FanNation - The Republic of Sport

    As I begin my first post of many, I do know that this is what I want to do.  Sports have made up a huge chunk of my life for the last few years and this is my first step towards a career in sportswriting.  This first blog will focus on football, but there will be others on other sports to come.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will reveal that I have only been watching football for the past two years, but have made up for lost time.  But, i digress, I will get to the question which must be on all of your minds, how do I think the Jets are going to do this season, and if you weren't wondering, you are in for a treat because you will come away more knowledgable.

    I will go out on a limb for my hometown team and give the Jets an 8-8 record.  For all of the skeptics who are now dismissing this and walking away from their computers, wait, as a 4-12 record did not represent the team's true abilities.  First of all, based on last seasons records, there are 11 games on the Jets schedule which are very much winnable.  The Jets should defeat the likes of the Chiefs, Raiders, Dolphins, and Rams.  They also have games which could go either way against the Bills, Cardinals, Bengals, Broncos and Seahawks.

    The Jets' offense last season last season was awful.  They did not rank in the top 20 in the league in either points scored or yards gained.  The source of these problems lies partially in the hands of the quarterbacks, but the offensive line was very much at fault as well.   However, with the addition of guard Alan Faneca and right tackle/guard Damien Woody the offensive line suddenly has more to it than their young center Nick Mangold and their developing left tacke D'Brickashaw Ferguson.  The line was very good with Pete Kendall and Faneca is an upgrade.  Now, whoever is starting under center will have protection from the big guys in front.  In addition, the running game should be helped immensely.  Thomas Jones, despite running for more than 1000 yards had only one touchdown.  Leon Washington will continue to be explosive and although not a feature back, he could see many 3rd down touches.  He should also resume his dominance on special teams.

    Unfortunately, the quarterback situation was far from remedied in the offseason.  Kellen Clemens, the third year player with the strong arm but poor decision making, and Chad Pennington, the established starter with excellent decision making but has no long ball continue to battle for the starting job.  The Jets would prefer Clemens to win, as he was their second round pick in 2006 and could conceivably develop into a quality QB. He deserves to be given a year to prove himself, and the Jets will likely continue the QB battle until he is the winner, thereby proving themselves right.  However, should he falter, Pennington will be waiting in the wings to dink and dunk his way to victory.  I do believe Pennington is talented, but his time to lead this team has passed, and unfortunately should continue his role as a supportive, mentoring, veteran backup.  They also have a talented receiving corps. in Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles.  They also drafted a receiving TE in Dustin Keller, who was impressive in the combine and could stretch the field.  His blocking skills need development, but that is fixable.  if Clemens can figure out a way to get the ball to them without getting intercepted than they could wreak havoc on opposing secondaries on the sides as well as over the middle

    The Jets focused most on their defense in the offseason with the acquisitions of Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace.  They also  drafted Vernon Gholston out of Ohio State.  With the massive Jenkins commanding a double team and Pace and Gholston rushing off the edge, the pass rush should improve.  If Jenkins can move his O lineman back than the quarterback will not be able to step up, increasing their vulnerability.  The secondary is still iffy, but Darrelle Revis showed that he can excell at CB in the NFL.  Kerry Rhodes should still patrol around the secondary and is very capable of intercepting or breaking up passes thrown his way.

    Although the Jets do not dominate in any one area, their coach Eric Mangini has learned how to win from his days under Bill Belichick and excels at finding ways to victory whatever way possible.  The Jets did not represent themselves last year, and perhaps not the year before that either.  2008 is the year that they even out and recover from last season's embaressing record.