http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=3391828 Surprise teams are the byproducts of good luck and good play. With the draft over and free agency exhausted for finding impact players, it's time to pick some surprise teams for the 2008 season. Arguably, these are paper tigers because no one has had the benefit of training camp to gain chemistry and show conditioning and execution. To be a surprise team, you need to have improved quarterback play from the previous season, an easier schedule and a positive offseason of player acquisition.
The only two teams on that list that will not do anything more than last year are the Jets and raiders. The jets may win 6 games but still have question marks, the Raiders have no QB.
I think the hype is over how active we were in the off-season. If we would've landed a guy like D-MAC, then the hype would be rightly justified, but we're pretty confident with the moves we've made so far and our draft picks. A few guys got re-signed and that makes for an overall better atmosphere in the clubhouse.
I agree with most of you guys, I dont think the Jets will do much of anything this year, well besides lose.
I don't understand the hatred for the Jets around here. Where does it come from? In all seriousness, the Jets can be a 10-6 team with their schedule, they just have to find out who the Quarterback is going to be and how he is going to play. The Offensive Line, especially the left side, is solid and the tandem of Thomas Jones, Leon Washington & Jesse Chatman is a damned good one. I know nobody likes to make much out of 1,119 yards but Jones did that behind one of the worst lines in the league last season. I like his chances to get at least 1,300 behind Faneca paving the way at Left Guard. As for the defense if you look at the front seven it just wreaks of POTENTIAL dominance. Kris Jenkins potentially could be the great 34 Nose Tackle we need and Calvin Pace and Vernon Gholston could form a lethal 1-2 tandem at Outside Linebacker and we all know its about pressuring the Quarterback. I laugh when I see 6-10 or worse predictions. I just don't see how one could think the Jets could only improve by two wins. The only remaining question is who will be the Quarterback and yes thats a big question mark, but Pennington has proven in the past that when he has a decent Offensive Line he can take a team to 9 or 10 victories. As for Clemens, we still don't know what we've got in him, but at least we know he can beat Miami.
The running game sucked because the O-Line sucked. Mangold was the only rock, and now they added Faneca, Brick is in his 3rd year, and they now have a very good blocking FB. They added Pace( who ws coveted by Miami, btw) Gholston,and David Harris is now ready for year 2, Jenkins is a huge upgrade over D-Rob at NT, Rhodes is a beast at Safety (shoulda been a Pro Bowler, not Lynch) And Revis is going to be a stud CB.
