Image via NFL
Key offseason losses: (OT) Alijah Vera-Tucker, (LB) Quincy Williams, (OT) John Simpson.
Key offseason additions: (DE) Joseph Ossai, (LB) Demario Davis, (DE) Kingsley Enagbare, (QB) Geno Smith
Key draft additions: (DE) David Bailey, (TE) Kenyon Sadiq, (WR) Omar Cooper Jr, (CB) D'Angelo Ponds.
SEASON PREDICTION
The Jets are coming off yet another terrible season where they ended up having the second overall pick in the draft due to a 3-14 season. However, as I look over to roster for this upcoming season, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much talent they have across the board even though it may not result in a lot of wins. They went out this offseason and acquired Geno Smith bringing him back to where he started his career and although he was terrible in Las Vegas last year, I am fairly confident that he will pick it up to be at least a relatively average QB similar to his time in Seattle. Having a competent QB who is at least league average will be a huge boost to Garrett Wilson who has had to suffer through abysmal quarterback play his whole career. They also have another star on their team with their running back Breece Hall who was in trade talks throughout last year but in the end ended up signing a contract extension. On top of these two weapons, they drafted the best tight end prospect with 13th overall pick of this year's draft and continued to pile up on offensive firepower by selecting Omar Cooper in the 2nd round.
On the defensive side of the ball, they used their second overall pick to get David Bailey and also went out this offseason to acquire two defensive ends with Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare. They also acquired one of the best linebackers in the game with Demario Davis. Pair this with the fact that their head coach is a defensive oriented mind; it adds up to the Jets having a formidable front seven. However, their secondary may make their front seven completely obsolete due to how terrible their pass coverage is. Last year the Jets were the first team in NFL history to record zero interceptions. They did try to address this in the draft by selecting D'Angelo Ponds, but I am not high on him as a prospect due to how undersized he is standing at just 5 foot 10 inches. This terrible secondary is going to put a lot of pressure on the front seven to make the QB's life miserable. The secondary is also going to limit the type of defenses they can run because stacking the box will just be inviting opposing quarterbacks to throw the long bomb against these weak cornerbacks.
In short, the most promising thing for the Jets is their future outlook. They've stacked up for the upcoming years with acquiring two first rounders for Sauce Gardener and two first rounders for Quinnen Williams whom they traded last year at the deadline. Furthermore, they will likely have a top pick in this year's draft as well because I expect them to finish 4-13 due to a combination of their weak secondary and questionable offensive line coming into the season. These draft picks will be a great help in helping boost their secondary and maybe drafting the franchise QB that they have been desperately searching for since Broadway Joe.