[mmarra82]

2004 Jets Evaluation

As the playoffs roll on, we began to evaluate how our season went by position group.

Quarterback - After a miserable 2003 in which he went 0-7 as the Jets' starting quarterback, Pennington bounced back to lead the team to 10-6 and the AFC East crown. Pennington statistically was much better the first half of the season, in which the Jets were only 4-4. The offense was aggressive, and Pennington threw for 12 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions. In the second half the weather did come into play in some games, and Pennington hit for 7 touchdowns against 5 interceptions, however, the team went 6-2 down the stretch to secure the number two seed in the AFC. However, Pennington can still be seen to make some bad throws, that result in costly turnovers, something the Jets could not afford against an opportunistic team like the Steelers. For the season Pennington completed over 61% percent of his passes for nearly 3,500 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He needs to come back in 2005 stronger and better for this team to continue to improve. It appears that we made the right decision to commit to Pennington and release Testaverde. Also, early in the season we made the decision to extend Pennington's contract through the end of the 2008 season. Pennington's contract is rather moderate ($18.26 million over 5 seasons) to many of the starting quarterbacks in the league. After his 2003 season, there was some concern about commiting to him until he played out the year, however, the gamble to sign him early when his asking price was down, paid off. If we had waited until after the season, his price would have been a lot steeper (keep in mind we extended Abraham to a deal for $51.23 million over 6 seasons).

Backup quarterback, Tim Rattay was called upon in the team's biggest regular season game since the end of the 2002 season. With the Jets leading the Patriots 14-0 early in the second quarter, Pennington suffered a knee injury that took him out of the game. Rattay came off the bench for the first time and performed flawlessly, completing 17 of 21 passes for 164 yards, and zero turnovers. His performance was a big reason the Jets went on to defeat the Patriots 26-21.
Grade: B

Backs - For the season the Jets ran the ball 527 times for 1904 yards, an average of 119 yards per game, 11th in the NFL, however, the team managed a mere 3.61 yards per carry, 27th in the league. Much of that can be contributed to Curtis Martin. Martin was once again the rock that you hope for from your starting running back. He finished with 1,839 yards in total offense and 13 touchdowns, while touching the ball 441 times, up 34 more from the 2003 campaign. What was raises concern however, is that Martin just did not appear to have the explosiveness he once had. Martin averaged a mere 3.32 yards per carry. Only once during the season did he average more than 4.0 yards per carry in a game, the last one when he averaged 5.2 yards. So, what do you do? Here is a man who rarely misses a down, but yet he is scheduled to be an approximate $5.6 million cap hit for 2005. I was hoping Martin could carry me through 2005, when it appears there will be several running backs on the market, however, the time might have come to invest in a back of the future.

Lamont Jordan is scheduled to be a free agent this season, his asking price is not high, however, he might be replaced at the RB2 spot by a draftee. Jordan was thought of to be the back of the future for the Jets. But he has shown little signs of being able to assume that role. He is a powerback who does have some quickness, but he lacks the ability to hit the holes. Jordan carried the ball 91 times for 338 yards and 3 touchdowns. He averaged 3.71 yards per carry, hardly what you would consider starting material. So the early thinking could be to let Jordan go through free agency and draft someone with perhaps a 3rd round pick to sit behind Martin's final year with the Jets.

Chad Morton got a handful of carries this season, and showed some of the quickness you would expect from a return man. Morton does not have the build though to be an everydown back. His role will continue to be return man duties. Morton averaged 22.5 yards per kick return this season.

Jerald Sowell might have played his last game at fullback as well. At 30 years old, Sowell's abilities have declined to the point where his blocking abilities have struggled, which is a contributing factor to our running game decline. Sowell joined the team in 1997 as a special teams player, he became the starter in 2001 after Richie Anderson and the Jets departed ways.

Second year fullback, B.J. Askew was called upon for a mere 69 offensive plays this season. He did his job effectively and will continue to be with the Jets as a reserve fullback and special teams player.
Grade: C+

Tight Ends - Anthony Becht was the starter this season, and finished with his most productive season of his career. Becht caught 40 passes for 398 yards. He lacks the ability to stretch the middle of the field however, and his blocking skills are adaquet. The statistic that catches you the most is that of his 40 receptions, zero were for touchdowns. Becht who is in the final year of his contract could have the opportunity to shop the free-agent market. Currently Becht's agent is looking for a deal worth nearly $10 million over the next 5 seasons. That would put him in the top-10 in salary for tight ends, when our scouting staff does not consider him a top-20 player at the position. There are some options in the FA market this year, Bubba Franks will be the most sought after tight end, but after him we could bid for the services of Cameron Cleeland of St Louis, Jason Dunn of Chicago or Steve Heiden from Cleveland. It will be a wait and see approach with Becht.

Chris Baker is also in the final year of his contract, but can be resigned relatively cheap, we will offer him a minimal two year deal. Baker is ok in the passing game, he does struggle with blocking. James Dearth will continue his role with the team as a special teams player, and that could be in jeopardy if we feel we need another long snapper (Machado is the current snapper).
Grade: C+

Wide Receivers - This group for the Jets was perhaps our strongest. Although we still do not possess the big receiver to start at Split End, veteran Wayne Chrebet was once again solid. Although Chrebet's catch total was down from 68 to 59 this season, he found the end zone 8 times. Chrebet was also special after the catch this season, he compiled 329 yards after the catch, an average of 5.5 yards a reception, last season his yac average was 1.4 yards a reception. That helped him average 15.5 yards per catch. Chrebet will be 32-years old next season, and with a cap hit scheduled to be $2.2 million, he will be our starter in all likely hood.

Santana Moss had a very comparable '04 season to '03. His 67 receptions was 4 more than last year, he averaged 14.1 yards per reception, finishing the season with 949 yards. He caught 6 passes for 127 yards in the Jets' playoff lost, stepping up in the big game. Moss will be entering the last season of his contract, next season, and many wonder if it will be his last as a Jet. Although he has the ability to be a top receiver, his numbers just have not justified a deal in the area of $8 million per season.

Tyrone Calico completed his second season in the NFL, and was solid as the WR3. He caught 36 passes for 498 yards and a touchdown, although slightly down from last season, Calico is developing. Calico's big frame, 6'4" makes him an ideal target for Pennington. Calico should work his way into the full-time starting line-up by 2006.

The Jets' 4th receiver this season was David Terrell, who handled the season well. Terrell did not see as much action as anticipated, and a big reason for that is that Pennington does not run any 4-wide receiver sets. Terrell saw action early in the year when Moss missed the first two games, Terrell caught 7 passes for 89 yards in which he was used as a WR3. Terrell gives us insurance at the position.

The 5th receiver position was occupied by rookie free agent, Jerricho Cotchery and Marcus Robinson. Cotchery saw action in games one and two of the season catching a touchdown pass before being injured for the year. Robinson was signed late in the season for insurance, and was never active. Robinson was with the team in 2003.

Grade: B+

Offensive Line - The O-Line was anchored by our center, Kevin Mawae. Mawae's skills are slowly on the decline (our scout says 69), but he is still a top-10 center in the league. Mawae's run blocking abilities are not where they once were, in fact he only was successful on 18.2 percent of his key run blocks, compared to 25 percent last season. However, his pass blocking abilities were outstanding, Mawae gave up only 2 sacks for the season. Currently Mawae is scheduled for a $3.5 million cap hit next season, but he is a player the Jets need to be in the middle of this O-Line.

Last season's signing of Travis Claridge is one that has not lived up to what we had hoped thus far. Claridge was nicked up most of the season, playing in only 10 games, however, he gave up 10 sacks in those games. Last season he only gave up 4, and played every snap. Claridge's run blocking ability did come on as the season progressed, and with the relatively inexpensive price tag ($1.35 million), Claridge will be with the team next season.

The right guard position was one of concern all year. The team was unable to find a veteran through free agency so they drafted Quinn Christensen in the 5th round. Christensen did a nice job in his 9 starts, with a blocking percentage of 28.0 and allowed just 2 sacks. Christensen is an intelligent football player, but the we might look to find a better fit here with Christensen adding the depth that he was originally intended for.

JP Machado was a late free agency signing, and it was a good thing. Macado's versatility allowed him to play left guard, right guard and center when needed. He was also the team's long snapper. Machado's blocking percentage was 26.9 percent, and he allowed just 3 sacks.

Left Tackle Jason Fabini had another solid season with the Jets. Fabini started 14 games at LT, where he was dependable in his 7th season. Fabini is not the big time tackle his contract would make it appear, however, his production is hard to argue with. His blocking percentage of 35.2 percent, and he only allowed 4 sacks while blocking against some of the league's premier pass rushers.

Right Tackle Kareem McKenzie continues to be a question mark to this team, he allowed 7 sacks last season, and his blocking percentage was below 30 percent. McKenzie will probably get the start next season, but it is not impossible to think the team might look to find an elite left tackle, move Fabini to the right and McKenzie to the RG position where he might be a better fit.

Reserve linemen Paul Harker, Dave Yovanovits, Lance Nimmo are signed through next season and will compete for a roster spot. Late season signing LJ Shelton will certainly be gone, as he complained about his playing time in just the short while he was here.

As a collective unit the line allowed 25 sacks which was the second lowest total in the league, however, the rushing attack averaged just 3.61 yards per carry, 27th worst in the league.

Grade: B-