Five Positives from the First Half of 2012 for the New York Jets

Oct 28, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (11) is unable to catch a pass while defended by Miami Dolphins cornerback Jimmy Wilson (27) during the game at Met Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Faytok/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

As we get ready for the game against Seattle on Sunday, there still seems to be a lot of negativity around the fan base. Not too many are feeling that good as we go into the second half. With that thought in mind, I wanted to take one more look at the first half of the season, but solely take a look at the positives to come out of the first half. Here are five positive from the first half, in no particular order:

JEREMY KERLEY

We have talked about this guy at length, but his performance is worth talking about one more time. With the injury to Santonio Holmes, Jeremy has stepped up his game big time, and become a valuable weapon in the arsenal of Mark Sanchez. On the year so far, he has recorded 30 catches for 478 yards and 3 TDs. He had a huge game against the Patriots, recording 7 catches for 120 yards. He’s a terrific weapon in the slot, and he is showing that he is not too shabby on the outside either.

QUINTON COPLES

Now hear is a guy that was supposed to make his mark right away, but ended up taking his time. Coples was a much talked about first round pick, that Rex Ryan loved since his Pro Day. After working hard to get a lot of the defense down during minicamp, he seemed to hit a while, and was having difficulty getting the system ingrained in his mind. As such, Quinton didn’t get a lot of reps at the beginning of the year. He got better, and combine that with the fact that the defense was old and slow, and it was go time for Quinton Coples. Coples cracked the starting lineup in week 6 against the Colts, and played well, with 4 tackles and 2 sacks. He is getting better with every rep he gets, and will prove to be worth the high draft pick that the Jets spent on him.

Oct 28, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie (31) before the game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

ANTONIO CROMARTIE

Everybody knows that Cromartie is talented, but when Darrelle Revis went down, we also knew that we were at a crossroads with him. Antonio Cromartie is one of, if not the best athlete on the New York Jets, but he is feast or famine. We all have seen the “good Cro” and “bad Cro”. Antonio is Revis-like when “Good Cro” is here, very much the opposite when “Bad Cro” is with us. Well, when Darrelle went down, Antonio stepped it up big time. Yes, he has had some penalties, born basically out of being aggressive. But he has not had any of his lapses in concentration, and for the most part, shown himself to be the shutdown corner the Jets have needed with Darrelle got hurt. His finest hour may have been in the Texans game, where even though the Jets lost, Andre Johnson was a non-factor. Clearly there have been some Darrelle techniques that have rubbed off on Cro, to our distinct benefit.

AUSTIN HOWARD

Tannenbaum made no obvious move to address the right tackle position, so we all moaned and groaned as we went into the preseaon with the great Wayne Hunter still in his position. But, after a 4 sack allowed performance by Hunter in the preseason game against the Giant, we all got our wish as he was shipped off to St. Louis. What were we to do about right tackle? Out of the wood work come Austin Howard. Nobody had heard of this guy, nobody except our good buddy Jake Steinberg from the Jets Blog of course. Has he been perfect? Of course not. But that is to be expected, one because he is young, and two because teams are going to put their best pass rusher against the young lineman. However, Howard has been solid, and Mark Sanchez has not been in a consistent line of fire, thanks to Howard. The Jets seemed to have found a right tackle.

Oct 28, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets outside linebacker DeMario Davis (56) celebrates against the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

DEMARIO DAVIS

Here is a guy that it took an injury for us to see, but we are glad that we finally did. Despite showing a lot of promise during the preseason, we didn’t see much of Demario in the early going, thanks to Rex’s loyalty to guys like Bart Scott and Calvin Pace. However, between the slow Jets defense and Bart Scott’s toe injury, Demario Davis has started the last two games. Davis has performed well, combining for 13 tackles in the two games. This should lead to more play for Demario, which will only be a good thing. Especially when you see how slow the Jets defense has been for most of the 2012 season.

There have been other positives as well, such as the new safety duo of Bell and Landry, and the improved play from Clyde Gates of late. But the five I have outlined are the biggest, and the ones that should give Jets fans the most hope as we move forward.