Darrelle Revis is on the short list of the best players to ever wear a Jets jersey, he has consistently been rightfully mentioned amongst the top defensive players in the NFL for the past few years, and this summer he signed a $96 million 6 year contract making him the highest paid defender in NFL. The Jets who are in full rebuild mode decided it didn't make sense to tie up a large chunk of their salary cap, so they traded him to Tampa for a 2013 first round pick as well as conditional fourth round pick in 2014 (could become a 3rd rounder). Had Revis not been coming off an ACL injury, the Jets would have likely received a bigger package but they needed to move on. It's almost too fitting that Revis would make his Bucs debut facing his former team today. Let's look at some storylines for today's Jets-Bucs game:
- The Jets will start rookie QB Geno Smith today against the Bucs impressive secondary. In addition to Revis, the Buccaneers also signed former 49ers safety Dashon Goldson to a big contract who will be paired with 2012 1st round Mark Barron. The Jets have very few offensive weapons, especially at WR. It's almost impossible to predict what they will get from Santonio Holmes and former second round pick Stephen Hill, their best weapon maybe Jeremy Kerley who had 56 caches for 827 yards last season.
- The Bucs have some weapons on offense in RB Doug Martin (over 1,400 yards rushing last season), WRs Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams as well as a solid offensive line (although LG Carl Nicks is hurt). But they will only go as far as QB Josh Freeman will take them. Despite throwing for over 4,000 yards last season, the former Kansas State QB has regressed since his stellar 2011 campaign, and is now being challenged for the starting spot by rookie QB Mike Glennon.
- The Jets will have a lot riding on their first 3 picks from last April's draft this year. CB Miliner essentially replaces Revis so he will be facing a lot of pressure, DT Richardson was acquired by using the pick they received for Revis and was considered a reach for the 13th overall pick (his contributions will be even more important with 2012 number pick Coples out with an injury) and QB Geno Smith will try to be this year's version of Kaepernick and Wilson.
- Both of the team's head coaches are already on the hot seat. Bucs' Greg Schiano, who coached at Rutgers not far from Met Life Stadium, will need to improve on last season's 7-9 record and the Jets' Rex Ryan is Vegas' favorite to be the first coach to lose his job this season. The Jets already replaced former GM Tenanbaum in 2013, so Ryan will likely be the next sacrificial in case the Jets struggle.
Despite being on the road, the Bucs are 1.5 points favorites over the Jets. I expect them to win rather easily today since they have considerably more offensive weapons than the Jets. Look for RB Martin to get off to a strong start and for Revis to have at least 1 interception.