Marquee Status and the Jets

Let’s talk about the New York Jets.

Jets fans are understandably very disappointed today because the hype didn’t pan out.

The Jets were thoroughly defeated by the San Francisco 49ers last night, and what that says to the Jets and their fans is that they are not a marquee team.

Of course they are not a  marquee team. This should have been obvious to them. Unfortunately they allowed their emotions to rule their reason

The  Jets finished 7-10 last year. The 49ers went to the Super Bowl.

The Jets fans were led to believe that one man, Aaron Rodgers could elevate them to the status of a marquee team.  

That’s not possible. It’s not possible because Aaron Rodgers does not run touchdowns into the end zone. He does not receive passes. He does not block. He does not tackle. He is but one man on a football team.

To have an effective football team, you must have marquee players in most of the positions on a football team.

You need a minimum of 16 marquee players on your team in order to give yourself a chance to win the Super Bowl.

The San Francisco 49ers have 16 marquee players and more on their team.

How many marquee players do the Jets have?

You’d be hard-pressed to name six or eight.

What is a marquee player?

Fundamentally a marquee player is a player who does the little things correctly on a consistent basis.  This translates into a better performance during game time.

A marquee player lines up on sides.

A marquee player is in control of his emotions and does not commit personal fouls.

A marquee players follows orders.

A marquee has good practice habits.

You can see the difference in the game as it is played. 

You can see the fact that the Jets do not have these marquee players.

They don’t do the little things correctly. And they don’t do them consistently enough.  Yes they will have flashes of brilliance, but a marquee player is consistently excellent.

It’s a common refrain after a loss for the coach to say, we have to play better, we have to work harder.

I don’t think that can be achieved in one week. The reason why the team is underperforming is because they don’t do the little things correctly.

Not doing the little things correctly is a subconscious bad habit that is developed over years, possibly decades.

When Garrett Wilson fails to get his foot in bounds after a reception, that is a flaw in his habits.

When Breece Hall fails to catch a simple pass during game time, that is a flaw in his habits.

That is not something that is going to be fixed in a week.

It’s possible that it may never be fixed.

And when you see a player making the simple mistakes one year after another, you have to begin to suspect that they have a fundamental structural problem within themselves or in their training that will prevent them from ever getting beyond that point.

That is not something I like to say. I don’t like saying that at all because I believe in redemption,  and I believe in hard work.

But I have to be realistic.

I have to be realistic because the NFL when it comes to success is about realism.

The NFL is an end stage point in life. It is not a developing school. It is not a finishing school. It is not a place where you can afford to wait for people to get better.

Yes, I get it.  There has to be a learning curve for newbies, but that learning curve must be surmounted PDQ.

The competition is too stiff.

You either have the skills or you do not have the skills.

And if you do not have the skills, then you must get people who do have the skills.

The Jets players do not have the skills, and the ownership is unwilling to recognize that and get people who do have the skills.

It’s not a matter of the players working harder from one week to the next.

The flaws that the players have must be worked on in the off-season. They need to sit down with a coach who is an expert in psychology, who can analyze the player and his performance and to see if he can help that player reprogram his mind so that he does the little things well.

The 49ers have plenty of people who do these things well. That organization has the ability to select out those players who do the little things well on a consistent basis.

This is where the New York Jets are lacking, and this is why their season will not be the season that the fans and the experts are hyping it up to be.

That’s not something I enjoy saying. I want the New York Jets to do well.

But they will not be a great team this year. They will be better than they were last year, and that is a good thing.

They need to keep building on this through the draft and smart trading.

Hard work alone won’t cut it. And saying that you have to play better is only stating the obvious.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

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