NY Jets: State of team heading into 2016

The NY Jets have a whole lot of work ahead of them to build off of their 2015 season. The state of the team heading into next season has a lot of positive vibes around it

On to the next year. Just like that the Jets focus shifts from a playoff push to who is still going to be on the roster in 2016. This one certainly hurts more than the others, but you can’t be mad about where this team is going into next year. With many valuable players coming off their final contract year, you have to start thinking about who you want to return and who your going to let walk.

Running backs Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell are two of those people, and with Stevan Ridley playing sub-par after coming back from injury, it might not be the best idea to let both of these backs walk via free agency. Although Ivory recorded his first 1,000 yard rushing year in his career, he has shown a lot of inconsistency caused by injuries.

It’s not a “must” to bring Ivory back but I certainly would at a reasonable price. Powell on the other hand probably has played his last game as a Jet. He’s been playing the best football of his career but it might of came too late. Powell has been a key role in the recent success of the Jets, but look for the team to draft a running back in the first two rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft and push Ivory and/or Powell out of the mix.

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On the other side of the ball, Muhammad Wilkerson and Damon Harrison are huge keys to this Jets’ defense and losing both of them would be an even bigger loss than this recent one in the season finale against the Buffalo Bills. Coming off a year with 12 sacks, it’s evident that Mo deserves J.J. Watt type money.

Even with his broken leg he sustained in the loss to Buffalo, bringing him back is a priority. Harrison aka “Snacks” would also be nice to bring back at the right price. Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked him as the number one run stopper at the defensive tackle position. The Jets are number one at stopping the run. You get the idea.

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Hopefully Snacks will be easier to bring back considering his lower profile and not being known around the league like a Geno Atkins, but what they don’t know is he has almost the same impact. Overall, the Jets have a good foundation heading into 2016 as the current state of the team heading into the off-season is in good spirits to build off what they did in 2015.