I hope heaven is a lot like Oxnard

Sports, for all intents and purposes, are played on flat TV screens by slightly more life-like Madden players, two-dimensionally gliding around and causing you to cheer for seemingly absurd reasons like when one 2-D thing happens to cross a line while carrying a big brown egg. When you watch sports on TV, you are watching a tape-delayed representation of reality where tiny red, green, and blue light particles depict images of players no more real to fans than the girls they pretend to do things to on their computer screens. It’s a dehumanizing experience in which players disappear and reappear with the comings and goings of commercials so frequently that they might as well not really exist.

Sure, a possible solution to this fan-player disconnect is to attend the games in person where at least it’s live, and one can see the actual players themselves; however, a whole new set of restrictions prohibit the fan from connecting with these players on a more human level. First of all, the larger the crowd size, the larger the disconnect, as the players are increasingly put on a higher and higher pedestal with each additional awestruck fanatic blankly gaping at them. Secondly, the access to players is still inhibited by enough physical barriers (walls, security guards, fences, nets, etc) to prevent all but the exceptionally lucky fan to do anything more than get Donald Driver’s sweaty ballsack rubbed on his face, while he repeatedly slaps his ass during a Lambeau Leap.

While witnessing a live game is clearly better than watching on TV, it still does not allow for one to connect on a human level with the actual people that the average fan sees as merely a walking fantasy football commodity or statistic for their benefit. It is not until you see your favorite players, literally feet from you, interacting with you in an intimate setting, high-fiving you, doing the things that you’ve seen them do hundreds of times on TV before but never quite like this. You realize that they are actually human beings too and that they aren’t just glorified video game characters, an understanding that finally allows for fans and players to connect. Where does this magical fantasy land exist other than in strip clubs across the country you ask? At NFL training camps my friends, where dreams come true, the water tastes like wine, the women are cheap and easy, and your favorite players just look and act like larger, more talented versions of your friends.
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I had the sublime fortune of attending Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, CA, for a day this past weekend and feel like I saw the team that I’ve been rooting for religiously since I was a child in a completely different light. Seeing a team like this (especially from only a few feet away) is like seeing them without a front, without a guise, and in their natural habitat, the difference between seeing drugged up lions in a zoo and wild ones on safari. You come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the nature of the team itself. You come to see who the different characters are on a team are, who the leaders are, who the jokesters are, and how they all interact to from a team.

For instance, I had heard before that Tank Johnson was a popular teammate on the Bears and one of their team leaders, despite the fact that he was often reserved and quiet as a new member of the Cowboys last year. This year he is more comfortable with the team and more comfortable with his place on the team, and it shows. He was the leader of the second team defense when he was on the field, yelling for everyone to huddle back up after plays, waiving his arms to pump/work up the crowd, and also showing his amicability, as he would talk to fans before warm ups and even offer insights into his personal life (he was telling people that he had sodium deficiency before warm-ups). In the matter of a few hours I had a new favorite player (ok not favorite but one of them) and learned a lot about someone that most people probably view negatively because of his off the field issues. This instance also offered an insight into the team, as well, as I now understand why the coaches are so interested in moving starting NT Jay Ratliff to DE so that Tank can be on the field more often.

Another one of my favorite things about training camp was getting to meet players who might not make the 53 man roster, like undrafted free agent rookie WR Danny Amendola from Texas Tech, and seeing how hard they work. These are the players who are fighting tooth and nail every play, every rep to get noticed and to be part of the team. They arrive at the practice field early, well before stretching starts, and they stay late, working on routes with other free agent receivers and quarterbacks. You cannot help but root for these guys, especially when you can see their talent and can imagine what they can contribute to your team. Amendola has drawn comparisons to Wes Welker since college (both from Texas Tech), as he stands at only around 5-10 but is one of the fastest and quickest players on the field. He’s in a position battle right now for the 4th-5th receiver spot with Miles Austin and Isaiah Stanback behind T.O., Patrick Crayton, and Sam Hurd. It’s fascinating to see, first hand, the type of work that these guys put in, and it makes you realize why you’re such a fan of sports to being with.

The speed, size, and strength of these players is also something that you cannot possibly appreciate to its full extent without seeing these behemoths live and up-close. The day of practice I saw, T.O. (at some points only inches from me) was wearing spandex pants and actually looked like an exaggerated comic book superhero. Seeing him from a few feet away, effortlessly catch balls and quickly running routes really made me appreciate the speed and quickness of the game. Because of his adept interaction with us fans, I also have a much greater appreciation for him as a person, as I (for obvious reasons) had always been reluctant to become completely sold on him in the past. He always had a big smile and a wink whenever he’d look over, which was often, and he even came over at one point during practice and gave a bunch of people high fives. Other players who you couldn’t help but be impressed by were the o-linemen and their ridiculous size.The Cowboys happen to have a particularly large o-line and seeing them waddle around was insane; these humans were clearly born to squat down and prevent other large humans from getting past them, Flozell Adams, Leonard Davis (big as a horse?), and Marc Colombo especially. You simply cannot fathom how large these monsters are, regardless how many times John Madden talks about them while circling their asses.

Finally, my favorite part about training camp was the feeling of excitement and anticipation that you get from seeing your team and all of their fancy new additions. Every team has reason to be hopeful in the NFL during the off-season (yes, even you Miami and Atlanta), and there is no better representation of this than at training camp when everyone (rookies, vets, coaches, media, fans) is coming together for the first time of the new season. This is the first time that anyone can see how amazing Adam Jones looks with a star on his helmet, how quick Felix Jones’s burst is after he gets through a hole, and how Zach Thomas REALLY is in every play on the defensive side of the ball. At training camp the new season is close enough that you can taste it, yet watching it develop from the beginning offers a much more rewarding satisfaction when it finally does come, the difference between helping to make a great meal while afterwards taking part in its enjoyment and wolfing down fast food.

I’m not saying that I’m suddenly a different or changed football or Cowboys fan after this one day experience, but it certainly opened my eyes to a different element of why I enjoy sports so much and what it is to root for an actual team and not just a bunch of faceless, statistics with numbers on their jerseys.

Gang Green - Offense

The New York Jets had no offense whatsoever last year. It honestly seemed as though nothing clicked for any sort of substantial period of time at any point during the season, and it seemed that way simply because nothing clicked for any sort of substantial period of time at any point during the 2007 season. Dang it! Let's take it apart piece by piece and see what we can expect in this rapidly approaching '08 season.

First, unfortunately I need to talk for a second about therewillbesports favorite: Brett Favre! Sorry Gir and others... I do not think that the Jets will get Favre. I really don't. Do I hope for it? Yeah, I think right away people would be talking about us as potential contenders if we got Brett, but I really, really don't think it'll happen. That said, if it does happen then all of this post is pretty worthless. If the most important single position in all of sports is to be taken over by one of the best all-time at that single position then of course that would change EVERYTHING. I'm going in to this post assuming that we will not get Favre, as I see it being extremely unlikely, so let's see what we can do without him no matter how good he looks in green...

Secondly, f*** 2007. How long can I harp on how bad our offense was last year? I'm sick of it. Here are some numbers for you Jets haters to feast on and then I'm done talking about last years' terribleness. 26th in yards per game, 26th in time of possession, 20th in turnover differential, 25th in passing ypg, 26th in passing touchdowns, 28th in sacks allowed, 19th in rushing ypg, 30th in rushing touchdowns and most importantly, 25th in points per game... Let's get positive ladies and gents...
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O-Line

Ooooooooookay O-line. So Jets fans, get prepared for a new season and lets thank our management for going insane. Last year we found glaring holes at right tackle and left guard, but this year there are no holes. That's right. None. Not the best o-line in the league but no holes. Most teams cannot say that.

From left to right you start with D'Brickashaw Ferguson (one of two first round picks in 2006). He is coming into his third year. His rookie year he was extremely awesome, for a rookie, but last year he hardly improved and that was a little bit of a disappointment. The good thing about all that jazz is that D'Bricks knows that he was disappointing last season. He spent all of the off-season getting harder, better, faster, stronger (no... really). He put on some serious muscle and all reports coming from training camp have said that he is noticeably much stronger and looking phenomenal. Yes!

At left guard you find our biggest off-season acquisition, from the Steelers: Alan Faneca (I believe they like to run the ball in Pittsburgh). He is a seven time pro-bowler and is a big time leader on and off the field not to mention he is replacing the dreadful Adrien Clarke. There is no doubt that Faneca will spend a lot of time with the younger Jets helping them grow. He is already making a noticeable difference this training camp, helping the line with communication which is an essential part of a working o-line. With hundreds of different possible looks a defense can give you, you gotta be talking. As for helping out with pass protection and the running game? Well he is a monster and he is going to be huge for us in both aspects of the game. I cannot wait and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.

Our center is Nick Mangold (our other first round pick in 2006). Nick is amazing. He has been getting better and better game by game. It is so exciting to have him, Faneca and D'Brickashaw owning the left side of the line for several more years. Having a strong o-line is absolutely paramount to offensive success and a great center like Mangold is essential to any line.

At right guard we will be featuring our pleasant surprise of last year, Brandon Moore. Moore was stationed at right guard last season and was very good. He will continue to be good there and have good chemistry with the rest of the line like last year. Moore really emerged as a leader last season in the locker room for the younger guys and that makes him more valuable then just a good guard.

At right tackle last year we had Anthony Clement and he was worse than bad. He constantly got beat by opposing teams' ends and he really hurt both our passing and running games. There isn't really anything good to say about Clement at all. Well, peace Tony, and now enter Damien Woody. Woody has played every position on the offensive line in his career except left tackle which you have to like in terms of versatility. He has a lot of experience all over the place and will be a big, big improvement over Clement. I doubt you'll see Woody in Hawaii after this season but he is a very solid and capable player on what will be a good, potentially great, o-line which means he is good enough. Last year the line was a big weakness and now it is a strength.

Backs (full ones and half ones!)

The potency for a dominant rushing attack doesn't stop with the o-line. Here comes yet another new guy in the green and white: Tony Richardson. If you do not know who Tony Richardson is then you A. don't play Madden and B. underrate the full-back position. Who is T.R.? Here is an excerpt from a fan-house article I was reading not too long ago:

"If you don't know who that is, let me help you a bit... he's the dude who has cleared holes for fantasy beasts Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson. You don't need me to tell you three of those four have been elite fantasy players. Find each runner's best fantasy season and Richardson was leading the way."

Yes, the except is referring to fantasy, but what he means by monster fantasy seasons is tons of yards and tons of touchdowns. Well, that just so happens to correlate perfectly with running back monsters in real life. Seeeee! Sometimes fantasy can be a good indicator of real life success!

Our #1 half-back and the guy that will definitely finish the year with the most carries on the team is Thomas Jones. Sir Jones is coming off of the worst year of his career where he averaged only 3.6 yards per carry and finished with only ONE rushing TD. Ugh... It was tough to watch, but I'm confident in Thomas this year. He is still capable of being a very good back. He finished last season with 1119 yards ranking him 10th in the NFL! I'll take that for my back's worst career year. Thomas will find this upcoming season much easier and much more fun as he looks up to find glaring holes provided by our o-line / Richardson and finally opportunities to lower his monstrous shoulder to lay out opposing secondaries. Mow the lawn Thomas.

The next three backs on the list are Leon Washington, Jesse Chatman and Musa Smith. Leon is sick. In only 71 carries last year he averaged 5.0 yards per carry and he also caught 36 passes for 213 yards. The only problem in Leon's game is that he cannot single handedly break through tackles because he is a smaller guy who relies on very good speed and elite agility to deceive defenders. All of these features are on full display when Leon is returning kicks, where he finished last season tied for first for kick-off return TDs and fourth in average yards per return. He will find this new o-line a big help when seeking out holes and catching screen passes. Every time he touches the ball he is capable of scoring six so watch out for an awesome year full of highlights from Leon this year.

Jesse Chatman and Musa are career back-ups, but good ones. Chatman had the most carries of his career last year in Miami and finished with a solid 4.0 yards per carry. Musa Smith who has been apparently having an awesome training camp is known to be a great blocker, passing and running, and an above average pass catcher. Look for Musa to pickup some key first downs for us with his versatility and come in for blocking on passing downs to give the workhorses a rest.

Tight Ends

At this point it is really unknown what Chris Baker is trying to do. He is acting like a bitch and everyone is sick of it... just shut up Chris.

We moved up in this past draft in order to get Dustin Keller and I think he is going to be a stud. He is insanely athletic and the only complaint I've heard is that he may be a little small for a tight end at 6'4" and 240lbs, but some of the elite pass catching and game changing tight ends in the NFL are similar sizes (Cooley, D. Clark, Gates, Kellen). If size is his only "downside" well then fellow Jets fans, get prepared for something special. Keller has also been lining up some in the slot and in the #4 WR spot this training camp.

Bubba Franks and Chris Baker are both pretty average TEs and neither will be "featured" in the offense, but both of them are more than capable of helping the team in short third down conversions and in the red-zone.

Wide-outs

Laveranues Coles is coming into the season as the number one WR for us for good reason. Lavern has posted some awesome numbers in his career and is one of few Jets that can regularly beat defenders deep for six. That said, with age settling in Laveranues is no longer the go to guy for us. Helllllooooooooooo Jerricho Cotchery.

Jerricho had to put the receiving unit on his shoulders last year when Lavern went down and he blossomed in his second full season (15 games started, two of those injured) finishing with 82 catches and 1130 yards. In the last four games of the season Cotchery averaged 7 catches and 100 yards per game. Sweet. He does not have elite wide receiver speed or jumping ability but he has great strength, route running and hands to make-up for it. He can also take a hit as Jets fans frequently see Jerricho crossing over the middle for 10-15 yard gains and first downs.

Our third and fourth WRs last year were both bad. Brad Smith who is a converted QB seemed to drop as many passes as anyone I can remember and Justin McCareins was actually single handedly involved in us losing two games last season. Ugh. Well, Justin is now gone and Brad is fighting for his spot.

There have been a lot of names mentioned so far in training camp as guys that may emerge to be our third wide out, but the guy that I like the best is Chansi Stuckey. Stuckey exploded onto the scene with an amazing training camp before last season and then hurt his foot and was out for the season. Coach Mangini and others have talked extensively about Chansi this training camp because he has excelled every one's expectations. He is known for superb hands and serious YAC potential which is pretty ideal for a slot receiver.

Wallace Wright is another guy to take note of. He has been having a great training camp thus far for us. But who is going to be throwing all of these guys the rock? Who will be playing, like I said before, the most important single position in all of sports? It's easy: Chad Pennington.

Chad

I wonder what percentage of people reading this hate Chad Pennington and/or think he sucks. If I had to guess... 98%? Whatever. I really couldn't care less and nor could Chad. He has gotten over trying to be someone he is not on the football field. He will gladly go back to being the most accurate QB of all-time (check the numbers punk). People constantly harp on the fact that he lacks elite Jamarcus Russell or Brett Favre superman arm strength even though he is more successful then most QBs in the NFL. In 2002 he led the Jets from a 1-4 record when he took over to a 9-7 record which was good enough to win the AFC East division. In 2004 we came two Doug Brien field goals away (f****** idiot missed both obviously) from making the AFC championship. In 2006 Chad won the NFL comeback player of the year award leading us to the playoffs despite two shoulder surgeries. Chad is at his best when the play-action is part of the offense and we should see a lot of that this season with a much improved rushing attack. He has play-makers around him and I can't wait for him to get criticized all season despite success... as usual. Do it Chad. Lets go Jets.

Mets bullpen woes

So the MLB trade deadline has come and gone and the Mets did a whole lot of nothing. I must preface this post by saying that I desperately wanted Minaya to bolster the bullpen, and was hoping that he would prioritize that over adding a corner outfielder. Corner outfield can be addressed through waivers, while it is rare that anything more than below average middle relievers become available. That being said, I am extremely dissapointed that we were unable to make a move to improve our middle relief. I do have faith in Minaya as a shrewd and creative GM around the deadline and when he says nothing came up that made sense for us, I believe him. Regardless, I believe that BY FAR the most glaring problem with the Mets is that they have one reliable reliever (Wags) who only gets to pitch if other bad relievers (everyone else) don't implode.

I have been very, very happy with Jerry Manuel, as a whole. I think that the firing of Randolph, although done callously and without class, was absolutely necessary. Manuel gets gangster, handles the media phenomenally, and seems to have loosened up the clubhouse. However, I am starting to become infuriated with how he has been managing our bullpen. Granted, pretty much all of his options before the 9th inning suck, but I believe the way he has dealt with the bullpen has not improved the Mets chances to win games. The Mets, as a club, are not on the same level as the Cubs, Brewers, or Diamondbacks (and maybe LAD? Hello Mandong...Dodgers post coming soon). They are, however, on the same level as the Phillies and Marlins, and as such, I do believe the Mets can win the East. But in terms of a postseason run, I really think that this club will go only as far as their bullpen takes them.
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Pedro Feliciano: By far our best lefty reliever in both '06 and '07, this year has not been so kind to Feliciano. After eras of 2.09 and 3.09 in 06 and 07, respectively, Feliciano has an era of 4.03 with a startling 1.50 whip. His K:BB ratio is, however, right around where it was his previous two years, and its the increased hits he's giving up that has inflated his whip. The one thing that has been causing Feliciano so much trouble this season is getting out right handed hitters, something he had no difficulty doing his last two seasons. Righties are hitting .338 off of him this year even though his last two years they hit just .221 and .266. He is still doing a fine job against lefties, and given his peripherals and body of work, I wish the Mets would let him try and pitch through this. Instead, they have been limiting Feliciano as the situational lefty while giving Schoeneweis an expanded role. Schoeneweis has been pitching very well this season, but he has also been just as suseptiblet to righties as Feliciano. And he also has been overall a significantly worse left handed arm out of our pen when compared to Pedro. I still have faith in Feliciano, and I would love to see him get the nod over Schoeneweis to start some innings and spread around the work. Feliciano's era jumped from 2.80 to 4.20 after two horrible back to back outings on July 19 and 22. This entire month of July, in all of his appearences he has pitched a complete inning just one time. I don't understand why Manuel has stopped giving him work in innings that count as he has been for the past two years our most reliable reliever not named Wagner. Take away those two outings and youre looking at a sub-3 era from Feliciano. He has been pretty solid all year, but has unfortunately been given a diminished role coming out of the pen. Given the way things have been going lately, I hope Manuel starts giving him a greater role.

Aaron Heilman: I have been extremely critical of Heilman since his fist full season in the bullpen in 2006. I hate his demenor on the mound, I hate how he purses his lips together making his face look like a tightly puckered asshole, and I HATE how the way he shakes his arm and is constantly twitching while on the hill. He just always looks so uncomfortable out there. Aside from his mannerisms and face, I have also hated watching him blow lead after lead and prove to be completely incapable of taking control of 8th inning duties. Last season Heilman finished the season with a 3.03 era but his record was 7-7. With a 3.03 era, he should not have accrued 7 losses over the course of the season. And with Duaner lost for the season last year, every time Randolph sent out Heilman for the 8th to get to Wags, it was just a roller coaster. This year, he has a 4.60 era. Ugh. But, I really, really, really am starting to come around on him as of late. I have- for the first time ever, mind you -been upset when Heilman isn't used in close games in the 6th or 7th innings. There is one, and only one, reason why for this change of heart; his slider. Prior to this past month, he has been a strictly fastball-changeup pitcher. Both are exceptional pitches with tremendous movement, but if the hitter guesses right, we're looking at a ding dong ladies and gentleman. He has FINALLY added that third pitch to his arsenal, the slider, and has begun throwing it with confidence. It is allowing him to keep hitters off balance, even though it is by no means a plus pitch yet, it has good enough movement that if he makes a mistake with it, it will seldom end up in the bleachers. Now that he has added the slider, it makes his fastball and changeup, both plus pitches, sooo much more effective. While I by no means want to thrust him into the 8th inning role -he has collapsed far too many times in the past in that spot- I would like to see Manuel use him more to START the 6th or 7th innings. Heilman is best used to throw 1 complete inning at a time. He is not great at stranding runners as he is more apt to induce fly balls than grounders. Manuel needs to stop bringing Heilman in with men on as a situational righty and use him to pitch full innings.

Carlos Muniz: Muniz has been moving up and down from the minors to the bigs pretty much all season long. He has made an appearence for us in every month of the season, but July has been his first full month with the club. In 10 July innings pitched he has given up 5 earned runs. Manuel has been turning to him really only when our starter gets knocked out early. Even though Muniz has sucked a bit, he has showed flashes here and there. Despite pretty bad numbers, I am fine with Muniz for some reason. He can get that strikeout when he needs it, and could end up being a valuable middle reliever for us in a year or two as he continues to develop. But he undoubtedly has had his troubles settling in, and the more out of reach the game is (winning or losing) when he comes in, the better. He does typically pitch in low pressure situations and the only other guy we have that could fill his shoes in that role would probably be Claudio Vargas who has sucked horribly since being demoted to the minors. I think we are stuck with Muniz for the time being, and hopefully our starters will stop going 5 innings so we will see less of him. Or we can start bashing the shit out of opponents and blowing them out and see more of him, which would be fine too.

Duaner Sanchez: Sanchez needs to be our 8th inning set up guy. He is the only one in our bullpen that has a track record of being able to do it, and I hate the rotating, let matchups dictate who to bring in thing that Manuel has been doing in the 8th. Duaner had a 2.60 era in 2006 when he was setting up Wagner all season long, and even though he lost a couple ticks on his fastball velocity, we need desperately for him to be back in that role. He is not doing that bad this year, with a 3.8 era, and he is definitely the most capable and undoubtedly the most logical choice of everyone in the bullpen to throw the 8th. Willlie Randolph did the same thing with 8th inning duties earlier in the season as Manuel is now. He did not hand over the primary set up role to anyone in particular, and it drove me mad. I am a huge proponent of defining bullpen roles, in general. I think having that stability is tremendous and when guys come to the park knowing what they will be asked to do gives them an increased ability to perform. If we are up 2 runs in the middle of the 7th, I want Duaner to get up and start getting ready for the 8th. I don't want him to wait and see if the bullpen coach looks to him when the phone rings in that spot, I just want him to get up and start stretching. LETS GO DUANER. He has the mental toughness to go out there in big spots and get outs, and I think that if Manuel and management put their faith in him and said: "Duaner, when we're in a tight ballgame, you're gonna be the guy who will hand that lead over to Billy" I think he would respond in kind. Let him pitch through things, and let him throw the 8th. It's not like we have anyone else who can do it anyway.

Scott Schoeneweis: Schoeneweis has surprisingly been good for us this year. But, as far as I'm concerned, he still sucks. All he is good for is getting lefties out, period. His career era as a reliever hovers right around 5. FIVE. His era this year has been slowly creeping up as it sits at 3.02 as entering August. Even though he has been pitching a bit better than Feliciano, he has proven throughout his career as a reliever that he is strictly a situational lefty. He has never shown that he has the ability to get righties out, and such a matchup should be avoided at all costs. I am still completely on edge when he is called on to get us out of a tough spot or pitch a big inning. And yet, this year, we see Feliciano relegated to situational duties and Schoeneweis getting full innings of work. While yes, Schoeneweis has been a better than Feliciano to date, I simply do not understand why Manuel has more faith in him than Feliciano as the go to lefty out of our pen. Schoeneweis' era hovered between 5 and 6 last season. Every game I went to last year, when he came in, I could hear the collective groans throughout Shea. While he has been better this year, I still think he is best suited to come out only to face lefties. Righties are still hitting .324 against him, and while Feliciano is not getting righties out with any more regularity, he has -unlike SS - shown that he can do it. The more complete innings given to Schoeneweis the more righties he will face, and it is only a matter of time until his era goes back to where it has been his whole career: 5.00.

Joe Smith: It has been painful watching Joe Smith pitch lately as he has given up runs in each of his last three outings. Again, I feel like Manuel is really misusing Smith. Unlike Sanchez and Heilman, he is a ground ball pitcher who throws with heavy sink. He is far less adept to throw full innings and he is far, far better than the other right handed options we have at stranding runners, again, due to his ground ball tendencies. Righties are hitting just .210 against him and he has shown throughout his career to be extremely tough on them. He is, like Schoeneweis, best used as a situational arm out of the pen. However, Manuel continues to start 6th and 7th innings with Smith. Manuel is just not playing to the strengths of these relievers and keeps putting them in scenarios that will exploit their weaknesses. While our middle relief is littered with problems, I feel like Manuel has been making things far worse.



Billy Wagner: Wagner owns.

Ok, well that is our pen. One more thing, I do not understand why we have yet to give Eddie Kunz a shot. Why not? Our bullpen has been utter crap, maybe we catch some type of Joba in a bottle or something, and Kunz will come up striking out everyone in sight. Unless we are really looking at him as our closer of the future and want to keep him in the minors so as not to mess him up, I don't see why we don't give him a shot. We are in a tight race in the East and he could prove to be a huge, huge addition to our pen. He has a 2.87 era while striking out nearly a batter per frame in AA. It may very well be that he is not ready, and that would be fine, but I would like to at least see some outside the box thinking in terms of trying to fix our pen. Or at least some type of Kunz needs more seasoning proclamation from the powers that be, or something, ANYTHING.

So in summary, Manager Walsh would: switch the roles of Schoenweis and Feliciano, switch the roles of Smith and Heilman, go back to throwing Duaner exclusively in the 8th, and call up Kunz, maybe. Hopefully our bullpen will get back on track, it's looking like it's 50/50 at this point, so we'll see.

...and as always, Lets Go Mets.....

Rockets add Artest

The Houston Rockets made a tremendous move today acquiring RonRon for their 2008 first round pick Donte Green, Bobby Jackson, and 2009 first round pick. The Rockets' 2009 pick will be in the 20-30 range so the price here to add the never overrated headcase but constantly underrated stud was quite good. The Kings did wonderfully for themselves with this deal too, as they added a high upside guy in Green, fan favorite Bobby Jackson returns, and an additional 1st round draft choice. They are in rebuilding mode and they got a very good return on Artest who has been nothing more than a continuous migrane headache bordering on epileptic fit for their management and fanbase to deal with. This trade instantly vaults the Rockets into the conversation for title contention (but like, this time, for real).

However, their title aspirations will continue to ride on the balky knees/ankles/lower body of Yao, and also, the walking injury that is Tracy McGrady. So, assuming health from their two studs, the addition of Artest makes this team a serious powerhouse in the west.
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Ron Artest: Artest is famous for being absolutely insane, and people unfortunately talk more about his off court (er, in the stands) troubles and general lunacy than his game. He is often a malcontent but he has never been on a team as good as the Rockets in his 9 NBA seasons and it is likely that this will be the first year in a long while where RonRon will shut up and play. As far as his game is concerned, there is really nothing not to like about Artest's game. He is one of the best all around players in the NBA. He can board and dime, provides shut down defense, consistently averages 2+ steals a game, and puts up about 17-20 points per. What makes Artest such a special player is that combined with his ability to be a shut down defender, his offensive game is incredibly polished AND he does not need to dominate the ball to get his points. He can run the break, finish around the rim, has a good post up game, a good mid-range game, and the ability to knock down a three and stretch the floor out. He reminds me so much of a Scottie Pippen, but because everyone hates him, he never gets the praise he deserves. He will be an amazing fit with Houston and should finally get them out of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Rocketpants this year: I love the fact that this move was made before the season started giving Artest a full set of practices, ample time to learn the system, and the ability to start with game one of the season to develop gametime familiarity. The addition of Artest does give the Rockets a decision to make in terms of their starting lineup. Artest is a natural small forward at 6-7 and while he can shift out of position to power forward as he did with the Kings last season, he is really best utilized as a perimeter defender. It looks like Scola will start at the 4 alongside Yao at the 5 in the frontcourt. Now, with Artest and Battier both natural small forwards it will be tempting for Adelman to shift Tracy to play point and let Artest play out of position at shooting guard. Except for the lightning quck 2 guards in the NBA, Artest can guard-and shut down-mostly all of them. This would allow the Rockets to start their five best players. But, I am very mixed and have no real strong feelings, without seeing them play with Artest, whether it would be best letting TMac play point. TMac is not quick enough to play good defense at the 1, but is funneling little men into Yao necessarily a bad thing? I really am not in love with any point guard on this team. With Artest on board, the Rockets really just need a pass-first point guard who can manage the game and get them into their sets. The scoring will be largely on the shoulders of their big three, and rightfully so. I don't like any of the three point guards on this team -Alston, Brooks, and Francis- to fit in and play the point guard position effectively. Alston is clearly the best one, but he is shoot first and too turnover prone; I don't like him much given the rest of the roster construction. Maybe they will make another move. I think a Luke Ridnour type would be a perfect fit at point guard, but we'll see if they are content with what they've got. Ultimately, though, I think they bring Battier off the bench and actually start a point guard at point guard. This will be the one big decision facing Adelman going into this season. We'll see which direction he goes, but while this is a problem, it is hardly a bad one.

Adding Artest as a third option on the offensive end will be huge for this club. Last year, behind Yao and TMac, from game to game this team had no other reliable scorer, which they badly needed. Some nights it was Scola, others it was Rafer. Somtimes Head would show up, and towards the end of the year Landry. The consistency of having three big time offensive talents will provide a solid base of scoring causing whatever other contributions they get from the likes of Scola, Battier, Alston etc. as just that, contributions.

Also with Artest, they are now arguably the best defensive team in the entire league. They were 4th in the league in average opponents points per game last season and second in the West. Adding one of the premier defenders in the game makes an already great defensive team absolutely amazing.

Future: Artest's deal expires after this season. But, Artest spent his last three seasons with the Kings and so his Bird rights come over to Houston as well. So, if the Rockets are over the cap for next year (it looks like they will be, but only slightly), they will still be able to resign him. Depending on how good the Rockets look this year, it is very much within the realm of possibility that they do everything in their power to resign Artest. It is unlikely that they will crash and burn, Artest is a great player, and I have no doubts that he will make the Rockets markedly better. They similarly semi-mortgaged their future by trading their 2008 and 2009 first rounders away to get him. TMac is controlled through the 2009-2010 season and Yao through the 2010-2011 season; I would be shocked if the Rockets didn't find some way of retaining Artest after his contract expires. They correctly assessed that their window is now and the immediate future, and they acted accordingly. The Rockets have found their big 3.

I like Artest very, very much. I also like Artest to the Rockets very much. It is painfully clear to anyone that has watched basketball over the past few seasons that Yao + TMac alone cannot contend in the West. Hopefully, TMac can get a taste of the second round this year with the Tru Warrier on board. I think they have now seriously cemented themselves among the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

Angels get really, really good

Every year around the deadline the Angels are rumored to do something of note but year in and year out they never do. This year, however, they finally make some noise as they just sent Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to the Braves for Mark Teixera. This deal makes tons of sense for both sides and really gives the Angels a bat in the middle of their order to make them actually scary. The Braves get a young budding 1b who they can keep within the means of their financial situation and a potential closer of the future in Marek. Meanwhile, the Angels get an impact bat who is still just 28 years old with plenty of dongs left in his bat. The Braves still suck and are very annoying, but the Angels just got a WHOLE lot better and now can boast a very capable lineup to go with a studly pitching staff. Even though the Angels have the best record in baseball and 11.5 games up in the AL West, I love the fact that they addressed a glaring need. Their lineup situation was less than ideal and they did something about it. World series odds in Vegas will shift accordingly.
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Pitching: Coming into the season, the Angels had huuugeeeee question marks at starting pitcher. Ace John Lackey was scheduled to miss about 6 weeks with forearm soreness on his pitching arm. Sounds bad, but it wasn't really so and he has been owning since his return. Kelvim Escobar, who was amazing last year, was projected to miss the entire year. And he has, but his spot was filled with equal production. That left them without their 1 and 2 starters coming into the year and it looked like the Angels would not be an elite team in the AL this year. That turned out to be a joke and their staff has been coasting all year. Joe Saunders steps in and makes the all star team sporting a 3.10 era out of nowhere. Garland and Weaver are GREAT as 4th and 5th starters. Though inconsistent, each have the stuff capable of shutting down any lineup in the bigs, something that very few teams can boast of their back end. And then there is Big Erv who finally figured out how to pitch on the road and has a 3.57/1.15 this year. Lackey came back in mid-May and steps right back into the front of the rotation to be the guy on this team. He has a 3.02 era and has been a gemfest as he continues to prove that he is one of the best pitchers in the league. A front three of Lackey-Saunders-Erv is serious. Throw in Weaver/Garland at the 4 there and in a playoff series and they have starting pitching as good as anyone in the MLB. Their all righty middle relief has also been pretty decent in handing over their leads to K-Rod who leads the world in saves. Their staff is sick, but enough about this, that was already known fact. The one thing that has been plaguing the Angels is their lack of run production. Nobody doubted their pitching ability, but their lineup could really have used some more power. Enter Teixxexexeixiexixix.

The Lineup, before: OKaaayyyyy Angels. The Angels did not dong very much. With Kotchman at first, their infield had little to no power. Out of Figgins, Aybar/Izturis, and Kendrick none have even really 15 hr power. Kotchman does not have legitimate first base power yet, though he looks like he will bop about 20 out of the park this year. He had 11 dongs last year and 12 this year so far. His power is developing very well, but the Angels have a serious shot at winning this year and he is still not an impact middle of the order bat...yet. Vlad is still Vlad, sort of. His batting average has shown an alarming drop as he sits at .287 with a career average well above .300, but his hr and rbi (17, 54) totals are ok. His skill set is clearly declining but he is still a scary guy to face and the one true big bat in the lineup sans Teixera. Hunter, their big offseason acquisition, has been a hitting well for the Angels also and is the only other real power threat for them. He has 16 dingers batting .280 and has probably been right around where expectations are for him. Garret Anderson and Gary Matthews have 9 and 7 homers, respectively, and they neither are hitting for great average. Anderson no longer has the capability to bat 5th in a big rbi spot, which is where he has been hitting. Besides the 3-4 of Vlad and Hunter, there were really no other power threats; they rank in the bottom half of the American League in virtually all hitting categories. But, the addition of Teixera transforms their entire lineup into a powerhouse.

Teixera: Teix is 28. He is also in the last year of his contract. The Braves were not going to be able to resign him, but now that the Angels traded a valuable asset for him, you can bet that they will retain his services for the longterm. He will deserve every last dollar the new deal the Angels give him this off season. He is young enough and he is good enough to dong into his 30s. He is one of the best slugging first baseman in the game and he is a force in the middle of any lineup. He has 20 dongs and 78 rbis for the Braves and he will move back into the AL West where he should have no trouble whatsoever adjusting. He will provide a tremendous offensive boost for this club as they look towards the playoffs, since they have already clinched...

The lineup, after: Your 1b should not bat second. Kotchman was doing this. Kendrick needs to bat second in this lineup, instead of 6th or 7th or wherever he was before, and he now will. His skill set is as such with good batting average and good speed. Figgins will continue to lead off and these two give the Angels speed on the bases before their now 3 big sluggers come up. Vlad will probably continue to bat third and Teixera will slide in the cleanup spot. Protection is a worthless thing, when it comes to Vlad, because he swings at anything and doesn't need it. But sliding Hunter down to 5 will make this lineup soo much better. They now have serious rbi guys at the 3-4-5 positions in their lineup. Hunter, I believe, will benefit a great deal as he is now being relied upon a lot less batting 5th and I'm sure will feel a considerable amount of pressure taken off his shoulders. At this stage in his career, 5th is a great spot for him. Also sliding further down the lineup, Garret Anderson is a much better fit batting 6th. While his power is a bit lacking to be a 5 hitter, he can still deliver. Batting 6th is a great spot for him and he will still get plenty of rbi chances with such good bats in the meat of this order right in front of him. At the backend of the lineup they can stick in Izturis or Matthews or whatever they're fine. 7-8-9 eoh. They all kinda suck, but who cares, at least they are all pretty quick so if they do get on by accident they won't clog the base path when the top comes up again.

The Angels could not have addressed a need in a bigger or more significant way. They needed a big bat and they got just that. While I do believe Kotchman will develop into a very good first baseman, Teixera is already one of the best in the bigs. He gives them a 40 dong bat which they needed in the worst way. It is nice to see the Angels finally go after it and address a need as they are typically so painfully inactive right around the deadline. Always in contention but seemingly always one piece short of being a real contender, they finally made an aggressive move to give themselves a legitimateshot at advancing far in the post season. The Angels have just as good a shot as any team to come out of the AL with this addition, by my estimation.

YANKEES Part 1 of 2

I know that most writers of this blog may avoid reading this post as much as they avoid watching "highlights" of Carlos Beltran in the 2006 NLCS, but I don't give a shit because I am the only writer who is a Yankees fan and must inform ignorant readers of their ensuing genius. Faulk the Metods ONE TIME and read an honest post about the Yankees season. Part I features a brief recap of the season, a pitching report and Girardi man love.
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Everyone knows that this has been an up and down season for the Yankees. They came into the year with pretty much the same roster as seasons past, except this time with a few young studs in the rotation and a new coaching staff. Before the All-Star break I was just as worried as the next fan about the Yankees playoff chances. They were basically a .500 team and playing well below their potential. Because the Yankees play in NY and are expected to reach the world series every year, this .500 mark was considered to be awful by every writer and analyst. However, this is just not the case. The roster has been decimated by injury with their 2nd best pitching prospect Phil Hughes, #1 starter Chen-Minkya Wang, Jorge Posada and Godzilla Matsui all missing significant time. If you remove two 100 RBI hitters, an ace and another great arm from any team I would expect to see sub-.500 record. BUT THEN when you consider that this team is playing in one of the two toughest divisions in baseball, with the first new manager in 11 seasons and a Steinbrenneurotic psycho owner, a 50-45 record at the break is VERY good. Let me also say that this Yankees team features a lineup full of veterans and hall-of-famers, even despite key injuries. These guys know what is expected of them and know their talent, which is why they tend to lose focus in the first half of the season. They know that they can put it into high gear and more importantly WILL go on a huge second-half run just like last year. Now let's get to the nitty gritty.

The Yankees rotation has been incredible this year. Mike Mussina shares the league lead in wins and has posted a 3.26 ERA thus far. I cannot give enough credit to Girardi and his coaching staff for completely overhauling Mussina's game to the point where he is this good. Although every fan knows that in no way, shape or form he is our #1 starter, the numbers tell a different story. Andy Pettitte has a 3.76 and 12 wins which is what we expected out of him coming into this year. He is another crafty veteran that is doing a great job and has the kind of breaking stuff to hold any major league lineup scoreless. Joba Chamberlian WOW. He has a 2.30 ERA and 93 Ks in 78.1 IP and some of the best stuff in the American League. He has gotten a lot of heat in New York for is fiery attitude and ultra-competitive nature but I absolutely love it. That is the type of spirit the Yankees will need in any tough, emotional playoff series. Sidney Ponson and Darrel Rasner are absolute jokes but somehow manage to keep the Yankees in the game everytime they take the hill. Ponson had won all 4 of his previous starts before the Red Saulks beat the living shit out of him. The Yankees will for sure acquire another pitcher to replace Ponson/Rasner and I am hoping that Girardi will put Dan Giese back into the rotation because he is far better than either one of those mockeries.

The Yankees bullpen has been untouchable as of late. Mariano Rivera is having arguably his best season ever with 26 saves in 26 chances, a 1.17 ERA, .67 WHIP and 56 Ks in 46.1 IP. He is the backbone of the entire pitching staff because of his undeniable ability to shut the door on opposing teams. The ONLY reason I would say that this is "arguably" his best season is because, like the other superstars on this team, he loses focus when the game is not on the line. In 6 games where the score has been tied and Mo makes an appearance, he has given up the go- ahead run in 4 of them. This should be of little concern though. Moving on, Kyle Farnsworth has fit in nicely as the setup man and, again, credit must be given to Joe Girardi for believing in his ability to pitch back-to-back days and be consistent, which is something that the Torre contingency refused to try. Although Farnsworth has been good, I can't say that I trust him in a playoff game against a Red Sox team that loves to hit fastballs. Jose Veras has also been solid with a 2.97 ERA and is Girardi's 7th inning guy. Edwar Ramirez has finally shown Yankees fans that he can be a consistent lights-out reliever. He posts a 2.39 ERA with a .96 WHIP and HASN'T GIVEN UP A HIT IN THE MONTH OF JULY. The only other man that I can rave about more than Edwar is The Admiral, David Robertson. This guy has been the second most impressive pitcher on the Yankees team outside of Joba. He has given up one hit in his last 10.1 IP and has pinpoint control. I think this guy should be the Yankees setup man and deserves a shot to pitch in big game situations. Although I just named 5 great relievers in the bullpen, I have failed to mention Damaso Marte, who the Yankees recently acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yankees have been trying to get this guy for years because he is one of the premier left-handed relievers in the game. The Yankees have done a great job this year without one lefty in the bullpen, but desperately needed one come playoff time. Marte has NASTY stuff and will fit in great with what is right now maybe the best pen in baseball.

Before the season started I predicted another wild card spot for the Yankees in the ultra-competitive American League. My reasoning behind this was solely based on the fact that Joe Girardi would be our manager this year. Managing and regulating the bullpen was a HUGE problem in the Torre era and in my estimation has played a big part in past Yankee postseason disasters. Yes, some of these young Yankee relievers are one year older and wiser, but Girardi has done a great job keeping these guys fresh and is truly getting the most out of each and every guy. Even Mariano. He put this Yankee team in a much better position for a second half run than Torre did last year and already has the team poised to take over the lead in the wild card race by the end of August. Girardi finally took advantage of the Yankees flexible lineup and never seems to post the same lineup in consecutive days. This is also a big reason for the Yankees struggles earlier this season. In 11 years with Torre at the helm, there would be an extremely consistent everyday lineup and hitters knew where they would be placed. At first Girardi was very erratic with lineup, which the players weren't used to, but now there is more of a controlled chaos. As of late, it seems as though the 1-4 spots have been solidified and Cano has fit nicely in the 6 hole. More discussion on the lineup will come in part 2, but I needed to highlight how well Girardi has done maneuvering the lineup and really taking advantage of our deep bench. OK, I think this is enough for now. Stay tuned for a report on the team's hitters, a theory about why high priced teams seem to always disappoint and more Girardi love.

NYK, the rest of the worst, woohoowoohoo

The rest of the players:

Jerome James: One of many horribly inflated contracts on our team, Isiah Thomas felt after Jerome James plays out of his mind in one playoff series for the Sonics a couple years ago that he deserves a monster multi-year deal. He will be making 6 mill this year with a player option for 6 mill next year, which he will obviously pickup. We have tried to get him to retire this off season which would give us a small bit of flexibility but it does not appear that he will. He has no trade value, and so we will not be able to get rid of him. He sucks very badly, and he will not see any significant minutes, if any at all, over the next two years. Thankfully, his contract expires before 2010, and we will have to sit tight and wait for that glorious moment.
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Jared Jeffries: Right on cue, another disastrous move by Thomas. He was for no good reason infatuated with Jeffries a couple years ago and gave him a huge contract to pry him away from the Wizards. Along with Curry and Randolph, he is the third one of our guys who will be grossly overpaid for the 2010-2011 season. He has two more years at 6 and 6.5 mill with a player option for the 2010 season at 6.8 which he will undoubtedly pickup. Knick fans have seen Jeffries play wayyy too many minutes over the past couple seasons as Thomas tried to eek out whatever value he could out of him, with no admirable results. He is simply horrible, worthless, and should die. Along with Curry and Randolph, Walsh will be trying desperately to give Jeffries away to anyone who will take on his contract. His deal will be just as tough to move as Curry's simply because he has absolutely no worth on the court. Curry can at least score and do some things, Jeffries is just an asshole. Pray to lucky stars he is not on this team in 2010 and Walsh can use like slight of hand or some type of trickery. Or hire an assassin.

David Lee: Lee is one of the toughest players to evaluate on our team. First of all, he is a fan favorite, so parting with him when there are so already so few likable players on the team will be a tough sell. We will be eligible to make him a qualifying offer next season at 2.6 million so we can lock him up for the '09 season, but we must make a decision before that in terms of what place, if any, he has on our team in the long term. His name has been popping up quite a bit this off season as he is without question our most valuable trading asset, but despite this, has yet to be moved. He has also made it abundantly known that he loves New York and he would love nothing more than to sign an extension with the Knicks, effectively putting the ball in Walsh's hands. However, is signing him to a long term and lucrative deal in the Knicks best interest? This year is absolutely tremendous for Lee in terms of his future with the Knicks. I believe that the only thing that will save him from being sent out of town is if his mid-range game, which he has reportedly been working on all off season, proves to make him a legitimate offensive threat this year. He is currently just a rebounder, albeit a very good one. He scores seemingly 100% of his buckets right around the basket on put backs or such things like this and really has no offensive game. A rebounder who happens to score 10-12 points by being active on the offensive end is not worth a big fat multi-year deal -one in which I envision Lee being able to find in the open market- in my opinion. However, if he is able to knock down a 14-17 footer consistently, then we are looking at a player who will see his 10ish ppg jump to 15ish ppg. Lee must show this type of increased ability on the offensive end in order for me to be happy with the Knicks offering him a lucrative long term deal. He is also, underratedly so, not a very good defender. While he has proven he is a great rebounder on both ends of the floor, at a listed 6'9", he is just an average interior defender who often struggls and gets into foul trouble when defending the premier power forwards in the game. He will also never average over a steal or block in his career. I cannot see Lee ever being a starting power forward on a team with title aspirations but instead used much how he has been over the past two seasons by putting in 25-30 minutes of work off the bench. I do like Lee a lot, but I am not willing to throw a ton of money at him to keep him here after the qualifying offer just yet. It is far, far too early to try and envision what types of scenarios will be present for Walsh after this season is through when it is likely we will make our decision with Lee. I do think he will have another solid year and I do think that he will have an easy time playing in D'Antoni's system as he is smart and active. That said, he still has the most trade value on our team, and Walsh's #1 goal above all else is moving Curry, Randolph, and Jeffries. I find it unlikely that he will be able to do this without packaging Lee in a deal. To me, Lee as collateral damage, I'm fine with that.

Stephon Marbury: I will not spend very much time on this mockery. We have +1 guaranteed contract on our books after the recent signing of Roberson and I can only hope that Marbury will finally be bought out. He is a cancer on this team, and I absolutely hate him. His game may not have deteriorated as his stats last year indicate, but I don't care. He has no future on this team and there is no reason to keep him around this year. He is a distraction and he needs to be handed his walking papers.

Zach Randolph: While Zach's facial expressions amuse me to no end, I cannot wait to see him gone. He is like a power forward version of Crawford; inept on defense and shoots every time he touches the ball. I hold him in virtually the exact same light as Crawford; he is a drain on our team play/cohesion on both ends of the court. He can stuff a stat sheet with the best of 'em, but he is a poor team player who does not defend. He has no place on our team in the future and with his deal running to 2011, Walsh will be working hard to move him. After initial reports indicating that LAC was willing to take Randolph for a 2nd round pick only to be quashed by Walsh, I was very disappointed he didn't bite. But as more facts came out surrounding this supposed deal the asking price was far steeper; we would have had to send a future pick and take Brevin Knight's contract. It then is more than logical that Walsh turned the Clippers down. Any deal where we give up any future pick cannot be listened to or even considered at this point. This report also served useful as it further showed the true market value for Randolph to the public, and it is not very high. D'Antoni and Walsh seem to think that Randolph will have a big year in this new system, and so do I. Unless if he is too fat to log the 30-35 minutes expected of him, he should easily put up 20 and 10 this year. I think that we will be able to unload him following this season without too much difficulty and he should far and away easier to move than Curry and Jeffries.

Quentin Richardson: I really like Q this year. I liked him when we signed him, and I find it unfortunate to see how much he has struggled for us. While a certain amount of blame has to put on him for getting fat, I prefer to blame Curry. I really believed when we signed him that he could be a productive starting small forward for us, but he has had difficulty in the wake of our constant coaching flux to get settled and establish a role. Now reunited with D'Antoni, I am very much expecting Q to revisit the line he put up when last with D'Antoni in '04-'05 of 15 and 6. He is capable of at least that, as he regressed horribly since leaving Phoenix after that season in order to address his bank account. He has reportedly lost about 15 pounds this off season already knowing that under D'Antoni, if he is not fit, he will not play many minutes. He seems to have regained his focus on basketball and I am truly expecting Q to have a great year. He will be given free reign to shoot the three with no repercussions and I think this will take some pressure off and allow him to be more loose out there. He has an underratedly solid mid-range game with the ability to attack the rim when he wants to. He is quite strong, a great guy to be running on the wing of a fast break, and a very good finisher around the rim. The biggest trick, with Q, is to get him into the game. When he is into the game, something that has been very rare during his tenure with the Knicks, he has a certain swagger about him that you love to see. D'Antoni apparently was able to bring this out of him when he last coached him and I really think Q will be the greatest beneficiary of all Knicks under D'Antoni. Under Thomas, if Q wasn't hitting shots and in an offensive rhythm, he would simply ride the pine. Under D'Antoni, I think that he will get more consistent minutes regardless of his offensive output on a given night, he gave him 35 minutes per game in '04. This will enable him to not press so much while on the floor and play looser. He is a solid wing defender and as he has reportedly slimmed down back to where he should be, he has good lateral quickness and length. He is a capable defender who proved he could do it under D'Antoni's system back in '04. Look out for Q this year. I was enamored with his game after his breakout '04 campaign and I remember being wayy happy with his signing; I think he will make us remember why we committed so much money to him. Contractually, he has a player option for next season at 9 million which he will pick up and become a free agent in the 2010 season. I am really expecting him to play very well for us this year and next, but I am skeptical as to what he will be demanding once he hits free agency in 2010. I think his value will be significantly higher than it is now and he will be 30 when he his contract expires. Whether or not we keep him, I believe, will correlate directly on how good Gallinari is. So we'll see where we are in 2010. But Q will be with us for the next two years and I think fans will, for the first time since he's been with us, like what he is capable of bringing to the floor.

Anthony Roberson: After a good summer league showing we offered Roberson a deal. He is an Eddie House type. He is a guard who can score in bunches and not do much else. He will play very little and if he has a hot hand, he will play a little bit more on a given game. Nothing to get excited about here, and hopefully he will be remembered as the player that caused the Marbury buy out.

Nate Robinson: I find Robinson to serve no utility. He is small, can't play point, can't play shooting guard, and can't defend anybody. He can, however, win the dunk contest, jump high, and bring the Garden to its feet. He is also a fan favorite, but not of mine. Baby Nate makes 2 mill this year and has a qualifying offer for next year at roughly the same price. He will not be in a Knick uni in 2010, and hopefully we can package him with Curry or Jeffries out of town. We'll see what Walsh is able to do with him.

Malik Rose: Rose has the sole expiring contract on our team (Marbury not included) where he will be earning 7 million this year. Unfortunately we are in no position to leverage his expiring contract to other teams a we have been doing every year under Thomas as we are actually trying to get under the cap. As such, I fully expect Rose to serve out his final year under contract with us. He is a solid veteran who D'Antoni can rely on to put in 10 productive and active minutes. He is a great locker room presence and a true asset for any team, but not at 7 million, but whatever. We're fine.

Ok, so that does it. I hope that D'Antoni settles in on a tight 8 man rotation as he did with the Suns. We'll see. The Knicks will suck this year, but will be fun to watch. The future, however, is by my estimation brigh. Hopefully Walsh will continue to move us in the right direction as we gear up for the summer of Lebron.

Knicks, the players are bad..continued..

Alright, now the players. As prefaced in my last post, I mostly hate the Knicks roster. Further, it must be noted that the main parameter Donnie Walsh is working with when reconstructing the roster is to be as far under the cap for the summer of 2010 as possible. This is the King James, DWade, Bosh, etc. summer where several of the games best players will be free agents. We have the benefit of playing in the largest media market in the country, and simply because of that, are an attractive destination. Speculation has already begun surrounding 'Lebron to New York' and he still has two more years in Cleveland. With that, I will get right into it alphabetically and systematically picking apart each player. Fred Jones and Randolph Morris who are still free agents, both suck ass, and hopefully neither will be with the Knicks next season, will be omitted. Also, this will be further broken down into two parts, because after writing about half the team, this is already jokingly long. Again, this is very very nuts shit about the Knicks, so I can't promise your attention will be kept the whole time, unless you have that Morril in you.
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Renaldo Balkman: Faulkman looks like he is high all the time, which I am totally fine with, because he doesn't play like it. He can't really do anything well on offense and has shown in his first two seasons with the Knicks that this part of his game is very unlikely to develop. He is a hustle guy and he brings energy and intensity on the defensive end of the floor. He has averaged 15 minutes per game in his first two seasons, without any offensive polish whatsoever, and this is the type of player he is. He is a fringe rotation guy who has value as an energy guy to bring off the bench. His rookie contract holds a team option for the '09-'10 season for just $2 mill which the Knicks will probably pick up. He has a qualifying offer at 2.3 mill for the '10-'11 season which, if Faulkman is still with the team, a decision will have to be made whether or not he is worth it. He will struggle, most likely, to fit into D'Antoni's system as he has no offensive game to speak of. And so it remains to be seen the type of minutes he will be given on a Knicks team cluttered with wingmen. Both the next two years, while contractually he comes at an affordable price, I would prefer to trade him if other teams were interested. He will never be a guy who will significantly contribute to this team in any capacity that is irreplaceable given the D'Antoni factor. We have other guys, primarily Wilson Chandler and Gallinari, who need to see the floor this year. We know what Balkman brings and we know his game, his future in this league is as a fringe rotation guy. As such, I would not balk(eoh) for a second on a deal if he were to be included in any type of package and sent out of town.

Wilson Chandler: Chandler is one of the most intriguing players on our roster heading into this year. He started 16 games for the Knicks towards the end of last season as Isiah was engaged in operation tanking. As to be expected out of a rookie, he was extremely inconsistent and would fall into a wide spectrum of best player on the floor to looking completely lost. What further perplexes is how much of when he looked lost was in fact his fault. Thomas is a laughable coach who basically stopped running plays towards the end of last year, so Chandler may not be entirely to blame when he looked like an idiot on the floor. He is 6'8" 220 and does have the all around game to develop into a special player for us. He is a good rebounder, has three point range, can score in bunches, and is a capable passer. He is a very talented athlete, has good length, and is very quick; he is a natural small forward with significant upside. Entering his second year, Walsh and D'Antoni will be very closely watching this kid and evaluating him. He may turn a corner and prove that he can be a building block with which to move forward or he may not cash in on his potential. Either way, we must play this kid enough minutes to see what kind of player he is so we can make a decision on him for the future. He showed in summer league much the same as he did starting for us last season: ups and downs. He would either be horrible or amazing; he needs to find some type of consistency this season. Again, there is a real logjam at the small forward position, but it would be prudent to play this kid as much as possible. Hopefully, his all around game will flourish under D'Antoni and he can turn into a beast. He could profile to be a great first wing guy off the bench in D'Antoni's 7-8 man rotation and capable of logging 25+ productive minutes in 2010ish when we will ideally be competing again. Or he will suck. We'll see. But I am excited to see what he can do this year, truly a big year for Wilson, and he may have a bright future with the Knicks.

Mardy Collins: Collins was a first round pick (#29) out of Temple who Thomas took 2 years ago. He sucks. He is too slow and lacks court vision or just any passing ability to play the point, as Isiah has previously tried. He is too slow and bad to play as a g/f, can barely score, and plays pretty poor defense. He's making a mill this year, and we have a team option on his deal for about a mill next season. He has no trade value, because he sucks, so hopefully we will just let him go after this season. He is a true 12th man, and it bothered me every time Isiah gave him significant run because he is just not very good. He should be playing in Europe soon enough.

Jamal Crawford:I cannot wait to get rid of Crawford. Yes, he is probably our best player, but I just hate his game. Hear me out. Firstly, he has never played in a playoff game in his career. Ok. He is a capable passer, but often makes poor decisions with about a 2:1 career assist:turnover. He cannot play the point guard position. He is a pure 40% shooting guard, and Isiah's past experiments playing him at the 1 ended in fails. He can score in bunches, which is an understatement, ok truckloads, but his offensive game is just sooo streaky. He can very easily create his own shot, and while that shot is sometimes jacking up a three, so be it. That is his game, and he hits "bad shots" as well as anyone in the game. But one thing-ok one of many- that really pisses me off about Crawford is when he gets the ball facing the basket in a one on one situation, he might as well be on the floor by himself; he never, ever passes out of that spot and always, always drives or hoists up a shot. I do not like how one dimensional his offensive game is. When he is on, he will pour in 40 with ease but when he is off he will shoot 3-15 from the field in a losing effort, we always lose when Crawford isn't hitting his shots if you haven't noticed Knick fans. That is fine, many of the leagues elite scorers are streaky-maybe not to such a degree- but the one thing that is so frustrating about Crawford is that when his shot is off he does absolutely nothing else on the court that warrants his playing time. He cannot defend for HIS LIFE and is not active on that end of the floor. He is incapable of running the offense, and so when he is missing his shots and not scoring, he is completely worthless. And he still logs his 35-40 minutes. When he is off, we lose the game. Now, D'Antoni's philosophy is defense optional, so that works out well for Crawdad. But, he is still a tremendous liability on that end of the floor regardless of how much emphasis the coach places on it. His offensive game still pisses me off, 41% from the field is horrible, and his defense is utter crap. Now, his contract situation is a very interesting one. Crawford is 28. He is making 8.6 this year and has a player option for 9.3 next season. He should have a career year this year, I am certainly expecting it and I'm sure he is too. He will lead the team in scoring, NO question whatsoever, and will be an offensive juggernaut this year. Because I see the likelihood of the Knicks trading Craw is very slim, and I hope to god he will be gone by 2010, the best case scenario in my mind sees Crawford opting out of his deal at the end of this season hoping to sign a fat deal next off season. At 29, it will likely be the best and last chance for Crawford to sign another fat deal for the rest of his career. I know this is probably a bit harsh on Crawford, because the guy can flat out score buckets, but I really just don't believe his game is such that he can be a starting 2 guard for a title contender. And that is what I'm looking for here. I'm sorry.


Eddy Curry: Goddammit, where to begin with this fat behemoth of a mockery. He, like Faulkman, looks high a lot of the time, but unlike Faulkman, he plays like it. He is fat, slow, cannot jump, career averages of OVER 3x as many turnovers : steals PLUS blocks (!!!!), cannot rebound for his seven foot life, cannot hit a free throw for a cheeseburger (wait, actually maybe he would, Knicks should try this as some type of incentive, I have decided), cannot defend his assignment, and is further incapable of playing any type of help defense whatsoever. He is, however, big, fat, and a good post up player when the game is slowed down enough: see '06-'07 season. Because of his 285 (listed, mind you) frame, he is difficult for defenders to dislodge from the block once he manages to get from one end of the floor to the other. I do not want to belabor the deficiencies of Curry's game, as they are basically innumerable, but I will say this: I cannot under any circumstance see how he will play more than 10 minutes per game this year. You could say: well wait a minute, D'Antoni will use Curry in the same way he used Shaq last year; short jittery bursts before the debilitating and inevitable crash. False. While Shaq is a huge human, he was primarily used as a defensive asset down low for the Suns last year. D'Antoni did not modify his system extensively in order to accommodate the big fella; if he got back for offense before the shot went up great, if not, maybe next possession Shaq! Curry is WAYYY too slow (Shaq, same size, surprisingly quick) to play the 5 for D'Antoni and he serves absolutely no purpose as a defensive stopper if the opposing big is causing us problems. Luckily, D'Antoni will not feel he HAS to play Curry as Thomas did because he had absolutely no hand in putting his gigantic contract on our books, again, like Thomas did. D'Antoni will just not play Curry. As such, his trade value will plummet to an all time low, if it can be lower. He has player options at 10 and 11 million for the next two seasons which there is absolutely no chance he does not pick up. Curry's contract will be by far the hardest for Walsh to move. Randolph, who is equally important to move as Curry, can actually play basketball, and I am confidant that Walsh will find the correct spot to get his deal off the books before the 2010 season. We might be stuck with Curry's 11 million in 2010, which would seriously suck for us, decrease our flexibility, limit the cash we can throw at free agents, blahblalbh. Hopefully, Walsh can trick some other retarded team (think Grizz) into taking Curry off our hands. You think Camby to Clips was free, they DID reserve the right to swap 2nd round picks. We don't even want that!!! Curry is ACTUALLY free! What a good deal! Goddamn Curry. But seriously, he's bad and wayy overpaid. Oh well. Thanks Isiah.

Chris Duhon: I love Walsh's decision to bring Duhon in to run this team for the next two years while he continues to rebuild the team. Duhon will be able to run D'Antoni's system with competence, I believe, and bring stability to the most crucial position on the team. He turned down a more lucrative contract with Orlando, a better team, to come play in New York under D'Antoni; hopefully this will be a sign of more to come as we continue to try and attract free agents to our club. Duhon is coming off his fourth season, all with the Bulls, where he assumed a backup point guard role. Given the question marks surrounding Marbury, it looks like the point guard job is now his to lose. He is a very smart basketball player, he is constantly among league leaders in assist to turnover ratios (albeit, in a backup role where he handles the ball less than other starting point guards but still), and is very good at reading defenses when he has the ball in his hands. Walsh and D'Antoni had quite a few options out there at point guard but they targeted Duhon and used our full mid-level to bring him here. While he is not a prolific scorer, he will be able to get us into our offensive sets and get it going. He has never averaged double digit points, and while it is likely he will this year, I am expecting 12 ppg at most. But he will bring, if he logs the starter minutes which I expect, around seven assists a game with his usual low turnover rate. Having this stability at PG for the next two years is HUGE. And signing Duhon to a two year deal is also huge with it set to expire before the 2010 season. I believe he will play well for us and be a fan favorite as he is a tough, gritty and plays with a tremendous amount of intensity. I hope that we will have the money to work out keeping him through 2010 as we free up more cap space. Duhon, after having two seasons mastering D'Antoni's system, would be an ideal candidate to slide into the backup point guard role. Hopefully we will have the ability of doing this after his contract expires. He is clearly not the type of point guard who will lead the Knicks to the promise land, but he is more than sufficient for the time being. And when we do get that stud point guard in the future, Duhon would be a perfect backup.

Danillo Gallinari: I love this kid. Loveee, love, love. I am thrilled that we drafted him, and in retrospect, am elated that we didn't use our pick on a point guard. The importance of the point guard in D'Antoni's system cannot be overstated. As such, I would prefer not to spend a lottery pick on an unknown commodity at the point guard spot and be married to this player with so much of our future in his hands. We will get our pg, we will wait and see, and hopefully it will come via trade or free agency with an already stud who D'Antoni sees his NBA game translating well into his scheme. Gallinari, on the other hand, has the potential to be a verrrryyyy special player. I am debating how much to gush/profess/count the ways in which I love this man, no homo, so we'll see what happens. After listening to basically every interview with him I could find, he absolutely amazes me with his composure and candor. This kid is just 19, coming to the biggest city and media market in the country, from a foreign country, and he handles the press like a veteran. AND his English is sort of a joke. He has unparalleled maturity for someone his age, tremendous confidence in his ability, and a shut up and play attitude. He doesn't even understand what the New York media is like, he can't, he's from Italy, but his personality is such that he can handle it. He was booed to DEATH at the Garden by Knick fans and he couldn't have cared less. LOVE that. He just wants to get on the floor, fight, shoot, D up, own, and show the fans what he can do. Now, his game. The one main criticism with Rooster (Gallinari..gallina..rooster...lulululu) I have seen is 1: he is soft and 2: he does not have the lateral quickness to defend NBA players. 1: he played as an 18 year old against grown men in an underratedly competitive Italian league (better than the NCAA and tougher than playing against fellow teenagers), was the captain of his team, and led his team in scoring. 2: that may be, but that doesn't mean he can't be an average to above average defender. He will definitely have his share of difficulties on the defensive end this season but from what I have seen he is quicker than I thought given what I have read about Gallinari. Again, D'Antoni: defense optional, but even still, the kid is such a competitor. He wants to be an all-star. I really believe he will work hard on the defensive end and make the necessary adjustments to be a solid defender. He needs to convert some body weight into muscle, but he is just 19 and once he starts lifting, training, and growing he should get jacked. Offensively, the sky is the limit for the Rooster. He has legitimate three point range, a tremendous mid range game, great size and length, and is a terrific penetrator with a knack of getting to the line where he shoots at a 80%+ clip. He is comfortable with his back to the basket or facing it. He doesn't really have any offensive weakness, and I can't wait to see him this year. At 6'8", and given our current roster construction, it looks to me that he will be forced to play some power forward. Defensively, big problem; offensively, he is an impossible match up for 90% of the 4s in the Eastern Conference. I'm sure we'll see a front court featuring Rooster at the 4 with DLee at the 5 which will be very exciting and fun to watch this year. I think that Gallinari will be with the Knicks for a longgg time and has the chance to be a star.

Ok, rest of the roster analysis coming soon. Too nuts? Probably. But I am nuts, so we're fine.

Gang Green - Defense

The Jets finished last season 19th in points allowed per game. Ew. That is awful. Especially when one looks at their '06 season where they finished 6th BEST in points allowed per game. Great jump...

This year, the Jets' third year in the 3-4 system under Mangini, will look a lot more like '06 if not better. The Jets' management has finally fit some essential puzzle pieces to the defense through great drafting and signings, and everybody should be expecting some great results.

I've compiled three stat projections of the more "respected" football websites to see what the average person thinks of the Jets upcoming defense. Check out the '08 projection versus the '07 reality.........

'08 proj. - 22.27 points allowed per game, 14.3 total interceptions and 29.6 total sacks
'07 real. - 22.20 points allowed per game, 15.0 total interceptions and 29.0 total sacks

ARE YOU F****** KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?! NO IMPROVEMENT???????? WOW. These humans are very, very foolish. They're fools. Fools are foolish. Damnit. Lets go. Read on.
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Here I am going to break down each group on defense for the J-E-T-S.... I can't hold back. JETS JETS JETS.

D-line

D-line was a major, major concern last season. Frankly, it was a laughing stock. In the 3-4 defense your line is not expected to be the guys that provide QB pressure, more just absorb as many blockers and clog as many gaps as humanly possible. The most important position in the 3-4 is the nose tackle. That said, although Dewayne Robertson had a pretty good year in '07 according to the numbers (57 tackles, 4.0 sacks) he was completely worthless and horrible. Dewayne is known for his speed, not strength nor size. Dewayne A. does not demand a double team, which completely screws everything up (just ask Vilma) and B. does not close any gaps.

If you haven't heard, the Jets traded for Kris Jenkins. HUGE MOVE. Tremendous. Jenkins is a monster at 6'4" and 335 lbs. He absolutely demands a double team on every single down which enables a lot of flexibility for the linebackers and d-ends which is required for a successful 3-4 defense and will inevitably help our fourth WORST rushing yards against average... After day one in training camp Mangenius said that Jenkins has been working extra ordinarily hard and having him, because of his size and strength, is like having a "3.5-4" defense. Yes Kris.

Our two ends will be the same as last year and they are both good. At the left-end you find the veteran Shaun Ellis. Ellis is gooood. He has lost some of the explosiveness he used to have when he put up 12.5 and 11.0 sack years, but he still manages to get to the quarterback despite regular double teams. He finished '07 with 5 sacks. Now with Jenkins also demanding a double team, this number will be go up.

The right-end position for the gang green will be Kenyon Coleman. He is really built more like a linebacker or 4-3 DE at 6'5" and 295 lbs. However! In only 14 starts last season Kenyon finished with 83 tackles which is GREAT #s for an end. Once again (sorry), the d-line in a 3-4 scheme tries to absorb as many blockers and clog as many gaps as possible, so now with two guys demanding double teams and one who finished last season with 83 tackles, this line will be way, way more effective.

Linebackers

Linebackers are the key to success in the 3-4. The two outside linebackers are normally depended on to put the pressure on the entire backfield, racking up the sacks and tackles for losses and the two inside linebackers are supposed to generally command the middle of the field whether run or pass.

Both OLBs have changed from last year for the Jets and if this wasn't true, I wouldn't be writing this post... Last year we had Victor Hobson and Bryan Thomas who COMBINED for an absolutely putrid 87 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Can you rewind and reread those numbers please?... Luckily Jets management basically said you two suck, and changed both spots.

First move was aggressively going after former Cardinals linebacker Calvin Pace. Pace, who is a former first round pick, has been handled incorrectly for his entire career except last year. In his rookie year, 2003, Pace started in all 16 games at DE and finished with 32 tackles and one sack. In 2004, 2005 and 2006 Pace started in a total of SIX games, all at DE again, and hardly did anything worth noting. Finally in 2007 the Cardinals of Arizona had an epiphany and realized that Pace is an outside linebacker. In Pace's first season as a 3-4 OLB he started all 16 games and finished with 98 tackles and 6.5 sacks. LETS GO. The Jets quickly signed him to a six year deal. He is going to be a stud for us for years. Why isn't Calvin being talked about more? He's nasty and people will soon realize that...

Our other OLB (who by the way came to terms with the Jets finally today) you have probably heard of: Vernon Gholston, our first round pick... Gholston is going to be so SO sick for us. Vernon didn't hesitate at all in making it known that he is an absolute freak of an athlete when he put together one of the best all around combines of all time. Since 2006 Gholston (Ohio State) put up 86 tackles, 30.5 tackles for a loss and 22.5 sacks. Yes he may make some mistakes being a rookie, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Gholston will get into the oppositions' backfield quite frequently. There is no limit at all to how good this kid can be.

At inside linebacker everyone is going nuts about our loss of Jonathan Vilma. Open your eyes people! Vilma being undersized finally came back to bite him in the ass last season when he only started 7 games for us (injury) and finished with 43 tackles and 0 sacks. In the 3-4 inside linebackers are many times asked to take on an o-linemen and Vilma simply isn't big enough for that task, but don't get me wrong, I love Vilma, I'll always love Vilma, he is SICK and he will be SICK for the Saints who run a 4-3 and have a great d-line... Go get'em Jon...

Buuuuuuuut for the time being, allow me to introduce David Harris. My friend and co-writer Hiro and I were in constant communication on draft-day in '07 and he kept telling me things like, "Dude... David Harris" or even, "Duuuude... I'm telling you! David Harris!!!" Well. That basically sums it up. I remember the announcers in the draft saying that Harris was the best tackler in the 2007 draft. Amazing pick by us. In 16 games last year (only nine starting) Harris finished with a ridiculous 127 tackles (90 solo) and five sacks. He was insane and he will remain in Arkham for the entirety of his career...

Our other inside linebacker is quietly one of the more consistent inside linebackers in the NFL although last year was a down year with only 73 tackles. The thing with Eric Barton is that he isn't one of those super athletic linebackers like Urlacher, Ray Lewis, Vilma etc... instead he relies on his great instincts and top-tier tackling ability. The reason for Barton's down year is simple. He had nothing around him. If you're a linebacker surrounded by an ineffective d-line and piss poor outside linebackers and you're NOT one of the elite elite elite guys in the league, well then, a down year is imminent. But! Guess what Eric?!? Things will be WAY easier this year and you will return to your typical 100+ tackles. Yay!!

Secondary

The Jets' secondary is more of a question mark than the previous two groups I talked about, however the Jets' secondary is a high upside and very underrated group. Last year the Jets were ninth best in passing yards allowed with the seventh least amount of touchdowns allowed through the air and tied with the Vikings and G-men for 20th in the NFL for interceptions. Improvement is in the very near future. So let's start with the awesome? Surely. Don't call me Shirley.
Kerry Rhodes, you, are, the, MAN. Yesssssss. It is astounding to me that Rhodes isn't talked about more as one of the elite safeties in the game. He's not even really in the discussion. But, he's the fifth best rated safety in Madden '09! And that includes free safeties (Rhodes is a STRONG safety, and pun couldn't possibly be more intended). Rhodes has put up some INSANE numbers in his very short career and in his fourth year in the NFL he will continue dominance. The first two seasons were unquestionably pro-bowl caliber seasons, but last year, only by the #s, was a little bit of a down year. If you watched Kerry week in and week out then you know he is sick. He is just as sick as the previous years, he just had less opportunities to make plays in '07 because there was never any pressure on the QB among other things. He still had a good year with 67 tackles (past two years 105 and 98), 2 sacks, 10 passes defended and 5 picks. Trust me. Kerry is one of the best, and I can't wait for more highlight reel plays this upcoming season.

The Jets traded up in the '07 draft to snag Darrelle Revis which was an amazing move. Revis immediately established that was he was the best corner on the team and no one questioned this all year. This kid is sick and it excites me to know that our strong side of the secondary with Kerry and Revis will be amazing for many years to come. Revis was our only corner last year to start all 16 games because the others all suck. As a rookie on a poor defense he often times found himself matched up one-on-one against guys like Randy, T.O. and Braylon among others. He handled himself very well and kept getting better all year finishing with 87 tackles, which reiterates how bad our d-line and OLBs were and tells you that he is an amazing tackler, 17 passes defended and 3 picks. You'd looooooove to see more picks but the fact that he was a rookie, had to help so much against the run and still was top ten in the league in passes defended gives me a woody.

The next spot is free safety. There you can find Abram Elam. In 13 games played and 8 started Elam finished up with 53 tackles and 2 passes defended. I like him. He's super quick and explosive, he just makes mistakes sometimes. This past year was really his rookie year though, so I have hope. In '06 he was used very, very sparingly as a backup on the Cowboys. He obviously wasn't as good as Revis nor is he nearly as good as Rhodes (yet?) but this kid definitely has really high upside and could / should / will be great for us with a much, much improved defense.

The right corner-back spot is up for grabs. Last year it was mostly played by David Barrett who is very, very bad. The two guys that have the best chances at winning this job are Justin Miller who missed of all of last season with injury or rookie Dwight Lowery.

Justin Miller is a sick athlete. He's got amazing speed, jumping ability and all that jazz. He just doesn't really have great instincts. He can catch the ball, and he is an unbelievable kick returner so he's got the potential to make huge game changing plays, but in his limited amount of NFL experience he seems to get fooled a little too often... He has amazing potential, but will he learn to play the position? Time will tell.

Dwight Lowery, whom the Jets drafted in the fourth round, could've been a huge steal. His only problem is athleticism (if only we could genetically combine the two to create an amazing #2 corner named Justin Lowery). Dwight was bothered by an injury in 2007 but in 2006 his tremendous ball skills were on full display as he lead the entire NCAA in interceptions with 9. It's difficult t think of a good-to-great corner without amazing speed but at one time Ty Law was that and at one time Mike Mckenzie was that too. I have high hopes for this rook, and it should be an intriguing training camp competition.

In summary... to go along with all of these positional break downs, the Jets were third worst in time of possession last season and that was mostly attributed to a very poor offense. The offense will be better than it was last year, no doubt about that, and I've already discussed the defensive changes so, think whatever you think. But if you think the Jets will be irrelevant this year, you're wrong.

Look out for a post on the Jets' offensive game coming soooooooon.