Biggest Takeaways from New York Jets' 2014 Season
The longest four-month stretch of the Rex Ryan/John Idzik era is finally over. Now, the real work begins.
As the Jets begin to pick up the pieces from one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, they first must absorb what transpired over the past four months before they can begin to rectify the situation. The Jets were bad, and they were bad for a reason—now is the time to determine exactly where the weaknesses on the roster and coaching staff are and how to go about fixing them.
After such a porous season, everyone not named Mangold, Decker or Richardson has little-to-no job security. Everyone from the starting quarterback to the seasonal office intern will undergo a lot of scrutiny over the coming months.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the 2014 New York Jets.
Calvin Pryor Has a Long Way to Go
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If the Jets were going to lose this season, they would have at least been more content with some of their top young talent showing development or signs of promise.
Instead, first-round pick Calvin Pryor is one of many Idzik draft picks that have yet to produce on the field.
Pryor has moved in and out of the lineup this year, seeing his role generally decrease as the season progressed, and it became more apparent that he would need more time to develop. Perhaps his most "famous" play was a blown missed tackle on an 80-yard Jordy Nelson touchdown in Week 2—a play that changed the Jets' season for the worse.
He was most responsible for Lamar Miller's 97-yard touchdown run on Sunday, as his dreadful effort on a tackle turned out to be about an 85-yard mistake.
The problem is, the Jets were hoping to get their version of Earl Thomas—a do-it-all safety who can roam in center field. Pryor has only been successful performing "box" safety duties, which is not what the Jets selected him in the first round to do.
It is far too early to make a judgment on Pryor's career, as the former first-round pick has plenty of talent to work with. However, he will need to make a ton of improvements next year if he ever wants to crack the starting lineup for good.
Dee Milliner Cannot Be Relied Upon
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The Jets clearly had high hopes for Dee Milliner after using the ninth overall selection on him in the 2013 draft, but with so much time missed in the past two seasons from injury and performance reasons, the Jets simply cannot put their faith in him ever developing into the long-term answer at the position.
When healthy, Milliner has shown flashes of Pro Bowl ability (and not just by Geno Smith's standards). He finished his rookie season with three interceptions in as many games. When he was in the lineup, quarterbacks stayed away from his side of the field.
Between shoulder surgery in the predraft process in 2013 to an Achilles injury in October—with hamstring issues sprinkled between—the healthy, effective Milliner simply is not available enough.
It is too early to write off Milliner as a "bust," but whoever is making the personnel decisions for the Jets next season cannot rely on Milliner's health as heavily as the team has in the past.
Jets Cannot Commit to Geno Smith
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The Jets have more than their fair share of big decisions to make over the coming months to restart their rebuild, but none of those decisions should be made with the idea that Geno Smith is their unquestioned starter of the future.
Smith has looked better in recent weeks, especially in the season finale. He finished 20-of-25 for 358 yards and three touchdowns, good enough for a 158.3 quarterback rating in what was his best game as a professional.
As well as Smith played in Sunday's game, it was just a year ago when Smith had a strong performance in the same building as a rookie.
Smith is a talented player with a lot of potential, but he needs to prove his worth on the field over the long term before he earns the trust of any general manager—especially if the Jets pick a new one to go into next season.
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Hidden Gem in Marcus Williams
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The Jets handled their cornerback situation about as poorly as one could, but the never-ending rotation of cornerbacks have at least forced them to stumble upon some scrapheap gold in Marcus Williams.
An undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State, Williams failed to make the Houston Texans roster as a rookie before getting picked up by the Jets in October. While the Jets were benching cornerbacks on a weekly basis, Williams has been the only mainstay amid the constant change, keeping his job the whole way.
Williams was most impressive in his start against the New England Patriots, notching his first interception and holding his own against the likes of Rob Gronkowski.
It is a bit early to label Williams as a long-term starter, but he has done more than enough to get a head start on a roster spot next season.
Receiver Situation Improving, but Much to Be Done
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Without question, the Jets' receiving corps is light-years ahead of the 2013 group that was regarded as one of the worst in the league. The additions of proven talents such as Eric Decker and Percy Harvin have give this much-maligned unit a newfound sense of credibility.
However, there are still several issues to be sorted out before the Jets can finish this position group rebuild, starting with how they will handle Harvin's contract beyond this season. According to Over The Cap, Harvin is scheduled to make $10.5 million next season—a staggering number for a player who manages to get injured on a seemingly weekly basis.
The Jets could simply cut bait with Harvin, but with a pick already invested in him via the trade with the Seattle Seahawks, trying to meet the Harvin camp halfway with some type of restructure seems most logical. With their comfortable cap space, the Jets have no reason to rush this decision.
If the Jets do choose to move on from Harvin, finding a complement to Decker becomes an immediate need.
Meanwhile, the Jets still have issues to sort out beyond the starting lineup. Depth players have rotated in and out of the roster all season, unable to find a group of backup receivers to stick with.
Quinton Coples Needs to Play Defensive End
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After nearly two full seasons of experimenting with Quinton Coples at outside linebacker, it is beyond obvious that the former first-round pick from the 2012 draft needs to be moved back to his natural position at defensive end.
Rex Ryan decided to move Coples' position out of necessity after the selection of Sheldon Richardson in the first round of the 2013 draft. The Jets certainly welcomed Richardson into their lineup, but there is no denying the fact that Coples became a lesser player as a result of the talent surplus at defensive end.
Coples was mostly invisible standing up at outside linebacker, adding up just three sacks in the first 11 games of the season. His production skyrocketed when he moved to defensive end to compensate for the loss of Muhammad Wilkerson, more than doubling his total in the final five weeks to finish with 6.5.
Coples' position moving forward leans on who will actually wind up coaching him next season. If the Jets replace Ryan with a defensive coach who uses more 4-3 alignments, he will certainly find himself playing where he was in college at defensive end (and defensive tackle).
A pending free agent in 2016, Coples had better hope he spends less time standing up next year. If he can produce like the big-time pass-rusher he was drafted to be in the first round, he may be able to land a sizable second contract just yet.
Jeff Cumberland Is Backup Material
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After handing him a contract extension early in the free-agency window, the Jets were clearly counting on former undrafted free agent Jeff Cumberland to develop into the No. 1 tight end the Jets needed.
Instead, Cumberland—who never eclipsed the 400-yard mark in any of his four professional seasons prior to this year—continued to produce at the backup-caliber level that he has shown he can perform at.
Injuries and time-splitting with rookie Jace Amaro resulted in a mere 247 yards and three for Cumberland on the season. Cumberland is already a huge liability in the blocking game, making his average production in the passing game even more difficult to justify given his recent contract extension.
Now with five seasons under his belt, the Jets cannot assume that Cumberland will ever be anything more than a marginal starter. For an undrafted free agent, that is quite an accomplishment—but the Jets put far too much faith in Cumberland making a jump in his fifth season that he never hinted he would make in the first place.
Offensive Line Needs an Overhaul
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Even if the Jets had their chance to draft Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston, no quarterback—nevermind a young, unproven one—is going to succeed in the long term behind the current state of the Jets' offensive line.
According to Pro Football Focus, just one offensive lineman—Nick Mangold—managed to finish the season with a positive grade. Every other starter finished in the negative.
Left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson appears to be in the midst of a decline at age 31. His right tackle counterpart, free-agent acquisition Breno Giacomini, was unspectacular at best.
The more immediate problem areas lie at both guard positions. Willie Colon was serviceable as a pass-protector, but his run blocking graded out better than just three other guards. Colon is also good for at least one holding or false-start penalty per week.
Meanwhile, while Oday Aboushi was an improvement over the injured Brian Winters at left guard, he still had his share of struggles in protection.
The Jets do have fifth-round project Dakota Dozier waiting in the wings, but little is known about his development given the fact that Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins was the first and only time he was active. Look for them to add at least one starter in free agency to solidify this need position.
Management Structure Doomed to Fail
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Looking at the team from a macro view, the Jets' problems can be summarized by how they are structured from the top down.
When Idzik was hired in 2012, he did not have a say in Ryan's future with the team. As a result, the Jets had themselves a coach who needed to win in the immediate future to save his job paired with a general manager interested in the long-term well-being of the team.
This was a disaster waiting to happen.
Idzik traded off veteran assets such as Darrelle Revis for younger solutions like Dee Milliner. As a result, Ryan was trying to compete without the proper pieces in place to make a playoff run in a season with heightened expectations—a recipe for dysfunction.
As he makes his decisions regarding the future of these two men, owner Woody Johnson must learn from his past mistakes. He must treat the head coach and general manager as one entity, not two separate pieces, if he wants true unison between the two.
John Idzik Was a Bad Hire
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As flawed as the Jets' management structure is, they would have been able to survive longer than two seasons if general manager John Idzik did not make mistakes at such an alarming rate in just two seasons.
Idzik's rap sheet of poor decisions seems to grow by the week. Only three of his 20 draft picks—Jace Amaro, Calvin Pryor and Sheldon Richardson—have meaningful roles on their respective sides of the ball. His inactivity in free agency irked members of his own front office while costing the team on the scoreboard week after week.
Heck, Idzik has made enough mistakes to compel the Jets to outline his poor decisions with a video on their own team website.
Idzik's decisions have always been made with the future in mind, but there is a difference between building responsibly and sheer ineptitude.
It may not seem fair to fire a general manager after just two seasons, but Idzik's decisions have been brutal enough to warrant a change before things get even worse. After all, if the results have been this bad, what is there to suggest that the on-field productivity will improve anytime soon under his watch?
Advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
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