The New York Jets face a pivotal off-season. While it is only the third year upcoming for General Manager Joe Douglas and the second for Head Coach Robert Saleh and quarterback Zach Wilson, the NFL demands instant results. For an organization that has missed the playoffs for eleven straight seasons, the fans will be looking for significant improvement in 2022.
When Joe Douglas took the job in the summer of 2019, he was given a 6-year contract because of the abysmal roster that was left for him to fix. In the previous six draft classes prior to his hire (2014-2019), the only quality starters remaining on the team were DE Leonard Williams, safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye and defensive tackles Quinnen Williams and Foley Fatukasi. At the four premium positions (QB, LT, EDGE, CB), Douglas had Sam Darnold, Kelvin Beachum, Jordan Jenkins, and Trumaine Johnson as the best players.
Previous regimes may have looked for the quick fix via free agency/trade, but Douglas has known that there were far too many holes from top to bottom on the roster that this would take several off-seasons of drafting and developing talent to fix the errors of former general managers Mike Maccagnan and John Idzik. While the Jets are still a far way away from being considered a contender, Douglas has added premium talent on offense at quarterback in Zach Wilson, Mekhi Becton (who has been dominant when healthy), and George Fant on a very reasonable contract who played outstanding in Becton’s absence. On defense, the additions of Carl Lawson in free agency, as well as Bryce Hall and other young promising cornerbacks late in the draft, have given defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich pieces to work with.
There is still a lot of work to be done to continue filling out the depth chart, but, all being told, Douglas has added more young talent to this roster than there has been since the back-to-back AFC championship runs of more than a decade ago.
In watching the end-of-season press conference from earlier today, while Douglas and Saleh kept their cards close to their chest, there were a few key takeaways to be had:
- Both GM and Coach want to continue building the trenches
- “The way we see football is identical, it starts in the trenches” – Saleh
- Douglas has drafted Becton, Alijah Vera-Tucker, signed Fant, Morgan Moses, Connor McGovern, traded for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, signed Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers extension, and Bryce Huff as an undrafted free agent.
- Douglas has focused on the lines throughout the rebuild, spending multiple first round picks and making his biggest free agent signing, but it does not seem like the job is done
- Defensive line did not generate enough pressure on QBs, and cannot rely on Lawson’s return coming back from an achilles injury to change everything
- With two top ten picks, expect at least one to be spent on the OL/DL with the other position being addressed in free agency
- Openness to trading draft assets
- In previous off-seasons, Joe Douglas has always looked to stock the cupboard with more draft picks, as he believes the draft is “the core of consistent, good football teams”
- While no one should expect Douglas to abandon his previous philosophy of building through the draft, the tone in this press conference was noticeably different than previous ones (“going to be aggressive if the right player trade opportunity comes along”)
- Talent is needed at almost every position across the roster, and Douglas wants to give Saleh and Zach Wilson a competitive roster to give them a chance to win football games
- He will want to continue building primarily through the draft to build a sustainable winner, but he cannot rely entirely on the development of the young players to fill out a winning 53-man roster
- With nine total draft picks including four in the first two rounds, do not be surprised if Douglas adds a proven playmaker for Zach Wilson
In order to prove his competency as general manager, Joe Douglas needs an-offseason like 2021, not 2020, to give the Jets fans and ownership more than just hope: they need results. The morale around the Jets organization is noticeably different across the fan base; it is time to capitalize on the momentum and set up Gang Green for a playoff push in 2022.
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