How Far Away Are The New York Jets?

Yesterday John Idzik took to the podium for his mid-season press-conference. I was expecting answers, but all I got was a sales pitch by a man who doesn't look all too confident in his own plan anymore. Idzik addressed all the "room" the Jets have, how they work hard and how he still believes in the plan. He wouldn't confirm Rex Ryan as the head coach until the end of the season because we don't discuss matters of job security, He confirmed the job he was doing was unsatisfactory and that it all starts with him, so at least he took responsibility. However I'm pretty tired of hearing people take responsibility for our failure, I want someone to take positive action instead.

As Scott pointed out in his recent article Terry Bradway is somehow still with this organization, I've never known an organization to reward failure as much as the Jets. You look at that situation, then you look at the way we handled Mark Sanchez and to an extent Bart Scott. We don't have a succession plan and we find it hard to let go of the past. Is that John Idzik? It started long before he got here, when you talk about buying into the "Jets Culture" is that buying in to rewarding mediocrity? We thought we were undertaking a valuable rebuilding two years ago.Unfortunately, the harsh reality may be that we're only just about to start the re-build phase of this journey, and although in the NFL things can change quickly, we may be 2-3 years away from even being able to compete.

How far are the Jets away? Personally I think we're a long way away. We need to completely revamp our front office, from our college scouting department who seem completely devoid of any knowledge or talent to the GM himself, a man who signed off deals such as the signing of Dimitri Patterson and Mike Goodson, as well as taking Chris Johnson and ignoring the cornerback position in a passing league with a schedule that included Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and plenty more.

We need to change the head coach, and we need to allow the new head coach to bring in his own coordinators. Rex has never quite adjusted to being a head coach. He still challenges stupid plays, burns time outs when you need to preserve them and sticks with his old guard while new pups are running rings around them. He still doesn't seem to grasp the offensive side of the ball and if truth be told, he looks like a broken man. The chest bumping bravado he strolled into down with is an ancient relic, refined to the museum of the AFC Championship seasons. It doesn't matter if players love playing for him, if you don't win then it's a pointless characteristic.

Then we get to the team itself and where do we begin with this? By my count, the only position with any talent in depth is the defensive line. We need a new QB, a RB to compliment Ivory, a receiver or two, two new guards and a new tackle or even two. We need OLB help and ILB help as well. We need a minimum of two quality corners and we need a reliable FS so we can move Pryor to his most natural position. Then we need depth all over before we can even dream of competing for a championship. Basically we need a 50-75% turnover on this roster, because we have built a roster who just can't challenge for anything, let alone a Championship.

We've just come off an off-season where we had 12 draft picks and cap space in abundance. We made a good signing with Decker but then failed to follow it up. Instead of using the12 draft picks to move up and down to select quality, we selected all 12 and none of them have stood out. It's way too early to judge but did we need to select 12 players? really? Would it not have been a wise choice to use the picks to move up and down to ensure we selected say 6 players we really believed in.

We now have the tough ask of going into an off-season with too many holes to fill in one go. We can't rectify the backward steps we've taken with one off-season regardless of how much cap we have. John Idzik has failed to breed competition for places and he's failed in his roster construction and management. It's his first GM job but the free agency moves he's made and more importantly, not made, have resulted in the Jets becoming a joke of a franchise when it comes to on the field product.

I've seen people say there is no chance we'll be selected first or second in the draft and we're never going 1-15. From what I've seen from this team over the past two months, during which we've lost 7 games in a row, there is nothing to suggest that we're any better than teams like the Raiders, Jaguars and Buccaneers. There is a very good chance we're picking in the top 5 and there is a chance we'll have the #1 overall pick. My problem with that? I don't trust Idzik to use it correctly. It's a sad state of affairs and only Jets fans should be commended for putting up with the product on the field.

I've lost faith. I've lost faith in Woody Johnson and his ability to make the tough choices. I've lost faith in John Idzik and his ability to construct a roster capable of challenging the leagues elite. I've lost faith in Rex Ryan ever becoming a complete head coach. I've lost faith in Geno Smith ever becoming a capable quarterback who won't lose you the game. I've lost faith, and only starting from the bottom will rectify that.