Realistically, how good are we?

[Davey]

Poorly coached is a simple way of saying it, too simple and doesn't highlight the things Rex Ryan actually does well and makes it sound like it's something that can't or won't be fixed.

Rex Ryan on form is one of the best coaches in football, motivating players to run through a wall for him, maximizing player skill sets and being a defensive x's and o's mastermind. Team mentality is too up and down though, a product of Rex Ryan's style. When he can motivate players with a "back against the wall" mentality the Jets have been very dangerous but when they play the role of bully rather than the disrespected the players get complacent. And with the rumblings in the locker room from last season, that things don't go as well when the team is losing is a sign of not always being able to keep the players close-knit. He's speaking like he's learned from it though. But again, we'll see. I still think there's something to be said for 2009-2010 going to Cortland and the camaraderie built from that as opposed to 2011 coming off the lockout where the team didn't play for each other as much.

The biggest thing in terms of on-the-field stuff has always been discipline. Particularly, discipline on the offensive side of the ball. And that's where the Tony Sparano hire is so pivotal - he preaches fundamentals and discipline, knowing that more games are lost than won and not beating yourself is half the battle. If he successfully instills discipline into the offense across the board the entire team will benefit greatly. The Dolphins under Sparano were one of the league's least penalized teams consistently.

I think the first handful of games will be key. The negative impact of having Tim Tebow on the roster in itself is incredibly exaggerated, but the Jets will suffer disastrous consequences if Sanchez gets benched for Tebow at any point during the season and it's most likely to occur if Sanchez struggles early on in the season against the quality of defenses the Jets face in that period.

But again, I think poorly coached is unfair. In fact in some respects the Jets are amongst the best coached teams in the league particularly on the defensive side of the ball and we'll see the effect Tony Sparano will have offensively. Rex Ryan has to make strides as a head coach though, in terms of administrative duties and man management. And those are indeed key things to be fair. If he's going to be someone who puts a lot of faith and trust into fellow staff, they've got to be able to do their job well, and that's something Brian Schottenheimer didn't do. So we'll see how things work out now that Ryan has hired one of "his" type of guys in Tony Sparano. I expect positive strides.

[Colt45fool]

[RDawg10]

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[RDawg10]

[skrILL]

Comparing this year's team to last year's just goes to show how many different dimensions we have added to this team. Stephen Hill gives us a dangerous deep threat and even though he's an unpolished rookie, he can still fly down field and teams need to worry about that. Demario Davis finally gives us a speedy linebacker with range, cover skills, and great blitzing ability. Tebow & Sparano will revolutionize the Wild Cat. LaRon Landry, although not known for his cover skills, is a fast free safety that we've been lacking forever. Quinton Coples has the potential to command double teams or become a pass rushing force of his own along the d-line; just because he's not a prototypical JPP or Aldon Smith doesn't mean he won't make an impact. In fact, I expect Coples to kill it from day one. We are no longer a predictable team.

In addition to all that, we have a CAKE schedule. We play the entire AFC South and NFC West and I expect to take at least 5 out of 8 of those games. I also expect to go 4-2 in the division. Then we have a game against the Steelers, who will be without Mendenhall and Hampton when we play them in week 2, and a game against the Chargers, at home, in primetime, in week 16 when things can be coming down to the wire. We have played them well in recent memory, plus I'm not impressed with that team anyway.

I think Jet fans have a lot to be excited about. Looking at our schedule, there's no way we're going to be any worse than we were this past season. We haven't gotten worse in any way, only better. Bryan Thomas will be back too and he's hugely underrated on this forum. Maybin, Wilson, and Wilkerson are all improving and more can be expected from them. We now have a fierce competition at RT and Shonn Greene will be facing some pressure too so I expect our running game to improve also just because of that. Hill and Tebow's presence alone will help our running game when they're on the field too.

Lastly, this is Sanchez's make-or-break year. Someone posted an article comparing Mark to Eli and their numbers are eerily similar. If that's any indication of Mark making improvements, we should have our expectations for this season set high. I have faith in him, he's shown his flashes of brilliance while playing inconsistently. He wasn't a top 5 pick for nothing, I think he can do it.

Final prediction: 12-4, with the #5 seed in the playoffs.
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[b]N E W Y O R K J E T S

[JetFanSince85]

We are young, added loads of talent in the draft. If you guys think Couples is not good you dont have a clue about football. Dude is a monster I dont care what the scouts say about motor. Dude is a baller and with a guy like Rex and playing with Wilkerson the competition between the two will drive both to the next level. We got Hill who many scouts said was a top 20 pick his skill set is off the charts. We got two top 20 talents without moving up that high. I think Couples and Hill will be stars and in Demario can be our 3 down backer this could be the best draft in Jets History.

[Colt45fool]

[RDawg10]

[Robbie Epic]

[green24]

^ Longest post in FF history?
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JMG and sandwhich on the sigs.

[Darrelle Revis]

I think we're probably an 8 win team. This is definitely the least excited I've been about a Jets team in a few years. Barely thinking about the season.

I don't expect Sanchez to take a big leap forward. He'll probably get a little better like he has every year so far.

The WR group really worries me. I think it could hold us back a lot.
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"I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last."

[cddolphin]

Tony Sparano running your offense is not a good thing, I can't really see how some of you guys can think any differently.

[JfaulkNY]

[kilahchris]

[ekill08x]