How To FIX The 2025 New York #Jets (BADLANDS)

How To FIX The 2025 New York #Jets (BADLANDS)

What’s up, War Room? Welcome back. Joe and Connor, fresh off recording the podcast. Connor flipped his hat around. We have a Badlands All Hands meeting after this because we’re a very serious business now. It’s a thing. It’s a thing. Uh, listen, we passed 4,700 patronons, 10,000 subscribers on YouTube. We got to we got to start acting like a real business here. So, what we’re going to do on War Room tonight is the Jets are 0 and2. They’re heading on the road as a touchdown underdogs. Um, so Connor and I are going to take this 20 25 minutes and talk about if we were sitting in the coaches room and the front office, what we would do in the vacuum of the rest of this season. So, we can’t You can only make so many changes when it’s week two, right? But how do the Jets I I’ll start this first off, Connor, how you feeling? Can we do this? Can we solve this? Can we get to seven or eight wins like we originally said? I think we can we have a shot at seven. It’s going to be we’re not going to be able to solve everything, but I I think there just because of the personnel limitations, but I I think there are some tweaks that can really go a long way for this team. So, let’s remember the Jets play Miami twice, New England twice, Carolina, New Orleans, Cleveland, right? Jacksonville, uh Cincinnati without Joe Burrow. So, there might be some wins on the schedule is what I’m saying. I already got those teams probably looking at the Jets going, “Is that going to be our win?” Of course. Right. So, it’s like how do you how do you play comparable to how you did in week one? I think all the teams I just named are about as good or worse than Pittsburgh and the Jets probably should have won that game. So, I think if we start on defense, I I’m having a hard conversation with Steve Wilks if I’m Aaron Clen that look, I’m going to give you a couple months here, but if we don’t see some changes and some improvements and some flexibility, I’m going to have to probably take over the play calling because yeah, we can’t go out and be that predictable against the better quarterbacks we play. I also think personnel-wise, especially now that Tony Adams is banged up, you just put more at safety. I guess the harder thing to fix, and I don’t know how to fix this with their current depth chart, and this was the basis of Zach’s article in the Athletic Today and some of the commentary we had around it. What do you do with Edge? Let’s say Germaine’s a little banged up. He’s going to, let’s say he misses the Tampa game, he’s going to play 30, 40 snaps a game while he’s getting right. We know we have Will McDonald. What do you What do you do? Because it’s easy for you and I to be like, “My god, Clemens sucks and he’s an abomination.” But if you’re in Glenn and Wilks chair, what what’s your defensive line rotation? What’s your solve that makes you less reliant on him? I mean, honestly, at what point do you kind of just say, “Listen, here’s the here’s my problem with I can’t believe I say here’s my problem with Michael Clemens. Like, I’m got some brainiac idea.” But in all reality, it feels like the Jets, why they play Clemens at such a high, like having a serious conversation here, why they play Clemens at such a high snap rate is they like having a bigger edge player that they they don’t trust Will McDonald to play 100% of the snaps. And the reality is if Germaine is banged up at some point, like Will is going to have to play a lot of snaps because then you’re replacing another edge spot across from him. But I mean, you kind of sit there and just wonder, is there a base front where you’re going, you know what, Clemens doesn’t get after the passer anyway. This is the thing that I can’t emphasize enough. He’s not rushing the passer effectively anyway. He doesn’t he he’s not a good pass rusher. He’s barely a mediocre run defender, but he is a bad uh pass rusher. Do you just until you can find another capable body, do you just play a front that Harrison Phillips and Jawan Briggs are probably going to play your interior, a lot of it. And do you give a look for Quinnon Williams and Leonard Taylor to play some end? I mean, is that crazy? No. Like, you got to get your best players out there otherwise what are we doing? Leonard Taylor is not a good interior run defender. He is a good interior pass rusher. like we we’ve seen he played the other day. Is there a world where because of his play style you go, you know what, we’re going to we’re going to play Quinnon inside and outside, but when we need to play Quinton inside because Briggs isn’t going to play a majority of the snaps, Harrison Phillips will throw Leonard Taylor on the end and see what happens there. Because even if you just start to move around Briggs and Quinn, basically you’re just playing your three defensive tackles as much as you can and Will McDonald and if that’s the case, those three are really good against the run. What do you think the offense is going to try to do? They’re going to try to run at Will McDonald. The linebackers know that. Yeah. That just makes it easier for them to read their keys. So, it’s not easy, but when you don’t when you’re dealt a tough hand from a personnel standpoint, and they chose to build the roster this way and kept Clemens, try something different. Play a be a heavier front. I mean, you’re not going to be this elite pass rushing team anyway from Will McDonald without Germaine. So, just lean into what you could be good at something, right? That’s kind of what it is. So, I would I would play a heavier front. I would also keep I would shake shake the snow globe a little bit in the secondary, right? It’s time to get Thomas some reps while Stevens continues to struggle. It’s time to maybe try Stiggers at safety. It’s time to maybe give Isaiah Oliver some reps if Carter continues to struggle and he’s not healthy most specifically problem that that you just don’t play him if he’s not healthy. He’s already struggling and undersized. Let him let him get right and just play somebody else and rotate the combination until you find the right two around S and Cisco who’s going to stay in the starting lineup. And Cisco had one play that got me irrationally angry. He’s been fine beyond that. Not good, but also he kind of has been not noticeable, which is he’s been like fine, which we’ll take in the secondary right now. He hasn’t been a disaster. Like Adams, I think you take your licks with more. Adams is already hurt, so you might as well play more anyway. And you know, again, rotate in some of the other guys. And that’s kind of the best you could do. And I I would even I’ll go down watching Watts off the practice squad and McGregor get killed versus watching Clemens anymore. There’s no difference. So, you might as well have the guys who are just younger, even if they’re not good. Again, you miss your window on Clowny. So, you got to work with what you have. And there there’ll be games the defense looks better just by a function of not playing, as much as we like to poke at Aaron Rogers, he’s still Aaron Rogers, like they started off playing Aaron Rogers and Josh Allen, and they’re going to play Baker Mayfield. Like, those are three good quarterbacks. And then all of a sudden you’re playing it. It doesn’t immediately get easier because you have Dak in week five, but you get a little Tua, you get a little Browning, you get a little Bryce Young, uh you get some of the inconsistencies of Drake May who’s got that Sam Darnold flow to his game as Will always shouts out. So, it will get easier in some weeks as long as you show some adaptability. And fans will give grace, I think, if you try different things that don’t work. where fans rightly get annoyed is that if you just keep making the same mistakes over and over and tell fans they don’t know what they’re looking at, we’re not idiots, we’re just not at this point. I’m sorry. Uh you have to just try some different [ __ ] So that that’s what my head goes to on defense. I think offensively, we talked about this a little bit on the pod, you have to I think you could have a strength at tight end. I think you might have four guys who can like play and maybe have all four tight ends active. You could Stone Smart could be listed as a tight end. He’s a receiver. Galani Woods could be listed as a tight end. He’s a receiver. Rucker seems like he could be your tight end, too. Mason Taylor will get better as the season goes on. Integrate those guys more once you get beyond Garrett Wilson. Arian Smith, my thing with Arian Smith is like if you’re going to play him, just play him. Just don’t make it so obvious for you’re not giving him a chance where everyone comes in, it’s like, oh, they’re going to give that guy a reverse. Here’s a 12- yard loss. Oh, he’s going to run his deep go route. Like just back off because that’s all he can do. And to his credit, he did have a nice catch on on fourth down later in the game. I think it was a fourth down. Um, so that’s what I would say like just just play him. And you know, Reynolds, if he’s not going to stay healthy, could have kind of held that role. And if he’s healthy, maybe he can, but we don’t need the Lazard reps. And you know, Tyler Johnson is fine in a situational role, but if he’s leading all your receivers and snaps, man, that’s tough. I mean, it’s tough. Week two, Tyler Johnson led all Jet receivers in snaps. Like, god damn it. Like, that that is an indictment on the front office if there ever is one. So, um I mean, it’s malpractice. Like, it’s just cra crazy hours. So, it’s Yeah. What What would you do more specifically on offense? And we like everything we’ve seen from Angstra on the second watch. Like, Angstra didn’t really do anything wrong week two. The reverse was a bad call, but beyond that, he was fine. Yeah, the reverse was a bad call, but it’s the classic. It was a bad call because you know the drive was going really well and it lost 12 yards and it’s and the Bills are say what you want about the Bills like we as Jet fans our our ability to laugh at the Bills is that they just can never get over the hump but the the Bills are very well prepared for these Jet games and they knew hey when that guy’s out there he’s their fourthrounder that is a great track athlete do not lose sight of him if he goes in motion or if he’s in the backfield. I mean, come on, man. Like, you know what? You know what it is at that point with that kind of guy. It’s that was always the problem with Corley is that you felt like Corley was out there. Well, the defense knew he was getting a reverse or a screen. So, you know what’s interesting to me as I prep for this game? I’ve been watching the coach’s film of Tampa. Bucky Irving had six targets in the game against the Texans. I just love what Tampa does. They just know how to throw to the backs and you look at it and go like the Jets need to embrace that with Bree Hall. I think part of the problem is and why it works for Tampa and why maybe Angstrom was a little hesitant is Baker can throw down the field to Amechabuka and Mike Evans and when you’re throwing down the field at that rate it does leave more room for the back slipping out of the back field whether it’s a swing pass an angle route a slip screen where if the Jets come out of this game and they hit Garrett or they hit somebody down the field once or twice you got to start giving Bree those catch and run balls. And Field, this is another problem. Fields was late on those. He was late on them to Bree. He was late on the one to Isaiah Davis before the half. Tyrod’s not going to be late on those. So, I think that with the running backs, you can really get them to catch and run balls with Tyrod. And that’ll be a big part of this offense. And the bottom line is like we’re having this conversation. Who do you want to have the ball in their hands? Tyler Johnson, you know, one of the tight ends or Bree Hall. It’s It’s not that hard to answer that question. So, I I think that would be a key for me. Now, special teams, I don’t think there’s too much to radically change. You have a good punter. You have a capable kicker. It doesn’t seem like Isaiah Williams really had much juice as a returner. No. I mean, he could catch the punt. He another week or two, but I felt better with Isaiah Tavis returning kicks of the two. I think from a game management perspective, it’s got to be teaching tape, man. Like you’re especially when you’re an underdog, just be more aggressive. Don’t become the punch line when you’re kicking a field goal down 20 to nothing. Don’t punt in the second half when you’re down three scores and you’re like around midfield and it’s fourth and short. For the life of me, unless it’s like a physical thing that I’m missing, I don’t know why the Jets don’t use the goddamn touch to push. I just can’t understand it. Maybe maybe I’m overthinking it. Maybe it’s more complex than I’m giving it credit for, but when you have fields and you have a good interior offensive line and you’re regularly in for, you know, short yardage situations, just try it, you know, try it try it as something in your repertoire that goes with your overall game management philosophy of being more aggressive on fourth and short. And they they coach the game properly, I think, week one, besides not including that on some of their short yardage package. Like I like that they went for the two-point conversion. There was a fourth down in the game a couple times that I believe they went for. So that was fine week one. It just I think everyone to just hope week two was a true sour milk game. I think everyone got really psyched out by how that first quarter went and kind of [ __ ] their pants and didn’t know what to do. And that that happens with a first time coach and a first time guy in a lot of different spots and with fields where I just think the entire sideline was like oh my god like they went they got this 40 yard scramble on the first drive. We thought we had him stopped. We got the rough in the passer. We got the fields fumble. And it’s like, yeah, everyone just brain wipes. That that should not happen. It can happen. But it does happen where if you’re in a new job and you’re in a new role and stuff starts to go wrong for the first time, you can panic and and make compound your mistakes. And my hope is that there will be another time this year where the Jets are down, it could be this week, honestly, where they’re down 10 nothing to a much better team. How do they stabilize and find their way back into the game to be competitive? I If the Jets go down 10, 13 nothing to Tampa again. It’s not crazy. Tampa’s better than them. Tampa’s probably going to win 11 or 12 games this year, if not more. Can you fight back? Can it be 16 to 13? Can you hang in there? Can you catch your breath? Can you put together a touchdown drive? That’s some of the stuff that I think we have to look for from a game management perspective where that’ll be easier with Tyrod too if he plays for Fields, right? I because Fields also like I don’t I don’t want to like skirt around it like Fields was really bad in this game and left yards on the field. That changed the game a bit. If he hits Garrett, if he hits Isaiah Davis, like it’s a bit of a different game. He left he left some real points on the field. Also, I kind of felt like on his huge run, he could have got like another like 25 yards if you would have just made like one more cut. Yeah, it was like had like the David Harris piano on the back running by the end. Like just like keep going, man. So, that’s my two cents. Why Why do so many Jets run out of gas? Remember Marcus Mays? It’s uh David Harris is a great call back. There’s got to be more that I’m forgetting. It’s like I don’t know, man. And I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I ever played in the NFL, but when I was playing sports and I was actually training every day, I don’t remember like ever just running out of gas. These are professional athletes. I was like, he’s is this going to be like an 80 yard touchdown run? And then he just like fell down. I was like, what happened? It was like 20 yards into it. I was like, oh my god, he’s out of gas. He’s totally out of gas. I think he was shocked how much space there was. Yeah, maybe that’s was what it was, too. But yeah, I think that, you know, they kind of found themselves, it felt like Joe when they went down after he fumbled and they really went down that they they felt like they needed to make it all back up in one play. Yeah. And then

Joe and Connor riff on how to fix the 2025 Jets and keep them competitive throughout the season…

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