New York Jets

Jets need to finalize identity on offense in 2017

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:08 p.m. ET

Fansided, Luis Tirado Jr./FanSided via The Jet Press

As the New York Jets search for their next offensive coordinator, hopefully, they bring someone in that can finally have a consistent identity on offense.

When one looks at the overall offense of the New York Jets, it’s hard to really determine what they’re known for. Usually known as a ground-and-pound kind of offense that commits to running the football, the past few years under former coordinator Chan Gailey have been pretty inconsistent.

Back in 2015, the Jets were able to have a decent balance of running the football and passing it. Not only did former running back Chris Ivory rush for over 1,000 yards but their offense was a true powerhouse. Of course, it helped tremendously to have such an easy schedule, hence the 10-6 final record that year.

Fast forward just a year later, and the overall offense of the Jets is such a mess. They didn’t do much of anything right and against tougher opponents, were inefficient in the grand scheme of things. They didn’t establish the run as much as they could have and depended way too much on the passing game.

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Perhaps Gailey wanted to rekindle “Fitzmagic” but the truth of the matter is that the Jets realized too late into the season that they probably should have run the football much more than they did. Not only did they learn a valuable lesson in waiting too long to use someone like running Bilal Powell more often, but the Jets could have probably won a few more games had they realized what their true identity on offense was.

Either way, with Gailey out of the picture now due to retirement, the Jets have a great opportunity to find someone capable of bringing such an identity to the Jets. Do they want to focus on running the football? Perhaps focus on a more balanced offensive attack? Or should the next offensive coordinator of the Jets install more of a spread offense to emphasize speed and youth across the board?

Until the Jets have a new offensive coordinator in place, these questions remain to be answered but hopefully, they select someone that can come right in and establish a foundation. Whether it’s to power run their way back to contention or install an offense to really push the envelope with one of their younger quarterbacks, the Jets need an offense that is consistent and sticks to the philosophies of playing to the strengths of the offense.