Did the Jets Successfully Retool, or Just Repeat 1993?

Jets fans, wince if you must, but it might be appropriate to look back at 1993 for a little perspective on the current team.The Jets had been on a steady incline since general manager Dick Steinberg and head coach Bruce Coslet took the ship’s control in 1990, going from 4-12 to 6-10 and then 8-8 in 1991, making the playoffs and losing to a talented Houston Oilers club in the wild card. But there was optimism with a team that ranked in the top five in both rushing and run defense and appeared to pose a threat to a budding Buffalo Bills machine.Then the bottom fell out. The 1992 season was an unmitigated disaster, as nearly every unit took a step backward — especially at a rotating quarterback position — resulting in a 4-12 campaign. Whereas they had scrapped themselves into the playoffs the year before, the ’92 Jets lost their hunger and edge. The difference between good and bad in this league — then, now, and forever — is quite small.Sound familiar? Hang tight.The Jets were aggressive in the offseason before the 1993 season. They traded for QB Boomer Esiason and RB Johnny Johnson and signed a who’s who of veteran free agents, including safety Ronnie Lott, defensive tackle Leonard Marshall, cornerback Eric Thomas, and tight end James Thornton. They would have signed defensive end Reggie White, too, had God not told him to go to Green Bay. And linebacker Marvin Jones, the fourth overall pick, highlighted a nifty-looking draft class.Unquestionably, they were among the offseason’s biggest winners, but there were critics who thought the Jets were overspending on veteran talent, getting too old for their own good. Jets fans who had watched the precipitous drop-off of favorite players such as Al Toon and Freeman McNeil feared that the new players’ windows might be closing just as quickly.Steinberg scoffed at the notion that the Jets were spending too much money on bad investments.“We’re not just tossing money around on guys who have reputations,” he said. “We need football players.“We’re not getting older, we’re becoming more experienced.”Ultimately, the critics were right. Though the Jets finished 8-8 in 1993, they spoiled an 8-5 mark down the stretch, losing the final three games as an improving defense no longer could compensate for a bad offense. In the following three seasons, the team won only 10 games, sinking into submission through the weird regimes of Pete Carroll and Rich Kotite and bottoming with a 1-15 season before Bill Parcells rode in on his horse and turned things around.Granted, it’s absurd to try to make the connection between the early 1990s Jets and what the same franchise did this offseason. It’s asinine to think of whatever parallels might exist between the Jets’ spending spree this offseason and moves they made 15 years ago. But there are lessons to be learned from the approach of making your roster older — namely, knowing how much time each of the players have left and making sure these are long-term, and not quick-fix, solutions.The Jets threw nearly $52 million in guaranteed money at linebacker Calvin Pace, offensive guard Alan Faneca, and offensive tackle Damien Woody and made smaller signings in bringing in older veterans Bubba Franks, Tony Richardson, and others. Via trade, they acquired defensive tackle Kris Jenkins from Carolina, and in the draft, the team’s two biggest splashes were first-rounders, linebacker Vernon Gholston and tight end Dustin Keller.Of those moves, Faneca might make the most sense. Sure, he turns 32 in December and has slugged it out in the Steelers’ blood, sweat, and tears running game, but he also has missed only two games in his career. Scouts also feel that Faneca could make three positions better — he’s penciled into the left guard spot, plus he could help left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold.Woody turns 31 in November and has only five games’ experience at right tackle. He performed well down the stretch with the Lions there, but skeptics argue that he only raised his game because of his impending free agency. The last time he received a big signing bonus, from the Lions, he became an ordinary player the following season and eventually was replaced as Detroit’s starting right guard. He only got the chance to play right tackle because the Lions’ other options there all had flamed out.Pace also is a bit of a one-year wonder, and although he’s years younger than the other guys (he turns 28 in October), he hasn’t been consistent through his career, with only 14 sacks in 67 games, with 61/2 of them coming last season.Jenkins was not at his best last season, reportedly upset with his lack of a contract extension, so it’s possible he’ll return to Pro Bowl form. But Jenkins is playing an entirely new technique in the Jets’ defense. In Carolina, he was asked to shoot gaps and attack the backfield, and very rarely did he have to hold the point, or engage offensive linemen, to allow others to make plays. But the latter is exactly what he’ll be asked to do as the nose man in a two-gap defense.League people outside the Jets organization find some of the team’s moves curious. There are some who feel that GM Mike Tannenbaum may be pushing the panic button. Many wonder how much Woody Johnson is interfering and going over Eric Mangini’s head, or around his back, to find out why his team declined so much last season. And there is no doubt pressure to trot out a winner this season in order to maintain the buzz before the club moves to its new digs, the new Meadowlands stadium, starting in 2009.“I’m not sure about the Jets, but the way they have been spending money sure suggests they have a gun to their head,” a league front-office source told Pro Football Weekly recently. “They are moving to a new facility from Long Island to New Jersey, so I would think it’s important that they get headed on the right track.”There’s no telling how good the Jets will be this season, but there’s good evidence things will be better in ’08. But how long will the improvement last? How many more the veterans have left past this season? All you need to do is look at the past to be concerned about the present.Mr. Edholm, a senior editor at Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at eedholm@pfwmedia.com.

Did the Jets Successfully Retool, or Just Repeat 1993?

Did the Jets Successfully Retool, or Just Repeat 1993?

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