The blame game for this awful Jets season is in full swing. The cries from the fans subjected to watching this 3-9 mess are loud:
He can bring Mike Maccagnan with him.
Don’t forget about Jeremy Bates.
There are many culprits for the way the 2018 Jets season has unfolded. Bowles, Maccagnan and Bates can’t escape blame for their roles in this. But let’s not forget about the players. This is not to excuse any of the above-mentioned parties from blame, but don’t overlook that there are plenty of players on this team who underachieved and they should be looking themselves in the mirror for their role in this debacle of a season.
You can say Maccagnan picked the wrong players or the coaches did not help them excel. Those statements may be true, but these guys are professionals and should share in the culpability.
Going through the roster, here are some of the players who have underachieved this year:
Leonard Williams: The first player chosen by Maccagnan in the draft has not been bad this season, but he just has such little impact. Williams has just three sacks, eight tackles for a loss and 14 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Reference. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the 53rd-best interior defender out of 118 graded. You look around the league at players like Aaron Donald and Fletcher Cox, and Williams does not compare. For someone drafted No. 6 overall, he needs to have more of an impact.
Robby Anderson: After a strong showing in 2017, the expectations were for Anderson to make a bigger leap in Year 3. Instead, he has taken a step backward. An ankle injury has played a role, but even when he has been healthy, Anderson rarely makes an impact. He only has one 100-yard game this season. His most catches in a game has been four. You can blame playing with a rookie quarterback for some of the issues, but not all. Pro Football Focus rates him as the 106th wide receiver in the NFL out of 121 graded. He recently said he hopes to get a long-term deal with the Jets, which is laughable after this season.
Jermaine Kearse: Anderson is not the only receiver who has failed to show up. The veteran has seen his production fall off a cliff this year. He has had two games in which he caught zero passes, including last week against the Titans. He made a boneheaded play in Miami when he stepped out of bounds before catching a pass. Kearse, who was a valuable player in 2017, has just one touchdown this season. It seems unlikely the Jets will bring back the pending free agent.
Trumaine Johnson: The Jets made Johnson their big free-agent splash signing in the offseason, giving him a five-year, $72.5 million deal. So far, he has not lived up to it. He actually had a good moment on Sunday when he returned a Marcus Mariota interception for a touchdown, but he made everyone forget about that with a costly facemask penalty on the Titans’ game-winning drive.
Josh McCown: McCown was not expected to play this year as the team turned to Darnold, but a foot injury for Darnold thrust McCown back into the starting lineup and he fell on his face. McCown had a three-game spell as starter to lift the Jets up. Instead, he let them down, throwing four interceptions and just one touchdown.
Marcus Maye: Much of Maye’s problems have been injury-related. He has played only six games this season. Nonetheless, much was expected of the second-year safety and he did not deliver.
Spencer Long: A center who has trouble snapping the ball is a problem. The issue could be an injured finger or it could be deeper than that. Either way, it has been a problem for the Jets.
Kelvin Beachum: The left tackle has committed nine penalties this season, the most on the team. He has been called for holding five times and false starts four.
When pink slips are handed out in a month for the Jets coaches, don’t forget that these players share the blame for this lost season.