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If it’s a purge, so be it . .
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Jets GM Mike Maccagnan still has final say on the roster.
However, he has two new guys running his offense and defense, who come in with a new worldview of what they are looking for. Adam Gase is running the offense and Gregg Williams is running the defense.
So while everybody is talking nice now, what is going to happen when these two worlds collide when the the Jets have to make roster decisions.
If Maccagnan and Christopher Johnson want to turn this thing around, they need to listen to Gase and Williams, and leave the old draft pick politics in the rear-view mirror.
If this is handled correctly, you could see a lot of past draft picks get cut.
This isn’t to say the guys who go by the wayside are bad players, but they might not fit what Gase and Williams are looking for.
One thing about Gase, if you don’t learn the playbook, and you are blowing assignments in games, you are going to be benched. In Miami, he would trade people like this, with running back Jay Ajayi being a perfect example, but with the Jets, Gase can’t pull the trigger on trades, that is Maccagnan.
But the political nonsense that went on the last four years, and it was nonsense, where certain anointed players would continue to start, regardless of how they were playing, is out the window. Gase might not control the final 53, but he controls who plays. He has shown a proclivity to bench anybody, at any time.
With Williams, I’m telling you right now, there are certain players who are given to mental errors in games, blown assignments, and that isn’t going to fly with him.
I’m telling you, Gase and Williams are going to want to make myriad changes to the roster, and it will be interesting to see if Maccagnan pushes back. After all, he brought all these players in.
Maccagnan needs to listen to Gase and Williams as much as possible, and not worry about his draft record.
If he listens to them, and releases some draft picks. you will see the same usual suspects in the media get into Maccagnan’s draft record. They always do when draft picks are cut.
But this isn’t about draft records, it’s about the win-loss record, and the Jets are coming went 5-11, 5-11 and 4-12 the last three years.
Ignore the “draft record lobby” in the media.
Keep the best players.
Maybe the Jets should do what they do in New England, where the players where no numbers in minicamp, so Bill Belichick and the coaches can evaluate the players without preconceived notions.
The Jets’ personnel department, led by Maccagnan, need to check their egos at the door, and listen to Gase and Williams. This isn’t about player personnel ego, it’s about turning around the Jets.
Gase and Williams are two objective observers, coming in from the outside, who will watch all the film from the last couple of years, and give a blunt assessment of the Jets’ roster – no rose-colored glasses.
January 28, 2019
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