A Checklist For The Jets’ Offseason Searches

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While I’ll be skipping Sunday’s Jets season finale versus visiting Miami out of apathy, I will resume paying attention next week when the organization once again attempts a complete makeover. The so-called “Black Monday” is irrelevant at One Jets Drive, as General Manager Joe Douglas and Head Coach Robert Saleh were previously fired during the season and replaced by interim placeholders who could be packing boxes as I write this.

Gang Green has already interviewed a few candidates for the vacancies, and I must say that several of them were headscratchers. But it’s still early in the process, with those holding positions on other clubs eligible to discuss their future after Sunday’s conclusion to the regular season.

As I noted in my previous post, I have zero confidence that incompetent owner Woody Johnson will get this right, and his outsourcing to a firm co-owned by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum that appears to carry an agenda to conduct the search isn’t inspiring any. For now, I’ll hold off on stating a specific preference for these gigs, but here’s what I believe the Jets should be looking for in their new GM, HC, and, yes, quarterback:

1) A GM with actual experience

Check that, a GM with positive experiences. The good news is that a couple of the initial meetings the Jets took were with candidates who met this prerequisite. One was with former Titans GM Jon Robinson, who was canned two years ago after compiling a 66-48 record over seven seasons. Previously, Thomas Dimitroff, who spent 13 years as Atlanta’s GM, took an interview. Though Dimitroff oversaw the demise of the team that had gone to the 2017 Super Bowl over the last four seasons, he has since worked to build an analytics firm with the backing of a hedge find billionaire. Given my background, I am intrigued, but it is not the overriding concern.

That would be whether the new GM has the gravitas and gumption to be able to stand up to an owner whose asininity has been widely reported. No more of the food chain where both the GM and HC each answer directly to Johnson. I’m fine with getting some early HC interviews out of the way, but in the end, it has to be clear that the GM will run all of football operations, and that includes picking the coach.

I’m afraid that some of the other named GM candidates, like long-time scout Jim Nagy, could get run over by Johnson like Douglas was. We all watched Johnson axe Saleh over his GM’s objections. Louis Riddick, who worked his way up the executive ladder in Washington and Philadelphia before joining ESPN, certainly deserved his chance to make his case during his interview on Thursday, but give me someone who owns a winning record that can be shoved in Johnson’s face every day.

2) A HC with an offensive background

The Jets will reportedly interview former Titans HC Mike Vrabel at their facility on Friday. It makes sense, since Vrabel is perhaps the biggest name among the currently unemployed. Yet I keep coming back to this: Isn’t anyone curious as to why most of the top HC prospects listed for this hiring season come from defensive backgrounds? And why Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson could probably pick his spot if he decides he’s done in Detroit? Of the top nine NFL teams in offensive expected points added per play, none have been eliminated from the playoffs going into Week 18. The Lions, demolished by injuries to their defense, have surrendered 130 points (32.5 per game) over the last four weeks. They won three of them, falling only to the Bills, 48-42. Offensive gurus are in demand and the quality supply is short.

I’m not saying that Johnson would be a Jets savior, but the search must land on a coach with a history of success as a play-caller. And it would be helpful if the HC was also highly-regarded as a QB developer. I would at least like to see Buffalo OC Joe Brady get an interview.

The Jets have had an offensive play-calling HC just once since the dog days of Rich Kotite in 1995-96. I know the Adam Gase experiment went sour fast, but enough with the conservative defensive-oriented HCs who “trust their defense.” Ron Rivera? Please. REX RYAN!? If he indeed gets an interview, that should tell you a lot about this Tannenbaum-led process.

3) A running QB

Quarterback mobility is always subordinate to traits like processing, accuracy, and arm strength, but the added dimension sure carries a heavy impact. The league’s top three rushing teams per game have QBs that rank third, second, and first, respectively, in rushing yards this season. Buffalo’s Josh Allen has curbed his scrambling and designed runs a tad this season, but his 12 rushing touchdowns are only two behind Philadelphia’s tush push king Jalen Hurts for the league lead at the position. All four of the above teams, by the way, are among the NFL’s top six in wins.

Sometimes, a QB’s excessive yards on the ground are due to a lousy offensive line, like with New England’s rookie Drake Maye, who ranks second in the league in scramble yards, per ProFootballFocus.com. However, when a defense has to account for an extra ballhandler, especially on early downs, it makes it easier to “establish a running game” while the rest of the skill positions have a decided advantage.

The last time the Jets had a QB who finished in the league’s top ten in rushing yards was Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015, whose seventh place 261 yards gained would put him in 17^th among QBs after 16 games played this season. By the way, that same season, Aaron Rodgers placed fifth.

Of course, Rodgers isn’t the same player anymore due to a combination of age and the ruptured Achilles he suffered at the beginning of the 2023 campaign. I think everyone can see the writing on the wall that his time in New York is coming to an end, putting the Jets once again in the unenviable position of finding a starting QB.

I know he stinks now, but because of what he can do with his legs, I’d rather the Jets sign Pittsburgh’s Justin Fields as a free agent this offseason, keeping Tyrod Taylor and (hopefully recovered) Jordan Travis as backups, than if they were to expend assets to trade for the less-mobile Viking rookie J.J. McCarthy.

And when that doesn’t work, the Jets can always tank again for a new QB next season.

Jets/Dolphins Prediction: Who cares? I’m closing out the account that went 12-3-1 on Jets games versus the spread this season and 11-5 on money lines. Feel free to go through the archives and check.