John Idzik's Status on Hot Seat Presents Giant Dilemma for New York Jets

Just shy of two years after John Idzik began his tenure as general manager of the New York Jets, fans of the team are already asking for it to end.

One could make the case that head coach Rex Ryan deserves more blame than Idzik, or vice versa, but recent history suggests the Jets won't push the reset button on both. That reluctance to start from scratch is one of the problems that landed the Jets in this mess in the first place.

Whether they land back in this position again down the line depends on how this situation pans out.

Say, for example, that the Jets keep Idzik as the GM. He would presumably be on the hot seat. Would any head coaching candidate come to a situation where the GM could be gone in a year or less? What about Idzik? Would he become a "lame duck" GM just as Ryan has been a lame duck head coach?

Idzik never got a real chance to build the team completely in his vision, as he was saddled with Ryan instead of having his pick of head coach candidates.

Giving Ryan a second chance in 2013 may have been what led the Jets down this rabbit hole, but it may be too late to turn back on that now.

There are more than enough fingers to point at for the Jets' 2-8 record, but one of them has to be pointed at owner Woody Johnson.

The Jets have been competitive in fits and spurts under Johnson's ownership. He has hired three separate coaches who have taken his team to the playoffs (Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Ryan) but has also been below .500 in six—going on seven—separate seasons.

That fleeting taste of success, combined with loyalty to a fault, has been enough to influence Johnson to retool instead of rebuild. To make minor changes instead of wholesale ones.

That's his track record, and it's brought mixed results. He gave former GM Mike Tannenbaum a second chance after firing head coach Eric Mangini and gave Ryan a second chance after firing Tannenbaum.

With that said, the case could be made for Idzik to be kept. Tannenbaum also started 2-8 in his second season but went on to serve five more seasons as GM before he was jettisoned.

Idzik has only had a short time to turn things around—not enough time, considering the overaged, overpriced roster he inherited. Like with any GM, there have been some good moves and bad moves.

Position	2012	2014	Upgrade/downgrade
QB	Mark Sanchez	Geno Smith	Push
RB	Shonn Greene	Chris Ivory	Upgrade
WR	Santonio Holmes	Percy Harvin	Upgrade
WR	Stephen Hill	Eric Decker	Upgrade
TE	Jeff Cumberland	Jace Amaro	Push
LG	Matt Slauson	Brian Winters	Downgrade
RG	Branden Moore	Willie Colon	Downgrade
RT	Austin Howard	Breno Giacomini	Downgrade
NT	Sione Pouha	Damon Harrison	Upgrade
CB	Darrelle Revis	Dee Milliner	Downgrade
CB	Antonio Cromartie	Antonio Allen	Downgrade
FS	LaRon Landry	Dawan Landry	Push
SS	Yeremiah Bell	Calvin Pryor	Too soon to tell

Ryan, on the other hand, has been the head coach for more than five-and-a-half seasons. His record in the past three-and-a-half is 24-32 (.429). Any coach in any market with four straight seasons at or below .500 and missing the playoffs would be under a heap of scrutiny and pressure.

Add the magnifying glass of the Big Apple, and it would be a shock if Ryan makes it into his seventh season as the head coach of the Jets.

Idzik didn't do Ryan any favors with his offseason moves. The Jets made no major additions at cornerback—and the few additions they did make ended up getting injured (Dexter McDougle) or going AWOL (Dimitri Patterson).

Their biggest addition in the secondary, rookie first-round safety Calvin Pryor, has been up and down since entering the league.

The Jets made only two significant offseason additions to their pass-catching group in the form of veteran wide receiver Eric Decker and rookie tight end Jace Amaro. The other addition, wide receiver Percy Harvin, did not join the Jets until they were already 1-7.

Where have the Jets notably improved since Idzik took over?

The only two positions that come to mind are running back and wide receiver. There's no argument that Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson are a huge upgrade over Shonn Greene and Joe McKnight, and Decker and Harvin are much better than Stephen Hill and Santonio Holmes.

Other than that, the Jets are not markedly better than they were when Idzik arrived, but the shortcomings in other areas may not be as immediately evident if the Jets had made any improvements at quarterback.

Geno Smith and Michael Vick are better players than Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, but with a 24-year-old, second-year quarterback who has proven he is not the future and a 34-year-old journeyman veteran quarterback who is too old to be the future, the Jets' quarterback situation is no better now than it was when Idzik took over.

None of this is to absolve Rex of blame. 

He coaches an undisciplined team—the Jets have been penalized 75 times (fourth-most in the NFL) and have committed 28 pre-snap penalties (second-most in the NFL), according to NFLPenalties.com. 

He's failed to develop a quarterback and is riding a four-year streak of average to below-average football from his team.

Both men have made their share of mistakes and could justifiably be let go this offseason.

Woody Johnson can go back and forth on this for months—or for 1,000 words, if he likes—but it won't change the fact that this cycle of mediocrity begins with the back-and-forth itself.

If the Jets want to bring an end to their cycle of mediocrity, it's time to hold everyone accountable and start over. If they don't, they could find themselves facing the same questions again in short order.

Follow @ErikFrenz