IT AIN’T ALL ON ADAM! Blame GM for this mess, too
The Jets will throw their proven losing head coach to the wolves when the brain trust feels the need to seek shelter from the avalanche of warranted criticism.
Adam Gase will be the sacrificial lamb at some point. He should be. But a larger concern remains for this wayward franchise. A frustrated fan base searching for a flicker of hope has placed its faith in another giant question mark. Joe Douglas has his fingerprints all over this mess, too.
While Gase has become an easy target and whipping boy among the masses, Douglas is hardly blameless for a string of choices that has turned the Jets into the NFL's unquestioned laughingstock.
Blaming Douglas' predecessor is convenient, lazy and predictable. Although Mike Maccagnan deserves blame for a piece of this train-wreck, he's been gone for nearly a year and a half. It's time to close that chapter rather than bludgeon a guy who had nothing to do with the blunders since his ouster.
Gase's ineptitude as a professional football coach has provided cover for Douglas to this point. Fans are out for blood. Gase is terrible, but let's stop pretending that the general manager is an innocent bystander. He's not.
Although it's premature to cut the cord on the neophyte GM, it's time to actually hold him accountable for his actions. Douglas was the off-season architect who fostered the worst kind of environment for a talented young quarterback.
While Douglas' promise to Sam Darnold's parents last year that he was going to protect and help their son makes for a warm and fuzzy tale, the truth is that the GM didn't actually do that.
Darnold has the worst supporting cast of any young starting quarterback. Douglas' personnel blunders and general mismanagement have helped put the franchise in a precarious position withDarnold,whohasregressed by every objective measure.
What was Douglas thinking when he shopped on the clearance rack for offensive linemen and decided not to re-sign Darnold's most dynamic young receiver?
It was nonsensical, but Douglas was shrouded by his head coach's failings.
He is getting a free lunch, while everyone pointed the finger at the socalled “brilliant offensive mind,” who obviously is nothing of the sort. The charlatan on the sideline took center stage, while the man entrusted to build the roster quietly let him take all the bullets.
This doesn't mean Gase deserves your sympathy. When you're 30-38 as a head coach with as many double-digit losses as total wins and are circling the drain in virtually every offensive statistical category you should be lampooned.
But what exactly has Douglas done since taking over to deserve the benefit of the doubt?
His Ryan Kalil Experiment went up in flames — and created doubt about his decision making among players — after the unretired center mailed it in.
His decision to dare Robby Anderson to find a better deal in free agency than the relative peanuts that he had on the table backfired when the speedy receiver found a better deal.
Douglas ultimately placed his faith in a career underachiever rather than an undrafted overachiever with a chemistry with his young quarterback. Anderson is sixth in the league with 278 receiving yards this season. Douglas' hand-picked Plan B has five catches for 29 yards and is hurt (again).
Douglas re-shuffled the offensive line with poor-to-mediocre players. Rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton landing in his lap was his saving grace.
Douglas gave a pedestrian swing tackle about $3 million more than what the player was asking for from other teams during free agency. The cornerback that he signed to be the team's best option on the back end was benched 1 ½ quarters into the season.
Douglas eschewed trading for a young pass rusher and signing a quality veteran defensive end. He and his co-workers told everyone and their mother behind the scenes all offseason about the cash restrictions placed on them by ownership only to publicly claim the opposite.
Douglas said the plan was to make Jamal Adams a “Jet for Life” before botching negotiations and trading the team's best player and leader. He said the team wasn't punting on the 2020 season when everything he actually did suggested otherwise.
Douglas hurt his own roster by killing a free-agent deal for a player that he coveted at a premium position, because he was unhappy that the impending agreement leaked to the media.
His disjointed and erratic communication skills to those outside of the building have been a significant issue.
Douglas' first draft class has made little or no impact. Only Becton and sixth-round punter Braden Mann have made any contribution so far. Everyone else has been ineffective or hurt, although it's obviously unfair to draw conclusions on rookies less than a quarter into the season.
He also drafted a fourthround quarterback, which prompted the Jets to carry four signal callers on the active roster for the first three weeks. Signing an injured aging free-agent quarterback instead of ponying up an extra million or so bucks for a healthy backup further complicated matters.
Gase will be gone soon enough, but you're fooling yourself if you don't think that the general manager has had a significant hand in this mess. Douglas should get more time to right the ship, but he has not earned the benefit of the doubt.
He has a lot to prove to everyone. Is he a part of the problem or can he find a solution?
The answer is unclear.