Adam Gase is preaching continuity as a reason to believe the Jets offense will improve in 2020, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
New York had one of the worst offenses in all of football last season. The Jets finished near the bottom in most major statistical categories, ranking 31st in points, 32nd in total yards, 29th in passing yards and 31st in rushing yards. However, Gase believes with the players and coaches in the program for a year now, they’ll be better off in the long run.
“Guys will have a better understanding of what to expect,” Gase told reporters at the NFL Combine. “It starts this spring heading into training camp. It’s a lot of those tiny things that you didn’t know when you’re a player or even a coach that you know going into it.”
Even with the abysmal statistical rankings, this argument would make some sense. Would is the operative word, however, because the Jets offense is going to look a lot different in 2020 when it comes to personnel. The offensive line could be completely revamped and changes are bound to happen at the wide receiver and running back positions. So there’s still going to be that transition phase for a lot of players.
The one person who stands to benefit the most from another year in Gase’s system is Sam Darnold. His 2019 season didn’t go as expected and it definitely impacted his play. He suffered mononucleosis after Week 1 and was out for three games. That put him behind in the offense and it took awhile to get it going again.
Darnold didn’t make the jump that a second-year quarterback is supposed to make. In 13 games, he threw for 3,024 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. However, Gase thinks that Darnold having a year in the offense will help him be a better quarterback in 2020.
“It’s that second year and doing anything you can kind of closes a lot of the questions you had,” Gase said. “You have those answers and now it allows him to play faster heading into next offseason.”
There are certainly some things the Jets offense can build off from last season, but for the most part 2019 was a major disappointment. Not only do the players have to be more productive, but Gase has to put his players in better situations as a play caller.
The pressure on the offense next season is going to be sky high. The Jets are running out of excuses for being bad. It’s now or never for this offense in 2020.