The Jets have had some interesting seasons since the new millennium began 17 years ago. A scary defense featuring Revis Island in the 2009 and 2010 seasons and the surprise winners led by Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015. There was also the time they were crowned AFC East Champions in 2002.
Of course, out of all these teams, amazing players arose. This list will be a roster created of the best players since 2000. This will also be assuming that the players will be playing in their prime. This is the first of two lists detailing the best players since the start of the new millennium.
This shall focus on the offense.
Quarterbacks
Chad Pennington
Jets Career Stats: 13,738 Passing yards 82 Touchdowns 55 Interceptions
Best Season: 2002 – 3,120 Yards 22 Touchdowns 6 Interceptions 68.9 percent completion.
Chad Pennington was perhaps the smartest quarterback that the Jets have ever had. If his health could have kept up, it was a possibility that we would see him in the Hall of Fame. On top of that, if Pennington in peak form would have been with the Jets in the 2009-2010 seasons, there is a chance that Joe Namath would not still be the last Jets quarterback to win a Superbowl.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Jets Career Stats: 6,615 passing yards 43 Touchdowns 31 Interceptions
Best Season: 2015 – 3,905 yards 31 Touchdowns 15 Interceptions
The Fitzpatrick Curse is real. Keeping Ryan as a backup would be the ideal situation for this Jets team. Just as Fitzpatrick led the 2015 Jets to a 10-6 record, who knows what would come from this?
Running Backs
Curtis Martin
Jets Career Stats: 10,302 yards 58 Touchdowns; 2,439 Receiving Yards 5 Touchdowns
Best Season: 2004 – 1,697 yards 12 Touchdowns; 245 yards 2 Touchdowns
Does a Hall of Famer like Curtis Martin need an explanation?
Thomas Jones
Jets Career Stats: 3,833 Yards 28 Touchdowns
Best Season: 2009 – 1,402 yards 14 Touchdowns
Thomas Jones seems to be forgotten name. Not many people mention him, despite having over 10,000 career rushing yards. He managed to perform consistently through his three years with the Jets, despite being on the three vastly different teams of 2007, 2008, and 2009. Being a number two to Martin isn’t a bad deal either.
Wide Receivers
Wayne Chrebet
Jets Career Stats – 7,365 yards 41 Touchdowns
Best Season: 1998 – 1,083 yards 8 Touchdowns
With his best seasons coming in the 90s, the undrafted wide receiver out of Hofstra was a walk on for the New York Jets. At a height of 5’10, Chrebet was not expected to have much success due his small build. That did not stop Chrebet, as he permanently earned a place in Jets history when he was inducted into their Ring of Honor in 2014, ensuring a spot as the Jets true Number One receiver of the 2000s, as well as promising that nobody will wear his #80 anytime soon.
Laveranues Coles
Jets Career Stats – 5,941 yards 37 Touchdowns
Best Season: 2002 – 1,264 yards 5 Touchdowns
Notching in two Thousand yard seasons for the New York Jets, Laveranues Coles was with the Jets at their best and at their worst. Ranked fifth all time in receiving in club history, Coles’ lone Pro-bowl came as a member as the Washington Redskins. Coming back to the Jets in 2010, he was able to call it a career with the team.
Jerricho Cotchery
Jets Career Stats – 4,514 yards 18 Touchdowns
Best Season: 2007 – 1,130 Yards 2 Touchdowns
Jerricho Cotchery recorded his only thousand yard season in 2007, which was one of the few bright spots during that 4-12 stretch. He even missed one game that year. Cotchery comes in ninth on the Jets’ all-time receiving yard leaders, a few spots below Laveranues Coles. Cotchery was around during the highs and the lows, and could certainly perform as a strong number three receiver.
Tight End
Dustin Keller
Jets Career Stats – 2,876 Yards 17 Touchdowns
Best Season: 2011 – 815 yards 5 Touchdowns
The Jets have only recently figured out how to incorporate the Tight End into the receiving offense. That being said, Dustin Keller being able to get close to a 1,000 yard season is quite impressive during the Rex Ryan/Mark Sanchez era. The former first round pick had a short lived career, suffering a career ending injury in a preseason game against the Texans as a member of the Dolphins. Perhaps today’s Jets can take a look at Keller’s 2011 season and use it as a blueprint for the future.
Guard
Alan Faneca
Years with the Jets: 2008-2009
Spending a majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Faneca joined the Jets for their first two winning seasons following the lowly and forgettable 2007 season. Faneca made the Probowl both years with the Jets, helping set up a steady running game.
James Carpenter
Years with the Jets: 2015-Present
The Jets have not had much luck with Guards outside of Faneca for the two year period he was with the team. That being said, in Carpenter’s few years with Gang Green, he has proven to be more than just reliable. Hopefully, he will be a staple on the offensive line for years to come.
Tackle
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Years with the Jets: 2006-2015
Starting every game and missing just one snap out of 10,708, D’Brickashaw Ferguson could compile quite the resume for the Hall of Fame one day. Adding three Probowls to the mix, Ferguson’s presence was dearly missed during the 2016 season, as the offensive line struggled without the durable Tackle anchoring the position.
Damien Woody
Years with the Jets: 2008-2010
It’s hard to play beside Ferguson and attempt to make a name for yourself. Luckily, Damien Woody had already made a name for himself when he joined the Jets. The two time Superbowl champion and Probowler helped with the dominant offensive line that the Jets had late in the first decade of the millennium. He was placed on Injury Reserve after tearing his Achilles tendon against the Colts during the 2010-11 Playoffs, denying him a place in the team that upset the Patriots, but would not deny him a spot on this list.
Center
Nick Mangold
Years with the Jets: 2006-2016
Imagine drafting two possible Hall of Famers in one draft with two picks? The Jets grabbed Ferguson and Mangold in 2006. Nick Mangold went on to snap the ball to whatever quarterback lined up behind him for ten years. The Nick Mangold from The Ohio State University was an easy lock for this, being a forced to be reckoned with whenever the ball was snapped. There’s little doubt that Mangold will make it to the Hall of Fame one day.
– Adam Melendez is a staff writer for Full Press Coverage Jets and covers the New York Jets. Like and follow on Follow @melendez2015 Follow @FPC_Jets
