Category: Jets News and Notes

Today is the anniversary of the iconic Sports Illustrated cover of Joe Namath

Joe Namath’s iconic SI cover is 59-years-old today.

Joe Namath had yet to play a game for the New York Jets when the now iconic Sports Illustrated cover hit newsstands, but one already knew that ‘Broadway Joe’ was set to have a very special career.

It was 59 years ago on July 19, 1965 that the ‘Broadway Joe’ cover of Sports Illustrated featuring the Jets rookie quarterback became available.

Namath was the first overall pick in the 1965 AFL draft (and taken No. 12 overall in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals). His arrival in New York, especially after a storied career at Alabama, signaled an exciting and revolutionary time for the franchise.

His glitz and glamour were a perfect fit for a Jets organization that at that time needed star power.

 

Namath would have a stellar career, leading the Jets to a win in Super Bowl III. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He certainly lived up to the cover story in Sports Illustrated.

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In the eyes of many Jets fans, he remains the best and most dominant player in franchise history.  And the Joe Namath Foundation remains an integral part of his legacy off the field.

Boomer Esiason says ‘it stands to reason’ that the Jets will trade for Davante Adams

Boomer Esiason believes that the Jets are in on Davante Adams.

Count former NFL quarterback and current WFAN host Boomer Esiason among those thinking that Davante Adams ends up with the New York Jets.

Esiason said that the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback room could factor into Adams wanting a trade to the Jets.

Rumors have increasingly picked up steam this week about Adams reuniting with Rodgers on the Jets. Adams, a three-time All-Pro, spent the first eight years of his NFL career with Rodgers on the Green Bay Packers.

Last season, Adams had 103 catches for 1,144 receiving yards and eight touchdowns for the Raiders.

The trade makes sense according to Esiason, who played 14 years in the NFL and was four times a Pro Bowl selection.

“GardnerMinshew – we’ve all enjoyed watching him play. And Aidan O’Connell is the other quarterback in that room. If you had to list the quarterback rooms in the NFL right now -they’re in the bottom third and this is a Hall of Fame wide receiver who has made a lot of money. It just stands to reason that this is going to happen,” Esiason said on WFAN this week.

“Why would the Raiders, who are not going anywhere this year, who are not even remotely close to being a Super Bowl team…why would they want to hold onto a Hall of Fame wide receiver? I believe – even though he’s not going to say anything publicly – wants out of there. This is all politics, this is all image-conscious stuff.”

It is par for the course stuff from Esiason, who is a rare rationale voice if sanity in the sports media world. Esiason spent three years with the Jets, beginning in 1995.

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Esiason said the Raiders quarterback room “is bottom-third” in the NFL.

Freshly signed, Malachi Corley posts social media message to Jets fans

Malachi Corley posts a message to New York Jets fans.

Malachi Corley is officially signed with the New York Jets, and he marked the moment with a post on social media.

A third round pick, No. 65 overall, Corley projects to be a big part of a Jets offense that is likely to be much improved this season. Corley’s rookie contract deal was made official by the Jets on Thursday.

Last year at Western Kentucky, Corley had 79 catches for 894 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound wide receiver has earned comparison to All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

There is a good chance that Corley competes for reps at the third wide receiver spot.

“What’s up guys? It’s Malachi Corley from the Jets. I just officially signed; I’m excited to get this season going,” Corley said in his social media post. “Go Jets! J-E-T-S! Let’s do it!”

 

(h/t to Harrison Glaser for finding this video…and virtually every other Jets video out there)

On WFAN, Tiki Barber believes that Davante Adams wants out from the Raiders

Tiki Barber sees why Davante Adams could want out from the Raiders.

Another day, another Davante Adams story linking him to the New York Jets.

On Thursday, former NFL running back Tiki Barber said on his WFAN show with Shaun Morash that he thinks there is some substance to the sizzle concerning the Jets targeting Adams. A recent appearance by Adams on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast has only added to the speculation that the All-Pro wide receiver could be moving to the Jets.

Barber, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, said that a young quarterback and a first-year head coach with the Las Vegas Raiders might lead Adams to want to leave the AFC West team and join an organization like the Jets.

“It doesn’t make sense from a Davante Adams legacy standpoint to ride out his career with the Raiders unless he is just happy with being OK,” Barber said on WFAN.

“To me if he wants to maximize his last three or four great years, he probably has to do that with a better quarterback.”

Adams this week made an appearance on a podcast hosted by Sharpe where he talked about potentially reuniting with Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

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Adams counted Rodgers as a teammate with the Green Bay Packers during the first eight years of his NFL career.

“I’ll answer like this, if I’m going to be reunited with anybody, it would be Aaron, okay? But or be, you know, relocated, and be anywhere it would be with Aaron,” Adams told Sharpe.

“There was a lot of that stuff going on last year in the media and them asking, you know, ‘What are you going to do about this? Are you thinking about going here?’ and they talk about whatever without me even being involved in [the conversation]. And it ended up getting all the way to the point where it got in the locker room, and people was thinking that it was, you know, I was putting it out there to force (a trade). And I’m like, ‘Y’all just don’t understand man.’ You know, I hate to say it like this because it makes me sound like I’m trying to put myself on a pedestal..but when you’re the level, a certain level of player, it don’t have to come from you. And most of the time it’s not coming from you.”

Adams is a six-time Pro Bowl selection who has been an All-Pro three times during his 10 years in the NFL.

ESPN positional rankings underscore that the time is now for the New York Jets

ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler believes that the New York Jets are currently in their window of opportunity.

Pragmatically and at times painfully, the New York Jets have pieced together a roster that is among the best in the NFL. And one ESPN reporter believes that the roster is good enough to be contenders this year.

And for the Jets, the argument can be made that this is the most talented roster that they’ve assembled in franchise history.

Consider a recent tweet from ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler about the Jets.

Not one given to knee-jerk reactions or hot takes, Fowler has been releasing a ranking survey over the last few days of the top players in the NFL. Fowler has culled this information from conversations with league executives and scouts.

And while Jets fans might quibble with the placement of certain players on the list (*cough* Sauce Gardner is the third-ranked cornerback in the ESPN survey *cough*), the big picture still remains promising for the franchise as a whole.

And Fowler underscored that with this tweet about the talent level on the Jets roster. It is certainly a fair assessment of where things stand on the Jets roster:

 

Yes, there are question marks about the health of quarterback Aaron Rodgers (eighth in the NFL according to ESPN) and the revamped offensive line still has to prove itself. But every NFL team has at least one major question on their roster and this shouldn’t be held against the Jets when projecting their season.

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Now, the Jets still need to go out there and prove it, but general manager Joe Douglas has certainly done a masterful job of building this team both through free agency and the NFL draft.

And that puts the Jets in a prime spot to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season.

New York Jets All-Pro Sauce Gardner is third in ESPN ranking of cornerbacks

Sauce Gardner gets shockingly low ranking by ESPN.

Sauce Gardner was ranked third in the NFL at the cornerback position in a recent positional survey by ESPN. The third-year New York Jets cornerback was an All-Pro in each of his first two years in the league.

It was a bit of a surprise given that Gardner is widely regarded as the top cornerback in the NFL.

Last season, Gardner finished with 12 passes defended.

In talking with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, one league scout raved about Gardner’s size and his ability to cover, calling him “the best” at his position.

“One of the most overrated players in the league. You could call holding on him every play,” another league source told Fowler.

 

It is a shocking knock on Gardner, who is a game-changer at the cornerback position. He is the franchise’s best cornerback since Darrelle Revis and is a pivotal piece of a defense that is considered among the best in the league.

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Pat Surtain and Denzel Ward were the top two players in the rankings compiled by Fowler.

ESPN analyst Louis Riddick with some clarity on Davante Adams to the New York Jets

Louis Riddick is done talking about Davante Adams to the Jets.

Leave it to Louis Riddick to have a sane moment in the otherwise whirlwind of discussions surrounding the possibility of Davante Adams moving to the New York Jets.

No matter that Adams’ base salary is nearly double the Jets available cap space…let’s talk Adams to be re-united with Rodgers, his former teammate.

And yes, it is newsworthy to talk about the possibility of Adams being a (possible) trade target of the Jets. Sure, when Aaron Rodgers or Breece Hall or Garrett Wilson are asked about the possibility of adding Adams, it is news.

And when Adams himself speaks about wanting to play with Rodgers again, it makes a ton of sense to cover it, right?

But for Riddick, it is all a bit too much. The former NFL safety and Philadelphia Eagles executive let off some steam on Wednesday when asked by ESPN host Mike Greenberg about the Adams to the Jets rumors.

“Why don’t they try and go out and get Trent Williams too? And maybe they should go out and try and get Lane Johnson too? Since why not? Why they don’t try and get everybody – ask every team can I have your best player? Can I get your best player? You know what? We spend so much time talking about – how about the quarterback just stays healthy? How about they just protect him? How about he just stays on the field for 17 games? How about they just do that?” Riddick said on ESPN.

“Greeny, I’m tired of your team to be honest with you, dude.  I’m tired of talking about your team man. I’m tired of talking about your team. They’re fine right now. They’re fine. Just let them play. Just let them play.

“I think they’re good enough right now to compete.”

 

By the end of more Davante Adams Jets fantasy talk, Louis Riddick had enough.

“Why don’t they just try to get everybody? Just ask every team, ‘Hey, can I have your best player?'”

“Greeny, I’m tired of your team to be honest with you.” pic.twitter.com/EqjGK4X4Dm

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Adams spent the first eight years of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers and as a teammate of Rodgers. The All-Pro wide receiver had 103 receptions for 1,144 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last year with the Raiders.

Bart Scott disagrees with ESPN rankings, would rather have Aaron Rodgers than Joe Burrow

Bart Scott said he would go with Aaron Rodgers over Joe Burrow.

Joe Burrows over Aaron Rodgers? Not according to ESPN analyst Bart Scott, who favors the New York Jets quarterback when ranking the NFL’s top quarterbacks.

In a recent ESPN survey of NFL executives and scouts, Patrick Mahomes was named as the top quarterback in the league followed by Joe Burrow. Aaron Rodgers, who joined the Jets last year, was ranked eighth.

Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III and the aforementioned Scott debated on ESPN the list. Scott, a former Jets linebacker, didn’t agree with placing Burrow above Rodgers on the list.

Griffin disagreed, making his point by saying “You talk simply about the QBs, there’s no way you’re taking Aaron Rodgers for one game, one year or five years over Joe Burrow at this point.”

Scott then launched in.

“What does Joe Burrow do significantly better than Aaron Rodgers? So it’s a coin toss, right? Because you can’t say Joe Burrow is a better thrower of the football than Aaron Rodgers. You can’t say his football is better. He reads coverages, know where to throw the football,” Scott said on ESPN.

“If I’m going with the decision, I’m going with A-Aaron, someone who I’ve seen close the deal. Joe Burrow has fallen short.”

 

For the complete ESPN ranking, click here.

Keyshawn Johnson ranks Aaron Rodgers among the top five quarterbacks in the NFL

Aaron Rodgers is a top five quarterback in the NFL this fall according to Keyshawn Johnson.

Keyshawn Johnson apparently takes exception to where New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is placed among the ranking of NFL quarterbacks.

In the ESPN ranking of top quarterbacks released on Monday, Rodgers came in at No. 8. The survey was done of top league executives and scouts.

The top three on the list were Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen.

On the FS1 show ‘Undisputed’ on Monday, Johnson unveiled his top 10. The former Jets wide receiver had Mahomes as his top quarterback but then slid Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson into the second spot. Burrows was third.

Rodgers was fifth, with Dak Prescott right in front of him.

The full list from Johnson as he released it on FS1:

  1. Patrick Mahomes
  2. Lamar Jackson
  3. Joe Burrow
  4. Dak Prescott
  5. Aaron Rodgers
  6. Josh Allen
  7. Brock Purdy
  8. Jalen Hurts
  9. Matthew Stafford
  10. Jared Goff

The list from Johnson and ESPN would indicate the potential impact for the Jets that a healthy Rodgers can have this season.

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With a defense projected to be top-three in the NFL, getting solid quarterback play could and should get the Jets into the playoffs.

Two New York Jets make the ESPN top 100 athletes of the 21st century

What two New York Jets players made the ESPN Top 100 athletes of the 21st century?

Two New York Jets made the ESPN list for the top 100 athletes of the 21st century.

Aaron Rodgers, the future Hall of Fame quarterback who signed with the Jets last season, checked in at No. 91 on the list. Former NFL player Darrelle Revis is at No. 96.

Revis spent two tenures with the Jets and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

ESPN will unveil 25 athletes at a time. In compiling the list, ESPN “received more than 70,000 votes from ESPN contributors to create our top 100.” The Jets players, very obviously, were in the grouping of athletes numbering No. 76-No. 100.

On Rodgers, ESPN sums up the qualifications for the Jets quarterback:

“Of all the superlatives and milestones that can be used to explain Rodgers’ greatness, here’s one that often gets overlooked. He’s the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdown-to-interception ratio (475 TDs, 105 INTS). In that way, he was the anti-Brett Favre, yet he carried on Favre’s remarkable run of success in Green Bay before getting traded to the Jets.”

The ranking is impressive and comes at a time when Rodgers’ legacy is being debated, with one NFL analyst saying that the Jets quarterback doesn’t deserve a seat among the all-time greats.

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For the full list from ESPN (from No. 76-No. 100) and to read what they had to say about Revis, click here.