A Gase at the Jets New Head Coach

Adam Gase, Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post.

The Jets hired their new head coach in Adam Gase after the firing of Todd Bowles. On a quick side note, I liked Todd and his approach, and the players usually play hard for him, but after three out of four losing seasons, three straight double-digit losing seasons-- I'm sure it wasn't all his fault-- it was time for a change.

Gase coached the Miami Dolphins from 2016-2018. After making the playoffs his first year with the Dolphins, he finished 6-10 and 7-9 respectively from there, leading to his firing after the season. When I heard Adam was being considered for the Jets vacancy, I'll admit, he wasn't who I had in mind. I was pushing for Bruce Arians, but I thought later that he probably wouldn't be interested in taking the job after they fired Todd Bowles, who was Arians' defensive coordinator when coached for the Arizona Cardinals, and have now reunited in Tampa.

I will say that prior to the hire, I mentioned that I would prefer him over a coach from college-- unless they've had prior NFL coaching experience, I'm not a fan of them coaching at the next level-- as they were pursuing some collegiate names as well. Right now, the only two college coaches I would roll the dice with is Alabama's Nick Saban or Stanford's David Shaw.

When Gase was hired over Mike McCarthy, a Super Bowl winning head coach, and who was next on my list, I wasn't too thrilled, but there were a few things I considered immediately afterwards: he checked some of the boxes; he wasn't straight from college, the Jets wanted an offensive minded guy, and he's known as one of the best offensive minds in the game today, and he has beaten New England on more than one occasion.

Nearly every quarterback he has worked with improved their efficiency, most notably Jay Cutler, who had his career-best QB rating (92.3) under Gase. His completion percentage (64.4) was his second best, and his third down efficiency was the fourth in the league that year (2015). It's hard for me to credit him with Peyton Manning; Peyton was a household name prior to signing with the Denver Broncos, where Gase was the QBs coach in 2012-13, and the offensive coordinator in 2013-14, steering one of the most high-octane offenses in NFL history, nonetheless, and making a Super Bowl appearance that year.

Speaking of Peyton, it was him who recommended Gase during the Jets coaching search, which is what I think put him over and ultimately landed him the job. Although I wasn't the only one who at least initially who wasn't thrilled with the hire, I thought afterwards that the deal is done, it is what it is, give him a chance, let's see what he can do. He could be the next Sean Payton or perhaps better. I know, that's laughable now, but you never know. Sometimes it takes being in the right situation at the right time.

I'll say this: his reputation as a bright offensive mind combined with an up-and-coming quarterback in Sam Darnold, if the duo is anywhere near as lethal as Gase was with Manning, we could be talking about them being one of, if not the greatest quarterback/coach duo in history.

Sam Darnold: Big Gun in Gotham

Sam Darnold (14)

Honestly, I didn't get the chance to watch much of Sam Darnold's rookie season. One being I don't watch football as much as I used to; political reasons being one of them, the other is being in Louisiana and the fact that they haven't had a winning season in three years-- although I think that's about to change-- the Jets don't appear on TV very often out here. Lately, I usually catch something on the play-by-play or a good amount of highlights, so my take on Sam Darnold is based on what I've been able to see of him. Quick side note: If I change my mind about the first reason, it would only be to have coverage for my blogs.

Sam had an up-and-down rookie reason, as most rookie quarterbacks do while adjusting to the speed, aggression and subtleties of the big league, overall, I think he showed plenty of promise and I think he has a great and bright future ahead of him. Last year when the Jets moved up in the draft to pick him, I'll admit that I thought he was a little overrated. Prior to the draft, there were plenty of comparisons of him to the Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. I heard some say Carson Wentz or Ben Roethlisberger, but it was mostly Andrew Luck.

From what I've seen of his college tape, I saw some good things such as the rocket arm, the unflappability and mobility in the pocket, but it wasn't enough to convince me that he should be a top five pick, let alone the first overall as some were suggesting. I viewed him as a first round talent, just not a top five first round talent. I'll admit, the guy I wanted them to draft was Bradley Chubb-- who finished his rookie season with 12 sacks-- but when the move was made to get Darnold, I decided to change my thinking and embrace optimism.

Another reason why I had reservations of them picking Sam at first was because they had signed Teddy Bridgewater, a guy who is still young and is at least above average, in my opinion, who can still start in the league a month earlier. Initially, I was hoping they would've stayed pat with the 6th overall pick and addressed the trenches by drafting either OL Quenton Nelson or DE/LB Bradley Chubb, which is exactly where Nelson was picked.

From watching how Sam dealt with the media soon after the draft I was immediately impressed with his intangibles. The first preseason game, he showed a tid bit of why the Jets rolled the dice in the draft to pick him. It was some up-and-downs after that-- which apparently was a precursor for what was to come for the regular season-- but all-in-all, I could see what the Jets saw in him. Before preseason ended, they traded Bridgewater to the New Orleans Saints and went all in with Darnold.

In his very first regular reason game, after getting off to a rocky start, he along with the defense finished strong, defeating the Detroit Lions 48-17 on Monday Night Football. From there, things were hot and cold, as Sam went through the growing pains of an NFL rookie-- rookie quarterback, in particular. Some say that general manager Mike Maccagnan sacrificed or "tanked," as the saying goes, the season to speed up Sam's development. I want to say that's speculation, but he once admitted last season that the offense would probably be in a better position than they were if a veteran QB was under center, but I digress.

 I saw some of the same things from him that I had seen from his college tape: the arm strength, quick release, mobility, leadership and unflappable demeanor. I like his ability to maneuver in the pocket and keep a cool head under duress. Yes, there were the"rookie mistakes," (translation: erratic, ill-advised throws) but there were also plays where his improvisational skills turned a disaster into a positive play, if not points.

I would like to see him improve on his accuracy, but I think will come with time, particularly being in new head coach Adam Gase's offense, but my biggest issue with Darnold last year was the same question mark most had on him entering the draft: turnovers. While he finished with slightly more touchdowns than interceptions (17-15) he tied for 2nd in the league with the most interceptions thrown.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting for him to be "Tom Brady," Drew Brees, or Aaron Rodgers like some people seem to be foolishly doing, right away. I mean, that's asking a lot from any quarterback, but especially a rookie. However, I think he has the ceiling to someday elevate to that level, perhaps higher. I know that's laughable to most right now, but you never know.

Again, from what I've seen of him, he has everything one looks for in a quarterback in terms of measurables and intangibles. His fundamentals might not always be pretty or refined, but he gets it done at the end of the day. The main thing I think he needs to work on is limiting the turnovers, which he is committed to doing. I realize he's a gunslinger at heart, and gunslingers tend to take chances, hence, they tend to make that throw you'd hoped they wouldn't have made, but overall, the turnovers can still be limited. From there, I like what I've seen from him and mostly what he's capable of becoming.

With the addition of Le'Veon Bell, Jamison Crowder, and the additions to fortify the offensive line to protect him-- which lack of protection from the line was another thing that hindered him last season, but that's not his fault-- along with some other key additions and still the draft to go, the Jets are on the path to rise from the depths of misery and oblivion to league prominence, and at the helm of that rise will be Sam Darnold, the next superstar quarterback.

NYJ Flying High in Free Agency/ Mr. Good Barr

Le'Veon Bell (26), Anthony Barr (55)

About two years ago, I launched my blog entitled 747, a blog page dedicated to New York Jets sports. Being tied up with other blogs being one of the reasons, I decided to get rid of the blog. I considered bringing it back last off-season, but wound up not going through with it-- until today. My first post was going to be my evaluation of then-rookie quarterback Sam Darnold's performance last season, but after what took place shortly before NFL free agency/ NFL New Year, I decided instead that my first post will be an analysis on the New York Jets free agency, so far.

On a side note, before I start, I want to say I've been rocking with the NYJ since the early 90s. I don't remember which year exactly, but it was somewhere between 92-93, since the days of Ken O' Brien, Al Toon, Mo Lewis, and so on. I, along with other die-hards of the Jets have seen some wonderful moments such as the "Monday Night Miracle" against the Miami Dolphins, upsetting the New England Patriots in the 2010 playoffs, a part of one of their two straight AFC Championship game appearances, to enduring some embarrassing hardships, such as the "Butt Fumble," and the three straight double-digit losing seasons, two straight 5-11 seasons, and them going 4-12 last season. However, despite everything, I'm confident that great days are ahead, and I'll elaborate more on that in my Sam Darnold blog.

Anyway, last week, there was talk that the Jets were in serious pursuit of linebacker Anthony Barr, one of the top free agents and a well-rounded player who can cover, support against the run, and rush the passer when asked, so I was in favor of them signing him. Two days before free agency officially begun, Barr initially committed to a deal where he become a Jet once free agency started. I was excited and looking forward to landing quietly one of the best at his position, in my opinion.

Imagine my thoughts when I woke up Tuesday morning to see that he decided to burn the Jets and stay with the Vikings. Thursday, he gave some emotional, violin playing, soap opera, BS reason why he did it. It was like "marrying the wrong woman" according to him. Initially, I was irked, but then three things came to mind, the first two was not long after Barr's flip-flop, the other after reading his attempt to justify his actions: the first one was that everything happens for a reason; the second was realizing that his bait-and-switch could've possibly opened the door for them to sign running back and top free agent on most team boards, Le'Veon Bell, more that later. The third was if that's the way he felt, it was better that he stayed in Minnesota. I wouldn't want him in New York, knowing that's not where his heart was (violin playing) and not play his best ball.

All of this ties into the bulk and titles of this blog. The night after Anthony Barr's potentially unwittingly act of kindness, the Jets signed Le'Veon Bell, who is clearly a top two back in the league. Prior to that, they traded a 5th round pick for bruising offensive guard Kelechi Osemele, a Pro Bowler two out of his last three seasons along with a 6th round pick; they signed another highly coveted linebacker in C.J. Mosley, as well as a  pretty good receiver in Jamison Crowder. Yesterday, they brought in nickel back Brian Poole to replace Buster Skrine, who left for the Chicago Bears.

In addition, they retained versatile offensive lineman Jonathan Harrison and (thankfully) defensive lineman Henry Anderson and Steve McClendon, the former finishing last season with a career high 7 sacks. The two moves they made that left me scratching my head was letting kicker Jason Myers and return man Andre Roberts, both Pro Bowlers, walk away in free agency. The former signed with the Seattle Seahawks on $15 million deal, $7 million guaranteed. Way too much for a kicker in my opinion, so letting him walk left me scratching my head-- initially. They let the latter sign with the Buffalo Bills.

They struggled to find quality returners over the past few years, and Roberts was the best they had since Leon Washington and Brad Smith in the early 2000s, so I'm curious as to who they have in mind to replace him. They have replaced Myers with Chandler Catanzaro, who was a Jet a couple of years ago before leaving for the Buccaneers. I'm fine with this signing if Chandler can regain his form in his first season as a Jet.

Free Agency is still young, plus the draft is coming up next month, so there are plenty of moves the Jets could make between time. Back to Le'Veon Bell and Anthony Barr. As I mentioned earlier, Anthony "Barring" the Jets opened the door for them to sign Le'Veon Bell, whom safety Jamal Adams pushed heavily for, he might have a GM title in his future. Although they were in pursuit of him anyway, Barr walking away created more of an opportunity for them to do so.

This is a weapon of mass destruction for Darnold, along with other talents such as Quincy Enunwa, Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder and Chris Herndon, who had a strong finish in the second half of his rookie season. If this turns out the way I'm envisioning, while there's a lot of people in New York verbally ripping Anthony Barr apart, they might be thanking him for his "good deed" later.