Jets Gab

Mike Lombardi of NFL.com takes a look at the upcoming sophomore season for quarterback Mark Sanchez, which he sees as crucial. He uses the career of Rich Mirer, the second overall pick in 1993, who had a solid rookie season flashing potential, but never built off that season and ended up as a career clipboard holder.

Sanchez, by all accounts, had a positive rookie year. He was able to start, had his usual rookie ups and downs, but his play in the playoffs gave the Jets’ management and fans hope that the future is bright. You could almost hear Jets management thinking: Get Sanchez more weapons and he will take off.

What the Jets must learn from Mirer is that they cannot expand the offense in Sanchez’s second year. They must err on the side of caution in terms of offensive design. Sanchez is too inaccurate to create a wide-open offense. Limiting his inside throws by running the ball more often is what will make Sanchez most effective. Sanchez must be managed and it is Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s job to make sure the offense is Sanchez-friendly, not expansive.

The second year is the make-or-break year for young quarterbacks. With 16 games worth of tape to study, every defensive coordinator will have a good read on their weaknesses and exploit those areas. Teams have a read on Sanchez now. They will play him in a certain style and manner, thus forcing him to play outside his comfort zone. Once Sanchez proves he can play that way, his career will take off, but if he fails to handle the challenge, things will get dicey.

Schottenheimer is a bright coach with a creative offensive mind, and he will become a head coach in the league some time soon, but getting that head job will not be a result of his ability to create a fast-break offense, but rather his ability to manage and maximize Sanchez’s talents. Most teams looking for a new head coach would love to find someone who has proven he can develop a quarterback and create the right offense around him. Sanchez is not the complete answer. He is not the next Peyton Manning, or even Aaron Rodgers, and his lack of accuracy will never allow him to be in that class, but he has proven he can win when he does not have to carry the burden of carrying the team.

After a lackluster preseason, the Jets must get back to their playoff playbook and limit what Sanchez does in their passing game. For the Jets to win more than 10 games they must play great pressure defense, control field position with their kicking game and run the ball well. That is who they are as a team, not an explosive offensive machine. The Jets must understand Sanchez is a good player, but can be great if managed correctly. Sanchez is at a critical point in his career in terms of the expectations placed upon him. He must rise to the challenge, but he also must not play outside of his skill level. The Jets are a better team when Sanchez is controlling the tempo, and when the burden of winning falls onto their defense and kicking game. Sanchez must be managed and being managed is not a bad thing.

I think saying this is a career defining season for Sanchez is a stretch, and a big one at that. Let’s give this kid a break. He only has 18 career starts (including playoffs) under his belt. You don’t see these kinds of articles about Matthew Stafford, Josh Freeman or Matt Ryan. Let’s all relax and take a deep breath. He hasn’t lit up the world in the preseason, but it’s called the preseason for a reason. There is no game planning and they run a vanilla offense. If through the first third of the season, he struggles then bring on the criticism. But until then can the media just leave Sanchez alone?

NFL.com’s Pat Kirwan listed five teams that he believes will be contenders for this decade. Not aurprisingly, the Jets made the list and were his number one team.

1. New York Jets

Looking into a crystal ball is not advised given all the volatility and worst-to-first scenarios that seem to pop up every year in the NFL. Still, it’s interesting to take a calculated look at the 32 teams and try to predict which could become the Patriots, Steelers, Colts and Eagles in this new decade.

The ingredients for long-term success start with a franchise quarterback and a solid young defense. It is also necessary to have young playmakers on offense, a strong front office and stability in the coaching staff.

The Jets already possess a young quarterback who has two road playoff victories under his belt in Mark Sanchez. Their defense will always be aggressive under the direction of Rex Ryan. The young offensive line will have a top center and left tackle for the next eight to 10 seasons, and Darrelle Revis will be an elite corner for years to come, once he and the team can get over their differences.

The front office isn’t afraid to use free agency and spend the bucks to get good players. Ryan is dynamic enough that the franchise can take chances on questionable players with great talent, and that makes them dangerous.

It’s a great feeling to know that the Jets will be consistently competitive for the foreseeable future. You haven’t been able to say that in a long time. This article echos what I’ve been saying this summer that although expectations are high for this season, it’s not Super Bowl or bust.

Are the Jets overrated? That seems to be the latest trend around the league, that is to label the Jets as a team that is going to be to full of itself to win it all in 2010. The NY Post talks about another broadcaster saying the team is looking to far ahead to take care of now.

Add Ron Jaworski to the long list of people around the NFL who think Ryan and the Jets have gotten a little too full of themselves. The former NFL quarterback, now an analyst on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” labeled the Jets the most overrated team in the AFC yesterday while noting the hostility Ryan has fostered with his repeated Super Bowl projections. Speaking on a preseason media conference call with Jon Gruden and the rest of the “Monday Night Football” crew, Jaworski said the feeling from other teams in the league about the Gang Green is clear. “They’re the team that’s pretty much speaking all the bravado,” Jaworski said. “You hear this, you see this, and you really do want to put them in their place – whatever that place may be.”

TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company, a subsidiary of the adidas Group, has introduced a new line of hats and visors, which features the primary colors and logos of all 32 NFL teams. Golfers across the country can now fly the colors of their favorite teams on the golf course (not on Sundays of course).

Fans can choose from all 32 NFL teams at on-course and off-course retail locations, in addition to select sporting goods retailers. If you are a displaced fan and don’t think you will be able to find your favorite team locally, go to www.taylormadegolfgear.com for a complete selection.

Each hat and visor will feature an NFL team’s logo blazoned on the left panel. The team’s name will also be stitched onto the left corner of the hat/visor. The TaylorMade logo will appear in 3D embroidery on the front panel of the hat.

The hats will be available at retail at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $27.99.

Dan Graziano of Fanhouse reports that the Jets and Revis are progressing in contract talks and that both sides believe a deal will get done before the regular season starts.

A week after a source told FanHouse the sides were “almost there,” the same source relayed to FanHouse on Tuesday that the talks are complicated but still progressing, and that both sides believe they will have a deal done before the Jets open the season on Monday, Sept. 13 against the Ravens.

Revis has been spending his time in Pittsburgh, working out and training on his own so that once the deal is done, he’ll be ready to jump right in — despite missing all of training camp and, so far, the entire preseason. In the meantime, while observing a mutually agreed-upon media blackout, the team and the agents have been working on the details of a complex deal intended to satisfy Revis’ desire to be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.

It’s unclear what the deal will eventually look like, but sources tell FanHouse that they believe it will have to set some sort of record in order to reflect Revis’ belief, and the team’s corresponding assertions, that he is the league’s best cornerback.

That could mean a deal that pays Revis more per year than the $15.1 million Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha makes, though the Jets have balked at that in the past on the belief that Asomugha’s deal is not reflective of where the top of the market should be. So potential compromises could include a deal that’s the longest ever given to a corner, or the most in terms of total value, etc. The details are complicated because there’s much to be ironed out in terms of guaranteed money and how the deal is to be structured around a potential 2011 lockout, but conversations are ongoing, and it does appear likely that the situation will get settled in time for the regular season.

“There are a lot of different possibilities still in play,” the source said of the likely final structure of the deal.

While this news sounds promising, this isn’t the first report we’ve heard saying a deal was close so I’m not crossing my fingers. While I believe a deal will get done and that talk will heat up as the season nears closer, I’m now starting to believe that this holdout will last into the regular season. The Jets have a rough opening schedule (Ravens, Pats, Dolphins) and if the Jets start off 0-3 or even 1-2, Revis will gain a lot of leverage and I think he knows that now and as unfortunate as that sounds, it sounds like a the possibility grows larger every day.

Hey Jets fans. Ever wanted to meet former Jet great and Hall of Famer Don Maynard? Well today is your lucky day. You will have a chance to Don Maynard at three book signings that will be conducted on Tuesday, September 14 in Ridgewood, NJ, and Wednesday, September 15 in Manhattan and Northvale, NJ. Maynard will be signing copies of his brand-new autobiography: You Cant Catch Sunshine.

WHAT: Book signing with Don Maynard

WHERE: Bookends, 232 East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

WHEN: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 from 7:00-8:30 PM ET

WHY: To sign his new autobiography You Can’t Catch Sunshine

WHAT: Book signing with Don Maynard

WHERE: Borders, 100 Broadway, New York, NY 10005

WHEN: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 from 12:00-1:30 PM ET

WHY: To sign his new autobiography You Can’t Catch Sunshine

WHAT: Book signing with Don Maynard

WHERE: Books and Greetings, 271 Livingston Street, Northvale, NJ 07647

WHEN: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 from 7:00-8:30 PM ET

WHY: To sign his new autobiography You Can’t Catch Sunshine

About the book: You Can’t Catch Sunshine is the astonishing true story of Jets wide receiver Don Maynard, a laid-back speedster from a dusty corner of Texas whose unlikely friendship with a brash, young quarterback named Joe Namath resulted in the most unlikely upset in football history: Super Bowl III.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity Jets fans.

John Clayton released his annual quarterback rankings, which are sure to stir up a lot of debate among NFL fans. He ranked the quarterbacks into three categories: The Elite, The Chad Pennington Division (can’t tell if that’s a compliment or slight), and The Hit-Or-Miss Division. So where did Jets young quarterback Mark Sanchez rank on Clayton’s list?

23. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

Analysis: The additions of Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes at wide receiver and LaDainian Tomlinson catching passes out of the backfield should allow Sanchez to be a 60 percent thrower. Another ally will be the motion packages offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer can install now that Sanchez has a year of experience in the offense.
Chance of being elite: 50 percent

He has Sanchez above the likes of other young quarterbacks Chad Henne, Matthew Stafford and Sam Bradford. Though, Stafford and Bradford have a greater chance of being elite. Surprisingly, Clayton gives Braford an 85% of becoming elite, which seems way too for a guy that has never thrown a pass in an NFL game. But then again, Clayton also consider Carson Palmer elite so who really knows what he is thinking. Back to Sanchez, he has all the tools to become elite, he just has to put it all together and be more consistent. He will never lead the league in yards or touchdowns, but can be a great quarterback for a long time in this league. He’s a long, long way away from that right now and for this season I’d be happy if he can cut down his interception total to a reasonable number (say 15).

The race for the third quarterback appears to be over as the Jets waived QB Kevin O’Connell today. Kellen Clemens can now breath easy as it looks like he’s made the team. It’s quite the turnaround, since it was only a few weeks ago that Clemens looked all but gone. Perhaps it was the awful play by Mark Brunell and O’Connell in the preseason that changed the Jets mind.

O’Connell was a third round pick of the Patriots in 2008, but now has been waived by three teams in just over two years. That’s never a good sign and especially if one of them was the Detroit Lions. It appears like he is running out of chances in the NFL.

UPDATE: It is now being reported that Kellen Clemens did take a pay cut to stay with the team.

Ever since Calvin Pace went down with broken foot Friday night against the Redskins, there have been rampant rumors about Adalius Thomas joining the Jets to reunite with his former coach, Rex Ryan.

In his MMQB column Peter King spoke to Adalius Thomas regarding the rumors:

“That is ridiculous,” he said. “If they called me, I’d definitely call them back. All I know is [GM] Mike Tannenbaum called my agent [Bus Cook] a couple of days ago and they’re interested in maybe doing something with me — but not until after the first game of the season.”

The prospect of that didn’t thrill Thomas, for obvious reasons. If a veteran is on a team’s roster in Week 1, he’s guaranteed his salary for the season. If a player signs in Week 2, a team can cut him at any time and be obligated only for whatever the guaranteed portion of the contract there is.

Thomas told me he and Rex Ryan did speak this weekend, and though nothing was remotely imminent, he hoped to sign with the Jets. He had good success under Ryan, the former Baltimore defensive coordinator, as a utility kind of player — he played all over the defense, covering the former Chad Johnson in 2005 in a Baltimore-Cincinnati game. But in New England, he never found a niche in three years and clashed with Bill Belichick. In his three seasons, he forced two fumbles and had 14.5 sacks. Not the impact New England wanted in return for its investment.

If this scenario does come true, the Jets would likely release Thomas once Pace returns to the lineup. It’s also the same thing they said they would do with Laveranues Coles and he said he would likely retire too. And you can’t really blame them. They are essentially being used by the team and when they aren’t needed anymore being thrown own like garbage. If the Jets are really serious about contending for a Super Bowl then they better stop being so cheap and just pay them the veterans minimum ($820K). They obviously think they can help the team, so why not just pay them. They just spent splurged on a $1.6 billion stadium, yet they are pinching pennies for actual players that help you win games.

As the Darrelle Revis holdout continues into its 30th day, there appears to be no progress on contract talks between the two sides. With only 14 days left until the Jets host the Ravens to open their season, time is running out for a deal to get done.

With the Gary Meyers of the NY Daily News takes a look at what would end the Revis holdout.

- He agrees to the 10-year, $122 million deal that Jets have offered since Memorial Day weekend. It initially contained $40 million in injury guarantees, but no fully guaranteed money. Before the Revis camp and the Jets agreed to impose a news blackout more than two weeks ago, Revis’ agents were saying not one penny was fully guaranteed, a fact the Jets have disputed. I believe Revis will sign this long-term offer if about $30 million is fully guaranteed.

- The Jets agree to Revis’ proposal – 10 years, $160 million with about $30 million guaranteed. There is obviously enough total dollars in the 10-year counter proposals that this is about guaranteed money and the structure.

- Revis agrees to the four-year, $40 million Band-Aid that increases his 2010 salary from $1 million to about $5 million and adds a year to his contract. Again, there has to be major guaranteed money since he voided a potential $20 million guaranteed in his old deal when he didn’t show up for camp.

Looking at the first deal, I doubt Revis accepts that. If his report is true and it’s been on the table since Memorial Day, then Revis would have accepted it if he wanted it and based on the second figure he gives, he obviously wants more. Also I don’t think the Jets will cave to Revis’s demands ($160 over 10yr) and it would be foolish to do so. It would set a bad precedent for other Jets who want a new contract saying if you hold out then we will give you whatever you want. Also, that deal would be far beyond market value. Nnamdi Asomugha got that kind of money for a three year deal and he was also an unrestricted free agent. When Revis becomes an unrestricted free agent, then he can ask for that money and expect to receive it.

The third option seems like a long shot that I don’t think either side, especially Revis, really wants to do. As mentioned above, Revis forfeited the $20 million guaranteed by holding out, so it appears like he’s looking for a long term deal. As a fan, I wouldn’t love that deal either because then he would receive another mega contract while still in his prime (29).