by GratefulJet Sun 28 Dec 2014 - 6:55
I'm not disputing that there is a rabid horde of Jets fans out there. That's what makes this situation so tough to deal with. On the one hand, you don't want to give in to the pitchforks and torches crowd, on the other hand, you don't want to do the opposite of what they're demanding just for the sake of doing so, because in this case, what they're demanding is actually the correct path to follow. The team has gotten worse over the last two years, we've found only one impact player so far out of 20 draft picks, and the roster holes that were here when Idzik arrived are the same ones we have today. While some draft picks do take time to develop, nevertheless there are rookies and 2nd year players across the league starting and in some cases leading their teams. If Idzik had a dysfunctional situation to deal with due to the number of holdovers he was stuck with, then it's 100% on him for accepting that situation and not resolving it or insisting on the power to resolve it. Those who defend him seem to seize on every excuse and deflect blame in every direction except his. Sorry, but that's gotten way overdone around here. Stop making him out to be some poor little victim--he's the freakin' GM, fer chrissakes! He's got more power than anyone. He accepted the situation, now he has to live with the consequences of that decision, along with all the other decisions he's made.
What I find most illogical is the argument that a GM requires 4-5 years, or some absolutely ridiculous amount of time, before you can judge his body of work. I dispute that notion out of hand. It's simply ludicrous to expect that kind of window, and in essence insist that whatever amount of regression, no matter how bad things get in the interim, Idzik can't be judged for 4-5 years. Horse hockey. Things do not have to get worse before they get better. I think anyone with 2 eyes and a little bit of football sense can see that the team has too little talent. We're not losing in spite of a loaded roster, guys--we're losing exactly because ours is barren of elite talent. We have a sideline full of JAGs, so much so that Percy Harvin instantly became the best playmaker--by far--on the team when he arrived. The CB debacle, letting Revis and Cromartie walk without a solid plan to replace either of them, was naive. This is a passing league. How can you expect to defend the pass without proven corners? Idzik penciled in Dimitri Patterson as the solution, and that blew up in his face. Has Idzik been unlucky? Sure, but the randomness of life will test the strength of any plan, and clearly Idzik's plan was not robust enough to handle the randomness of Patterson continuing to be an enigma, Milliner continuing to be injury prone, and a rookie who might have been a reach in the 3rd round suffering a season-ending training camp injury.
Rhetorical question for the Idzik defenders: just how bad do things have to get before it's permissable to dismiss a GM after two years? Is there any level of awful? Or are you really ready to let a truly incompetent GM destroy the team unchecked for 4-5 years, to wreak havoc on the roster and coaching staff, because it's so unfair to judge poor little him after two short years?
Has Rex been an accessory to this disaster? Yes, and his head will roll as well. He has been the constant through the Tannenbaum and Idzik administrations. The team plays stupid on Sundays--you are what you practice. They are never prepared for the opponent after the bye, and they don't adjust at halftime. They can't find the end zone when they're in the red zone. Their vaunted defense can't get off the field on 3rd and forever. The players love him to death, but it seems there are a group of people who are quite happy to say Rex is an idiot, the players who love him are idiots, the fans who obnoxiously expect better are idiots, Woody is an idiot, but Idzik is being turned into a pariah, everyone is crucifying the poor man, and he hasn't been given a fair chance to put this team on the path to long term success. I'm not buying one bit of it. He's made things plenty worse in two years. That is abundantly clear.
Is Woody a bad owner? I don't think so. He is a fan and he owns the team. When has he ever denied a GM anything? Idzik has left a ton of cap room on the table. Well, cap space doesn't suit up on Sundays. Now, the Wilpons--they are bad owners. You can't even compare Woody to the likes of them.
As a Jets fan of almost 50 years, I am looking forward to this thing getting blown up on Black Monday. Start over, top to bottom. Let's find some smart guys and see what they can do. I am done with Bradway, Rex, Idzik, the lot of them. They're all nice guys, good guys, the kind you want as neighbors, as friends. But friendship is one thing, business another. They haven't taken care of business. Everyone in life who has had some success usually at some point rises to a level beyond their scope and gets exposed as unprepared or insufficiently talented to handle that role. It's happened to me. You go down in flames and start all over. You learn from your mistakes and begin the climb again. I've done it, these guys can too. You can't paper over their collective failure. It is what it is. Time to move on.
Go Dolphins.