Fantasy Football

This division probably had the most story-laden season in 2008, and the Jets are no exception. After a strong 8-3 start, they collapsed much in the same fashion that the Dolphins regathered, losing four of the next five and completely missing the playoffs by a mile (with today’s NFL standards). Somehow the Jets managed to pin this all on Eric Mangini, who seems to have an unusual coaching style, but knows how to coach a winning franchise.

Nothing like being the beneficiary of circumstance. This guy's like Tommy Carcetti. Google it.

This, of course, was the fault of Brett Favre, whose managed to turn into the Steve Francis of the NFL. For the uninitiated, that means he’s a coach killer. So Mangini gets fired, Favre retires to make a spectacle out of trying to garner the interest of the Vikings and the team trades up to draft a top five QB and we get someone named Rex Ryan as a head coach. In short, it’s a total fucking mystery what their offense is going to look like. I would suggest you look at their offensive productivity for 2007, the year before they had Favre, give the offensive line two more years of improvement, take away Laverneus Coles and replace Kellen Clemens with Marc Sanchez, a rookie quarterback out of USC who couldn’t beat out John David Booty for the starting position, and he’s a third string backup for the worst QB team in the league.

Can’t Miss (for what one could reasonably expect): Well, there aren’t many of these that the Jets roster is sporting. It’s going to revolve around a unqualified or rookie quarterback, a pedestrian receiving corps, a serviceable running game and a loaded offensive line. Thomas Jones is probably the closest you’re going to get to a sure thing on this team, and even he is going to share a number of carries with Leon Washington and rookie third round draft pick Shonn Greene, who we’ve praised before and we feel is likely to get at least a small share of carries throughout the season.

Tread Lightly: Every receiver that plays a down for this team. You can probably get Jerricho Cotchery at good value, but with the options he has throwing to him, do you really want to take that chance before the season starts? Same goes for Chansi Stuckey, who was hot and cold for every single game last season, and more often than not he reflected the latter.

Dark Horses: Dustin Keller is probably the most popular fit for this category, but I like Shonn Grenne, as I have my doubts about Jones’ body holding up for two full straight seasons and Leon Washington’s capacity as an every down back. Keller is certainly a definitive prospect, but I’d make sure I draft another tight end before I put too much stock into him coming off a season wherein he was playing with a Favre, a quarterback known for his penchant for throwing to tight ends (Mark Chumura, Bubba Franks, Donald Lee, etc.).

Even this defense, which is pretty star-studded can’t be relied on. How many turnovers are they going to have to suffer from the offense? What style of offense can we expect Ryan to run? I’m sure it will emphasize moving the ball on the ground, but will the passing game be sufficient enough to keep opposing defenses honest?

In short, there are just too many question marks on this team that all stem from their quarterback situation. Mark Sanchez might be the next John Elway, but I imagine even the most optimistic and loyal Trojan and Jets fans have their reservations. My advice — for this entire roster, really –
is to under-shoot everyone by about two rounds, and if any of them are still available try to get them at value. But if they’re taken earlier than they should be, just regard it as a more valuable asset staying on the board for one more pick.