NFL Offseason Roadmap: New York Jets

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

The offseason roadmap for the New York Jets isn't hard to follow. They need to get better, pretty much everywhere. Some areas have more urgent needs than others. A failure to upgrade them would doom the team to a 2008 as dark as 2007 while others require more modest improvements that will make the team a more potent one.

1. Offensive Line – The problems with this unit started in training camp when the team failed to settle a squabble with Pete Kendall and traded him to the Redskins. The loss of their most experienced blocker threw the line into disarray. Adrian Clarke, his replacement, was awful and offered no help to the running game or the pass blocking. Anthony Clement, the right tackle, was almost as poor and the Jets need to upgrade the talent at each position.

There are tempting prospects on the free agent market. Jordan Gross of Carolina would look good at right tackle and Ryan Lilja of the Colts would be an excellent fit at left guard but their teams can't relish the thought of losing them. The Jets have the cap space to make serious runs at each guy. Other options – Alan Faneca, Floyd Womack and Max Starks – have mixed resumes that make them less appealing than Gross and Lilja but are still light years ahead of what the Jets had in '07.
They can't stop there, however. While D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold and Brandon Moore will all be back in 2008, they need to perform at a higher level. Ferguson, especially, needs to be pushed to realize the potential that led to his drafting with the fourth overall selection in 2006. The Jets have addressed that need by hiring former Raider and Nebraska coach Bill Callahan as an offensive assistant. His background is with the line and the hope is that he will get this unit performing at a higher level.

2. Defensive Front Seven – If the Jets don't make a move to replace Bob Sutton as defensive coordinator, they must be sure to keep the team's philosophy the same as it was in the second half. After giving up huge chunks of yardage through their miserable start, the team played more aggressive and more successful defense down the stretch. It's the second straight year that's happened and the third time is decidedly not a charm.

Personnel-wise, the Jets need a nose tackle better suited to the 3-4 than Dewayne Robertson and a pass rusher off the edge. Bryan Thomas has gone into the witness protection program since signing a big extension and the defense won't thrive until it can consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks. They are two of the toughest spots to fill, though, and Albert Haynesworth and Terrell Suggs, who would respectively fill each need, aren't likely to hit the bazaar. The sixth pick in the draft should be used to fill one of them.

3. Cornerback – The Jets have a plethora of guys who could play opposite Darrelle Revis but none of them have stood out as better than the rest. Better play up front would help whoever fills this spot, be it one of the in-house guys or a reasonably priced free agent. Revis looks like an All-Pro in the making and with strong play on the opposite side the Jets will be much better against the pass in 2008.

4. Quarterback – This isn't a change, per se, but a shift in thinking. Until they've settled the offensive line, it's going to be very hard for the Jets to make an honest read on Kellen Clemens. Is his skittishness a byproduct of the woeful production or something inherent to his game? Only time will tell. Clemens must get that time and can't be looking over his shoulder every second. The team expressed a desire to bring Chad Pennington back in competition for the job. That's a mistake. Shop him for a draft pick or have him back up Clemens.

5. Playmaker – I think we've made it pretty clear that the offense won't get any better until the offensive line does. That said, another playmaker wouldn't be a bad thing. Clemens never got a chance to show off his arm this season but he's got a strong one and adding a bona fide deep threat would stretch defenses and make the offense much more threatening.