Thoughts on the Season: Offense

Continuing with my thoughts on the 2019-2020 season, I look at the offense. I break it down by position groups & focus on the starters, with a sprinkle of some reserves. To end it, I break down the offense as a whole. Enjoy!

QB: Heading into Year 2, a lot was expected from Franchise QB Sam Darnold. I for one have a TON of faith in him & was looking forward to see how he progressed in his second year. Things got off to a rocky start with him getting mono & I truly believe he was nervous about his spleen his first few games back. He had some really solid performances (DAL, NYG, WAS, OAK, PIT), some leaving you wanting more (MIA/CIN), & some where you just had to look away (NE/JAX). Again ESPN did him no help with the "Ghost" quote (I really dislike ESPN if you can't already tell) but overall I think Darnold showed progress this year. I think he has to take more of a leap in Year 3, but I have no doubt that he will.

RB: Lev Bell was the big off season signing last year & everyone was interested to see how he'd do after taking the previous year off. For the most part, I think he did okay. He did what he could with a horrific OL (more on that shortly) & a coach who doesn't know how to use him nor wanted to use him correctly (more on that in another post). Bell is at his best when he can see the blocks first & then attack, & he didn't really have a chance to do that this season. Also, he's a weapon out of the backfield/in the slot & for some reason Adam "Offensive Genius" Gase just refused to do that. Overall, I think Bell was in a tough situation with a putrid OL & a coach he seemed to not want to use him correctly.

WR: Things did not start off well with Quincy Enunwa going down after game 1. Yes, the Jets had Robby Anderson & Jamison Crowder, but they needed that other outside WR & they could not find one for the rest of the season. The guys the threw out there, like Vyncint Smith & Jeff Smith, just don't get the job done. Regarding Robby, I think he turned it on late in the season, which was nice to see. He made a lot of solid plays & made life for Darnold easier. Crowder was a solid addition in the off season & provided a nice safety blanket for Darnold. He always seemed to find a way to get open & I think will continue to build solid chemistry with Darnold moving forward.

TE: I was really excited to see the year 2 progress from Chris Herndon this season. He was a threat down the seam his rookie year & I thought he'd build off that in year 2. It did not help that he was suspended the first 4 games of the year, but I figured he'd still have 12 games to produce after. Him getting injured & pretty much missing his entire second year sucked, simple as that. I still believe Herndon is the TE of the future, but him missing last year was a major step back. Ryan Griffin really stepped up & provided a decent threat at the TE position. He was an afterthought after he signed during the summer, but he really showed that he can be an asset in the passing game.

OL: They SUCKED, plain & simple. It was embarrassing to watch this unit play every Sunday. Multiple times I screamed out that they could not block a high school JV defense. Between missed assignments, costly penalties, or just getting completely beat off the ball, this unit was a detriment to the offense. For Darnold to continue to progress, he needs his OL to be solid & this is not the group to do it. It seemed like after every big play, it got called back due to an idiotic penalty (usually by Brian Winters) & just killed all momentum of that drive. There's really not much more to say about this unit other than they were a dumpster fire & easily the worst OL unit in the NFL.

Closing Thoughts: As an overall unit, there was a lot left to be desired . It did not help that the OL was a complete joke, there was only two solid WR's, the TE of the future played 1 game, & Adam Gase had no clue how to use his best offensive weapon, but still, I think we all needed to see more from this offense. If you watch games other than the Jets (for your sanity I really hope you do), you see that you need a high powered offense to win in this league. This unit just isn't that. Now do I think can it get there, yes I do & that is because of Sam Darnold. But it's still a work in progress & we as fans need to see more this upcoming season. #TakeFlight