Boone Examines Schottenheimer's Toys

by John B on Jun 14, 2010 7:55 AM EDT

Rod Boone of Newsday discusses all of the weapons Brian Schottenheimer has at his disposal.

Brian Schottenheimer's toy chest has been loaded with a bevy of goodies this offseason, almost as if he's been given a humongous box of giant Legos to play with. The Jets' offensive coordinator can take those shiny new pieces and arrange them in a variety of ways, essentially creating his own potential masterpieces that look nothing like the original pictured on the Lego box.

"You think about, 'Boy, if I move this guy here, I can do that. Look at this personnel package,' " Schottenheimer told Newsday. "I think that's one of the things that's fun this time of year as a creative coach. You kind of catch yourself daydreaming about if, 'Wow, I do this, I do that. Oh, that'd be a cool concept to put in for this guy.'

"Obviously, our philosophy and our scheme is pretty well laid out, but we feel like it's gotten a ton of flexibility with some of the new additions that we have. And we feel that we can tag certain things to our runs and passes to make it a little bit more difficult to defend."

Oh boy. This makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It's great to have a ton of weapons. Every team wants it. I just worry because Brian gets too cute. He incorporates a lot of gimmicky stuff into his schemes that work better on the chalk board than on the field. The Jets are going to have a lot more talent on offense than most defenses they will face. I'm hoping the focus will be more on execution than deception, but that's not really Schotty's thing.

While I have full faith in the defensive staff, the offensive leadership is a definite question mark entering the season. Schottenheimer has been erratic in four years at the helm. It's easy to commit exclusively to the run with a mistake prone rookie quarterback (and even that took too many painful games where he asked Sanchez to do too much, and Rex had to intervene). We'll see how Brian does this year. It could determine whether he gets a head gig in 2011.

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I've never been a fan of his

However I think a lot of his lack of success before was that his schemes wouldn’t play to the strengths of his players. However I think that last year he improved dramatically at that. He still put too much faith in Sanchez, but I think this year we can let Schotty loose. Hopefully his creativity is more like Sean Payton-style creativeness though…

by Exystence on Jun 14, 2010 8:40 AM EDT reply actions

I didn't take it that way.

I think Schotty should have dispelled your anxiety by saying, “Obviously, our philosophy and our scheme is pretty well laid out.” I mean their are whole schemes built out of gimmicktry, ala Wildcat/Tigercat/Thundercats (Hooo). Will some of these plays probably make it into the playbook? Sure, but nothing more then our form of Wildcat we used last year. I think he was going more for more effective wide receiver screens, running out of 5 receiver sets, using two fullbacks in rushing situations, and so one.

I mean I’m sure he realizes what we were doing was not broke so he won’t mess with it. The problems with our offense seemed to clearly stem from deficienies in our play calling balance because of our green passing game. This would lead me to believe that just expanding our passing game could increase our offensive production significantly and the team has taken steps to do this.

by Timmaht on Jun 14, 2010 9:20 AM EDT reply actions

aughauaugghh enough with the wide receiver screens, gimme some AIR CORYELL STYLE POWER RUNNING AND DOWNFIELD THROWING LET’S GO

by Exystence on Jun 14, 2010 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions

There are five interesting things that I want to see in the Jet Offense:
1. The use of 3 wide receiver sets, with Edwards, Holmes and Cotchery ( have to wait until week five) and if they throw the ball deep.
2. The evolution of the Wildcat. Brad Smith made some very big plays down the stretch and into the playoffs. The Chargers and the Bengals ( the second time around) defensed the Wildcat very well, but the Jets keep adding wrinkles. Smith throwing deep,runs the option, I love it, just fun to watch. Think about LT in the Wildcat, exciting.
3.Formations , formations, formations. The Jets run them all, five wide, three Tight ends (bringing in an eligible tackle), two backs two tight ends. How much Ground and Pound, or balance ? The type of formations the Jets run with will give us a clue
4. I am overly optimistic about LT. How will he be used ? What effect will he have on the short passing game ? Will he hold up ? Will Shonne Greene holdup?
5. What kind of QB will Sanchez be in 2010 ? Love the gym rat in this guy, hope it translates .

by JetOrange on Jun 14, 2010 10:17 AM EDT reply actions

I agree JB. I remember last season when we took delay of game penalties on like a 3rd and one bc Schotty had to shift three times and motion to the right, the left and then back again.

Hopefully, this year, he doesn’t feel the need to to “create” mismatches since he can just line up with a certain personell grouping have a mismatch created automatically.

I really want to see Braylon and Keller working the slot. Their size/speed combo would be tough to deal with.
Also want to see Cumberland get some reps in two TE sets along with Keller. I like the idea of two pass catching speedy TEs on the field at the same time.

by Crackback on Jun 14, 2010 10:53 PM EDT reply actions