Photo courtesy of Toni Lucatorto, Flickr Creative Commons
Mike Vick is a short-term solution to a long-term New York Jets problem. He has the experience and a strong football IQ, which Geno Smith has been lacking. The unfortunate truth is that the Jets are about three decent players away from having a playoff contending team.
Their offense is electric, and their defense, with the exception of their secondary, is a brick wall that disables the run game. Looking toward the future, the Jets will most likely be making changes to their coaching staff and possibly even front office this upcoming offseason.
Although the players seem to love current head coach Rex Ryan, his days in New York may be numbered. Ryan has had minimal success over the last few years and it was imperative that Gang Green be in playoff contention this year.
“It’s hard but it’s time,” said lifelong Jets fan, junior John Farella. “It has been a great run, but I just don’t think he’s meant to be the head coach. He can’t evolve a quarterback.”
It is clear that they still lack one main position on this team: a quarterback. The Jets need to look toward the future, and they need to do it quick. Although Vick led the Jets to a win last week against the Steelers, he is still a fairly old veteran at 34 years old, and is fragile due to his versatility in the pocket.
Vick gets the job done for the Jets this season, but it is obvious, to say the least, that the Jets need to look for a fresh quarterback this offseason through either the draft, free agency or even a trade.
There has been a lot of speculation that Rex Ryan may be fired after this season. This is Ryan’s sixth year as the Jets’ head coach. He has a record of 44-46 with the Jets as of this date. During his first two years with the team, he put together miraculous playoff runs, but those days and players are long gone.
However, Ryan cannot be blamed for all of the Jets’ woes this season. He is not responsible for the team having $23 million left over in cap space after the offseason. Ryan doesn’t call the offensive plays, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg does, and the play-calling in many scenarios has been subpar to say the least.
Jets general manager John Idzik, Ryan and Mornhinweg are most at fault for this year’s debacle. Once again the New York Jets are stuck with a full plate this offseason, and it will very be interesting to see how they handle it.
Junior Brady O’Connor said that the Jets’ only choice is to draft a true number one quarterback in the offseason.
“I really hope they are able to draft a quarterback capable of leading this team to where I think they can be.”
cmay2@ramapo.edu
