Final grades from an awful season by the Jets

The New York Jets would like to forget that 2016 even existed. Regardless, here are some final grades from one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

The New York Jets season has come to an end, most would agree that they had an awful season. Were there any bright spots this season? Here is how I’d evaluate each unit’s performance this year.

Passing attack

The Jets passing attack was a mess this season. No, actually that would be an understatement, Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was awful this year, I don’t have to waste time showing you the stats because you probably already know the bad story.

Fitzpatrick ended up getting benched for Geno Smith, but since he got injured in his only start of the season, Fitzpatrick was the starter again. Only to then lose his starting job to Bryce Petty, who didn’t play well at all in his three starts.

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Passing attack grade: D

Rushing attack

This part of the Jets offense has been very inconsistent, running back Matt Forte had an excellent start to the season, but he got a massive workload the first two games and that probably affected his production the next four games.

Forte only averaged 47 yards from scrimmage on 3.28 yards per carry over that stretch. Bilal Powell has had his flashes this year, especially towards the end of the season. For the whole year among all team’s, the Jets ranked 12th in total rushing yards and 14th in yards per carry, which is above average.

Rushing attack grade: B-

Defensive line

The Jets have a very well known defensive line, headlined by Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, and Leonard Williams. Williams has been the best player on the Jets defense in 2016, while Wilkerson and Sheldon both had disappointing seasons. The Jets linebacker play hasn’t been perfect either, it was already a question mark heading into the season and it didn’t help at all that David Harris and Darron Lee missed some time due to injuries.

Defensive line grade: B-

Defensive Secondary

This has been ugly to watch, the Jets have been getting burned all season. They allowed thirty-five 25 yard pass plays this season, only three other teams allowed more. We all know cornerback Darrelle Revis isn’t his old self, he was bad this year and he himself even admitted that he’s declining.

Revis is not the only problem, though. Cornerbacks Marcus Williams and Buster Skrine are inconsistent and Calvin Pryor allowed a lot of big plays. Only five other teams allowed more passing touchdowns than the Jets.

Defensive secondary grade: C-

Next: Top 10 players who must return to Jets in 2017

Overall team grade

The Jets finished the season 5-11 for the first time in franchise history. They started the season 1-5 as their extremely hard schedule at the start of the season was too much for them. Things didn’t get much better in the second half of the year and well, it’s back to the drawing board for a team that now has much lower expectations for next season and beyond.

Overall team grade: D