Jets Game Changing Offseason Moves: Signing Jason Taylor
by John B on Jun 19, 2010 2:43 PM EDT
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Seeing Jason Taylor take the field as a Jet will probably be a lot like Ronald McDonald eating a Whopper. Taylor has spent his career as public enemy number one in the eyes of many Jets fans. He was a Pro Bowl performer for a bitter rival always with a quip about the Jets fan base. There have not been too many other instances where a player has used the media to target not an opponent but a group of fans for a rival. Now the same fans he trashed will be cheering for him.
The Jets had one of the fiercest pass rushes in the league in 2009. They, however, struggled to get to the quarterback without sending five or more. Calvin Pace did a solid job on one side, registering a career high 8 sacks in just 12 games. He really came on in the Playoffs with 17 quarterback pressures and 2 hits in 3 games.
Bryan Thomas was not as productive on the other side. Thomas does things well. He has developed into a good run defender and a solid coverage guy. There's a problem, though. We can praise Thomas' positive qualities all day. The fact remains the most important job of the guys who line up at outside linebacker in 3-4 sets and put their hand on the ground in the 4-3 is to get to the quarterback. Thomas is a below average pass rusher.
The Jets are not getting the same player who was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2006 or three All Pro first teams. Those saying Taylor is washed up and unproductive aren't making statements based on a solid foundation, though.
Taylor posted a solid 8 sacks last year. Unlike his teammate in Miami, Joey Porter, he was not a feast or famine player. Porter put up decent sack totals but did not consistently pressure the quarterback. Taylor's 20 pressures put him just outside the top ten in the league. Seven of the ten above him saw over 100 more snaps.
Rex Ryan loves to throw the kitchen sink at the quarterback. Having Taylor on the field will not change that. It just gives the team a better chance of getting to the passer since he can consistently win matchups. Rotating with Thomas should keep him fresh and productive.
The signing had a hidden benefit. It provided the Jets with a stopgap at outside linebacker. That freed them up to take Kyle Wilson. If Taylor was not on the roster, Gang Green might have felt more obliged to pass the player they liked better and grab a pass rusher like Jerry Hughes.
All of this makes the Taylor signing a game changer.
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Good stuff.
I think Taylor will be big for one season. Him and Pace on the edges, with Jenkins collapsing the pocket and Harris blitzing up the middle should make us pretty damn tough to deal with on 3rd and long. JT might not be dominant anymore, but here he’ll find himself in a lot of one-on-ones and maybe even some one-on-nones. He should have a good year with us.
jerry hughes would of been a much better long term option than JT. at least we could have signed him and had him for at least five years, JTs best year if he has a best year will be this year, and then slide downhill afterwards.
i have not or ever will be a fan of JT, i still attest that he signed with the Jets to benefit Miami, in some sort of twisted behind your back ploy…we only ranked 18th in the league in sacks, and despite putting pressure on the qb we didnt get to them a whole hell of a lot.
if AC can return to his pro bowl form of a couple years ago, then i think he is the biggest off season move. asking him to play man instead of zone opposite Revis is gonna force teams to run a whole lot more, assuming that our corners stay healthy we should arguably have the best pass defense in the league.
by servantofchrist on Jun 19, 2010 8:39 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Would Rec this 1000x if I could, lol
Agree with every single point in your post, and hate that the money we paid JT could have been better suited to retain Faneca and Feely, and the loss of both of those guys will be felt this year.
Gang Green Nation
I honestly don’t think Faneca will be missed at all. According to most analysis, he was a terrible pass blocker and an only slightly above-average run-blocker. I honestly can’t recall him being all that effective last year unless he was pulling; and I think Ducasse can pull and will probably be just as effective in the run-game if not more.
I would have loved Jerry Hughes, but lets see how this plays out. If Wilson is as good as theyre saying, both in the return game and in coverage, this is probably the way to go. Who knows, maybe we can make a run at Basped old teammate at Nevada that played opposite him. I forget his name but he supposedly ran a legit 4.2, which is just sick for a DE/OLB. Or anybody for that matter.
This sounds easy!
Quite simple: Have Thomas on the field when they run. Have JT on the field when they pass! Victory!
JT
I think signing JT was a real good move. A lot of people saying he’s washed up but look at last years stats with the sacks and pressure. Better than most younger than him. That got us Wilson and really strengthen our secondary so when we do send the kitchen sink once in a awhile we have some awesome coverage.
Getting Hughes is also a risk like rookies are especially a rush LB. We can always draft one next year or pick one up in FA. Another plus, the young players can learn a lot from JT as he shows them how its done. Bottom line, I’d rather have an old JT with Wilson, than a maybe on a rookie rush LB and we hope and pray that he’ll work out. GO JETS!
I agree....
Of all the offseason moves the Dolphins did this year, I did not understand why we did this… The guy is older, but he is still a playmaker. If the ball happens to pop loose it finds its way into his hands.. There was one game in the pregame that Channing Crowder made fun of him because he was practicing catching the ball, and he responded that is why he made big plays, because he practiced it.
You can not fault him for last year’s abysmal sack numbers because even though we didn’t technically yell out what we were going to do, the other team knew…. We brought 4 guys and dropped everyone else. All the other teams needed to do to beat us is find out who our LBs were charged with covering and throw it to them because that guy would always be wide open. You could tell when we lined up which 4 guys and in order to get a sack our guys had to beat their blocker or a double team in many cases.
This guy is not sliding, he will be playing well for years. If you need a big play, he will be there, he practices making game-changing plays. This guy knows all the tricks that a rookie does not know and he takes good care of his body. You guys got a steal, and I am hoping that Koa Misi turns out to be the player that they obviously think he can be, or else this will be our only really bad move this offseason.
when does the season start.....
by Jason Scott_90 on Jun 20, 2010 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions
I believe that Taylor is the least important addition to the D. He’s just gravy and I don’t believe that his addition effected Rex and Mr. T’s first round draft selection in any way. Granted, it might have effected the selections/trades in the subsequent rounds.
Whether Taylor works out or not, this defense is plain scary. The additions of Cromartie, Poole and Wilson should provide a significant upgrade in the secondary which leads to more coverage sacks and takeaways. Not to mention a year’s familiarity with Rex’s scheme for the returning players and what a leaner, healthy Jenkins means to pressuring the opposing quarterback
I am really looking forward to the upcoming season.
JT
USA, of course just my opinion but I think getting JT was a factor in getting Wilson. They say Rex likes his corners but after Indy/Peyton kick our ass in the AFC CG the Jets knew they needed a push rusher to at lease apply some pressure to the QB. It was either the draft or FA that we would get one. I agree our secondary really got upgraded with 3 awesome additions and with a pass rush watch out.
Without some pressure a top QB will pick apart a secondary no matter who you got. JT allowed us to get Wilson.
Plus...
It gives us some room to move the Ghost to DE from OLB, which could also potentially save him from being the biggest bust in JETS history. They say that Gholston’s natural position is DE and that OLB was an experiment gone bad, so having a guy like Taylor you can count on for pressure takes some stress off of Gholston and hopefully gets him to a spot where he starts playing like a first round draft pick.
http://www.charlottejetsfans.com
plus
NC you got it. I was thinking if I should add that and glad you did. They were going to move the Ghost at DE anyway as his last chance but the addition of JT took some pressure off the defense to find who’s going to step up. Plus we have a couple of undrafted FA LB’s that might be a diamond or 2 in the rough plus a bonus they have a few good mentors.
Funny I just saw the 49’ers 1989 season on the nfl channel last nite and they won the super bowl that season and they pick up a washed up Matt Millen from the raiders. He kicked ass that year a help lead the defense that dominated that year. Hope we have the same fortune with JT and the superbowl. lol
The 49’ers also got a washed up player that year to help the DL and that was Burton from the Giants.
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