New York Jets: Moves to fix the franchise from top to bottom

Fixing the New York Jets: Roster Building

Despite recent shopping sprees in free agency, there aren’t many teams in the league whose roster is as devoid of top-shelf talent as the Jets are. The one thing that almost all historically bad teams have in common is the failure to develop young talent.

Sure, you can draw big-name players with the glamour and glitz of New York City but that doesn’t mean they can win there. And even when they do get free agents to sign, they’re typically doing so by overpaying because no one wants to come to a disorganized organization. This is called a “stupid tax.”

So, for the Jets to return to respectability, they must commit as an organization to building their team through the draft, which is something they have not been particularly good at doing.

Only Jordan Jenkins, linebacker, is still with the team from the 2016 draft class. Only Marcus Maye, safety, remains from their 2017 class. They still have four players from the 2018 class but it seems as though they are seriously considering moving on from Darnold, their most recent savior of the franchise.

The fate of their 2019 class will hang on the success of their first selection, Quinnen Williams, defensive end, and their last selection, Bless Austin, defensive back. Everyone in between is either no longer with the team or serve solely as depth pieces. And, of course, the jury is still out on the 2020 class.

The point of this exercise in futility is to show just how bad they have been at developing homegrown talent. And the guys they do get lucky on, like Jamal Adams, Robby Anderson, etc., either leave through free agency or force their way out via trade.

It’s evidence that the Jets desperately need to get back to being seen as a professional organization that treats their players with respect and professionalism and that all starts by hiring the right general manager and the right head coach.