PROJECTED DEPTH CHART

Players listed in order of fantasy relevance. Recommended round to draft in standard 10 to 12-team leagues with 16 rounds in parentheses.

Quarterback: Brett Favre (4), Kellen Clemens

Running Back: Thomas Jones (4), Leon Washington (11), Jesse Chatman, Musa Smith

Wide Receiver: Jerricho Cotchery (6), Laveranues Coles (8), Chansi Stuckey, Brad Smith

Tight End: Dustin Keller (12), Chris Baker, Bubba Franks

Kicker: Mike Nugent

NOTABLE PLAYER MOVES

Additions: QB Brett Favre, LB Calvin Pace, G Alan Faneca, DT Kris Jenkins, G Damien Woody, FB Tony Richardson, RB Jesse Chatman, TE Bubba Franks, RB Musa Smith
Subtractions: LB Jonathan Vilma, WR Justin McCareins, FS Erik Coleman, LB Victor Hobson, NY DeWayne Robertson, QB Marques Tuiasosopo, S Tank Williams, QB Chad Pennington

2008 ROOKIES TO WATCH

Round One: Dustin Keller, TE, Purdue
Round Five: Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee

The Jets play in the present and future home of the Super Bowl champs. Photo Credit: newyorkjets.com

TOP POSITION BATTLE

Starting TE:  Chris Baker vs. Dustin Keller vs. Bubba Franks

2008 SCHEDULE

Top matchups in bold

Sept. 7: at Miami
Sept. 14: New England
Sept. 22: at San Diego
Sept. 28: Arizona
Oct. 6:  BYE
Oct. 12: Cincinnati
Oct. 19: at Oakland
Oct 26: Kansas City
Nov. 2: at Buffalo
Nov. 9: St. Louis
Nov. 13: at New England
Nov. 23: at Tennessee
Nov. 30: Denver
FANTASY PLAYOFF MATCHUPS
Dec. 7: at San Francisco
Dec. 14: Buffalo
Dec. 21: at Seattle
Dec 28: Miami

2008 FANTASY POSITIONAL OUTLOOKS

Quarterback
Coming into training camp, the starting quarterback situation for the Jets was murky. The first week of camp didn’t change anything, as neither Chad Pennington nor Kellen Clemens were overly impressive. Eric Mangini could not have been thrilled about entering the season with one of those two at quarterback and a playoff spot as a goal.  However, on Wednesday, August 6, everything changed.  The Jets acquired future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre from the Packers.  What does the trade do for Favre’s fantasy value?  Well, last year Brett threw for 4,155 yards and 28 touchdowns.  His main weapons were Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Donald Lee, and Ryan Grant.  With the Jets, he will have Jerricho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles, Dustin Keller, and Thomas Jones.  The main concerns with Favre entering this season are his age and his ability to learn the offense.  Favre will celebrate his 39th birthday on October 10, and while he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down, those issues sometimes appear suddenly at his age.  As far as learning the offense, Favre will need to learn all new terminology for the same plays that he ran in Green Bay. There will certainly be an adjustment period, as he grows accustomed to the team terminology and his receiver's instincts. So if his numbers are poor early in the season, don’t worry, because they should pick up quickly.  Backing up Favre this upcoming season will be Clemens.  The Jets also chose to release Pennington in the wake of the Favre acquisition.  Clemens has a strong arm and is able to hit his deep throws fairly consistently.  His one weakness is that he tends to rush his throws.  Lurking in the background is Erik Ainge, who the Jets selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft.  Look to draft Favre in the late fourth or early fifth round, and if you haven’t already done so, you can completely remove both Pennington and Clemens from your cheat sheet. 

Running Back
This year, Thomas Jones should have a better season than he did in 2007.  Of course, when you score only two touchdowns all season (one rushing, one receiving), you're not exactly setting the bar high. However, with the addition of All-Pro guard Alan Faneca and veteran guard/tackle Damien Woody, Jones should see more holes to run through than he did in 2007.  The addition of Favre will also help take pressure off Jones.  Last year, defenses could stack the box on obvious running plays, because there was no respect for Pennington’s or Clemens’ ability to beat them.  With Favre, defenses will have to respect the pass, especially in the red zone, which should create more touchdown opportunities for Jones.  While Jones has good quickness and excellent open-field speed, he doesn’t like getting hit and doesn’t get many yards after initial contact.  With Favre in the fold, you can bump Jones up one round in your draft and start targeting him in the fourth round.  Backing Jones up for the second year in a row is Leon Washington.  You know your team had a bad season when the players vote a backup running back, who had 566 total yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns, as the team MVP.  To be fair, Washington was the team’s main punt and kickoff return man, and he did return three kickoffs for touchdowns - but seriously – team MVP?  Washington should also benefit from Favre and the improved offensive line, so you can start looking at the RB in the 11th round of your draft.  Jesse Chatman and Musa Smith were both signed in the off-season, and they will be the third and fourth options, respectively.  Neither should have any fantasy value.

Laveranues: The toughest name to scrawl on a draft board in the pre-Houshmandzedeh days. Photo Credit: deathdealer_666

Wide Receiver
The Jets’ starting wide receivers are headed in opposite directions.  Laveranues Coles averaged 15 yards per catch in his first four NFL seasons, but in the past four campaigns, he has only averaged 11.5 yards per catch.  Clearly, Coles has lost a step or two.  In today’s NFL, if you are less than six feet tall and have lost the speed which you had earlier in your career, you get relegated to being a second or third option.  The fact that the Jets still consider Coles their number one wide receiver is wrong.  Do not make the same mistake on draft day.  You would be better served by waiting and taking his teammate Jerricho Cotchery.  He is the true number one receiver on the Jets, as he is coming off of back-to-back 82-catch seasons, with 1,130 yards receiving last year.  While he had only two touchdowns, Cotchery did have four catches of at least 40 yards, so he definitely has the ability to break loose downfield.  If either Coles or Cotchery were to get hurt, the rest of the receiving corps is very green.  Brad Smith had 32 catches last season, but he hasn’t shown the Jets much the past two years. He also enters training camp hurt, which has moved him down a notch on the depth chart, behind Chansi Stuckey.  Stuckey is a second-year, speedy receiver.  Stuckey missed his entire 2007 rookie season rehabbing his foot, which he broke for the second time.  He will begin training camp as the Jets’ number three wide receiver, and if he can stay healthy, Stuckey could be a factor in the Jets passing game.  Rounding out the wide receivers are Wallace Wright and rookie Marcus Henry.  Once again, the Favre factor comes into play.  Cotchery should gain the most value, and he should now be viewed as an early sixth round selection.  Coles also moves up, but not quite as much.  Look for Coles as early as the eighth round of your draft.  If you are feeling lucky, you can take a flier on Stuckey late, but Smith, Wright, and Henry should remain undrafted.

Tight End
Chris Baker, the Jets’ top tight end last year with 41 catches for 409 yards and three touchdowns, is making headlines this summer.  He wants a new contract and is publicly feuding with New York management, and he is even demanding a trade.  The Jets put Baker on the PUP list on July 22, but they activated him on August 4. Now,he is back in the mix to start.  However, based on the bad blood between Baker and the Jets, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him gone soon.  Why?  Because the Jets spent one of their two first round picks on tight end Dustin Keller and signed ex-Packer Bubba Franks, which will collectively allow the team to move on without Mr. Baker.  However, Franks is just an insurance policy in case Keller isn’t ready.  Franks has only caught four touchdown passes in his past three seasons, and he has only caught more then 40 balls once in his career.  If he had anything left in the tank, the Packers wouldn’t have dumped him.  Think about it this way -- if that was all he could accomplish with Brett Favre passing to him in Green Bay, how could you expect more now that Favre is with the Jets?  Keller is the guy to watch.  He is athletic and can line up anywhere on the field, including in the backfield and out of the slot, which could lead to some interesting matchups for opposing defenses, because he also has the speed to attack defenses vertically.  With the addition of Favre, Keller is worth a late-round flier.  Favre loved throwing to his tight ends in Green Bay, and old habits are hard to break. 

Kicker
Mike Nugent had his best season as a pro last year, when he attempted, made, and missed the most field goals in his career, on his way to scoring 110 points.  The attempts can be attributed to the Jets ineptitude at getting the ball into the end zone, evidenced by Nugent's 11 fewer extra point tries in 2007 as compared to 2006.  While Nugent has a strong and accurate leg, that hasn’t translated into success on the field, as he is only 3-of-9 from beyond 50 yards for his career.  Until Favre can get the New York offense going, Nugent remains a second-rate fantasy kicker, who should stay on the board on draft day.  At this point, consider him an injury or bye-week replacement.

Defense/Special Teams
The Jets had issues on defense last year. They allowed 22.2 points per game, which ranked them 19th overall.  New York addressed the need for better defenders by drafting Vernon Gholston out of Ohio State University with their first (of two) first-round selections.  While Gholston may not start immediately, he should see plenty of action and will be a disrupting force for opposing offenses.  Other key newcomers on defense include DT Kris Jenkins, who spent the first seven years of his career in Carolina, and LB Calvin Pace, who played for the Cardinals the past five seasons.  These players were acquired in hopes that they can stop the ball at the point of attack and pressure the quarterback.  While the defense should be improved from 2007, it would take a massive turnaround for the unit to be considered a “must start” fantasy defense.  Do not draft the Jets defense, but do keep an eye on them, as it may take some time for these new pieces to make them effective as a whole.

Offensive Line
The offensive line was porous in 2007, which led to the off-season signings of G Alan Faneca and OT Damien Woody.  Last year, the Browns signed G Eric Steinbach and drafted OT Joe Thomas, which turned one of the perennially worst lines in the league into one of the best in one season.  Can the Jets accomplish the same neat trick?  A lot will depend on D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold.  They will need to pick up their game in 2008 for this unit to be cohesive.  The wild card for this unit will be health. The depth on the line is very thin, and one prolonged injury by a starter could spell disaster for the offense.

It’s not easy being green, unless you’re Brett Favre, who traded in his Green Bay Packer green for some New York Jet green.  If gold is more your color, then get your fantasy baseball fix from Matt by reading “Mother Lode or Fool’s Gold” every Saturday on RotoExperts.com.  Got a question, comment, or complaint?  E-mail Matt at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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