November 4, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Mike Goodson (25) runs with the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders 42-32. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

This is quite the situation now, isn’t it? We don’t even know the whole story yet, but we DO know that John Izdik has gotten into it, knee-deep thanks to Mike Goodson. For anyone that missed it, Mike was arrested on Friday morning on drugs and weapons charges, including possession of a hollow-point bullet. The significance of the bullet is the fact that it expands upon hitting its target, thus causing more damage. The implication being that the only reason to have them would be to damage a human.

See? This is clearly about as serious as it can get. What do the Jets do about it?

First, there are too many variables at this point to make an immediate decision, so the Jets are right to let the legal system pay its process out. He was the passenger in the car, was Mike just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were the drugs his? What about the weapon? What’s the story with the hollow-point bullets? We have to know how culpable Mike Goodson is in this situation before we do anything?

For argument sake, and the sake of this post, let’s say he is guilty of everything. He works out some sort of plea to avoid jail time, but he is guilty as charged. What does John Idzik do?

Maybe he should be released. They did release two guys, as we said before, with a similar issue. Claude Davis and Cliff Harris, signed to futures contracts with the Jets, were given their release after receiving their own drug charges. No, I am not trying to compare them in terms of their role to the team, but the situation does bear comparison.

The comparison is valid when you talk about “no tolerance”. If John Idzik is looking to have a no tolerance policy, there is no discussing the situation, Goodson will be gone. No tolerance is no tolerance, period. If Idzik seriously wants to rid the team of this type of problem, he must remove Mike Goodson from this team, despite the plans that they had for him.

But, what about the other side of the coin? Another prevalent theory applied in these types of situations is the theory of second chances. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? We have seen the theory applied time and time again, and it does get results. Ray Lewis got a second chance, and we know how well that went. Mike Vick was given a second chance, and has completely turned his life around. Again, I am not comparing the acts that they did to Goodson’s, just the idea of second chances, period.

Even when the results haven’t been great on the field, you still have guys that got second chances and were able to perform. Donte Stallworth comes to mind, as does Pacman Jones. Even in other sports you see the courtesy extended, such as done with Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden with the Yankees in their title runs. It has even happened with our beloved New York Jets. Santonio Holmes had more than one brush with trouble. He had the incident on the plane, as well as being suspended one time by the league. He has not had an exemplary career, but he got a second chance, and probably a third.

Doesn’t Mike Goodson deserve the same courtesy?

So what’s the answer? The answer is that John Idzik has to do what is right, as long as that decision isn’t drive by the team’s plans for Goodson. The fact that he figures prominently in the plans for this year must be irrelevant. If they feel he deserves a second chance based on the situation and Goodson as a man, fine. Give him that second chance. But if not, they need to hold onto the idea of no tolerance concept and say goodbye.

What do you guys think?

May 10, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg (left) watches as New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass during New York Jets rookie minicamp at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets’ offense is going through a metamorphosis. Gone are the days of the Eastern style of pounding the football, and in is the West Coast offense under the direction of Marty Mornhinweg. We have talked about how the West Coast offense works, in terms of being based on a horizontal passing game, and quick decisions.

We can talk in generalities about the characteristics of the WCO, but why not go deeper? Why not take a look at how Marty Mornhinweg calls a game? Are there any trends that we can look at, that may translate into the upcoming season, and hopefully years to come?

To analyze, I went back to two games in 2012, a win (week 1), and a loss (week 8). Let’s look at these games and see if the numbers tell us anything.

First we look at play distribution. In both of these games, the emphasis was on the pass. In week 1, Marty called 58 pass plays against only 30 rushing plays. In the week 8 loss to Atlanta, Marty ran 38 passing plays against only 24 rushes. This is all very typical of a West Coast offense, as it is always built on the short passes setting up the run.

Look at the average gain per pass play as well. In the week one win, the Eagles averaged 5.3 yards gained per pass play. In the week eight loss, the Eagles averaged a gain of 4.7 yards per pass play. This tells us, as expected, that there are a lot of 3 step drops happening here, with quick decisions. Little slants, in-cuts, screen passes, etc., are always going to be prevalent here. The passing game is based horizontally, not vertically, which is what keeps the average down.

Now you go to the play by play and look at trends. In the week one win, every drive except for three began with passing plays. All of those passes except for one went for over 10 yards. Same idea in the game from week 8 against the Falcons. All drives but two went for passes, and the completed passes to open a drive went for no longer than 12 yards. This is classic West Coast offense. Bill Walsh would be proud.

And screen passes? Always, there are screen passes. In week one, I counted 10 targets to running backs in the short passing game. In the week 8 matchup against the Falcons, there were only 2 short passes thrown to running backs, but the lead sustained in double digits for most of this game, so there was a mitigating factor that kept the passing game away from the running backs, but that doesn’t change the fact that Marty is fond of using the backs out of the backfield. He once had a fullback with 60 receptions in one year, which tells you all you need to know about the philosophy.

Some takeaways as far as the Jets are concerned? Well for one thing, be ready to see an offense that looks like nothing we have seen in the past with these guys. The days of 1st and 10, run, second and 7, run, and third and 5, pass, are over. The Jets are going to pass early on in their series, and will spread the ball around.

Another obvious point is that the passing game will consist solely of 3 and 5 step drops at the most. No longer are we going to see deep drops with Mark or Geno getting a long time to think about what they are doing. Instead, we will see quick drops, and quick decisions, not giving the quarterback too much time to out think themselves.

Finally, Chris Ivory and company had better have their hands ready. We see in these games that Marty uses the running back a lot in the passing game, and overall, we see that the running back is always near the top of the team in receptions. They are going to be active this fall, no doubt about that.

Bottom line is that the new Jets’ offense is not even going to resemble the offense of the past. Is this a good thing? Absolutely, AM I RIGHT?

Dec 17, 2012; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (11) helmet shows support for the Sandy Hook elementary school victims prior to the game against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

For today’s profile, we are going to look at another candidate to help out at the wide receiver position, joining Jeremy Kerley and company. He graduated from college in the year 2010, but hasn’t played in the league as of yet. He sure will get a chance, as we all know how much help the Jets need on the outside and down the field. Today, we are going to take a look at Joe Collins, WR formerly from Weber State.

MEASURABLES

Joe Collins stands at 6’2″, and weighs in at 185 pounds. At his pro day in 2011, he ran the forty yard dash in 4.66 seconds. Not elite speed, but certainly is decent speed. Here are his stats from Weber State:

Here is some video on Joe Collins to take a look at:

PROS: Collins has soft hands. You can see it in how he catches the football. Around halfway through the video, there is a clip of a pass that he tips, but is able to tip it to himself. That’s concentration. He also has “football speed”. What do I mean? He can make people miss, and that is a major skill when competing for a job in a West Coast offense. He catches the ball away from his body which is great.

CONS: He has a lack of breakaway speed. Yes, Collins can make people miss, but he cannot take the reception and take it to the house. He will be caught, he doesn’t have that kind of speed. You also always worry about the competition at the small school, and whether the jump to NFL competition will be too steep.

Joseph Collins certainly has ability. The Jets are in need of weapons on the outside, as we all know, to help Mark Sanchez or whoever is at quarterback for the Jets. Collins will have the chance to make an impact, and we wish him luck.