Little was right in the world of the Jets’ offense a season ago.
At quarterback, Chad Pennington suffered an ankle sprain early in the season, and later a bruised ego when he was demoted behind the wholly uninspiring Kellen Clemens. At running back, prized offseason acquisition Thomas Jones failed to get anything going on the ground, looking nothing like the answer at a position that has been in flux since Curtis Martin’s retirement. At receiver, Laveranues Coles spent much of his time stewing over his contract situation or dousing one of numerous body parts in buckets of ice.
Lost in the shuffle of the offensive offense was the shoddy play of the linemen.
Fast-forward to the present, and no longer will the offensive line linger in the background of whatever transpires on the field in ’08 — good or bad. Such is reality when the Jets’ personnel brain trust of coach Eric Mangini and GM Mike Tannenbaum spends $65 million of owner Woody Johnson’s money to reel in two additions to the unit. With veteran newcomers Alan Faneca and Damien Woody joining third-year pros D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold, the Jets are now trotting out a line with an unheard-of four former first-round draft picks.
As Woody deadpanned, “You just don’t see that in the NFL.”
Of course, while the fivesome — rounded out by OLG Brandon Moore, who, incidentally, went undrafted in 2003 — will be scrutinized by the notoriously fickle Jets fan base, the players themselves have far too much to attend to rather than worrying about expectations.
“Chemistry is more important on the offensive line than anywhere else on a football team, and it takes time to develop,” Woody said.
