New York Jets 2015 Training Camp: Top 5 story lines to follow

Jun 9, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets linebacker Joe Mays (53) during New York Jets minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

With New York Jets training camp mere days away, football is finally almost here. There are a lot of things to keep an eye on in camp. We’ve only got a handful of practices, four preseason games and some tape to evaluate who’s going to stay and who is going to go.

We start off with 90 players at the beginning of camp and in a month we’ll have the final 53. There’s still a lot left to be done before the season kicks off in early September. With a new leadership regime and a ton of new faces, the Jets are excited to finally put all the pieces together.

With that being said, let’s break down the top 5 story lines to watch in Jets’ training camp 2015.

Next: 5. Uneven quarterback situation

May 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) and New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) during organized team activities at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

5. Uneven quarterback situation

The obvious elephant in the room in terms of story lines is the unsettled quarterback situation. The team outside of quarterback appears to be in a win-now mode. But the rest of the roster isn’t going to skip to 2016 so Geno Smith can learn on the job. It’s Smith’s job to lose, but if he struggles early and often the new Jets’ brass won’t be afraid to put the veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick in.

But if the Jets had the choice between who would succeed between Smith and Fitzpatrick, they’d want Smith. He has the higher ceiling, he’s the younger player, the more talented player, and they want to finally solve the quarterback situation. You can write this down and book it, the Jets will know this year whether Smith is the guy one way or another.

They have to, they can’t enter 2016 still wondering whether Smith might be or might not be the guy. So as it being Smith’s job to lose, he would have to have a collapse of monumental proportions to lose the job prior to Week 1. I’m talking multiple turnovers and mistakes in preseason action. I don’t foresee that happening.

But it will be interesting to see if Fitzpatrick will be able to show in preseason action, which he figures to get a lot of. Whether he can portray that he won’t be satisfied with being a clipboard holder all season.

Next: 4. New regime equals new success?

Jan 21, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets new general manager Mike Maccagnan (left), owner Woody Johnson (center), and new head coach Todd Bowles (right) pose for a photo during a press conference at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

4. New regime equals new success?

The braggadocios, brash, loud-mouthed personality of Rex Ryan is no more. Enter Todd Bowles who is a quiet and reserved defensive mind who brings a lot of different things to the table. The difference in personalities is black and white, you won’t be hearing many bold headlines from these Jets. But perhaps that is for the best.

It’s about time the Jets did less talking and more doing. They haven’t been relevant in the last 4-5 seasons due to poor coaching, bad quarterback play and bone-headed mistakes. But the Bowles’ era seems to be built upon mistake-free football, a more balanced attack offensively and getting after the quarterback on defense consistently.

New general manager Mike Maccagnan on the other hand has his own set of ideals that complements Bowles well. His best player available mentality in the draft could do wonders this season for the Jets. While his aggressive attacking of the biggest holes on the roster in free agency immediately puts this team in contention.

Though nothing will be proved until we are playing meaningful football in January, it’s a good start nonetheless. With training camp being right at home in the Atlantic Health Training Facilities, Jets fans will get a first hand look at the team and how they look to bounce back after an abysmal 2014.

Next: 3. Position battles to watch out for

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; New York Jets tackle Breno Giacomini (68) and guard Willie Colon (66) and wide receiver Greg Salas (17) line up during the fourth quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

3. Position battles to watch out for

Though this may be surprising to the casual NFL fan reading this, for a team that finished 4-12 last season, the Jets have few starting spots open on the roster. As Rich Cimini notes in his training camp preview on the Jets:

“For a team that was bad in 2014, the Jets have surprisingly few spots up for grabs. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. General manager Mike Maccagnan did a nice job of spending Woody Johnson’s money and patching the major holes, but you can’t fix a broken-down franchise in one off season.”

One of the major question marks is at right guard. Incumbent starter Willie Colon was re-signed after an uneven 2014 campaign, can he seize the starting job again in 2015? It’s going to be an interesting competition with Brian Winters, Oday Aboushi and Brent Qvale in the mix.

In theory, the Jets would love for one of the younger guys to step up and seize the job. Over the last several seasons depth has been an issue along the offensive line. With D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold getting a little long in the tooth. The Jets would be wise to start preparing eventual replacements. Mangold is still at the top of his game and he’s got several seasons left in the tank, while D’Brickashaw is still solid at left tackle.

Next: 2. Will it all mean money well spent?

Jun 9, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) and New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie (31) talk during New York Jets minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

2. Will it all mean money well spent?

As noted earlier, the Jets had arguably the best off season on paper. But when the season starts we’ll see how much all this talk is worth in gold. The Jets spent more cash on the defensive side of the ball than any other team this offseason. Will Darrelle Revis be able to return to form? Will Antonio Cromartie be the player he was in his first couple years with the Jets or will he be the oft-injured player who was burned on several occasions?

The Jets brass obviously thinks that Revis can be the same player, as Maccagnan said in response to the backlash over the Revis deal in an article written by Dom Cosentino for NJ.com:

“I was around Champ Bailey when we drafted him back in Washington years ago, and Champ was able to play at a very high level well into his 30s,” Maccagnan said, referring to his time as a Washington scout in the late 1990s. “I kind of view Darrelle in the same status, really.

“He’s playing at a very high level, and we thought he would potentially be able to play at that high level for a number of years going forward, so we thought it was worth the financial investment we made.”

The Jets also brought in a host of other veteran talent: Brandon Marshall, Buster Skrine, and Marcus Gilchrist to name a few. If you look back at history, usually off season spending sprees rarely work out in terms of immediate success. The better strategy is drafting talent and cultivating it with coaching, practice and dedication. In our final slide, I take a look whether the Jets are willing to do that with Muhammad Wilkerson.

Next: 1. Handling future contract negotiations

Aug 1, 2013; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson (91) and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson (96) stretch during training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

1. Handling future contract negotiations

This is where the new Jets’ front office will truly be tested. The former regime of John Idzik and Ryan were defined by the Revis trade, frugal spending and poor drafting. This new front office has some complex decisions to make regarding the Jets biggest strength in their defensive line.

Their biggest rising star in Sheldon Richardson was suspended for the first quarter of the season for violations with the substance abuse policy. His next contract is within throwing distance and his next violation would suspend him for a full season. Was that a stupid mistake for a young kid or a sign of things to come?

And for their other star on the defensive line, Wilkerson is very unhappy regarding his contract situation. Can you blame him? He’s clearly outperformed his rookie contract. He’s tallied 24.5 sacks in his 4-year career with the Jets thus far.

But the new Jets’ brass is in no rush to extend him for the amount of money he’s assuredly asking for. Can you blame them? They utilized the 5th-year option on Wilkerson’s contract and they have the franchise tag in their back pocket. They’ve got all the leverage, besides the fact that Richardson got suspended. All of which could put the Jets in a precarious position if Wilkerson’s agents use this to their advantage.

They could say to the Jets, good luck without Wilkerson or Richardson for the first four games of the season if they wanted to play hard ball. But hopefully there will be no more dramatic contract holdouts. I don’t think Jets fans can take another one after the Revis-saga a couple years ago.

The impact of this will accelerate Leonard Williams‘ role on the team early in the Jets 2015 season. This is just one of many story lines to look forward to in training camp for the Jets. It’s going to be an exciting season for Jets fans and hopefully that means a trip back to the NFL Playoffs!

Next: Coffee with the New York Jets: Coples has much to prove

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