BACH
Superbowl, Homeboy!
The team that comes in as the No. 25 franchise on our preaseason power rankings likely will appear at the dead end bottom of many similar lists. And for good reason. The team in question won't make the playoffs barring a series of plane crashes involving a dozen or so franchises in its conference, and team in question could very well finish last in its division.
But configuring the bottom ten NFL franchises is more art than science, and someone who could end up doing worse in relation to other non-playoff teams sometimes ends up getting a higher position just because there's only so many spots for the worst of the worst.
By the time the dust settles on the NFL season, any one of the teams listed from No. 20 through No. 32 could indeed be the bottom of the barrel, including the team at No. 25 on our list.
The New York Jets.
Hear us out on this one. Though the Jets have been thoroughly criticized in the wake of decisions to allow coach Herm Edwards to walk away, to replace him with the young and somewhat inexperience Eric Mangini, and to elevate to the G.M. job Mike Tannenbaum, a non-football guy who arguably is as culpable for recent front-office gaffes as the guy who got supplanted, we've given a lot of thought to this one. And we've concluded that the Jets aren't destined to be 3-13 or worse this year.
Maybe, just maybe, Edwards isn't as a great of a coach as he's been made out to be. Remember when the team hired someone for the specific purpose of helping him Herm with clock management -- a skill that hundreds if not thousands of kids have mastered by age 12 through playing Madden? We think that the Jets have been relatively successful over the past half-decade not because of Edwards but in spite of him, and that the team won't automatically take a major step backwards simply because the job is not in the hands of a young guy who served only one year as defensive coordinator on a team with a defensive-minded, control-freak head coach.
In comparison, Edwards had never even been a coordinator before parlaying his role as defensive backs coach in Tony Dungy's Cover 2 system into the top job with the Jets.
Besides, Mangini has something to show for his time as an assistant that Edwards doesn't. Wait, make that three somethings.
But the Jets need far more help on the side of the ball in which neither Mangini nor Edwards specializes -- the offense. Though the New York defense ranked 12th in total yards allowed last season, the offense was an abysmal 31st in yards gained.
The problems on offense last season trace directly to the re-injured shoulder of quarterback Chad Pennington. Pennington's rotator cuff first popped during the 2004 campaign, and the team didn't disclose the extent of the injury until after the season ended. Instead, he missed several weeks and then returned to action despite the tear. As a result, surgery to fix the problem was delayed until after the team's playoff run ended, giving Pennington less time to recover prior to the 2005 season, arguably making the shoulder more susceptible to re-injury.
It was, in our view, incredibly short-sighted by Edwards to not shut Pennington down in 2004. Then again, we've got a feeling that Edwards had known for a while that he'd be courted to make the jump to the Chiefs once Dick Vermeil retired, so why should he have been worried about the long-term condition of his current team or its starting quarterback?
Really, what was the consequence to Edwards for the 4-12 season that arguably resulted from the mishandling of Pennington's injury? He got his wish -- he's out of New York and now has a clean slate in Kansas City.
And with Edwards gone and G.M. Terry Bradway demoted, the duo of Mangini and G.M. Mike Tannenbaum (referred to from time to time as "Tangini") have hit the ground running as fast as two fat white guys can.
The first order of business, even before Tannenbaum bounced Bradway to the broom closet, was to deal with offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, who had a stick up his hinderender when he didn't get consideration to replace Edwards. Since Herm showed how easy it could be to work his way out of town despite being under contract, Heimerdinger followed suit, landing in Denver and leaving the area of the game in which Mangini isn't an expert in the hands of Kurt Schottenheimer, who's even younger than Mangini.
Next up was defensive end John Abraham, who was slapped with the franchise for the second straight year. The reality is that defensive ends aren't worth huge money in a 3-4 system, so unless Abraham could have moved to outside linebacker he had no place on the team.
The Jets played it out well despite their lack of interest in keeping him, holding firm for a first rounder and eventually getting one even though the team ultimately would have (in our opinion) rescinded the tag, making Abraham an unrestricted free agent.
Replacing him on the roster is Kimo von Oelhofen, the former Steeler who won't be able to return to Cincinnati absent a Popemobile. The team also signed cornerback Andre Dyson to replace Ty Law, who was released after one year of the phony big-money contract he signed last summer -- and he still could possibly come back if/when he drops his price tag. Other veteran newcomers of note include cornerback Ray Mickens, defensive tackle Monsanto Pope, and linebacker Brad Kassell.
On offense, the Jets said farewell to tackle Jason Fabini, quarterback Jay Fiedler, and receiver Wayne Chrebet, who retired. Four or five times.
Via free agency the Jets added center Trey Teague, offensive lineman Anthony Clement, quarterback Patrick Ramsey (via trade), and receiver Tim Dwight.
The Jets focused on their offensive shortcomings in the draft by devoting their first three picks to players who could become long-term contributors -- left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, center Nick Mangold, and quarterback Kellen Clemens.
The future, we believe, is bright. The question is how dark the next couple of years will be as this young team gets its legs -- and whether both Tannenbaum and Mangini will survive until the team's fortunes improve.
Now, the fantasy grades.
Quarterback: Despite talk that Clemens could supplant Pennington as the starter, Tangini doesn't necessarily have the luxury of enduring a 1-15 baptism by fire. So our guess is that Pennington will be the starter, and that Clemens won't play unless Chad goes down (again) or until the team is out of the playoff hunt. Even so, Pennington has had only one solid season from a fantasy standpoint, and we'd stay away from him until he can show that he's healthy and can be effective. He gets a D.
Running back: Curtis Martin is old. And for the first time in 11 NFL seasons, he didn't rush for 1,000 yards. Cedric Houston, who got four starts last season while Martin was hurt, could eat into his touches in 2006. Though Curtis ultimately will land in Canton, we can't give him higher than a C- for what likely will be his final NFL season.
Wide receiver: Laveranues Coles had a so-so season in his return to the Jets, and we don't expect much more unless Pennington can get back to where he was in 2002. Coles gets a C- for now. We wouldn't touch any of the other guys on the roster.
Tight end: Chris Baker started every game until a broken leg landed him on IR. Doug Jolley filled in. Neither did much of anything. There will be other options elsewhere.
Defense: With a solid unit and Mangini's expertise, the Jets are the first of the worst teams that we'd consider using. We'll give the "D" a solid B-.
Kicker: Rookie Mike Nugent was disappointing last year, especially in light of his lofty draft status. Given all of the question marks on offense, he gets an F for 2006.
But configuring the bottom ten NFL franchises is more art than science, and someone who could end up doing worse in relation to other non-playoff teams sometimes ends up getting a higher position just because there's only so many spots for the worst of the worst.
By the time the dust settles on the NFL season, any one of the teams listed from No. 20 through No. 32 could indeed be the bottom of the barrel, including the team at No. 25 on our list.
The New York Jets.
Hear us out on this one. Though the Jets have been thoroughly criticized in the wake of decisions to allow coach Herm Edwards to walk away, to replace him with the young and somewhat inexperience Eric Mangini, and to elevate to the G.M. job Mike Tannenbaum, a non-football guy who arguably is as culpable for recent front-office gaffes as the guy who got supplanted, we've given a lot of thought to this one. And we've concluded that the Jets aren't destined to be 3-13 or worse this year.
Maybe, just maybe, Edwards isn't as a great of a coach as he's been made out to be. Remember when the team hired someone for the specific purpose of helping him Herm with clock management -- a skill that hundreds if not thousands of kids have mastered by age 12 through playing Madden? We think that the Jets have been relatively successful over the past half-decade not because of Edwards but in spite of him, and that the team won't automatically take a major step backwards simply because the job is not in the hands of a young guy who served only one year as defensive coordinator on a team with a defensive-minded, control-freak head coach.
In comparison, Edwards had never even been a coordinator before parlaying his role as defensive backs coach in Tony Dungy's Cover 2 system into the top job with the Jets.
Besides, Mangini has something to show for his time as an assistant that Edwards doesn't. Wait, make that three somethings.
But the Jets need far more help on the side of the ball in which neither Mangini nor Edwards specializes -- the offense. Though the New York defense ranked 12th in total yards allowed last season, the offense was an abysmal 31st in yards gained.
The problems on offense last season trace directly to the re-injured shoulder of quarterback Chad Pennington. Pennington's rotator cuff first popped during the 2004 campaign, and the team didn't disclose the extent of the injury until after the season ended. Instead, he missed several weeks and then returned to action despite the tear. As a result, surgery to fix the problem was delayed until after the team's playoff run ended, giving Pennington less time to recover prior to the 2005 season, arguably making the shoulder more susceptible to re-injury.
It was, in our view, incredibly short-sighted by Edwards to not shut Pennington down in 2004. Then again, we've got a feeling that Edwards had known for a while that he'd be courted to make the jump to the Chiefs once Dick Vermeil retired, so why should he have been worried about the long-term condition of his current team or its starting quarterback?
Really, what was the consequence to Edwards for the 4-12 season that arguably resulted from the mishandling of Pennington's injury? He got his wish -- he's out of New York and now has a clean slate in Kansas City.
And with Edwards gone and G.M. Terry Bradway demoted, the duo of Mangini and G.M. Mike Tannenbaum (referred to from time to time as "Tangini") have hit the ground running as fast as two fat white guys can.
The first order of business, even before Tannenbaum bounced Bradway to the broom closet, was to deal with offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, who had a stick up his hinderender when he didn't get consideration to replace Edwards. Since Herm showed how easy it could be to work his way out of town despite being under contract, Heimerdinger followed suit, landing in Denver and leaving the area of the game in which Mangini isn't an expert in the hands of Kurt Schottenheimer, who's even younger than Mangini.
Next up was defensive end John Abraham, who was slapped with the franchise for the second straight year. The reality is that defensive ends aren't worth huge money in a 3-4 system, so unless Abraham could have moved to outside linebacker he had no place on the team.
The Jets played it out well despite their lack of interest in keeping him, holding firm for a first rounder and eventually getting one even though the team ultimately would have (in our opinion) rescinded the tag, making Abraham an unrestricted free agent.
Replacing him on the roster is Kimo von Oelhofen, the former Steeler who won't be able to return to Cincinnati absent a Popemobile. The team also signed cornerback Andre Dyson to replace Ty Law, who was released after one year of the phony big-money contract he signed last summer -- and he still could possibly come back if/when he drops his price tag. Other veteran newcomers of note include cornerback Ray Mickens, defensive tackle Monsanto Pope, and linebacker Brad Kassell.
On offense, the Jets said farewell to tackle Jason Fabini, quarterback Jay Fiedler, and receiver Wayne Chrebet, who retired. Four or five times.
Via free agency the Jets added center Trey Teague, offensive lineman Anthony Clement, quarterback Patrick Ramsey (via trade), and receiver Tim Dwight.
The Jets focused on their offensive shortcomings in the draft by devoting their first three picks to players who could become long-term contributors -- left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, center Nick Mangold, and quarterback Kellen Clemens.
The future, we believe, is bright. The question is how dark the next couple of years will be as this young team gets its legs -- and whether both Tannenbaum and Mangini will survive until the team's fortunes improve.
Now, the fantasy grades.
Quarterback: Despite talk that Clemens could supplant Pennington as the starter, Tangini doesn't necessarily have the luxury of enduring a 1-15 baptism by fire. So our guess is that Pennington will be the starter, and that Clemens won't play unless Chad goes down (again) or until the team is out of the playoff hunt. Even so, Pennington has had only one solid season from a fantasy standpoint, and we'd stay away from him until he can show that he's healthy and can be effective. He gets a D.
Running back: Curtis Martin is old. And for the first time in 11 NFL seasons, he didn't rush for 1,000 yards. Cedric Houston, who got four starts last season while Martin was hurt, could eat into his touches in 2006. Though Curtis ultimately will land in Canton, we can't give him higher than a C- for what likely will be his final NFL season.
Wide receiver: Laveranues Coles had a so-so season in his return to the Jets, and we don't expect much more unless Pennington can get back to where he was in 2002. Coles gets a C- for now. We wouldn't touch any of the other guys on the roster.
Tight end: Chris Baker started every game until a broken leg landed him on IR. Doug Jolley filled in. Neither did much of anything. There will be other options elsewhere.
Defense: With a solid unit and Mangini's expertise, the Jets are the first of the worst teams that we'd consider using. We'll give the "D" a solid B-.
Kicker: Rookie Mike Nugent was disappointing last year, especially in light of his lofty draft status. Given all of the question marks on offense, he gets an F for 2006.
