losing him. This is a continuous challenge for teams that draft high year over year because the option is a big pick-up for guys that are average - therefore they lose these guys rather than resigning them. It happens at most positions when these teams struggle for extended periods.

OR - it could be said they felt L. Williams was only there for 1 more year anyway and got his replacement- rather than a top quality DE like Allen. The issue is where BPA meets need - meets long term planning. The firing of the GM and the new coaching staff just changed the equation for the Jets.

I think this is true until a few teams decide that maulers at OL and a heavy dose of the running game gets you some wins. We saw that last year with NE - late in the year and the playoffs it became a run first offense and guys like Aaron Donald were neutralized in the playoffs and Super Bowl. Teams could not stop the run and did not have sub packages that could stop the run - so they had to throw more and more guys at the line of scrimmage- giving Brady one on one looks on the outside and the slot for easy completions. In the past it was run stuffing defenses - with a sub package to go against the pass. Now it is a smaller/faster defense with an even smaller sub package because the pass is so important. Therefore there are very few big run stuffers left in the league- especially at LB and it is a trend that will lead back to more rushing by the trend setting teams.

Maybe he can do Darnold to Tennessee for Tannehill- bring in a guy that knows his system ?

Huge waste for the Jets and a nice pick-up for the Chiefs. I think it will end Ragland time between FA and this pick-up. Nice Job of Beane getting a 4th for Ragland.

I disagree completely - He fits pretty much any 4-3 defense that has a good rush DE on the other side. He is not athletic enough to play OLB, but may be able to play some DE in 3-4, but I think his current role is the best fit he has. His job in this D is to keep plays (QB, RB, WR sweeps, etc) inside (setting the edge) and allowing the other guys to rush the passer. I think the Bills coaching staff likes his attitude and that he is working hard, but they recognize that he is not a 10-12 million a year DE - he is a 4-7 million DE. It would not shock me that if he starts the season off making making a few plays, but not a bunch of sacks - if the team begins talks on an extension in the proper pay slot. He has flexibility in playing DE and moving inside on passing downs giving more opportunity to speed DEs and he has taken the coaching to heart and worked to get better. In reality he has become exactly the player I think most of us expected when he was drafted. Even in college he did not show speed or power to get to the QB - he was always going to be a edge setting, run stuffing DE, but Rex just overvalued Clemson by a ton (much like the Raiders this year).

I agree - it adds to the picture a whole new layer of dysfunction. To be totally fair though - Ed Reed was brought in to fix the communication and really give the defense a sense of what he saw as a player and how to translate that into proper defense in this scheme. If he was trying to do that, but the other coaches are not on the same page or are doing different things - then all he is doing is sowing more confusion. I remember being excited when I heard we brought him in because I thought Rex was a total joke and thought maybe this could bring some credibility and stability to the team. Then they had Ed running a bunch of drills with tennis balls and players talking about him m telling stories about his plays and I thought this does not seem like it is doing anything other than adding to the problem. Now you read this and it seems worse - the players got nothing from Rex and some coaches were literally part of player meetings that may have added to the dysfunction. Just Great!

I agree with this fully - I also believe - as I stated earlier in this thread that Zay actually has the most flexibility as he has already played all the other positions in this system last year. Early - with KB here - Zay was playing a lot of the outside speed (Foster) position. Later - with Foster emerging- he shifted to both the outside route guy and a slot guy depending upon need. I think Beasley is strictly a slot guy in this system. Both Brown and Foster can play outside roles, but Zay I think allows for the flexibility to fit in at any of the spots as needed. You just can not expect him to be the number 1 guy getting all the #1 CB coverage - he is not beating that, but let him flex in and get a miss match like he was getting versus Miami and he can give you average numbers. Where everything changes is if Duke or Sills (or even McKenzie) suddenly brings something new to the party and make it difficult to get rid of or try to PS them - then someone like Zay or Brown, or even Foster could find their way out the door.

I understand what you are saying and thanks for the earlier work - although it shows a bit more than a couple of good games and the games got better as Josh Allen returned and started to get better. As to the statement above - there are many cases of that not being true and our own Sammy Watkins is the poster child of a number 2 that has 0 catch games and other games with 1-3 catches for less than 30 yards - even in high pass percentage attacks. Others that have had similar games, Adam Thielen, Robert Woods, Brandon Cooks, etc. I agree Zay disappears to much, but the numbers support him being a 2-3 in the league - he is not alone in disappearing.

Plus he talks about wanting a ring, but goes from Pittsburgh (playoff team nearly every year) to the Jets longest playoff drought in the AFC east.

To me it is a quality versus quantity issue. The athletic has by far better content and better writers lead by excellent pieces by Matthew Fairburn. I would not trade that for any of the News material. I enjoy the different pieces by the staff and the coverage has just been great. I will keep that everyday of the week.

I do not see the upgrade - his numbers were declining and overall last year he was not as good as a rookie in Bojorquez. Let the 2 Corey’s battle it out and don’t worry about it. They are young and have a chance to get better - Anger is over 30 and declining. Should be an easy choice.

Agreed - all the more likely he makes the final roster as Zay has done it during the NFL season. His age also helps - Zay is still young - so It is not like you are passing on a young UDFA for a mediocre 30+ year old veteran, but you have youth and experience rolled into Zay.

This thread is just nuts - it goes from extreme to extreme and then small pockets of actual good dialogue. I really only have one point to make in this thread and I think it will bear seeing the other players in camp, but I believe Zay makes the team mostly because of position flexibility. Zay has played outside as both the 1 & 2 receiver (not great, but he has experience against both the top and second corners). He also has played some slot roles. I think this gives him a huge advantage in making the final roster because he can fill in at multiple spots and that is harder for a guy like Ray Ray or McKenzie or other guys mentioned to replace him. Sills and Duke Williams will be interesting because they bring some similar play, but not everything either - so they have to really show something to take his spot - bring something no one else can bring. I really believe the team is looking at roles and what each player can do. You have Brown and Foster really outside and Beasley in the slot. If Zay can sort of move around - it allows you to change formations and also give breathers or pull injured players and keep most things the same. I see a lot of other guys that can fill one or 2 spots, but I think Zay has the most flexibility overall. That is my opinion - I think he has a good shot at making the roster and having a totally average year and the coaching staff being fine with that if it is helping them win. He is a good complementary piece that can give you enough help to be useful, but do not expect him to be your #1 - that just is not going to work.

You do not need to wait to start the thread - even if they don’t sign him - he still would not be on the roster week 1. You could start it about Dez, or Brady, or even Josh Rosen - I don’t think any of them will make the Bills roster for week 1!

Shaw - I think the athletic article addresses the BPA versus need from Beane’s perspective. I quoted it another thread, but basically they rank by BPA and look for spots where BPA and need line up. If they match up you might make a trade to get that guy. If they do not match up - you either take BPA or look to move back and match value with need. It ends the draft BPA versus need questions and how they handle it.

I think we need to refer back to this when we get the crazy BPA versus need threads: Beane talked a lot about drafting the best player available. He’s quick to point out that doesn’t mean he’s not drafting for need. If three players fit the value of the pick, Beane will take the player who either fills the biggest need or fills the biggest need at a premium position. “But if you have two guys up there and neither of them are needs, you don’t go down the board to a guy who fills a big need,” Beane said. “At that point, you have two options. Take one of those two guys who don’t fill a need or trade down and try to select them at your value. I’m trying to handle need but at their value, whether it’s going up or going down.” This is exactly what you want BPA with need. This article combined with some of the other pieces where he talks about reaching on picks gives great insight into his philosophy and I love it!

Not necessarily- some guys are great at tracking the punts and kicks, but have trouble with the lower trajectory passes because they get there with a totally different velocity. Additionally - McKenzie could run some routes and made catches on comebacks and out routes. Therefore teams could not strictly assume a bubble screen or sweep was coming when he was in - Roberts has to prove he can do those things again. He did them well enough early in his career- so I do not see any reason he can not do it again and be the all around player for special slot, but he is older now - so let’s see.

This is my biggest question with the wr group. I see Brown and Foster outside - that works. I see Beasley in the slot, but he is not your jet sweep, bubble screen, move to the RB slot guy. I see Zay playing a hybrid outside/slot role depending whom they are playing and needs. Roberts sticks as the return guy, but can he catch if he is in the game? I could see him on Jet sweeps, but I do not know how good his hands are for actually catching passes - can he be a bubble screen and regular route runner on some early downs? If he can then you do not need the McKenzie/Ray Ray player on the roster - leaving the last spot for Duke or Sills. If Roberts can not fulfill that role and ends up strictly a KR/PR - then I could see McKenzie or Ray Ray or even Easley fighting for that role and we may end up having to keep 7 WRs if Duke or Sills end up as you big body Redzone guy.

I think at least early in the season he will be inactive - allowing him time to learn from Yeldon and Gore the art of blocking and blitz pick-up in the NFL. Then as the season wears on - if you need fresh legs - bring him in and activate him. Singletary has a lot of carries over the last few years - this will be his learning and recharge year - so he is ready to be RB1 next year along with any other pick-ups we get next off season. If we are 1-5 and Shady is having a great season - then maybe they would look to move on after talking with Shady, but that is very different than your trading him in the pre-season like Watkins. I do not see them moving on from Shady unless something happens as we get through part of the season and it makes sense to do so. I do not just see them trying to trade him for future picks as that has less value than his friendship with Josh and the way the rest of his teammates feel about him.

Why was Hunt available in the 4th - because of his history. He fell because of suspensions. Additionally - he was drafted by KC in the 3rd round not the 4th round - so what is the difference. He was drafted to be the back-up to Spencer Ware and only got to start due to injury. We are not to that point - maybe McCoy or Gore get hurt and he starts - we don’t know, but the situation here is similar. Both he and Hunt were drafted to be back-ups for a year and prove what they could do - exactly what you expect with a 3rd round pick.