The New York Jets-Team Report

The Jets started the season off on a poor note, losing Mark Sanchez to a torn labrum during a preseason game. This thrust Geno Smith, a rookie second round pick, into a starting role. Smith has had an up and down season, compiling impressive wins against the Falcons and Patriots, but an awful 4 week stretch has created a lot of controvesy on Smith’s future with New York. The Jets had playoff aspirations as recently as midseason, but poor play on offense has seen them slip to 6-8 and out of serious playoff contention. To be fair to Geno Smith, he doesn’t exactly have a lot of weapons to work with, given that Santonio Holmes is his number 1 receiver. Bilial Powell has ok this year, but at age 25 he has years to grow. The real reason the Jets have won six games is due to their dominant defense. Muhammed Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson are both monsters up front, there really isn’t a line that can challenge the strength, speed, and talent of these two guys. Quinton Coples, a versatile player that can play linebacker or play with his hand in the dirt, has been playing very well. Calvin Pace has racked up 9 sacks in his 11th year. David Harris has been a great run stopper, totaling 112 tackles to date. The secondary needs some work, but when Cromartie returns to health and as Milliner begins to catch up to the speed of the NFL, the unit will become stronger. The defense is top 10, maybe top 5 in the league, and Head Coach Rex Ryan is one of the best defensive minds in the game. The Jets may want to look at Mike Evans out of Texas A&M in the first round of the draft next year to be their possesion receiver. Evans is a terrific wideout that has excellent body control and has the tools to make an immediate impact as a possesion receiver. In the second or third rounds, the front office should take a long hard look at Alabama’s AJ McCarrron or Georgia’s Aaron Murray. Both are more prototypical pocket passers and should provide good competition for Smith, who is a good athlete but struggles with accuracy slumps. If Geno never figures it out at the pro level, either McCarron or Murray have the tools to be possible franchise QB’s.