ESPN labels Jets as average in rankings

For the New York Jets, the regular season is rapidly approaching. The hype is building for a lot of teams around the NFL but that isn’t the case when it comes to Gang Green according to ESPN.

After a bumpy 10-6 season, the New York Jets are attacking the 2016 season with a sense of redemption. Every team in the NFL is excited and everyone’s record is the same right now. The hype is building for fan bases around the league with anticipation for the start of the 2016 regular season. Apparently that’s not the case for the Jets on the national scene.

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ESPN just released their preseason power rankings heading into the season. The preseason power rankings were picked by ESPN’s power panel (a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities) voted in the preseason version of the Power Rankings.

So this isn’t just the opinion of one analyst, this is the cumulative opinion of ESPN’s NFL department. This ranking below was pulled from NFL 2016 Preseason Power Rankings on ESPN.com:

15. New York Jets

2015 record: 10-6Post-draft ranking: No. 15

The Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick ended their “will they, won’t they” offseason with a one-year deal. Was it the right move? Fitzpatrick set the Jets’ franchise record for touchdown passes (31) last season, but he also has zero career playoff appearances.

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For a lot of the teams on this list, there have been momentous shifts over the course of the offseason.

The Jets have been stuck in the middle of the pack with their 15th overall ranking.

15th overall equates to average, pretty much nothing more than a middle of the road squad.

The main tag in their reasoning for the ranking was that their quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, has zero career playoff appearances.

Yes, the Jets are hitching their playoff chances to a quarterback that has never been there. It seemed like a perfect storm last season with multiple players set to make their NFL Playoff debuts.

Now the scene is less than ideal for the Jets heading into the 2016 season. A much tougher schedule lies ahead and the stars of the team are another year older.

Last year at this time, the Jets were ranked 22nd in the preseason power poll. So these rankings don’t mean much, it’s just more bulletin board material for the Jets heading into a pivotal 2016 season.

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The Jets are one of those teams that could very well be a playoff team this season or collapse under the pressure of the schedule and high-expectations. Although the narrative heading into the season is that the Jets will do the latter. What are your thoughts on the preseason power rankings? Do you agree or disagree? Leave your comments below!