by the Jet Report

Tim Tebow and the Jets are arguably an even more dark comedic pairing now than they have ever been. Consider the irony of it all. The job that Tebow covets is only available with Gang Green. The quarterbacks that have been mentioned as cheap veteran competition for Mark Sanchez recently are arguably no better than Tebow. 

If one could toss the drama and media attention that Tebow naturally brings aside, it wouldn’t be an obscene move for GM John Idzik to just keep Tebow. Throw him into the battle for the starting job more seriously than the Jets did last year. After all, he is under contract in what will be a transition year on the field for the club anyway.

Tebow is at worst, the best read option candidate of the QB’s currently on the Jets roster, and many who are poised to be added to it soon. Better than Sanchez would be, and more agile than say, a Brady Quinn is. In the new short passing game that may need the QB to also make plays with his legs, perhaps Tebow is a better route than what an older banged up David Garrard could be over the course of sixteen games too.

Idzik raised the notion on Monday that maybe Tebow won’t be released. As conventional wisdom has the Jets doing in the coming days, because letting Tebow go would ease any of the circus-like atmosphere he indirectly added in 2012.

What if the Jets kept Tebow and really let him try and win the job this time though? Would the move be any more ridiculous than setting Sanchez up to have a fair shot to win his job back is? Which is by the way, the road the Jets seem to be traveling down right now. 

The team with the same owner that was convinced it should give boat loads of cash to Sanchez, one of the league’s worst rated starters over the past two years, is now eyeing fringe backups and has-beens over it’s own backup. An unorthodox gamer who was never given the chance last season even when the club was eliminated in late December.

When it comes to anything ‘Tim Tebow’ though, we all know that there is always more to the story than X’s and 0’s. Always more than simple logic. The same can both be said however, about the Jets. Especially if one has been watching them long enough.

by the Jet Report

Mike Tannenbaum told both WFAN and ESPN radio on Tuesday, that the idea of acquiring Tim Tebow was his. A move that was borne out of the need to replace Brad Smith. The chain of events that followed Smith’s exit, arguably the Jets most versatile playmaker during the early Rex Ryan years, then ushered in the start of Tannenbaum’s downfall as GM of the Jets.

Smith was lost during the post-lockout mayhem. A mad two week scramble for free agents that the Jets fumbled, due mainly to their over-pursuit of the highly coveted CB Nnamdi Asomugha. A chase that would have never materialized had the knowledge of Antonio Cromartie’s “lock-down” emergence, been available at the time. Nonetheless, the obsession with Asomugha distracted Gang Green from focusing in on key clutch players like Smith, who was poached by the Bills while the Jets went all or nothing with their cap space. In the hopes of landing Asomugha.

The 2011 regular season then began with the Jets asking Mark Sanchez to grow as a passer and field general. Few members of the Jets brass however, realized how low the third year QB’s ceiling would end up being over the next two years. Or rather, how much Smith had covered things up, by grabbing so many key third down conversions for the offense in 2009 and 2010.

With Sanchez’s limitation’s exposed, Tannenbaum then decided upon making the “football decision” of acquiring Tim Tebow. This to compensate for the loss of Smith. Instead the result added stress and drama to the club, mainly to Sanchez and playcaller Tony Sparano. The club’s first year offensive coordinator, who ironically oversaw the Dolphins “Wildcat” when it ruled the NFL back in 2008. The Jets 2.0 version of the run-heavy formation, was much less effective with Tebow than it ever was when Smith received the direct snap in New York. 

Smith’s absence in green and white not only hurt Sanchez and forced Tannenbaum to consider adding the polarizing Tebow, it depleted the team in two other places as well. The special teams unit for one, fell apart for the Jets in 2012. Joe McKnight was an All-Pro return man in 2011 but Smith did it all for Mike Westhoff’s crew. He ran back kicks like McKnight did, but had a unique knack for doing so when the Jets needed it the most. Smith returned punts, made tackles on coverage, and was always healthy.

The lack of depth at WR was another area that Tannenbaum admitted yesterday, hurt the club tremendously during their disappointing 6-10 campaign. Perhaps more of the cracks could been filled in on the outside with Smith, who is still waiting for the chance to expand his role as more than a gadget-like weapon in Buffalo.

Big long term contracts of course dried up the Jets financial flexibility and potential heading into 2012, and threaten the club going forward, However, Smith’s exit eliminated a major security blanket for Sanchez and ushered in Tebow, while leaving two units lacking quality depth. All of which affected results on the field. Causing the sudden growth of the bullseye on Tannenbaum’s back.

The lesson that new GM John Idzik should learn from this, is that the core guys, the proven playmakers, have to be tended to. Guys who may not provide “star power” or giant stat lines, but perform consistently when it counts. Tannenbaum just found out the hard way, what can happen if this essential detail gets overlooked.

by the Jet Report

SI’s Peter King reports today that the Jets asking price for Darrelle Revis will be a first round pick, but it’s not enough to warrant getting rid of the game’s best cover corner. As long as the Revis legal team can somehow avoid a third contractual confrontation with Woody Johnson, we see no reason why new GM John Idzik should send Revis packing for the potential of some unknown commodity. No matter how highly touted the pick is. 

Revis makes top flight wideouts invisible. Antonio Cromartie, coming off of an outstanding year, is as good of a second tier top CB as one could ask for, but he’s no Revis. Together, the two form the best tandem in football at a time when quality passing teams have become harder to slow down. The Jets held together defensively without Revis, but it would be hard to argue that they won’t be a better secondary with him once again.

An expiring contract in 2013 and his recent ACL tear make the chances of obtaining a treasure chest full of players and picks in return for Revis lower than they would have been, had he finished 2012 healthy. If the rebuilding Jets are truly shopping Revis, then it’s time to ask for a king’s ransom regardless. Gang Green has to make others figure out a reworked long term deal for the rehabbing star before 2014 and risk doing so at a high cost, as opposed to watching Revis thrive elsewhere for less than top level compensation. In other words, keep him, or find a way to obtain enough talent for him, that the trade helps to rebuild the roster all by itself. One or the other.

Perhaps the unconfirmed reports that Woody and Co. are dangling Revis to prospective buyers isn’t quite true. That the chatter was instead a purposeful and indirect warning shot from the Johnson bunker. One whose intended message is meant for Revis implying that “there will be no contract drama this time around. Any extraneous noise will lead to a new address Darrelle, so forget playing hardball. Come ready to make a deal this time.”  

If the reports are in fact true, then Idzik and the Jets can talk and listen when it comes to Revis all they want. As long as they set an asking price for Revis that resembles the level of Revis himself. One that goes way beyond one unproven first rounder in April. No matter how much immediate help the 6-10 club needs.

Jets History: Safety Burgess Owens 1978 Topps Football Card

What was safety Burgess Owens’ reward for playing with the Jets during the non playoff years of 1973 to 1979? Sticking around just long enough to be able to join and start for the 1980 World Champion Oakland Raiders. Jim Plunkett. Cliff Branch. Lester Hayes and his “stickum.” 

Owens would miss the brief early 1980’s rise of the Walt Michaels Jets. The Sack Exchange’s heyday that also included Richard Todd’s best years as a pro. An era that crumbled too quickly and like many other Jet eras, gave diehards a brief glimmering but false hope, that another Super Bowl title was actually possible.

Jets History: TE Mickey Shuler, Jets vs Patriots Sept 21, 1987

by the Jet Report

The Jets moved up in the 2009 draft in order to grab the exuberant USC Rose Bowl star Mark Sanchez. Since then the one-time emerging quarterback play has fallen rapidly. Sanchez has time to be rehabilitated emotionally, but new Jets GM John Idzik may already have another plan in mind. One that includes giving the starting job to Matt Flynn. A player that Idzik helped bring to Seattle in 2011.

Flynn signed with the Seahawks in March of 2012. After two monstrous late season games in 2010 as Packers starter (while Green Bay rested god-like starter Aaron Rdogers for the playoffs). When he excited many teams who were in need of a quarterback, by throwing for a combined nine TD passes in eight quarters of play. Results that led to a three year twenty five million dollar deal for himself, to become the future in Seattle. One of those places in need of a fresh start from behind center. 

Then all of a sudden the future of the NFL became something called the “run option.” Used by teams this past year such as the Seahawks and Redskins, who featured young athletic signal callers capable of spearheading it. With Russell Wilson (who shocked many by winning the job from Flynn in training camp) now firmly entrenched behind center for Pete Carroll’s club, many Jets fans are already wondering if Idzik is interested once again in the also-pricey Flynn.

Flynn or no Flynn, Sanchez is now on thin ice as a Jet. The Daily News is already suggesting that the Jets will explore the notion of trading Sanchez, if there is a market for him. Releasing him would work heavily against the Jets cap, but it remains an option. Successful teams do at times take financial hits in order to turn emotional pages inside of their locker rooms. 

Could a Sanchez for Flynn deal be in the works with Idzik now at the controls? The answer could lie in part within the vision of Marty Mornhinweg, who was named the Jets new offensive coordinator today. Mornhinweg has called the plays for the Eagles for the past six years. He has worked alongside a mobile quarterback in Donovan McNabb, a run-first QB in Michael Vick, and a pocket passer in Nick Foles. Having seen all three style first hand, the new Jets play caller may lend a valuable hand in leading Idzik towards a direction that will serve the Jets best going forward. 

If both elusive speed and arm strength is what Idzik now covets after seeing Wilson succeed as a rookie, Flynn will not be the right fit. He is clearly not as mobile as players like Wilson, Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaeperick are at the position, and his arm strength will never be considered among the elite.

However Flynn’s efficiency in the west coast style, proven briefly in Mike McCarthy’s system, could potentially make him a vast upgrade over Sanchez. Whose QB rating was ranked 30th in 2011 and 31st in 2012. Justifying a move to a player Flynn who could provide stability in the short passing game as a short term transition makes sense on some level, even if it were not the long term solution for Idzik’s new organization at the position.

If a deal that involved Flynn meant moving Sanchez came to fruition, the result would sadden any diehards who still believe that Sanchez had the ability to become a franchise quarterback. Had he been surrounded by the right talent, and developed properly by many ex-coaches. Whose failure to do so played a part in their respective firings.

It won’t be long before the fate of Sanchez and the mystery of who will be the starter, is addressed. As the process of rebuilding the Jets flawed roster finally begins. Matt Flynn’s name will certainly surface regularly as part of that conversation. From now until a choice by Idzik and the Jets is made.

by the Jet Report

The 1964 Jets had begun to build up the concept of entertainment, but did not have the franchise quarterback in place yet. New owner Sonny Werblin helped usher in the Jets move to brand new Shea Stadium that year, next door to the World’s Fair. The growing excitement of AFL style football with it’s wide open scoring, weekend night games, and new star RB Matt Snell all became the foundation for the rise of the Jets popularity in New York during the 1960’s. 

One season away from drafting Joe Namath, these 1964 Jets showed signs of life, but were clearly a few years away from a run at the title.

Read our weekly “No Huddle” piece for Turn on the Jets.