Team Talk: New York Jets

By Adam Filadelfo (@Frostt24)

Somehow the Jets finished the season 8-8 and Rex Ryan got to keep his job for at least another season. That's good news for fantasy owners seeing how a Rex Ryan led defense is fantasy relevant. On the other side of the ball, the Jets did have a few fantasy contributors in 2013 and 2014 could see more of the same. While there aren't too many names coming from the Jets, fantasy owners can still manage to find key contributors later in drafts.

Michael Vick- Whether he starts the season as the Jets quarterback or not is the real question here. If he does, he may have a few games where he helps fantasy owners but the injury bug could creep up on him at any moment. Even as the Jets starting quarterback, he's nothing more than a fantasy backup at this point in his career.

Geno Smith- Geno Smith had quite the roller coaster rookie season last year. He passed for over 3,000 yards and rushed for another 366 compiling 18 touchdowns along the way. Heading into 2014, Smith probably won't give fantasy owners much more reason to start him every week as he only averaged 17 fantasy points per game in 2013 and he needs to cut down on his interceptions before fantasy owners can take him seriously.

Eric Decker- While Decker had a monstrous 2013 fantasy season hauling in 87 catches for over 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns, that was all with Peyton Manning throwing to him. Fantasy owners can expect quite a dip in Decker's production this season with either Vick or Smith throwing passes to him.

Stephen Hill- Hill hasn't quite lived up to the hype coming into the league. He was supposed to be a speedy receiver that could stretch defenses and so far all he's done in two season with the Jets is catch a total of 45 passes for 594 yards and four touchdowns. In 2012, Hill averaged 3.9 fantasy points per game and as a rookie, fantasy owners should have expected that. Last year, Hill averaged even less fantasy points per game and probably won't be on many radars heading into fantasy drafts this year.

Jeremy Kerley- In just 12 games in 2013, Jeremy Kerley was the Jets leading receiver with 43 catches for 523 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged six fantasy points per game and may be a good bargain late in drafts this season. The targets are there for Kerley to make some noise in PPR formats seeing how he has been the recipient of 95 targets in 2012 and 72 targets in 2013.

Jacoby Ford- Ford's name will come up at some point this season when he has his one big game. Fantasy owners will want to know if he's worth a waiver wire add or not. Last season with the Raiders, Jacoby Ford averaged less than one fantasy point per game in the 13 games he played. His quarterback situation in New York isn't much better than it was in Oakland. Fantasy owners shouldn't expect much more from Ford in 2014.

David Nelson- Nelson has the talent to be a decent fantasy option for owners but didn't prove that in 2013 with the Jets in the 12 games he saw. He averaged 4.5 fantasy points per contest and probably won't give fantasy owners much more than that at this point with a shoddy quarterback situation.

Chris Johnson- Johnson had a quietly decent fantasy season in 2013 with the Titans. Now with the Jets, he could make a little more noise. The Jets are a run first team and have a good offensive line Johnson can run behind. He's also useful out of the backfield. Last season, Johnson caught 42 passes out of the backfield for 345 yards on top of the 1,077 yards he rushed for. He also scored double digit touchdowns in 2013. At this point in his career, Chris Johnson is clearly not the 2,000 yard rusher from a few years ago, nor is he a first round pick in fantasy drafts but he could have a solid season for the J-E-T-S in 2014.

Chris Ivory- Last season, Ivory rushed for over 800 yards and three touchdowns while averaging just under seven fantasy points per game. Fantasy owners can expect a decrease in touches with Chris Johnson in town.

Bilal Powell- Powell provided some relevance for the Jets and fantasy owners in 2013. He averaged over six fantasy points per game last season but despite that, will also lose touches to Chris Johnson. Barring an injury to Chris Johnson in 2014, no other Jets back will be worth owning seeing how Chris Johnson will receive a bulk of the touches.

Jace Amaro- While it's difficult to get excited about rookie tight ends in fantasy football, Jace Amaro comes to the NFL with some hype. Selected in the second round of the 2014 draft, Jace Amaro had quite the college career at Texas Tech setting the single season record for receiving yards by a tight end in his Junior year. While Jace Amaro will probably not contribute immediately for fantasy purposes, he could be quite the keeper/dynasty player moving forward.

D/ST- A Rex Ryan defense always has to be taken seriously. Since Rex has come to the Jets, his defense has always been near the top in fantasy football. What hurts the Jets defense is the fact the Jets offense keeps putting them in compromising positions. With another season of Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson, and newcomer Calvin Pace who if he can play as well as he talks, the Jets defense should be primed for another run near the top of fantasy defenses.