New York Jets: No More Half Steps

Oct 12, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets general manager John Idzik (left) talks with New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan (center) and Jets owner Woody Johnson before a game against the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

This year’s New York Jets squad has played abysmally on the field, on all sides of the ball. The roster lacked quality talent and depth at a number of positions. The Jets as a result now sit at 1 and 8, playoff hopes are essentially out the window and a winning season is definitely out the window. The Jets will have to win out just to reach .500, and what would the point of that be, to show that they still have fight left in them. I’d rather have a higher draft pick than a couple of feel good moral victories. At this point there is nowhere to look but forward, a complete rebuild is necessary. One of the reasons this team is in the predicament it’s in is because last time around the upper brass took a half step as opposed to a full one.

When hiring a new GM the trend in the NFL is you bring him into a clean and empty house, and let him set up the furniture and the decor. John Idzik was forced into working Rex Ryan and the current coaching staff, but this might have been a mistake. We have been fed the line that Rex and Idzik have the same vision for a football team, and this I simply cannot believe. Rex Ryan values the corner back position highly in this league, and his defenses traditionally have required some talent at that position to pull of some of the things he does. If Idzik and Ryan have the same vision for a football team than why did Idzik completely whiff on signing quality corner backs in the off-season. Cl?arly they do not have the same vision.

Nov 2, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan on the sidelines against the Kansas City Chiefs in the second half at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City won the game 24-10. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

I personally like Rex Ryan; as a Jets fan he has given me some of the most exciting moments in Jets football in the modern era. The way he entered in 2009 and led the Jets to two AFC championship game appearances was nothing short of miraculous and inspiring. It gave Jets fans renewed hope for the future. Alas now we sit almost four years removed from these accomplishments cheering for a team that is near the bottom in the NFL. There has been plenty of blame to go around, but Rex isn’t immune to sharing in it just because of some early success. Rex Ryan may not be the answer at head coach for the Jets going forward and it will soon be time to move on.

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John Idzik’s hiring couldn’t have come at a better time for the New York Jets. The salary cap nightmare left by the previous regime was exactly the kind of problem a man with John Idzik’s skill set was meant to solve. Now, after a season and a half and on the other side of said nightmare, the Jets sit with a deficiency of talent and some salary cap room that could have alleviated the problem. Idzik’s prudence was needed when he came in, now it has become a liability. Furthermore, under his regime the Jets have been fairly unsuccessful in the draft. Sure we got Sheldon, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

At the end of the day (or season)both John Idzik and Rex Ryan need to go. A new GM needs to be brought in, and he needs to start building the team he envisions will have sustained success from the ground up. He needs to bring in the coach he wants, draft the type of players he wants and so on and so forth. No more half steps, no more trying to save the little bit that we have, because as a result of previous half steps, that little bit is less than it ever has been in the past decade. Time to start completely from scratch, start over and not look back. Cutting our losses now and looking to get a higher draft pick couldn’t hurt as well. Hopefully the ownership will do the right thing this time around.

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