2007 New York Jets Preview

2007 New York Jets preview from MadduxSports.com. Get NFL spread picks from the best NFL handicapping team against the NFL lines all season long.

The Man-genius is Still at Work
By Adam Barone

With head coach Eric Mangini showing his ability as a head coach in 2006, the Jets have high hopes for the future, and figure to have at least an outside shot at the AFC East in 2007. Beating out the Patriots will be a task as tough as they come, but with a healthy Chad Pennington and the addition of RB Thomas Jones from the Bears, the Jets figure to be worthy competition. Jones will get the large majority of the carries, with RB's Leon Washington, Derrick Blaylock, and Cedric Houston all seeing their fair share of opportunities. Jones resurrected his career in Chicago after struggling some in Arizona, and became the top playmaker on Chicago's NFC Championship offense. He racked up 1300 yards in '05 and 1200 in '06, and should have less competition for carries in a Jets uniform. More than capable of being the featured back, Jones runs hard on every carry, and has enough speed to be a formidable homerun threat.

Pennington had a productive '06 season, playing in all 16 games for the first time in his 7 year career, and completed 64.5% of his passes for 3352 yards. His weakness was his TD/INT ratio, which was 17/16. Low TD numbers and a somewhat high INT total has been something of an issue for his entire career, with his 2002 production of 22/6 the only significant variation. A legitimate running game now lining up behind him, the Jets' QB should see more openings to get the ball to WR's Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, Justin McCareins, Tim Dwight, Brad Smith, and rookie 7th round draft pick Chansi Stuckey if he makes the team. Coles had his typical quietly productive season in '06, with 91 catches for 1098 yards and 6 scores. Jerricho Cotchery had a breakout campaign opposite Coles in '06, with 82 receptions for 961 yards, and crossed the goal line 6 times himself. If Jones, Pennington, Coles, and Cotchery all stay healthy, the Man-genius should be able to add enough wrinkles to the offense for the Jets (25th ranked offense in 2006) to show substantial improvement in the upcoming season.

The Jets were a middle-of-the-pack defense in '06, most notably ranking 24th overall against the run. That's something of a curious stat, considering the roster on paper. NT Dewayne Robertson is a huge space eater in the middle of the 3-4 defense, and has four more-than-capable linebackers behind him. LOLB Victor Hobson is a vicious, athletic tackler who can cover tight ends and running backs, and rush the passer, accumulating 100 tackles, 6 sacks, 1 INT, 2 Fumble recoveries and scoring 1 TD in 2006. Likely the Jets' best overall player, LILB Jonathan Vilma made 113 tackles and had 1 INT in '06, lining up alongside RILB Eric Barton, who made 101 tackles of his own and had 4 sacks. As if three linebackers with 100 tackles each in the same season wasn't enough, ROLB Bryan Thomas only had 77 stops of his own, but led the team with 8.5 sacks on the season.

The major weakness on defense last season for the Jets was the lack of a shutdown cornerback. They traded up to get the 14th overall pick, and used it to select Pittsburgh CB Darrelle Revis. Revis is athletic and excels in man to man coverage. He should have a starting job early in the season and improve the team's pass defense substantially. Still a weakness for the Jets is the lack of a speed rushing defensive end. Mangini, however, believes that he can generate a pass rush by scheming with the players he has.

2007 New York Jets Predictions

In the stronger of the two conferences, the Jets will face plenty of steep competition, especially in their own division. A former pupil of Bill Belichick, Eric Mangini has shown though, that he is capable of out scheming almost anyone and giving his team a chance to win. Betting on the Jets to beat out the Pats for the division crown may not be as crazy as it sounds, simply because they showed last year that they could handle New England on the field, and they drafted Darrelle Revis with the intent of matching him up with the likes of division foe WR's Randy Moss, Chris Chambers and Lee Evans. The Jets could be a handicapping picks gold mine because of how easy it should be to underestimate them. They're the exact opposite of last seasons Cardinals.

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