Is John Idzik Leading The New York Jets In The Right Direction?

Aug 17, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets general manager John Idzik (left) watches quarterback

before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John O

The Jets roster cuts have been made, at least for now, as there will likely be moves in the hours and days ahead. If you missed the current 53 man roster, Craig Hoffman did a great job covering it for us, his piece can be found here. The choices raise some questions, as the team chose to keep ten of this year’s twelve draft picks.

They obviously kept their top three picks in Calvin Pryor, Jace Amaro and Dexter McDougle. The first two are expected to contribute heavily this year and clearly won their spots on the roster. McDougle was showing well early on, but continued on with his injury riddled college career by tearing his ACL, and will sit out his rookie season after surgery to repair it.

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The rest, however, will likely have little to contribute to the 2014 season, with the exception of Jalen Saunders, who will attempt to handle returns for the team this year. That leaves six “developmental players” on the roster that offer little value for the coming season.

John Idzik in his two years as the Jets GM has now kept 32 players he signed, while only 21 remain from the Mike Tannenbaum era. He set out to put his mark on this team when he arrived, and he’s doing just that. After cleaning house in the organization, he has moved on to stamp his name on the roster as well. If things fail to develop, his name will likely be the first to come up in the blame game however.

It’s just my opinion, but it seems John Idzik has a problem admitting he might have made an error or two when it comes to the players he’s drafted. Holding on to that many mid to late round picks would be fine if they showed something on the field to substantiate the trust the team has put into them, but they haven’t for the most part. I’m not saying there isn’t talent in the group, but let’s face it, they showed little to encourage fans this preseason.

The Jets kept two fourth round receivers and a sixth rounder, while cutting veterans Stephen Hill and Clyde Gates. Now, I’m not going to defend either one of them, they both have issues, but in reality as bad as they were at times, they still showed more than our draftees. Jalen Saunders did little to impress in the receiving game, but made the team as a special teams returner. Personally, with the state of the Jets this year, I think they can hardly afford to keep a player solely to return kicks. Shaq Evans was kept even though he looked poor early on in camp, and then came the shoulder injury, as a result he missed the entire preseason and the majority of camp before undergoing shoulder surgery. Quincy Enunwa was a sixth round pick and did nothing on the field to earn a roster spot on this unit. If these selections were base on competition, as Mr. Idzik has told us many times in the past, then Hill and Gates surely out performed these rookies.

Trevor Reilly and Jeremiah George both made the squad at linebacker, as Garrett Mclntyre was cut. You could possibly make the case the Jets went with youth here, as Mclntyre is aging, but neither Reilly nor George out played him. George ,a fifth rounder, and Reilly, a seventh rounder, will contribute on special teams, but neither can seriously be looked at as future starters for this team.

John Idzik is an innovative guy, he’s shown he’s patient, and makes moves at his own pace. Some of that patience and his slow pace may have cost us some top-tier talent in Free Agency. His innovative thinking through the draft has many pundits questioning his picks. As Steve Jobs once said,”Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with your other innovations.” It was sound advice coming from Steve Jobs. In my thinking, Idzik made some mistakes in this year’s draft, and by keeping ten of those twelve picks, he’s failed to admit the mistakes, or move on from them.

My opinion may be in the minority among Jet fans, but I call them as I see them. I want to hear what you think. Tell me about how you see these moves. Is keeping 10 of 12 picks a good idea? Let’s discuss it!