It’s time for the Jets to start a full rebuild
By Richard Rodgers
For the past few seasons, the New York Jets have been trying to make a playoff push with their veteran-heavy roster. That plan didn’t work, so they should now be looking to rebuild for the future.
When Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles got together for the first time a year ago, they were planning on putting the organization through a competitive rebuild. This meant that they would try to establish a competitive veteran roster while filtering in young talent for a bright future.
Related Story: Jets will continue to fail until culture is fixed
Through the first nine games of the 2016-2017 season, the Jets find themselves with a dismal 3-6 record making it clear that this “competitive rebuild” strategy is not working. In this unfortunate situation, it seems as if the best thing to do is commence a full roster rebuild with plenty of young talent.
At first, many Jets fans may be closed minded to this idea due to the fact that it could take many years. When a fanbase has been waiting nearly fifty years for a championship they will understandably be frustrated.
What Jets fans have to realize, though, is that the team has not tried a major rebuild in an extremely long time, and it is quite possible that their inability to build a team in “the right way” is a reason for their lack of success. We have seen plenty of teams use this drastic strategy on their way to stabilized success. A good example would be the Seattle Seahawks.
More from The Jet Press
- NY Jets should target TE Hunter Henry in free agency
- NY Jets: Why the team should target cornerback Shaquill Griffin
- NY Jets reportedly non-tendering linebacker Harvey Langi
- NY Jets: Why the team should not cut Jamison Crowder
- NY Jets should try to sign Kenny Golladay in free agency
Another good reason as to why this strategy is appropriate is that the Jets veteran roster is clearly not good or durable enough to get them anywhere. This is evident due to the team struggles in this season, and waiting any longer to move on from their veteran roster will just set the franchise back even longer.
Keep the team’s veteran nucleus together in the hopes of making a playoff push next season would be a complete disaster. The organization would be set back even more so the team would have less flexibility in the draft, and younger players would get less of a chance to develop.
The last reason in favor of a rebuild is that the Jets already have a good amount of young talent on both sides of the ball. Offensively, wide receiver Quincy Enunwa is a very nice building block to have while on defense, lineman Leonard Williams has already proven to be a very productive player in the second season of his career.
Must Read: Fantasy Football Start or Sit Week 10: TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins
All things considered, a full on rebuild needs to happen for the Jets organization. It will take patience from everybody including the fanbase, but in the end, it will all be worth it as it will bring sustained success.