Fansided

Defending John Idzik as the New York Jets Acquire Percy Harvin

By Bryan Gibberman

Oct 6, 2014; Landover, MD, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin (11) catches the ball against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2014; Landover, MD, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin (11) catches the ball against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

John Idzik deserves some credit, as the New York Jets acquire Percy Harvin.

The New York Jets continued the process of rebuilding their offense by acquiring wide receiver Percy Harvin in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2010 behind arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, a trio of above average receivers with Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes and Jericho Cotchery plus a non-descript group of running backs (Shonn Greene and LaDanian Tomlinson) ranked 13th in points scored and 11th in yards gained.

During the 2011 season they were able to still finish 13th in points scored, but 25th in yards gained. They were able to scrounge together touchdowns because of an unsustainably good red zone offense behind the tutelage of offensive advisor Tom Moore.

The trend continued in the wrong direction not finishing better than 25th in points or yards in any of the next two seasons and they sit in the same area this year.

General manager John Idzik inherited a team whose leading rusher was Green and leading receiver was Jeremy Kerley.

The project hasn’t gone smoothly and there have been some mistakes on the way, but New York’s offense is starting to stack together legitimate NFL talent.

Adding Harvin gives the offense a dynamic it was missing with a true threat to score every time he touches the ball. What they were hoping to get in Chris Johnson they’ve really found in the Florida product.

With it only being a matter of money for this season and a low round pick there was no reason to not make the move despite whatever concerns he brings.

If Harvin works out the Jets no longer have to invest significant resources — high draft pick or large sums of money in free agency – at the receiver position.

Percy Harvin
Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports /

Re-signing Jeremy Kerley to a reasonable contract plus Harvin, the professional Eric Decker and the upside of tight end Jace Amaro gives you a base of weapons to build a passing game around.

I don’t want to label Chris Ivory as only a big bruising back. He also has speed to bust long runs as was seen on his 71-yard TD run in Week One against the Raiders, but finding a true speedster to compliment him with is the next piece to look for at the skill positions.

Free agent to be C.J. Spiller or Wisconsin stud Melvin Gordon are two potential options to make the backfield even more dynamic.

The Jets and Idzik are not going to be able to sit on their available money forever. There are rules in place that prevent this from happening. The process of rebuilding this roster isn’t going as quickly as the fans and media wants, but it’s pretty clearly heading in the right direction. There are fair arguments to make it could have been accelerated this past offseason, which we won’t circle back around to again.

One of the keys to being able to improve your roster is understanding what’s wrong with it. Whether you are an Idzik defender or criticizer there is no debating he grasps where the team needs to improve.

They lacked skill position players and over the course of his time here he has acquired Ivory, Decker, Harvin and Amaro. He used three picks on wide receivers in the draft even though to this point none of them have panned out and one was actually cut.

One of the biggest criticisms of Idzik is he didn’t address the problems with the secondary. This ignores the fact they used a first-round pick on a corner in the 2013 draft, a safety in the first round and CB in the third round of the 2014 draft, spent $3 million on a CB in free agency plus took shots on numerous low level free agents hoping to find a good value. Idzik not spending the amount of money people though he should at the position doesn’t mean he didn’t try to invest resources in other ways.

The moves just didn’t work.

In two years the 19 Idzik draft picks haven’t paid many immediate dividends. It’s unfair to say these draft classes are busts, but to this point there haven’t been many positive contributions.

Studies have been done show the draft is a complete crapshoot. I’d prefer to keep a general manager who understands picks in quantity need to be valued and bank on the odds evening out over time if these two classes do end up being dreadful.

Importantly, we learned with the Harvin trade, Idzik is open to using different avenues to improve the team. While he very obviously values picks if there’s an opportunity he deems worth he’s open-minded enough to go out and do something. I’m a proponent of large draft classes — this doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions to the philosophy.

There’s a long way to go for Idzik to prove he can successfully mold a quality football team. Despite the intense scrutiny he has faced there’s evidence showing the Jets are headed in the right direction. Now he has to show the ability to piece together a smart mentality with identifying top level talent.

More from FanSided

Home/New York Jets