Trust The Jets’ Process? Show Us Some Results First
“I still believe we’re going to win championships here,” Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh said in Wednesday’s press conference, his first following the team’s cutdown to a 53-man roster. He then added, “Our process is too good.”
My lord. “Our process is too good?” I forwarded that quote to my son Jack, who replied, “LOL—an all-timer.”
Let’s talk about process. I had no doubt that the Jets would lose out on some players they cut to other clubs given Gang Green’s talent infusion this offseason--or should I say, the team’s asset allotment of draft capital and salary cap space. It remains to be seen how talented many of these young players are.
But to see seven players get scooped up, the most any team has lost to waiver claims since at least 2014, according to OvertheCap.com’s Jason Fitzgerald? Coming off a dreadful 4-13 season? To me, that’s a head-scratcher.
In fairness, I had maybe two or three of the seven who I felt were deserving of making the final 53—no tears are being shed here for the end of the Trevon Wesco era, though, as a short man, I had a fondness for the tenacity of backup slot corner Javelin Guidry. That isn’t the point. I saw a tweet that considered whether a) the Jets really are that stacked this season, or b) this team has no clue as to how to evaluate players.
Both theories can be simultaneously true, and I’d add that development belongs alongside the evaluation critique. There’s a reason Las Vegas hasn’t budged from its 5.5-win total for the Jets for the 2022 season. At some point, talent has to transition into production, meaning these guys have to start making plays. Otherwise, what are we doing here?
The most flagrant example can be found with New York’s decisions at the safety position. The Jets kept four, an appropriate number, with veteran starters Jordan Whitehead and Lamarcus Joyner always considered locks. Unbeknownst to most, undrafted free agent Tony Adams emerged to steal one of the backup spots—Saleh had high praise for Adams’ work on special teams, though ProFootballFocus.com deemed him slightly above average this preseason, crediting him with just one tackle (and one missed tackle) in seven coverage plays.
The bigger issue is that the Jets opted to retain Ashtyn Davis, a third-round pick in that horror show of a 2020 Draft class, over both Jason Pinnock and Will Parks. At least Parks made it through to the Jets’ practice squad. Pinnock, though, was claimed by the Giants.
How did Saleh keep a straight face on Wednesday when he lauded Davis’ “body of work” as a Jet? He’s been pretty awful when he’s been healthy enough to step on the field, botching coverages and taking bad angles on tackle attempts. Among the 74 safeties with at least 500 snaps last season, Davis had the 22nd-highest missed tackle percentage (12.9%), per PFF. For comparison purposes, Pinnock (202 snaps) and Parks (91) combined for zero missed tackles. And don’t get me started on special teams value—Davis has fared no better than either of his competitors in terms of tackling production and PFF grades.
Davis may be a terrific athlete, but Pinnock and Parks are better FOOTBALL players. Bear in mind that Pinnock, a fifth-round rookie, was making a position shift from cornerback to safety last season. That isn’t easy. Yet by choosing Davis, Saleh implicitly gave Davis a poor performance pass for injuries while Pinnock was dinged for inexperience.
Maybe General Manager Joe Douglas stepped in on behalf of his beleaguered first Draft class, of which punter Braden Mann is the sole projected starter for the regular season opener on September 11 versus visiting Baltimore. Funny how Saleh’s other trending quote from Wednesday was how this team “was built, not bought”, right?
More likely than the politics of Draft status, since the Jets axed 2020 class members Jabari Zuniga and La’Mical Perine among Tuesday’s cuts, Saleh seems to have his favorites. I include wide receiver Jeff Smith and defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd in this undeserving list. How many impactful plays—positive ones, I mean, not Shepherd’s personal fouls—have these guys made over the years?
It's all part of the “process”, the one where Douglas ignores historical Draft data to trade up for nonpremium running backs and guards while Saleh tries to manage the game in safe mode, hoping the game is close in the fourth quarter, as if the first three quarters don’t matter.
All to get to that elusive goal of “playing meaningful games in December.” Not, “Playoffs or bust!”, but, “Play meaningful games in December—or we’ll try again next year!”
How about winning a game in September first before you ask us to “trust the process?”