Writing the Pine

So you’ve all heard by now that Santonio Holmes has been traded to the New York Jets. On paper, it’s a great trade.  Combined with all the other moves the team has made in the offseason, it makes the Jets the favorite in the AFC East and maybe in the entire conference.  Holmes takes away double-teams from Braylon Edwards and the Jets will have at least one mismatch against a cornerback. The trade also moves Jerricho Cotchery to the slot where they can exploit another probable mismatch. And really, if you can add Santonio Holmes to your team for a fifth-round pick, you do it.  GM Mike Tannenbaum did a terrific job in making the move. But how successful will Holmes really be on the Jets?

To lead off, the Jets are a run-first team. They led the NFL in rushing attempts (607) but were last in passing attempts (393). Most of it had to do with quarterback Mark Sanchez being just a rookie and learning the position on the fly, but there’s no question the Jets were built to run. Braylon Edwards was always a good run blocker which clearly helped the offensive scheme, but what about Holmes? He’s not a great run blocker by any means but he’ll have to take some notes from Braylon in order to increase his worthiness to the team because he won’t be catching 79 balls like he did last year. The Jets also reaffirmed their commitment to the run by signing LaDainian Tomlinson to join Shonn Greene and Leon Washington in the backfield. With Sanchez’s progression, however, there’s no doubt the discrepancy between the run and the pass will not be as great in 2010. But you still have two superstar receivers, a former #1 receiver at the slot, an emerging stud tight end in Dustin Keller, and a couple of backs who are extremely dangerous catching the football. There will be a ton of pressure on the Sanchise to make a huge leap in his second year given the commitment the Jets’ front office has made to put weapons around him. For the most part, he looked out of his element passing the ball during the regular season but put on some remarkable performances in the playoffs to make management believe he can lead the team to a Super Bowl now. I’m not so sure that will happen but a full training camp with Edwards and now Holmes (who will be suspended the first four games of the year) will certainly help.

No matter how successful or unsuccessful Holmes is in New York, the Santonio Holmes trade is an absolute no-brainer from the Jets’ point of view. A fifth-round pick is nothing for a talent of Holmes’ caliber. But I’m gonna wait a bit before I get too excited about the upcoming season, even with all the moves that have been made. Living in New York, I’ve seen with the Mets and the Yankees that bringing in a bunch of superstars doesn’t guarantee championships. You can even look at the 2003-2004 LA Lakers when they hired Gary Payton and Karl Malone to bring another title to Tinseltown. As a Jets fan, I obviously can’t complain about any of the offseason moves. I’ll just be keeping my expectations at bay leading up to the start of the season.