New York Jets Team Report by Chase Stuart
| NYJ Projections (9/3) | Passing Stats | Rush Stats | Receiving Stats | Fantasy | |||||||||||
| Change | Name | Pos | Att | Comp | % | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | Yds | TD | Pts |
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| Totals | #NumberFormat("#tot_patt#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_pcmp#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#evaluate(100*tot_pcmp/tot_patt)#", '_____._')#% | #NumberFormat("#tot_pyds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_ptds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_int#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_ratt#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_ryds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_rtds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_rec#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_cyds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_ctds#", '__,_____')# | #NumberFormat("#tot_pts#", '__,_____')# | ||
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Quarterbacks Starter - Vinny Testaverde Backups - Chad Pennington, Tory Woodbury Starting Quarterback: Testaverde's career with the Jets has been like a rollercoaster. Brought in as a backup in 1998, he became team MVP with a QB rating over 100, and led the Jets into the playoffs with a 12-1 record. The following year he tore his Achilles in the season opener, and missed the rest of the season. In 2000, under new coach Al Groh, Testaverde led the league in interceptions with 25, but had the Jets positioned at 9-4 while throwing 21 TDs, before three straight losses to miss the playoffs. In 2001, he was much less aggressive and threw 15 TDs and 14 INTs. At 9-6, many felt Testaverde's Jet career was on the line in a win or go home game in Oakland. The Jets won, Testaverde played great in the playoff game (277/3), but the Jets lost. This year, Testaverde and offensive coordinator Paul Hackett have made up, and the Jets appear to be set on being much more aggressive than they were in 2001. While the second year in the West Coast Offense should bring improvement by leaps and bounds, Testaverde's upside is limited and that's why we rank him 24th. He's 39 years old, the wide receivers are all vertically challenged, the head coach is a Tony Dungy disciple, Paul Hackett is still the offensive coordinator, and the Jets have a pretty good RB around which the offense is centered. While Testaverde is seen as injury prone, despite his age he has started 33 games the past two seasons. Backup Quarterback(s): Due to a variety of Testaverde injuries, Pennington has played a lot with the first team in both mini camp and training camp. Pennington has impressed coaches, who had appeared to have soured on him before. Remember, he wasn't drafted by the Herman Edwards/Terry Bradway regime, and there was a question of how much they liked him. Testaverde is the unquestioned starter, but the Jets would feel comfortable if Pennington had to play. On the other hand, if Tory Woodbury had to play things would get ugly. Woodbury is a nice special teams player, and can throw a decent long ball, but doesn't have the makings of anything other than a third string QB. Running Backs Starter - Curtis Martin Backups - LaMont Jordan, Chad Morton Starting Running Back: Curtis Martin is the man for Gang Green, as he has been for years. Martin's tremendous off-season conditioning is one of the reasons why he was able to have his career season at the age of 28, old for many runningbacks. While there might have been some question last year how the end of the Bill Parcells/Al Groh era would affect his numbers, those were quickly silenced. Martin has a history of fading in the second half of the year because of the pounding he takes. A late bye week last season helped him have two 120-yard rushing performances at the end of the year, but this year the Jets have an early bye week. LaMont Jordan will be used to try and keep Martin fresh. The Jets offensive line lost two starters, and their OL coach. While there were many early doubters, they have been put to rest so far with stellar play in the preseason. QB Testaverde hasn't been touched yet, and the run blocking has impressed Coach Edwards. Bottom line, Martin is one of the safest bets in fantasy football and should finish in the top 10 among RBs again. Backup Running Back(s): LaMont Jordan had a nice rookie season, rushing for 7.5 yards per carry on thirty-nine carries. Jordan should eclipse the fifty carry mark this season, and have some catches as well. However, it's very difficult to take Curtis Martin off the field, despite the best efforts of coaches over the past few years. To fix this, Edwards has talked about occasionally having Martin, Jordan, Chrebet, Coles and Moss on the field at the same time. Jordan would be a top 15 RB if Martin was to get hurt, and could very likely be much higher. Jordan may get some of the goal line carries, as he is strong short-yardage runner. At 5'7, Chad Morton has been called too small to be considered an every down RB, but has value as a kick returner. He recently asked for his role to be expanded, and the Jets seem to be high on him. Jets beat writer Ken Berger wrote "He benches 425 pounds and squats well more than 500, yet he's one of the fastest players on the team with a 40-yard-dash time of about 4.3. With numbers like that, it's easy to see why the Jets are eager to get Chad Morton more involved in the offense." Fullback(s): Richie Anderson, Jerald Sowell, Chad Kuhns: Anderson is a jack of all trades fullback, able to run, catch and block. With the addition of two talented backup RBs last year, Anderson saw his role decline. He was used mostly as a blocker, and helped Curtis Martin finish second in the league in rushing. A pro bowler in 2000, Anderson's value to the team is larger than his fantasy value. Sowell's propensity to fumble, along with the emergence of Chad Morton, makes him questionable to make the team. Wide Receivers / Tight Ends Starters- Laveranues Coles, Wayne Chrebet Backups - Santana Moss, Kevin Swayne Starting Receiver(s): Laveranues Coles entered last year as the team's fourth wide receiver, but ended up posting the best numbers of any Jet wideout. Coles is an emerging star in the league, but his situation leaves something to be desired. The Jets want to involve LaMont Jordan, Wayne Chrebet and Santana Moss more this season. Some of that will be solved by just running more offensive plays, as the Jets were 31st in the league in number of offensive plays run last season. Testaverde has problems throwing accurate long balls, which doesn't take advantage of Coles' great speed. Coles has the tools to be a star WR in the West Coast offense, but his upside is limited in the current offense and that's why we have him ranked 24th. Chrebet had problems with the new offense last year, but caught 469 yards in the second half last season. Always a third down threat and great at getting open, Chrebet is being forgotten in many leagues this year. Testaverde feels comfortable with Chrebet, and he had a great game against Baltimore last Saturday. Still, Chrebet won't be more than a fantasy backup, and won't explode for many big games because the team doesn't look for him much in the red zone. Backup Receiver(s): Santana Moss was injured last year, and had no impact his rookie season. The team is high on the former first round pick, and they plan on figuring out ways to utilize his speed. He will run some reverses, and the Jets will use 3-WR sets to make the most of his talents. Many have said that Moss plays much bigger than his 5-10 frame, and his great leaping ability makes him a better target than initially thought. Kevin Swayne is the biggest WR on the team, and has become a local favorite after he played in over fifty football games last season. Swayne played in just about any game he could find, even the XFL. He's what you'd like out of a fourth receiver, a big guy who can make a play every once in awhile. Tight End(s): Anthony Becht, Chris Baker [r], James Dearth - Anthony Becht was a first round pick, but has yet to play like one. While he has problems holding on to the football, a large part of the problem is the Jets offense isn't geared towards the tight end. Even more so, with Moss and Jordan, Becht's role on the team will be diminished. Herman Edwards said he thinks this could be a breakout year for Becht, but we're pessimtic that Becht gets over 45 catches. He is a great goalline threat though, the biggest target on the team. Testaverde threw game winning touchdown passes in the final minutes in consecutive weeks, to Anthony Becht late last season. Chris Baker was touted as a good receiver at MSU, but Edwards recently said he was impressed with how Baker has picked up blocking. Baker shouldn't be counted on for anything this season for your fantasy squad. Place Kicker John Hall: Hall has an injured hip, but team officials expect him to be fine for the season. Last year, Jets Punter Tom Tupa had the same injury and it affected him all year, so expect the Jets to be safe with Hall. He has a good leg, but has consistency problems. One would think the big kick to send the Jets into the playoffs would have changed things around for Hall, but he missed a pair of 45-yard field goals the following week in the playoff game. Hall is a backup kicker for fantasy rosters, and hasn't had any big seasons to date. Defense Right now, team health is the biggest question on the defense. The two most talented players have injury questions. John Abraham is the premier young DE in the league, but he strained his MCL and is questionable for the opener. Sam Cowart is a former pro bowler, but was injured all last season. Both are young players, but the defense is worse without them playing. Larry Webster also was injured, but should be healthy by the time the season starts. He may not start though, as Josh Evans has impressed thus far and will likely team with Jason Ferguson as the starting tackles. The secondary made sweeping changes, bring in players to better fit Edwards' cover 2 scheme. Donnie Abraham should feel very comfortable, as he takes over the same role he had when he was a pro bowler in Tampa Bay. Sam Garnes replaces Victor Green, who was coming off a year when he looked slower than ever before. Aaron Beasley looks to be the weak link of the defense, as he is one of the slower starting corners in the league. The Jets defense has great potential if the team is healthy, and Ted Cottrell is a top defensive coordinator who almost went to San Diego this off-season. The Jets are lucky to still have him. Coaching Herman Edwards first season as head coach drew great praise, as the Jets made the playoffs. However, Edwards made a lot of mistakes as a rookie coach, which need to be fixed for him to stay long in this league. The Jets had all sorts of problems with time management, something unacceptable on a professional level. Edwards also tried too hard to fit players into his scheme, which never works. He was smart enough to grab his players this off-season that fit his scheme, which should bring about better results. Edwards makes some in-game decisions that make you really scratch your head, but is a great motivator and the players love playing for him. Paul Hackett is the Offensive Coordinator, and Jimmy Raye has joined him to help call plays for the offense. He has promised to open things up and throw downfield more this season. Ted Cottrell and Mike Westhoff, are two of the top defensive coordinators and special teams coaches in the NFL. Intangibles The Jets won a lot of games last year because they won the turnover battle. The Jets added team speed on defense, in hopes of once again forcing turnovers. The Jets are a very veteran team with Super Bowl expectations, and it's unsure how the team would react to a slow start. The Jets have the best road record in the NFL over the past five years, including going 7-1 last season. Herman Edwards stressed the one thing the Jets added this off-season was team character. He felt that was an issue last year, one of the reasons Marcus Coleman was exposed in the expansion draft. The Jets had one of the lightest training camp schedules in the league, and were given off on Sundays. Whether this leaves the team fresh as planned or unprepared will be one of the stories to follow. |