Get to Know the Jets: Interview with The Jets Blog’s Brian Bassett

Up next in our series of team interviews is the New York Jets. The Jets have sure grabbed a lot of headlines thanks in large part to Rex Ryan, who won’t let anyone forget just how good this team has, but can they win the Superbowl, and what should they do in the draft.

Brian Basset of thejetsblog took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions.

1) What are the J-E-T-S biggest needs to address this off-season?

I think that it’s going to have to be in line with what happens to their free agent class, but as the team now stands they have to get younger on the defensive line and OLB spot.  The Jets are also going to have to consider how they are going to round out their secondary with a number of free agents (CB Antonio Cromartie, FS Eric Smith, and SS James Ihedigbo).

2). How Mr. T has had a few amazing picks (Revis for one), but also one huge dud (Gholston) on the balance of things, how has Tannabaum been as a drafter with the New York Jets?
Whether spin or not, the rumor was that Mangini pushed the Jets to draft Gholston over the scouting staff who wanted Leodis McKelvin.  I’ll leave that up to others … but on the whole, I think the Jets have adopted an aggressive strategy in the draft and on the balance, Tannnenbaum and his scouting staff have drafted well.  It’s worth noting that the Jets also build their team via trades for draft picks, which have been wildly overvalued in the past few years for the Jets to meet spot needs with starters (Kris Jenkins, Brett Favre, Lito Sheppard, Antonio Cromartie, Santonio Holmes).  None of those picks was higher than a second rounder … most in the neighborhood of a 3rd of 4th rounder.

3). How do you think the trade for Cromartie and Holmes have played out?

I think the jury is still out … as we’ll have to see whether or not they re-sign with the Jets, but based on the one-year that I’ve seen them play for the Jets, I liked how they were able to both immediately contribute and help win games.  The Cromartie trade hurts more, as it has now escalated to a second rounder since the Jets won two playoff games.

4). How are the last two draft classes coming along?

The 2009 class is shaping up well.  Mark Sanchez improved off his first year, and RB Shonn Greene turned it on at the end of the year, even looking good as a pass-catching back in limited capacity … something he really struggled with as a rookie.  LG Matt Slauson also came from that class … and he’s played decently, but he needs to play better to stay a starter in the NFL.
The 2010 class is hard to say.  The biggest four picks of the draft look to be much bigger impact players in Year Two.  CB Kyle Wilson was bad his first year, but did have some moments.  OL Vlad Ducasse projects to start at RT in 2011, FB John Conner looks to become the team’s starter in 2011, and RB Joe McKnight is going to have to take on a larger role on special teams and as a back in 2011 to account for the dropoff that we saw from Tomlinson at the end of 2010.

5) is there a player that fans are hoping falls to the Jets at the end of the first round?

I think that many fans seem to like either a DT like Phil Taylor or Corey Liuget or a 3-4 pass rusher like an Akeem Ayers or Justin Houston.

6) How do fans in general feel about Rex Ryan guranteeing a Superbowl Victory again this off-season?

I think most fans like it, but in the end don’t care that much.  They love that Rex speaks his mind, and they want to see him succeed, but don’t think that just because he said it, it has to happen … or out the window!!!!

7) Does there seem to be a draft philosolphy since Rex Ryan became head coach?

Mangini was more concerned with the “Boy Scouts” but Rex seems much less so.  If anything so far, he’s seemed to devalue the DL spot in favor of the secondary.  While he’s a defensive minded coach, he’s not gotten a lot of help via the draft on defense, and the feeling is that’s about to change in 2011.

8). What do Jets fans feel in general about the Sanchez pick, because i’m going to be honest I thought it was a terrible move (not giving so little to move up to get him) when they drafted him 5th overall?

At the time, I didn’t much like the move, and while he had a statistically terrible rookie year, and had the highest number of dropped INTs last year … there’s a feeling that he’s steadily improving.  Sanchez is wildly popular with the fans, and his work ethic and leadership is really starting to show through.  Physically he’s not the most gifted QB, but his presence and poise have helped the Jets navigate their way to two AFC Championship games.  Jets fans really like that.

9).  Is it now a Jets town?

I think that’s hard to say, but they do occupy a lot more of the headlines in NY than they ever used to … between the deep playoff runs, and Rex’s bombast .. there’s plenty of fodder for tabloids to feed on.  New York has long been a Giants town … and hey … many Jets fans relish the “underdog” theme … so until the Jets win a Super Bowl … that’d be a stretch.

10). Best and worst franchise draft picks?
Let’s go with the last ten years.  For best I’d have to say Darrelle Revis, who has systematically changed how the Jets can play defense.  On the down side, it’d have to be Gholston, who never recorded a single sack in three years.  Even Mike Mamula thinks that pathetic.

11). Are there any players you think are overrated/underrated in this year’s draft?
With team drafting so late in the first round, it’s hard to get too worried about that … but I do think that Akeem Ayers seems to tumbling down boards for some bad 40 times.  Meanwhile there’s always an “Adam Carriker” type who shoots up boards late … and this year it seems to be Ryan Kerrigan.  On the whole, the Cam Newton polarity is amazing to me.  I love seeing how in one mock he’ll go in the teens, and in another he’ll be the first overall pick.  He’s been the talk of the draft, and I think he’ll be the talk of this class years from now too … but I have no idea if it’ll be in a good or bad way.

12) Tell our readers a little bit about your site and why our fans should come read it? (leave the link for the page you want me to link to as well)

The site is a great one-stop shop for folks who are looking for news and goings-on around the Jets.  We like to keep folks up to date with the latest, and hopefully also talk about a wide array of topics relating to the Jets. 365 days a year.

Thanks for the interview, Brian!
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