And after yet another long hiatus, yours truly is back at it.

Looking at the stats for this page, I can’t believe, even with some of the irregular posts on here that people are staring at my writing. Even if it is to say that it sucks. For that, I thank you.

Now, onto pressing matters. In bullet form!

- Laveranues Coles will be a Jet…guaranteed.

The deal is that Coles’ $11 million dollars left on his deal is his for the next two years, and even though 87 was looking for an extension, it’s still a victory for Tangini and company. They don’t get the headache of what happened with Pete Kendall last year and they make sure that Coles, who can be a bit of a sulk, is at the very least placated with a deal that will be acceptable to both sides. He’s 30 — by no means an old man – although he is coming off a disappointing year, just 55 catches and 646 yards. Big reason why his numbers were down were because of a concussion that made him miss games and the fact that A) The Jets couldn’t protect their quarterback last season and B) Coles was dealing with an ineffective Chad Pennington and basically, a rookie quarterback in Kellen Clemens.

- According to Gary Myers of the Daily News, the Jets will not trade Chad Pennington.

Very interesting article, in which Myers says that the Jets brain trust says that they won’t trade Pennington, and yet they’re looking to draft another quarterback.

Huh?

Let me get this straight. You have an experienced quarterback on your roster that you can somewhat trust (Chad) and a young quarterback that you drafted to be the future (Kellen). Why on Earth are you looking to draft Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco?

Now, this could be a smokescreen for the Jets to draft who they really want, which could either be Darren McFadden or Chris Long or Vernon Ghoulston. Even so, any Jets fan has to be disheartened to hear that the team wants to draft another quarterback…maybe it’s them playing to the press to motivate the two quarterbacks, but you have to admit, if your either Pennington or Clemens, you gotta wonder what the hell is going on? Especially with the veteran signings, what does this mean?

My gripe is if your Tannenbaum or Mangini, pick one strategy. Either go for it this year, or try and rebuild the roster with young talent. It seems like they’re trying to rebuild the team and win at the same time, which, for the life of me I can’t understand. You can’t really do that on the fly, especially considering that even with the signing of Jenkins and Faneca etc., this team is probably not a playoff team. End of story.

Well, we’ve had a pretty eventful few days here, haven’t we?

The Jets, striking while the iron is hot, have signed guard Alan Faneca.  This is basically the Jets admitting they made a mistake by cutting Pete Kendall last year, paying for it dearly.   Faneca is 31-years-old…but he very well could possibly be the best guard in the NFL.  You have to do it, especially when you consider how much is Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson regressed without Kendall last year.  The Jets were awful in run blocking and pass protection…you would think that this helps that somewhat.   It’s cliche, but it’s true: if you don’t have a solid offensive line, you cannot win in the NFL, especially if you have a young, untested quarterback.

The Jets also signed Kris Jenkins, after trading a third and fifth round round pick in this year’s draft to Carolina. 

This might be putting a square peg into a round hole.  Jenkins has never, ever played in a 3-4 defense and never has played that nose tackle spot.  He’s 29, by no means a spring chicken and is injury prone.   It’s a big risk, but look at it this way Jets fans: he can’t be any worst that Dewayne Robertson there.

Applaud the Jets for being aggressive, and they have to be, considering the season they just had, and the division going to get stronger.   The Bills made a couple of moves and Parcells is cleaning house down in Miami.     The problem is, with Faneca and Jenkins is that they a little bit up there in age and you don’t know how they’re going to A) react to New York and B) react to a new system.

But to answer the question, are the Jets better now than they were at the end of the regular season?  The answer is a resounding yes.

We embark on a new era here at Pigskin in the Sky.  Yours truly Lucky Ngamwajasat takes over the pilot seat of this blog into the 2008 off-season.

But before we go forward, it’s important to look back on the 2007 season…a season to forget.

We learned that 2006 was really a mirage and this team was nowhere a playoff team.  We learned that Chad Pennington, for all his grit and determination was not going to be leading Gang Green to a Super Bowl.   We learned that the defense was full of holes and needed a massive overhaul — players were being used as square pegs for round holes in Eric Mangini’s 3-4 defense.  The offensive line, dogged by the loss of Pete Kendall was ineffective.    The fact is, to paraphrase Bill Parcells, the Jets are what their record was — an awful 4-12 football team.

The Jets lists of needs is long and its immediate.    They need help on the defensive line and according to the Newark Star-Ledger, they’re looking like they’re going to get it…either Kris Jenkins of the Panthers or Shaun Rogers of the Lions. Jenkins has been injury prone in his career, starting just five games in 2004 and 2005 combined.   Rogers has been playing for the Lions.  ‘Nuff said.   You know he’s looking to get out of Dodge.  Either guy is gonna help that D-line, with cost being Jonathan Vilma, who just never seemed to fit Mangini’s scheme.

They need help on the offensive line and they’re looking to remedy that with the  pursuit of Alan Faneca.    This guy is perennial Pro Bowl guard — a guy who can open holes for a Jets running game that was craptacular last year.

Even though this was a terrible year for Jets football, there is hope that they can get it turned around and winning.  Hey, no one thought the Giants were gonna win the Super Bowl.  Why not the Jets in 2009?