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Are these mixed messages or are the messages clear as day . . .
Talking about what the Jets were trying to accomplish last season?
Were they trying to win games and to to the playoffs, or was the chief goal to develop young players?
In an exclusive interview with the Jets’ website, assistant GM Rex Hogan was asked, “What did you think of how Robert Saleh and his staff went about developing when we talk the success of the 2021 draft class?”
“We love what they did with them and that is what we talked about entering – we knew we were going to be a super-young team and the biggest key is going to be developing those young guys and there are going to be growing pains and everybody understood that and just kept working and kept building toward 17 games,” Hogan said.
First of all, I’m not sure we can talk about the success of the 2021 class in its entirety right now. We can talk about guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, receiver Elijah Moore and RB Michael Carter for sure. But the jury is still out of the rest of them. Some could turn out to be terrific, maybe all of them. But right now, there are three verifiable success stories. You can’t paint the entire class with the same brush at this stage.
Secondly, should we have graded the 2021-22 season on curve? And that isn’t meant to be flippant, but more based on what is being said, like Hogan’s stating – “The biggest key is going to be developing those young guys and there are going to be growing pains and everybody understood that.”
So with the “biggest key” being “developing these young guys,” perhaps we shouldn’t be critical of the 4-13 record last season.
However, GM Joe Douglas said after the season – “Obviously, a difficult season, not where we want to be. Four wins, a tough season.”
However, in the same press conference, Douglas said, “I think the world we live in, everyone wants instant gratification, and they expect some of these young guys to come out and be all pros.”
So as outsiders, how are we supposed to view last season as “four wins, a tough season” or the biggest key “developing those young players.”
Look, I’m not looking to attack anyone. As you all know, I think Douglas is the best GM they’ve had in years. As for Hogan. I really can’t comment on his work because as an assistant GM, it’s hard to discern which player acquisitions were his ideas. That is a gray area to the media and public. So it’s hard to judge him.
But Douglas also said in that season-ending presser – “For me, I have to do a better job, I have to do a better job. This is going to be my third offseason, and so I’ve got to do a better job, make better decisions moving forward and help Coach Saleh put this team in position to win more games.”
Here is the bottom line, as a reporter covering the team, I have to judge them by their record, and I can’t grade on a curve.
The Jets were 4-13.
That is the bottom line.
Maybe they internally can view it through the prism of developing young players, but I’m always going to go by wins and losses.
Am I wrong for doing that?
I will leave that up to you guys, the readers.
But I think we can all agree that the Jets’ record needs to be a heck of a lot better next season, because it’s going to hard to find many fans that view the upcoming season as one that should be judged by player development.
March 14, 2022
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