By Dave Diamond
When Jets head coach Eric Mangini made it clear that the quarterback position will be wide open when next season’s camp starts, many began to wonder if the team would take a step back. After all, Chad Pennington never looked better, or more importantly, healthier than he did last year leading the Jets to a surprise playoff appearance.
The odds of anyone else taking the snaps for New York next season are slim at best, but Mangini was making it clear that the organization will never be content as long as he calls the shots. Improvement is the name of the game, year in and year out. General manager Mike Tannenbaum apparently agreed with that philosophy.
Tannenbaum dropped a bomb on Monday, acquiring running back Thomas Jones from Chicago in exchange for trading second round draft picks. Jones is fresh off a 1,210 yard season in which he was the main offensive weapon for a Bears team that made a trip to the Super Bowl last month. The Jets weak running game, ranked 20th in the league last year, can only be considered a strength now as the young offensive line has a year of experience and a playoff game under their belt. With a slew of game-breaking wide receivers like Lavernaeus Coles and Jerricho Cotchery, the accuracy of Pennington, and the expectations of perhaps taking a pass-catching tight end with the 25th overall pick, the Jets will have the pieces in place to be the premier offensive team in the NFL.
Wait a minute! Is this the New York Jets, the annual embarrassment of Gotham, being discussed in this manner? That’s right, the dog days are over. Indeed, the Mangini era continues to impress. First with the turnaround of Pennington, then the defeat of New England at Foxboro, and a playoff game as the proverbial cherry on top. But to eat the sundae, the Jets needed a spoon, and Jones is a silver one.
Curtis Martin basically sabotaged the Jets with his off season leg troubles before last year, keeping the team scrambling for a go-to back all through 2006. Rookie Leon Washington eventually broke through the revolving door, which included Cedric Houston, Kevan Barlow (acquired from San Francisco before the season after Cleveland’s Lee Suggs failed a physically, voiding a trade), Brad Smith and Derrick Blaylock. Washington turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the Jets, and even broke the 64-yard swing pass Christmas night in Miami that essentially put the team in the postseason.
So the Jets had two choices to solve their running game issues. The first option was to remain inconsistent with Washington and hope he continued to develop as an every-down back. Why not? The Jet philosophy has always been to attain mediocrity. The other option was to improve, and as surprisingly as humanly possible, they chose option B. Blaylock and Barlow have already been released.
Jones has rushed for nearly 3,500 yards over the past three seasons and had Rex Grossman not been a turnover machine, could have brought home the Super Bowl MVP award if the Bears won. On the biggest of stages, Jones ran for 112 yards on 15 carries, including one burst for 52 yards.
The whole situation has a positive outlook. The 26-year-old is only getting better according to his career numbers. The Jets will be his fourth team, but he thrived with Chicago, totaling 22 touchdowns in his three years there. As an indicator of the type of game-breaker that he is, Jones had rushes for over 20 yards twelve times in 2005. Washington, Houston, and Smith combined for six 20-plus yard rushes last year.
Realistically, this move makes the Jets a legit contender in the AFC East. With rumors swirling that the New England Patriots, the high-class organization of professional football, are interested in Randy Moss, one might get the notion that all is not right with Belicheck’s gang. Miami made a great move signing Joey Porter to play alongside Zach Thomas, bolstering an already threatening defense, but can they score points? If Daunte Culpepper remains unhealthy, Miami still may be a 9-7 team at best. And as for Buffalo, they are disbanding before they even rebuilt.
With the acquisition of a good, young running back, the Jets have improved a 10-6 team, something very difficult to do in a salary-capped league. The team has a few other holes to fill. A new corner and defensive end would suffice. If they play the off season game as smartly in the draft as they did during the free agency period, the Jets could be talking title hopes come late August.

Via the recent acquisition. Thomas Jones (20) will look to lead the Jets offense toward another surprise playoff run.