A Jets Fan Tries to Take a Step Back and Absorb

Outside of Erie Scribe’s Brownies, there aren’t many teams that have been busier than the J-E-T-S. And while perusing these here Internets, we’ve found ourselves scouring the comments and reading up on the hundreds of opinions out there — from those clammering that the Jets gets some more credit for what are perceived as huge upgrades, to those ready to condemn the Tannenbaum-Mangini era yet again and take recent moves as only further indication that the Jets will remain in the desolate solitude of Loserville.

So, we tried to take a step back and make an attempt at rational level-headed semi-analysis. Being that we bleed green-and-white, our subjectiveness may still seep through, but here’s our take after letting it all simmer a bit.

1. We DID Something: Too often in the past, our major lament as Jets fans has been a tendency to stand pat and “let things happen to us.” Coming off a brutal season, one thing was clear. We needed to get better up front. All the debate about Pennington and Clemens is somewhat frivolous when you consider a shotty o-line with a few glaring holes. Same thing on D. “Where’s the pass rush!” was something I yelled out seemingly hundreds of times this past season. So, what did Tangini do? They added Woody and Faneca on the O-line and Jenkins and Pace on the defensive side. We’ll get to those moves later.

2. We Got Rid of Crap: Every fan has those individuals on “their team” they can’t stand and claim are a waste of space no matter what they do. Justin McCareins and Dewayne Robertson were two of those players for me. McCariens was a heartless receiver with alligator arms who frequently came down with the dropsies. Robertson…well, let’s just say that you should know better than to draft a football player #4 overall from the University of Kentucky. Add that one to the famed list of Jets draft blunders.

3. I’ll Miss Vilma: Whether he was a fit for the 3-4 or not, I loved Jonathan Vilma. Ever since he came out of the U, he was a fan favorite who could run sideline-to-sideline and was a tackling machine. I wish J-Vil nothing but the best in N’awlins and am still not quite convinced this was a no-brainer move.

4. Faneca and Woody = Huge Upgrade: No matter how you slice it, Woody and Faneca make this line infinitely better. See: Adrien Clarke and Anthony Clement. C’mon, people. No, I don’t buy those who claim that Woody was benched in Detroit…and the Lions were terrible…therefore, Woody stinks. Bottom line: we added two hard-working, first-round lineman who’ve been to Pro Bowls. Team them with Mangold and D’Brick and on paper (which is all we can go on right now), and we’re talking a whole new discussion in ’08.

5. Jenkins and Pace = A Lot of Potential: What can you say about these two? My feeling on Jenkins is that we got a big body that’s right for the system and has talent. He’s been healthy for a bit. I can’t talk to motivation or whether he “loves the game” or any of that nonsense. That said, we’ll assume those guys know more than us and consider this a “good bet” but not a slam-dunk signing. Pace? We have no idea. It’s hard to even figure out what’s gone on in this guy’s career let alone project his impact on the 2008 Jets.

So…all told…we’re happy. As a good friend characterized it, I’m “cautiously optimistic.” After all, these are still the New York Jets.

P.S. Erie’s Scribe. The Browns are still the Browns, too. Until they’re not.