Full New York Jets Awards at Halfway Point of 2014 Season
At the halfway point of the New York Jets season, you can almost scratch off the playoffs as a realistic goal. However, there are a few silver linings in this cloudy seasonal forecast.
Gang Green has embarrassed itself in multiple ways this year. Dissecting the first eight games can make the most proud fan squeamish, but the roster is better than its record would suggest.
Forget what Bill Parcells says.
If the Jets are what their record says they are, it would indicate a team in rebuild mode or a collective group of players lacking talent. New York is disadvantaged in critical skill positions, but there are players who put in relentless effort week to week despite a dreadful 1-7 record.
Here are the players who standout above the rest based on statistical contributions. Players were also judged based on their impact through eight games, and the ability to surmount mitigating circumstances that could have hindered their production.
Most Underrated Player: Calvin Pace
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Calvin Pace is the third oldest player on the Jets roster and the oldest of all the starters. Age hasn’t diminished his skills when attacking the quarterback. He’s second on the team in sacks, only a half-sack behind Muhammad Wilkerson.
At 34, Pace keeps his motor running on the field despite an abysmal season. The 12-year veteran linebacker is a major contributor to a formidable Jets defense that is still fifth in defending the run. Along with four sacks, he has 18 solo tackles and a pass defensed.
It seems that Pace knows only how to play at full speed to the best of his ability. He leads a young core of defensive linemen with his unrelenting play, not giving up on a season that seems lost.
Most Improved Player: Sheldon Richardson
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Sheldon Richardson is paying immediate dividends as a key player on Rex Ryan’s defense. He’s showing major upside with his versatility to stop the run and pressure quarterbacks.
The former first-round pick out of Missouri has already matched last year’s 3.5 sack total in eight games. He's also on pace to eclipse the number of tackles he had in his rookie season.
Richardson’s ability to harass opposing quarterbacks has solidified Ryan’s 3-4 defensive front. This season, he's developing into a sufficient run-stopper. He has recorded 11 run stops per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
He has 23 starts on his resume and continues to grow under a head coach who knows how to groom defensive linemen into stud performers.
Rookie of the Year: Jace Amaro
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Gang Green’s second-round pick out of Texas Tech started slow. Through the first four games, Jace Amaro caught 11 passes for a mere 125 yards. Much of the slow progress was due to quarterback Geno Smith looking elsewhere, targeting the rookie on only 14 passes.
After the first quarter of the season, the tight end began to click with his quarterback—catching 21 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. In terms of yards, the increase was marginal, but Amaro became the second-best target to wide receiver Eric Decker. In Week 6, against the Denver Broncos, he led the team with 10 receptions.
At the halfway point, the rookie tight end leads the team in receptions with 32. He has 285 receiving yards, which is second to Decker’s 363 yards. Impressively, he accomplished this seeing only 37.9 percent of the snaps on offense, per Football Outsiders.
It’s fair to expect a significant increase in Amaro’s impact on the Jets offense when, as expected, he surpasses tight end Jeff Cumberland on the depth chart.
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Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Folk
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Nick Folk? Is a kicker the Jets’ most offensive player at the halfway point? Absolutely. If there’s one facet of the Jets offense that’s performing efficiently it’s their field-goal unit.
When Folk is called upon to clean up stalled offensive drives, he kicks with accuracy. He has salvaged much of New York’s missed red-zone opportunities with a three-point consolation. He made 14 of 15 field-goal attempts, and tacked on 12 extra points. He accounts for 54 of the Jets' 144 points scored this season.
Even Jets fan favorite Chris Ivory trails Folk when it comes to actual points scored. Ivory has five total touchdowns this season, accounting for 30 total points.
Kickers are often forgotten in the grand scheme of a football game until they’re expected to execute a game-winning field goal. Folk is more valuable to the Jets offense than the average kicker. He keeps Gang Green competitive in games when the offense sputters.
Defensive Player of the Year: Muhammad Wilkerson
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Wilkerson is the primary force in the middle of the Jets defensive line. He leads the team with 4.5 sacks, and is also a prominent run-stopper—recording 21 run stops this season. He’s ranked fourth in the league in total pressure on quarterbacks with 23, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Wilkerson’s dominance up front shows why he’s asking for a pricey contract extension, which is discussed in detail on Bleacher Report’s Team Stream Now.
The fourth-year defensive end is justified in asking for the money based on his impact from week to week. Opposing teams must game-plan specifically for him or risk being manhandled at the line of scrimmage by his pass rush or run–stopping ability.
The attention Wilkerson garners creates opportunities for Richardson, Pace and Quinton Coples to accumulate sacks as well. This explains why the Jets are tied for fourth in the league in sacks with 24.
Most Valuable Player: Chris Ivory
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The arrival of Chris Johnson could have diminished Ivory’s role within the offense, instead he became the more prominent running back by far.
In fact, Ivory ran so well with the ball in the first eight games that Johnson is becoming an afterthought in the Jets offense. According to Jane McManus of ESPNNewYork, Johnson affirmed this when asked about the quarterback situation. “I don’t even be in the game, so I don’t know,” said Johnson.
Ivory leads the former Tennessee Titans running back by 207 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards. Johnson was supposed to be the dynamic pass-catching running back, but Ivory has just as many receiving targets (20).
While Johnson looks lost or nonexistent within Marty Mornhinweg’s offense, Ivory continues to flourish. The former New Orleans Saints reserve running back is on pace to have the most productive season of his five-year career.
Ivory has supplanted Johnson as the starting running back in the last five games and accounts for the bulk of the Jets’ fourth-ranked rushing attack. He has 475 rushing yards and five touchdowns and is averaging a robust 4.7 yards per carry.
Advanced statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
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