Everyone agrees that the Jets offense was weak last year, but nearly everyone has them drafting defense at the top of the draft. Some keen and experienced analysts don't have the Jets taking an offensive player until the 5th round. There are two reasons given for this; 1) You can win with a superior defense and a mediocre offense. The Jets are built on defense and they are just a few pieces away from being dominant. I respect that opinion, its been done before (e.g., Baltimore, Tampa Bay), but its very difficult to do and the odds are against it, especially with passing yards going up across the league seemingly every year. 2) Replacing Schottenheimer with Sparano will fix the offense, making it a stable, "ground and pound" unit.

There is a consensus that bringing in Sparano was just what the Jets needed. There have been very helpful posts on this site about Sparano's Parcells legacy, his man-blocking schemes, and his simplified offense. We should think twice, though, in expecting Sparano to be some kind of panacea. The Dolphin's offense has been suspect at best. Here are some things that have been said about Sparano coming to the Jets:

Sparano will help in the development of Sanchez by making things simpler. Well, here is a quote from the Palm Beach Post on why he was fired from the Dolphins: "the Dolphins inability to groom Henne into a legitimate starter is the main reason for the struggling offense, boring football, and empty seats over the last three seasons....... the Dolphins couldn't teach him how to read a defense, remain calm in the pocket, and take big shots down the field."

The offense will be freed from Schottenheimer's boring, predictable play calling. Again: "For the past three seasons, the Dolphins became a conventional I-formation, pound-the-ball-up-the-middle type of team and couldn't keep pace in today's high scoring, pass first NFL".

Sparano will fix the OLine problems, especially Hunter, by a change to straight up, man-to-man power football. "Sparano came to the Dolphins as an offensive line guru, but four years into his tenure the unit is still a mess."

i am in agreement that change was needed at the OC position and that Sparano seems to be a good fit with the overall team philosophy. But changing the OC alone won't make the offense significantly better. They need some better players.