Welcome back to another edition of the Turn On The Jets 12 Pack. Make sure to check out our store at The Loyalist! and to subscribe to the TOJ podcast (hit us with a rating!

I appreciate the responses to the below tweet. I am going to give my top 12 bad takes for today’s article, in no particular order, followed by a quick thought on the New York Jets coaching staff now that it is fully confirmed.

What is your least favorite #take about the #Jets that you most consistently hear? — Joe Caporoso (@JCaporoso) February 8, 2019

1 – “It is a good thing the Jets didn’t draft (insert very good/great player) because he would haver never been good here, anyway”

This is commonly used to explain why the Jets were actually smart to pass on Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson or the opportunity to trade for Alvin Kamara, among other players. Would any of these guys look exactly the same in New York without similar supporting casts or situations? No, but that doesn’t mean you pass on great football players. By the same justification, why should the Jets have drafted Jamal Adams, Sam Darnold or Chris Herndon? The bad situation the Jets currently have is only changed by adding more good football players. Don’t give them a pass for not obtaining enough good football players because their situation is bad…from not obtaining enough good football players!

The Jets current ownership structure leaves plenty to be desired and the Jets are not one of the league’s most successful franchises by any stretch of the imagination. However, let’s not forget that from 1997-2010, the team was only under .500 three times, made the playoffs seven times, won six playoff games and made the AFC Championship Game three times. They can succeed just fine and put themselves in championship contention (like any other NFL team could) if they handle player acquisition and coaching competently. There isn’t some magical hoax or extreme degree of ownership incompetence stopping it from happening.

3 – “The Jets are well run because they have so much cap space!”

When you consistently have as much cap space as the Jets do, it means that you lack good players. Free agency is overrated and filled with players who will inevitably be overpaid. It is about winning games in the NFL, not bragging about hordes of money that you’ll never be able to truly effectively spend.

At some point, New England will stop winning Super Bowls but when you say the dynasty is ending every single year, you just consistently look stupid. New England is the runaway favorite to win the AFC East and to win the AFC overall until proven otherwise, it doesn’t matter what happens in their offseason or in their random October regular season games. The Patriots played at a 7 on 7 practice pace and intensity in their last game versus the Jets and beat them by over 30 points. Let’s get the Jets over .500 a few times before we talk about them toppling the greatest dynasty in NFL history.

5 – “The Jets don’t need Le’Veon Bell because they have Elijah McGuire/Trenton Cannon, don’t have a great offensive line yet or need to use the money they’d pay him elsewhere or just sign Mark Ingram instead”

A myriad of anti-Bell arguments that for some reason think McGuire and Cannon are anything but JAGs or roster filler, forget that Ingram is four years older than Bell and has all of one 1,000 yard season in eight years without Alvin Kamara supporting him and ignore the fact that the Jets have enough cap space to pay Bell AND multiple offensive linemen (and other positions in a weak overall free agent market)…it is not an either/or situation. You only have your quarterback on a rookie deal once…take advantage of it!

6 – “Leonard Williams is actually great, his stats just don’t show it because he is double teamed all the time”

He isn’t double teamed all that much and even if he was, who cares? When you take a player in the top six and claim he is great, the expectation is that he can overcome things like double teams to still produce. If he needs an elite supporting cast around him to produce then he isn’t a “great” player, rather just a good one at an eminently replaceable position.

7 – “So what if Mike Maccagnan misses middle/late round picks, so does every GM, he is no worse than them!”

Nah.

From ’15-18 (via @Jason_OTC) Overall: 64% of players on roster (league aveg: 76%) 31/32 overall in NFL 2nd round: 33% on roster (league avg: 84%) 3rd round: 50% on roster (league avg: 84%) 4th round: 50% on roster (league avg: 82%) 5th round: 50% on roster (league avg: 75%) https://t.co/lMkD1l1cRK — Joe Caporoso (@JCaporoso) December 11, 2018

8 – “Sam Darnold was trash his rookie season”

This usually comes from Giants fans or oddly angry Browns fans. Darnold’s statistics don’t jump off the page but he was easily the second best rookie quarterback behind Baker Mayfield and faced a MUCH more challenging overall situation in terms of supporting cast and schedule. Darnold’s stats need the context of players like Andre Roberts and Jermaine Kearse playing major reps at receiver and the team starting third string caliber players at running back for large chunks of the year, nevermind having arguably the worst Offensive Coordinator in the NFL and a center who couldn’t snap the football. Sam was #good his rookie year, especially as a 21 year old and there is no reason not to be irrationally excited about his future.

9 – “We have to give [insert apparently bad decision] a chance, you just never know, so don’t criticize it now or give an opinion that isn’t ‘we’ll see’ or is nothing but justifications for it”

A personal pet peeve as somebody who writes about the team. As a fan, I fully understand rooting for the team no matter what and working to justify whatever decision they make. Fandom is an inherently irrational thing. As somebody who writes about the team and tries to cover them somewhat pragmatically/objectively, giving “well, let’s just see” as an opinion is not analysis. Doing a complete 180 when I said I would hate if the team hired Adam Gase, just because they actually hired him is stupid. If the Jets do something I’d criticize the Giants, Bills, Dolphins or whatever other team for, I am still going to criticize the Jets for doing it and the reality is that they don’t get the benefit of the doubt until they start winning. They have sucked the past 8 years, it is okay and rational to be skeptical of their decision making (and have a sense of humor about it).

On the other end of the spectrum, I get that some fans don’t want to see/hear that about their team and that is completely fine, it is what the team site is for…just don’t expect or ask myself or this site to cover the team in that way.

10 – “The Jets don’t need a receiver because they have Deontay Burnett. The Jets don’t need a tight end because they have Chris Herndon”

What is the point of having cap space and draft picks if you aren’t going to build depth? Did we learn nothing last year watching how a rolled ankle for Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson destroyed Darnold’s supporting cast? Did we learn nothing last year watching Eric Tomlinson drop wide open third down targets? Attack the market aggressively to make sure Darnold has more than enough help. NFL offenses need three competent, starting caliber receivers and two competent, starting caliber tight ends these days…nevermind when the starter is facing a suspension and has a notable injury history.

11 – “The GM deserves to keep his job solely because he drafted Sam Darnold”

The GM’s job is not to find a quarterback, it is part of his job (a big part). His job is to field a competitive roster every single year.

12 – “It will be easy to fix pass rusher and offensive line in free agency”

Teams do not let top tier pass rushers hit the market (or top tier offensive linemen for that matter). There is a very real chance DeMarcus Lawrence, Jadeveon Clowney, Dee Ford, Frank Clark, Roger Saffold and Matt Paradis never hit the open market.

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A word on the Jets coaching staff. Some people got mad at Rich Cimini for reporting this story, which is fairly ludicrous as this is both newsworthy and entertaining. Will it ultimately be a big deal? Maybe not but the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator (who was dubbed the Head Coach of the Defense, by the Head Coach) fighting over a role for the Defensive Coordinator’s son is news, especially with the known personalities of every individual involved (it is also worth noting that no NFL team has ever hired Williams’ son, unless they are employing Gregg). Beyond that, Gase hired his father-in-law, Joe Vitt, who previously testified against Williams in the Bountygate scandal, calling his act “false bravado.”

I am sorry but it you don’t find the above to be a potentially combustable situation and also entertaining/frustrating because of the nepotism involved (not uncommon for NFL teams), you are lying to yourself. The Jets staff is made up of the following:

Six members of the Dolphins 2018 coaching staff joining Gase, including his father-in-law.

Gregg Williams’ son and a member of his Cleveland staff.

Five holdovers from the Jets 2018 staff.

A TE coach who worked with Dowell Loggains in Chicago.

The Lions offensive coordinator, who is now becoming a RB coach (and worked with Gase previously in Denver).

Frank Pollack (my favorite addition) from the Bengals.

Considering the record of Miami, Cleveland and the Jets last year, it is fair to be a little skeptical of the group they put together.

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