New York Jets: Player Awards Following Bye Week
With 10 games in the rearview mirror entering the bye week, now is the time to take a look at the New York Jets from a macro perspective, looking at season-long performances instead of how players are performing on a week-to-week basis.
At 2-8, this year's "awards" will have a unique twist to them. Finding MVPs and underrated players is a significant challenge, whereas disappointments and underachievers are overabundant.
Here are the team awards for the New York Jets following the bye week.
MVP: Muhammad Wilkerson
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It is difficult to justify anyone as particularly "valuable" in a 2-8 season, but Muhammad Wilkerson continues to prove himself as the most indispensable player on the roster.
With the Jets defense as a whole taking a step back this season, the performance of Wilkerson has gone largely unnoticed. He ranks as the second-best 3-4 defensive end in the league, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), second only to J.J. Watt.
His sack numbers are a bit down from last year—his five sacks through 10 games put him a bit behind pace of last year's 10.5—but he has been stellar when applying pressure and dominant in the run game.
The only questions surrounding Wilkerson are contract-related. He is one of the few remaining defensive stars from the 2011 draft that have yet to be extended. The Jets could elect to franchise tag him, but it could come at the risk of becoming a distracting and ugly situation.
Nonetheless, Wilkerson is a clear cornerstone franchise player who has not seen a drop-off in production, which makes him a worthy MVP selection in a woeful season.
Most Improved: Jaiquawn Jarrett
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Giving Jaiquawn Jarrett a "most improved" award after just one game may seem like a bit of an overreaction, but there are few other candidates for such an award on a two-win team.
Jarrett was on the roster bubble at the start of the season when first-round rookie Calvin Pryor was added into the mix. However, while Pryor has seen a steady decline in his play throughout his rookie season to lead to his eventual benching, Jarrett has seized his opportunity to prove himself as a starter.
In just one afternoon, Jarrett nearly doubled the team's entire turnover output with two interceptions and a fumble recovery against the (then) red-hot Pittsburgh Steelers. He was impressive enough to remain in the starting lineup for at least another week:
"Rex says Jarrett should be AFC Defensive player of the week and he will start against Bills. #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) November 10, 2014"
Jarrett needs to prove that last week was not just a flash in the pan to keep his status as a starter into next season, but the light may have finally come on for the former second-round pick out of Temple.
Best Addition: Michael Vick
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As productive as newcomers like Percy Harvin have been, the decision to bring in Michael Vick may wind up saving a whole lot of once-doomed jobs.
Since inserting Vick into the starting lineup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Jets have looked like a brand-new team. His mobility is not only allowing the Jets to sustain drives, but he has slowed down their turnover-happy ways, not coughing up a single ball in his two starts.
It is impossible not to wonder what the Jets season would have looked like had Vick been given a realistic chance to start in training camp. In any case, Rex Ryan should be thankful that he has had Vick to lean on in the second half of the season, as his play may wind up saving his job if the team can rack up enough wins at season's end.
If Vick continues to play this well and keep the Jets in the win column, making him the starter beyond this season would become a realistic possibility. According to Bleacher Report's Jason Cole, Vick prefers to stay in the Big Apple.
Regardless of how he was misused earlier in the season, the longer Vick stays in Jets green while winning games, the better the decision to bring him in looks.
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Most Disappointing Player: Geno Smith
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The biggest loss the Jets suffered this year does not show up on their record. Instead, the plain fact that Geno Smith has not developed into the franchise-saving quarterback they drafted him to become is a devastating blow that has set this team back multiple seasons.
Smith's on-field contribution to the team's 1-7 start is enough of an indictment of his inability to be a franchise quarterback, but the Jets' increased offensive success without him is only magnifying the fact that he has been more of detriment to the team than an asset.
Throwing in a missed team meeting the night before a game makes the odds of Smith ever becoming a capable long-term starter as bleak as ever.
Smith's age (24) and relatively low cap hit will keep him on the roster for at least one more season (barring a trade), but there is no way general manager John Idzik (or whoever is making personnel decisions next offseason) can assume he will be anything more than a backup at this point.
Worst Acquisition: Chris Johnson
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On the surface, adding an offensive playmaker to the roster seemed like a no-lose situation, but Chris Johnson has been disappointing enough to make the Jets regret ever spending so much effort and money in making him a part of their backfield.
Johnson has managed to post a 4.2 yards-per=carry average, but it is not an indicator of how inconsistent he has been. For weeks at a time, Johnson has been a complete non-factor this season, living up to his reputation as an "all-or-nothing" runner.
If Johnson does not break open a big gain, he is just another guy, averaging as low as 1.8 yards per carry against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2.
Making his presence even more counter-productive is how he has taken snaps away from more deserving players like Bilal Powell. Not only does Powell have a superior per-carry average (4.6), but he has done so in a much more reliable fashion.
Meanwhile, Johnson has complained about his lack of starter-esque carry numbers, giving the coaches a headache they simply have no room for in a 2-8 season.
Even if he has put together a few highlight-reel plays, the Jets have to be disappointed with how the Johnson era in New York has turned out so far.
Rookie of the Year: Jace Amaro
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Jace Amaro has shown plenty of signs as a budding young tight end with 34 catches for 291 yards (and two touchdowns) in his first 10 games, but let's be honest: This is a one-horse race. He wins this award by default thanks to a rookie class that has been overwhelmingly underwhelming.
Despite the size of this year's draft class (12 draftees), only two have seen significant playing time: Amaro and first-round pick Calvin Pryor. While Pryor has been sent to the bench, Amaro has at least found a way to be a viable red-zone threat with a pair of touchdowns.
Amaro is still losing snaps to Jeff Cumberland, but he has outplayed the veteran in all areas of the game. He has had an issue with drops, but it is only a matter of time before he becomes the Jets' No. 1 tight end, whether it's this season or the next.
Amaro has been exciting to watch, but the fact that he is the clear runaway winner of this award is troubling in itself. This draft class (or what is left of it) needs to make major strides next season to avoid setting the team up for failure in the future.
Most Underrated: Nick Mangold
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While many have assumed that Nick Mangold has started to finally wear down with age (especially given the Jets offense), he has found a way to enjoy a bit of a resurgent season at the ripe age of 30.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mangold is the best center in the game by a significant margin. He has allowed just one sack on the season in addition to one hit and three hurries.
The Jets have had their share of issues in pass protection this year, but Mangold is not to blame. If anything, he is saving the Jets from being completely futile in this area, not contributing to it. The fact that he has played this well while working next to two young starters (Brian Winters and Oday Aboushi) makes his stellar play even more impressive.
Prior to this season, it did appear as if we had seen the best of Mangold, as he ranked just 19th among centers by Pro Football Focus last season. However, it appears as if last year was more or less an aberration rather than a sign of things to come.
Biggest Surprise: Phillip Adams/Marcus Williams
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This award goes to a tie between two players who have collectively saved the cornerback position from being a national embarrassment—Phillip Adams and Marcus Williams.
As cornerbacks have dropped like flies in autumn, Rex Ryan has been forced to lean on unproven players like Adams and Williams to play far beyond their limitations. They have embraced starter roles just weeks after being practice-squad leftovers.
While they are far from shutdown corners, they have more than held their own against some of the best passing offenses in the league. In their last outing against Pittsburgh, the duo held the Steelers without a touchdown until the waning seconds of the fourth quarter.
Adams and Williams are still limited in that Ryan cannot be as creative with his schemes in order to get the Jets playing championship-caliber defense, but they have given the team a fighting chance in the recent contests, which is more than anyone could have realistically expected.
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