Did New York #Jets TURN A Corner On Season? (BADLANDS)

Did New York #Jets TURN A Corner On Season? (BADLANDS)

What’s up everybody? Welcome back to your favorite New York Jets subscription podcast, Badlands. I’m your host, Joe Caparoso, joined as always by Connor Rogers by week edition. The sun’s shining a little brighter, the grass is a little greener, the New York Jets have a win, the vibes are, dare I say, back a little bit despite being one and seven. We’re going to dig into whether that’s a little uh copium or there’s something to really be excited about. CR, how you doing? How you feeling? Great hat as always. You gotta break out the hat when you can, right after a nice uh victory Monday. I’m dragging it into victory Tuesday night here. And yeah, the vi I would say the vibes are back. I think it’s one of those things where you and I discussed this in the post game that it didn’t feel like a win that they necessarily just like fell into or was a rock fight of a game. There was a lot of positives for guys that really needed that kind of game besides Fields is the obvious, but Olu needed that game. Bree Hall needed that game, you know, to get some production out of the wide receivers like Tyler Johnson. So, Isaiah Williams, which is I I never in a million years saw that one coming. You see Glenn’s energy in the locker room. Y and we’ve had our gripes with how Glenn has reacted to adversity in with the media at times, but there is no denying, and this was one of the reasons you and I were pretty bullish on the hire, there is no denying a former highlevel player like him can build a connection with players and rally a locker room. And you said it on Sunday, this team has not quit on him despite being 0 and7 going into that game. So, I I think listen, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the Jets are going to come out of the by-week and they’re going to win five more games, but if you can kind of change the attitude and perception of this team, can you win, you know, two of the three games that you’re supposed to and then can you steal one from someone in the division? Exactly. Right. that makes you feel like, oh, okay, maybe this is a team that only won four games in the first year of Glenn’s regime, but we actually feel good about building on to a second year. Yeah, I think at this point it’s going to be consistency, right? I think right now everyone is taking a breath and maybe in some areas overpraising certain things because the win is fresh. And I get that and that’s natural, right? Everything kind of feels right. You’re like, “Oh, maybe we were too critical about these things.” you you have to judge the seven losses against the one win while being fair that they were in some of those games and just couldn’t close the door. What I am interested to see and want to see, can Armanu play a full great rookie season? Can he do nine more games like that? He’s halfway there. Can Olu build on a great game against the Bengals where, you know, you put all things aside, if the Jets have two really good young tackles you feel good about, man, everything else is so much easier going forward. And I just feel good about the O line as a whole going into next year because you have Titman and you could figure out the other few spots. You could get Meyers back on the cheap. You could keep Simpson. You could consider bringing AVT back. Like the O line I think is going to be good. And then for the rest of the rookie class, like I I don’t like falling into the uh you know, he drafted or he signed nine starters. Being a starter on a one and 17 isn’t the accomplishment, right? That’s not that’s not what you’re trying to get to. It’s can you actually be a good and productive starter. like Mason Taylor is starting to look the part of a good and productive starter who could do certain things we haven’t seen from a just tight end in a while. Can Malachi Moore get more consistent and keep getting better? And I think he will if Vazar Thomas gets more reps. Can he build on what I think was really a strong debut outside of like a one or two reps? And you know beyond that like all these new guys, can you keep it up? Briggs, Phillips, Brownley, who’s been like a revelation and a fan favorite immediately after this trade. Um, and I want to see how Garrett and Sauce could fit into all this, right? It’s obviously funny and ironic they won their first game without Garrett and without Sauce. This has happened with without sauce with the Eagles a few years back as well. How How does it all look when they’re back? And can they find something particularly on offense to build on where I don’t know, it it feels more and more like they’re going to keep Reese? This is, you know, this the clock’s ticking. We’re recording this Tuesday night. He’s still here. Clearly that offer hasn’t come. I’d say it’s still 50/50. I truly don’t know and I I I’ve said I don’t the Jets don’t know. I don’t know if they know. I think they’re waiting. They’re waiting if they get that phone call and you know it’s been is it the Chiefs? Is it the Chargers? Is it the Cardinals? Like why why are the Cardinals trading for someone right now? They got Bam Knight and Michael Michael Carter and they’re two and five. So that has to win though or else going to get fired. That’s probably to answer your question. So like that’s going to be the most interesting thing to watch in my mind. Do they keep him? Is there any other trades? And then what does this offense look like? If Fields can be the Pittsburgh Fields and the Bengals Fields for most of the rest of the season, you can evaluate the rest of the offense. You can get Garrett back. You can hopefully get some things going in rhythm. And I don’t know, I I said this a few weeks in a row. Every time I rewatch the Jet game, I feel better about their offensive scheme and structure. And I feel that there could be a path to this being a decent situation for a rookie quarterback because I like the offensive line. I like the offensive coordinator. We’ve liked him from the beginning of the summer. We’ve been consistent with that even though he’s had a couple down spots. And I think the play design each week shows that. You have Garrett. You might have Bree. You have a good complimentary piece in Isaiah Davis who finally got a little shine and some opportunities to get in the open field. You got a good young tight end. It looks like you got an okay number two tight end who’s blocking his ass off. You know, you’re two receivers away in my mind from putting it together because I like to think between Tyler Johnson, Aren Smith, and Isaiah Williams, that’s your four, five, six. You figure it out. Those guys are fine in those roles, you’re two you’re two receivers away. So, you rewatch the game. What did you think of the tape? And could this situation be all right actually for a Mendoza or Simpson or whoever we end up talking about? Right. And I think the the last part of that is going to depend on what they’re able to do in the off season. Do you there’s a lot of examples like the the highlevel or top level ones are do the Colts really let an Alec Pierce walk out the door? And I would say most likely no. But to be fair, Shane Stiken’s one of the best offensive minds in football. They’ve paid Michael Pitman. They drafted Tyler Warren early. They have Josh DS. They drafted Adenai Mitchell with the day two pick a year ago. Maybe they go, “Hey, we’ll take another deep threat in the draft. We’ll save the 20 plus mill a year and we’ll find a way to replace him because he’s has a concussion history and we’re just that good at what we do.” Most likely, I would think they keep him, but you have to start these conversations somewhere. He’s like the perfect free agent for the Jets. We were talking, a lot of people were talking about, hey, if they ever thought about trading him because he’s a big deep threat and if my conversations with the Jets and wide receiver are going to completely center on getting a perimeter threat that can win down the field in contested situations and can run by people. There’s a lot of smaller guys in the draft that are really good prospects, but I’m going to be focusing on the Carnell Tates of the world from Ohio State, Denzel Boston from Washington, Chris Bell from Louisville. Like that’s gonna be Muji, assuming Muji his number one thing. If you got to build this offense out for a rookie, Garrett’s really good and Garrett’s only one man, but you need some kind of big physical perimeter threat as well because that having that big physical perimeter threat allows you to move Garrett around that like the great offenses do. I mean, even watch the Chiefs the other night with Rasheed Rice. Rasheed Rice plays in the slot. He plays out wide. He comes out of the back field. Like that’s what the Jets need to be doing with Garrett Wilson. And if you have an actual almost just natural X-wide receiver or really just you don’t even need to pigeon hole them into roles, but more so just that ability to live on the perimeter, it kind of changes your creativity. So that’s going to be a big part of of getting this offense right. But outside of that, it it’s true the Jets are not Fields’ struggles for a majority of the season do have the unfortunate trickle effect of making everybody else look significantly worse than what they are. That conversation got loud around the offensive line and I was screaming back, stop tweeting sack numbers or quarterback hits or pressures when you know, you look at an offense with a quarterback that’s average time to throw is 2.2 2 seconds. You can’t compare that left tackle to Olu Fashionu who’s trying to protect for 3.6 seconds. Like that. That’s a different sport. So, I’m with you that I’m a big believer in what they have on the offensive line. And they’re going to have to figure out do they pay Simpson? Do they try to keep ABT around? Is Titman the center? Is Meyers back? Do they have to draft a center? all. But those are not really difficult problems if you’ve made it as far in your career as GM. Those are pretty minor league level issues. It’s kind of moving cap allocation around and just figuring out who the staff wants to keep and who you can live without and what you can replace. And then yeah, it just comes down to pass catcher. I mean, quite honestly, like because it’s not just one guy. I I think the Jets should be going into next year, assuming they have a rookie quarterback. They should be going into camp with a free agent wide receiver that’s a pro and a a pick in the first three rounds at like honestly you need two meaningful weapon additions at receiver. You can’t Yeah. and his the strides Rucker has made, he deserves a lot of credit for, you know, but there might be a world where you do need a a real road grader type of tight end for certain personnel packages. Right now, Bree is on the team, and we’re going to assume Bree is on the team next year, but when Bree is if Bree is not on this team, then you have a big hole at running back. But I I’m with you. continued signs of growth from the play caller. A competent level passer. Figure out internally how you keep your offensive line in place. And the big swing is absolutely a pass catcher. I kind of feel like if you don’t trade Bree, you better be finding a way to keep him next year. Like the plan needs to the plan needs to be okay. Like we didn’t trade him. We’re going to give him the transition tag. We’re going to give him the franchise tag. We’re going to give him two years $21 million with a secondyear option. Like that should actually come in short order if you don’t trade him. So that’s taken care of and then you could say all right like we’re actually going to keep Titman at guard. We’ll pay Meyers to come back and then we’ll pick between AVT and Simpson and figure it out. Those are options to have and you know you look at receiver the names right now and these names always change before the season start the free agency starts and other guys will become available. They’ll be trade targets. You have Pierce, you have Romeo Dobs, you have Jacobe Meyers, you have Dodson on the Eagles who’s now is like making plays and they’re probably not going to be able to allocate money to bring him back. I just don’t want a small player and I know that’s so we need the Conor dad big guys coming off the bus. I I know it’s so blunt and stubborn of me. To be fair, Garrett is a smaller guy as a lead receiver. You need a power forward. Yeah. And you you might even need two kind of physical cuz Aaron Smith is tiny. Yes. And like you and I can sit here and all we want, but he’s on the team next year and probably in a top four to five wide receiver role. Yep. So you probably need two wide receivers with size. Yep. you need you need two big bodies and they’re gonna have to get creative in figuring that out. And then you go over to defense and it’s like, all right, we had two good games in a row. You have the game that was really a disaster into the final two drives. What do you make of this unit going forward? I I expect Quinnon to be here. I expect JJ to be here. I expect Will McDonald to be here. I don’t I don’t see that type of move happening. Quincy and Michael Carter, you know, it’s interesting like they bend Sherwood. I wonder if Kiko doesn’t get a concussion, if Sherwood is on the bench for that entire game, and how much buyer remorse they have right now, and if internally they’re like, “Shit, I wish we just had a path to just having Quincy for the next year or two instead of Sherwood.” Because Sherwood, the the the compounding problem with Sherwood isn’t that he’s been bad, it’s that he’s a captain and he’s had effort issues. And now clearly there’s been something off the field because he got benched for some reason. We don’t know exactly what, but it was something that seemed to be related to something off the field. Judging didn’t seem performance based. It didn’t seem performance based cuz he was actually okay the previous two weeks compared to the other games. And that’s a problem you got to solve for, especially if Quincy’s going to leave in free agency. That just leaves you with Sherwood. Kiko is a role player. I know they just claimed Kobe King, who is a guy they probably should have drafted instead of Kiko and got him as a UDFA. Doesn’t really matter now. They’re both here. But that, you know, is still going to be an issue. And then I’d like to see more from Quinnon down the stretch. I’m not going Joe Benigno crazy here. We love Quinn. Quinnon does a lot of dirty work and he’s had a lot of good games this year that have flown under the radar. I know the stats are not popping, but I do think it’s fair to be like, “All right, let’s let’s not have two sacks this season. Let’s have six sacks. Let’s have a couple games where we don’t allow 1,700 yards rushing to P Ryan and Chase Brown.” And you have Phillips next to you. You have Briggs. Like Germaine’s back. Like there should be a little more of a presence up front. And I think that’s a fair expectation of him. who’s going to be here. And same for Germaine and Will, right? Germaine’s playing now. I think he’s making his impact. Like, let’s see more of what you saw in that final drive where you got in Flaco’s face. And for Will McDonald, let’s have a little run here these last nine games. Let’s finish with eight, nine, 10 sacks. Let’s not drop down from 11 to four. I don’t think he will. He’s got three on the board now, you know, but let let’s have a couple more big games. Those are the guys in my mind that they’re going to be building blocks. They’re going to be here next year. You want them to be comfortable in whatever version of this defense is going to be and start making playmakers. And same for Sauce even, right? Like S people are always going to get on him and nitpick every little play. He’s still a great goddamn quarter. He’s still been their best overall player on the defense so far this season. Would love for his sake and for the fan base’s sake get involved in a turnover or two, man. Like, can we get like a bounce? Like Brownley punches out a fumble, it bounces right to Sauce, and he runs one back for a touchdown. He needs that kind of moment or play, right? Revas had his 110 yard interception return. Like he had the funny pick six against Delhome. Like I want to see him get a couple of those plays uh overall. And that that’s what I’m looking for, man. Especially you get you got teed up against the Browns who the only offense in the NFL prior to the Bengals game that’s worse than the Jets. I mean, that’s a putrid offense. Go out and stamp them out like you did to the Broncos and Panthers. And let’s see if you could build on something here. What what are your thoughts on this defense? Where do they go the rest of this year? Where do they go next year? How dire is this unit? Or is it not really that dire at all? No, I think it’s dire. I think this unit has a lot of issues. Some can be corrected and and some I’m a little less optimistic on. Number one, Steve Wils shouldn’t be the defensive coordinator next year. And I don’t care. No imagination. There there is his play calling in the game. Like the the blitzes never get home. They’re painfully obvious this team. I’m laughing thinking of Cisco’s blitz in the first quarter. He’s just chopping his feet for like I was like, “Dude, what are we what are we doing here?” Which which running back? Was it Chase Brown that picked him up? Like a small such a bad rep, man. I was like, “Oh, man.” Yeah. So, number one, Wilin, and that would you’d be surprised how much how many things would look better right away, but there are some personnel issues. I I’m really happy Stevens has been playing better, especially in a big game like that. He deserves his flowers for that. And maybe Stevens is going to settle in nicely here. I’m really not as worried about him as I was. I do wonder even though the age difference if choosing Sherwood over Quincy was a colossal mistake because sadly looking that way so far. We saw how Quincy reacted to getting paid and now we’ve seen how Sherwood’s reacted to getting paid and it’s stark to me. Quincy Williams loves running 100 miles an hour and hitting people and he plays like that in training camp. He plays like that in games. It’s why he gets hurt at times. But there’s no denying that even when you get bad Quincy games, he’s he’s out there doing everything he can for a 220lb linebacker. Sure. The problem with Sherwood is he’s the same size as Quincy and half as fast. So I I think they have a Sherwood problem. I there’s just no denying it right now. There’s really two pathways, three pathways. I think one’s not realistic. The first pathway is assuming Quincy is not on this team next year and he might not even be on the team after the deadline. You got to put a a bigger linebacker, which Kiko is. That was probably part of the thought process. They probably just didn’t want him playing that quick. you need to put a bigger linebacker and a bigger front next to Sherwood because he’s just too small and he doesn’t play fast enough to he’s just very hot and cold with how fast he plays. But when you’re small and you have a moment where you’re slow to read it, you’re dead. A climber gets on you and you’re 220 lbs against a 300 plus line lineman and you’re dead. So they either need to put a bigger linebacker next to him and I don’t know how much that’ll fix but it’s a start. two, his dead bunny is a little bit more salvageable if he’s traded rather than cut. Would Salah or take him back in a seventh round pick swap? The Jets, I believe, eat 10 million in dead money in 2026 and then it’s kind of behind you and just be like, “It was a mistake. Yep, we missed it. We learned from it. We’re happy that we’re getting out of some of the money.” The third one that I don’t think is realistic is you cut him and you’re eating a ton of dead money next year because yeah, you just got to hope he bounces back, man. It’s that that’s too much money to eat on a guy not playing for you. I just don’t think that’s the right the right approach. You would keep him and if he really stunk for a second year in a row, then you could actually bench him or have him play specials. But it sucks we have to have this convo after eight games, man. It does suck. But it’s very real. I I think he’s something’s off.

Joe and Connor discuss the vibe change around the Jets after their first win of the season, what the tape vs the Bengals said, remaining trade deadline rumors and close by talking about their memories of Nick Mangold…

FULL episode at www.patreon.com/BadlandsTOJ