What Should We Do?

We all know the Jets are inept in all facets of the game in 2020. Are the Jets so bad that they actually could go 0-16 this year? Gase is an awful coach but the Jets have never had a winless season; would Jets fans want that on their record? Even when the uber-clueless Rich Kotite ran the Jets he was able to win at least one game.

The Jets will have competition for the #1 pick no matter what they do. With Trevor Lawrence being talked about like he is the best QB to come out in the last few years, you know some teams will be looking to position themselves for a shot at him.

If you look at the situation with the teams who are also off to horrific starts, the Jets are 0-4 along with Houston, Atlanta and the New York Giants. Houston should be able to win some games now that Bill O’Brien has been fired. Atlanta has a terrific offense, so while they might not have enough defense to be a playoff contender, they still should win 5-6 games this year. The Giants play in a terrible division so they have chances for wins. Then there are 10 teams with just one win so far. We’ll see how those teams progress.

The Jets on the other hand are a team with massive injuries to key players, a razor thin group of receivers and an offensive line that has yet to gel. The defense seems lost, without a viable leader and with a secondary that cannot cover. These are not situations that appear to be easily fixable. Add to that the total ineptitude of the head coach and you have a perfect recipe for disaster.

Let’s (just for the sake of argument) assume that the Jets will be the worst team in football in 2020.

Question 1

If the only way the Jets get the #1 pick would be to go 0-16, would you want that to happen? Since 1944 only five teams have gone through a season without a win. Those teams are the 1960 Dallas Cowboys (0–11–1), the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0–14), the 1982 Baltimore Colts (0–8–1), the 2008 Detroit Lions (0–16), and the 2017 Cleveland Browns (0–16).

Is your lust for the first pick so great that you would want the Jets to become only the sixth team in NFL history to go winless for a season, and only the third to go 0-16? It is, of course, possible, even likely, that the Jets could get the #1 pick by going 1-15, but that is not the question. Would you prefer total futility and the stigma that goes with it at 0-16 for the #1 pick, or would you prefer the Jets win (even a single game) to avoid historical ineptitude, but risk losing out on the #1 pick?

Question 2

Assuming the Jets get the #1 overall pick, do you hold onto the pick to take Trevor Lawrence or whoever the top QB is on the board, or do you trade back to get more draft capital?

The Jets have two first round picks in the 2021 NFL draft, but the extra first round pick they acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in the Jamal Adams trade is likely to be very low in the first round given Seattle’s 4-0 record to date. Picks at the bottom of the first round are usually attractive to trade to teams wanting to trade up into the first round to grab a key player. The Jets currently have a pick in every round with two picks in the first, third and fifth rounds.

How far you trade back from the #1 overall pick will determine the compensation you get. That compensation is likely to be significantly higher this year because of the possibility of two franchise type QBs at the top of the draft.

If you are going to trade back then it is safe to assume you believe that Sam Darnold is the answer at quarterback, he just needs some help. If you stick with Darnold you will need to re-sign him in the near future, and by trading back you just increased his contract because his agent knows you are counting on Sam for the future.

Darnold has the final year of his contract in 2021, then the fifth year option year in 2022, the salary for which has not yet been determined. So you have Darnold for somewhat lower salaries for the next two years. If you want Darnold as your long term answer at quarterback you will need to re-sign him to a long term deal. In the alternative, you can draft a new QB whom you will have for five years of below market value cost, albeit with an inexperienced QB.

If you choose to trade the #1 pick, some of the other players who could be in play for the Jets in the top of the first round are:

Penei Sewell 6’ 6” 345 lbs OT, Oregon

Sewell is a first team All-American who can play on either side of the line. He was ineligible to be drafted last year because he was only a sophomore. If he had been eligible to enter the draft in 2020, he probably would have been the first offensive tackle taken even though there were four other great talents at the position; he is that good.

Greg Rousseau 6’ 7” 260 lbs DE/Edge, Miami

Rousseau is an athletic defensive end with great burst. He has great length with a lean build that can easily add more weight. Rousseau has tremendous power despite the angular frame. He broke his foot in the third game of the season in 2018 so he took a medical redshirt. Playing early in the year in 2019 he played only 20-25 snaps a game, but Rousseau had great production with four sacks and 3.5 TFL. After that the Miami coaches doubled his playing time. He finished 2019 with 15.5 sacks (second only to Chase Young) and 19.5 TFL.

Rousseau opted out of the 2020 season and is currently training for the NFL combine. This means he will get a year of strengthening his body without the wear and tear. He is still young and raw but the sky’s the limit for this prospect.

Ja’Marr Chase 6’ 1” 208 WR, LSU

Chase had one of the greatest statistical years in college football history as a sophomore in 2019. 84 receptions for 1,780 yards (21.2 YPC) and 20 TDs is amazing, but to do so in the SEC is remarkable. Chase is super athletic with great body control. He is a contested ball expert. Chase does not have elite size but he is surprisingly strong. He is not an easy tackle plus he has great elusiveness.

Chase is not overly fast. I think he will be in the 4.50/40 range which is ok but more average than great. He does have the ability to get open with great burst off the line and great hips that allow him to explode out of breaks to gain separation.

Chase is another who has opted out of the 2020 season and is training for the NFL combine right now.

Other players of interest later in the first round include:

Walter Little OT, Stanford 6’ 7” 310 lbs

Patrick Surtain Jr. CB, Alabama 6’ 2” 202 lbs

Shaun Wade CB, Ohio St. 6’ 1” 193 lbs

Trey Smith OG, Tennessee 6’ 6” 325 lbs

Alaric Jackson OT, Iowa 6’ 6” 320 lbs

Jaylen Waddle WR, Alabama 5’ 10 177 lbs

Two wide receivers to keep an eye on are Purdue’s Rondale Moore and Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman. Both can fly.

Rondale Moore is a 5’ 9” 180 lbs WR who caught 112 passes for 1,258 yards with 14 TDs as a true freshman in 2018. He is a Tyreek Hill type talent with blazing speed. He ran a verified time of 4.33/40 in high school, where he also had a shuttle time of 4.01 sec (3.81 sec is the record at the combine) and a 42.7” vertical jump. He was the first true freshman consensus All-American in Big 10 football history.

In 2019 Moore played only four games and sat out the rest of the year with a hamstring injury that is completely healed now. He had 29 receptions for 387 yards and 2 TDs before leaving for good in the fourth game. Moore opted out of the 2020 season, so the next time you see him will be in the spring at the NFL combine.

Moore squats over 600 lbs and is a tough tackle, which allows him to do this to Ohio State:

Rashod Bateman is a 6’ 2” 210 lbs receiver from Minnesota who is actually going to play this year. Bateman has great speed that will probably be in the 4.4/40 range. He is an excellent technical route runner with very good hands. He has possible #1 receiver attributes if he develops.

I did mention those hands of Bateman, he shows them here:

The year is still young with some teams not even playing yet, so there will be movement in the rankings. In addition, there are always surprises, players who come from nowhere to the forefront.

The Jets need an influx of quality players. This will be a difficult year to scout players, as many are opting out and all the college teams are playing less games. Still, there are a lot of playmakers on both sides of the ball who can increase the talent level of the Jets immensely.

The Jets need a total overhaul of this roster, so the more draft picks the better. The overriding question is whether or not Sam Darnold is the answer at quarterback. The rest of the year may give us some sort of consensus, but it may be more difficult than you think with Sam running for his life every play, the lack of playmakers on the roster and the total lack of development he is getting from the offensive staff.

Question #3

How much better would Sam Darnold be with a coach like Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay?

We know he would be better, any player would be, but how much?

Would he be better than Jimmy Garoppolo or Jared Goff?

The offenses devised by these two coaches are light years ahead of the Adam Gase offense. Both those teams also have far better rosters than the Jets. This is a multibillion dollar franchise, why would you not demand the best coaching in the world? Why settle for ineptitude? If Chris Johnson truly believes in Sam Darnold then it must be the coaching.

Please vote here:

Please let me know the reasons for your votes below. You may educate myself along with the rest of the GGN faithful.

Thank you for your insights.