Jets Urged to Bench Longtime Veteran ‘ASAP’

Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh staring off in disbelief during an NFL game.

The New York Jets and the NFL aren’t able to succeed without the fans.

The constant support with loyalty and hard-earned dollars is what helps this engine go. However, fans are emotional and very reactionary so sometimes the customer isn’t always right.

Thankfully most times that’s why coaches, general managers, and ownership make the key decisions as opposed to fans.

Although sometimes fans are so close to the sun that they can often call things out before they happen.

Lamarcus Joyner Advocated to Be Benched by Jets

Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report recently broke down one player from every NFL team that they should bench ASAP.

The player he selected for the Jets was veteran safety, Lamarcus Joyner.

Ballentine credited the team for doing a lot of good work in the secondary with all kinds of new additions this offseason like Ahmad Gardner, DJ Reed, and Jordan Whitehead.

However, he believes that Joyner’s poor play is mitigating the good stuff from the rest of the defense.

To be fair Whitehead hasn’t played well either, but Ballentine provided some rationale on why that’s the case:

“Jordan Whitehead isn’t playing great, but at least the first-year Jet can claim he’s still learning the system and getting acquainted. Lamarcus Joyner was on this team last season and should be a leader in the secondary.”

Joyner originally joined the team last offseason but he got hurt in the season opener versus the Carolina Panthers. After tearing his triceps he was out for the year and was set to be an unrestricted free agent.

Then this offseason Joyner considered retirement but ultimately decided to come back to join the Jets for another ride.

It seems like some fans wish he would have chosen the retirement home instead.

According to Pro Football Focus, he qualifies as the 75th ranked safety out of 76 eligible so far this season.

He has blown coverages, committed miscommunications, and committed some egregious penalties.

Jets Change We Can All Believe In

Joyner has been terrible and it was a clear miss by the coaching staff.

The fans were begging the team to come up with a capable replacement whether that be via the draft or free agency.

However, during training camp both head coach Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich lauded Joyner for his ability to stabilize the defense with his experience.

Sadly he has had the opposite effect on the team and the Jets would be insane to keep trotting him back out there on a weekly basis.

While the Jets are somewhat screwed just a month into the 2022 season as it pertains to great alternatives, they do have a few guys on the bench they could turn to.

Ashtyn Davis is young, athletic, and has an affinity for securing interceptions. While his football skills are a tad raw since he came to the game late, he wouldn’t be a bad place to turn.

Now you may be telling yourself Davis hasn’t proven to be a quality football player either during his short time in the NFL. At that point I’d choose to reply by saying, he can’t be worse than Joyner.