Around the AFC East, Week 1 - New York Jets

Next up is a trip to Joisey and our friend at SB Nation's New York Jets blog Gang Green Nation, John B.  With Brett Favre and Eric Mangini out of the picture, I was curious whether or not this was a lot of turnover.

PP: This season, the Jets are starting off with, among other things, a new Head Coach and a new quarterback and a rookie at that.  Do you consider the acquisition of HC Rex Ryan and QB Mark Sanchez an upgrade over Eric Mangini and Brett Favre?  Could these changes truly be a massive jump start?

GGN: I believe Ryan will represent an upgrade over Mangini. I was never too high on Mangini's hiring. The rationale seemed to be that Bill Belichick thought highly of him rather than anything Mangini had done to earn the job. Mangini's gameplans were uninspiring aside from a few notable exceptions. The Jets' defense had a lot of talent in 2008, and there seems to be a consensus it was not utilized properly. Ryan has established himself as one of the best tacticians in the game, and his players love him. He has the tools to become an excellent NFL head coach.

 

I am not as convinced Sanchez represents an upgrade over Favre. People forget that for 3/4 of the 2008 season, Favre played very well and had Jets fans talking Super Bowl. Near the end of the season, it seemed like the lack of offseason conditioning caught up to the old man as he broke down, and fatigue seemed to hamper his decision-making. Rookie quarterbacks usually do not make a big impact. Matt Ryan was a once in a decade player.

 

The Jets are not going to ask Sanchez to do as much as they asked of Favre. Considering the running game the team has, that might not be such a bad thing. However, I do not think the passing game will be as strong in 2009 as it was before the 2008 stretch run. In the long run, if Sanchez pans out, ten to fifteen years of quality play will make it well worth losing out on one more year of an aging Favre.

I think John B's thoughts on Sanchez are right on; it'd be tough to expect the kid to jump in and be NFL caliber right off the bat.  As far as Mangini, well good luck to the Browns.  As John B says, he was incredibly uninspiring.

Thanks to John B from Gang Green Nation for his insights on the Jets newly minted star QB and HC.