Debating Who, Besides Mark Sanchez, Will Be Most Key to Jets Turnaround

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez could be the most important player to the Jets' turnaround in 2012. But with the amount of coverage that the Jets quarterbacks (namely Tim Tebow) have received this offseason, you probably already knew that.

And unless Sanchez plans to change his name to Tom Brady or Peyton Manning sometime soon, he can't do it on his own. Who else, then, will be of prime importance to a Jets turnaround in 2012?

To discuss the topic, we bring in Joe Caporoso of TurnOnTheJets.com, who can also be found on Twitter.

As usual, the guest will lead us off. Take it away, Joe!

Joe: When you are looking beyond Sanchez, there are a handful of players that immediately come to mind. First off is Shonn Greene. The Jets can talk up the ground-and-pound all they want, but do they have a running back who consistently strikes fear into a defense?

The last two years have been disappointing for Greene, as he has shown none of the explosiveness from the 2009 playoffs that had many thinking he could be a 1,500-yard back in the Jets system. He must become more consistent and productive in 2012. The Jets don't have much proven depth behind him, making him that much more important.

Staying on offense, Santonio Holmes, D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Wayne Hunter are all in need of bounceback seasons.

If Hunter duplicates his 2011 performance, both Sanchez and Tebow could be hurt by the end of the season. Ferguson didn't play like a Pro Bowler last year, and he needs to return to form to solidify the line. Finally, Holmes is being paid to be a No. 1 receiver. He needs to produce like one.

Erik: That's a great point you make with Shonn Greene. Not only will he be important to the Jets returning to the ground-and-pound style of offense, but he'll also be important to the continued development of Mark Sanchez. We all know he's much better when the Jets have a consistent running game to rely on.

But I'll go with Santonio Holmes for multiple reasons. Sanchez isn't exactly surrounded by a bevy of offensive firepower, and as you alluded, Holmes is clearly the guy they want to carry the load at receiver, if only based on his contract. He, like many offensive players on the Jets roster, had a tough go of it in 2011, so he'll be looking for a rebound statistically.

Beyond that, Holmes is the only wide receiver left on the roster who has been with the Jets since 2010. The lack of chemistry between Sanchez and his receivers was one of a few factors behind Sanchez's struggles last season. The two are taking measures to get over the rift that put an exclamation mark on the end to their 2011 season and are trying to dispel the notion that it was even a big deal.

That's great for the offense, but defensively, who's on your radar?

 

Joe: Good point about the chemistry issues. Sanchez has had to deal with a different starting group of receivers all four of his years in the league. Hopefully he and Holmes can get back to 2010, when they were connecting for game-winning touchdowns on a weekly basis.

On defense, Yeremiah Bell and LaRon Landry need to give a better effort at safety than Eric Smith and Jim Leonhard did last season. While they are both limited in coverage, they still have more upside and range than the Smith/Leonhard duo.

It will be interesting to see how Rex Ryan utilizes the safety position this year, because between Bell, Landry, Smith and rookie Antonio Allen, he has four strong safeties and only one free safety (rookie Josh Bush).

Beyond them, I am looking towards rookies Quinton Coples and Demario Davis to make an immediate impact.

They both bring needed speed to their position group. Coples needs to be a factor rushing the passer to help free up Calvin Pace and Aaron Maybin. Davis is the only Jets linebacker with the ability to run with a tight end or running back on a pass route, hence why he is working with the first-team sub defense already.

The addition of Bell, Landry, Coples and Davis should allow the Jets much more versatility on defense this season. Look for more 4-3 and 46 looks over their traditional 3-4 lineup.

Erik: Definitely agree that the safeties will be under a microscope this year, but I'm not sure how I feel about Bell and Landry as cover safeties. Still, I think they are clearly being influenced by the prevalence of receiving tight ends in the NFL, specifically Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. They're at least doing what they can to find an answer, but as you suggest, the burden of the free safety spot could fall upon Josh Bush.

As problematic as the safety spot could be, I will go with linebacker Aaron Maybin. He didn't just jump onto the map, he grabbed the map with both hands and ripped it in half, with six sacks on just 239 snaps. The Jets only had him for 12 games, but it was his presence off the edge that made the Jets defense even formidable rushing the passer. Can you imagine how bad it might have been without him?

Maybin is still just a situational pass-rusher, a fixture in sub-packages, but he was severely underutilized last year. The Jets need to find a way to get their most effective pass-rusher onto the field more often. With Rex Ryan taking a more hands-on approach with the defense in 2012, that could be even more likely.

The scary thing for Jets fans is that, while it was an impressive season, it was his only impressive season. Might he have caught teams off-guard? Yes. Does that mean the element of surprise was the only thing that led to his performance? No.

We'll find out in either case.

Joe: You make a very good point by bringing up Maybin. The key for him is going to be developing a few inside moves to supplement his speed rush. An entire offseason with the team should allow him to further develop as a part of the defense. It will be very interesting to see the different ways Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine use him in 2012.

Erik: Thanks again for joining me, Joe, and we'll link up again in the future.

Vote to cast your pick for the Jets' most key offensive player to a turnaround in 2012. Check out more AFC East debates all week long at the AFC East blog.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.