The NY Jets. Best defense in football. One of the best O-lines and running games in football. Smart, disciplined players. As a Browns fan, this sounds familiar...

There have been a few roster changes and the obvious coaching changes, but nobody seems to be talking about the fact that by and large, Eric Mangini built this team. His fingerprints are all over it.

It's looking more and more to me that Cleveland has the right guy at head coach, but he needs some time to build the team around his philosophy. Mangini was the coach in NY for three years and they are starting to reap the benefits of his tenure. Everything the Jets are doing is not a result of Mangini, but you can't honestly look at that team and compare it to Mangini's coaching philosophy and deny the connection...

I have read accounts of Jets officials that were down on Mangini for going to the mat to lobby to draft Vernon Gholston. Tannenbaum eventually agreed, but the pick has been an unmitigated disaster.

In New York Tannenbaum had final say on all draft picks, and has proven to be an outstanding talent evaluator. He orchestrated the trade to go up and get Darrelle Revis, as well as the one in which he fleeced Mangini for his franchise quarterback.

He, not Mangini was clearly the brains behind that operation when you look at how successful his draft was this year compared to Mangini's. He managed to get a franchise quarterback and running back of the future (who both looked mighty good in a playoff win yesterday) for some picks and spare parts. Outside of the Gholston fiasco he has made zero mistakes.

As long as Holmgren has his personnel guys running the draft with minimal input from Mangini things will be good in Cleveland.

Judging how he ran the Browns draft last year as well as the revelation from the Jets that Gholston's drafting was a major Mangini pick is all the proof you need that he is a good football coach, not lacking in the area of talent evaluation and front office maneuvering.

That's right Iggy, follow the pack lead and blame Mangini for Gholston and don't give him ANY credit for what's been done right in NY.

If you don't believe that Mangini had a significant say in the draft picks in NY before he left, then you simply have an axe to grind with Mangini.

It was pretty common knowledge when Mangini took those two offensive linemen his first season in NY it was HIS doing, not that of the GM's. That laid the foundation for what NY has going on right now.

As for his draft in Cleveland and talent evaluation: Mack is going to turn out to be an outstanding pick, by all account. MoMass is on his way to being a very productive receiver (probably a No. 2); the jury is still out on Robiskie and a few others.

Then you have his acquisitions of Trusniak, Stuckey, Evan Moore, Matt Roth and a few others that turned out to be decent, productive players on a team that desperately needed as many of those as it could get.

Am I glad we're going to have a full-time GM doing the evaluations and player personnel acquisitions now? Oh you bet, because I think Mangini is far better as a coach when he isn't splitting his attention.

But I'd say his overall talent acquisition in Cleveland was a solid B right now, and if some of those guys (like Robiskie, later draft picks, Roth or Moore) turn into starters on a winning team, it may well end up being an A.

LOL. So Mangini gets blamed for the big draft blunder Vernon Gholston, but gets no praise for the numerous hits in drafts, that all goes to Mike T? Gimme a break

I like what Holmgren said in his presser. It was something like all head coaches have a say in the draft, because I am not going to give him players he doesn't want. He said that all head coaches have a say......other than one organization(Oakland).

Iggy...you are retarded.

The best Defense in football???

I think that Tannenbaum had the final say, but it's obvious that Mangini did a solid job in drafting. The coaches have quite a bit of say in the drafting process (unless you're Oakland), and just looking at the drafts prior to Mangini, they were average at best, with most of the misses being in the 2-7th round.

I'm also sure that Mangini wouldn't have taken Nugent in the first round (I love Nuge, but even he wasn't worth a 1st rounder, remember he's a kicker, lol).

Look at the 2006 draft and the picks made- Drew Coleman, Leon Washington, Brad Smith, Eric Smith, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold.

In 2007 they got 2 studs in David Harris and Revis, despite only 4 draft picks. Despite Gholston most likely being a bust, they still got Dustin Keller and Dwight Lowery.

I don't care for Mangini's first draft in Cleveland. Mo Mass is a solid #2 at best, Robo is struggling plenty, and Viekune is being played way out of position, and wasn't even worth a 2nd rounder. However, let's give these guys 3 years before we say they'll bust or won't produce. (Although, again, I'm still not sold on Mo Mass as a top receiver, at all. Poor route running, inconsistent hands, lack of football intelligence, and is scared to make a play on the ball, however, he's a rookie, so I digress).

King Curtis wrote: The best Defense in football???

Yes. The best defense in football, in both points allowed and yards allowed.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/position/defense/seasontype/2

Also the best rushing offense in football.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/rushing/seasontype/2

King Curtis wrote: The best Defense in football???

Yep, sure are. Best scoring defense, best passing defense and best total defense.

So if having Mangini around was so vital, how did the Jets go 11-19 the last two years with the defense ranking in the bottom half of the league both seasons?

All that needs to be said is Sanchez is still a rookie.
SD will key on shutting down the Jets running game and make Sanchez beat them.
I like SD's chances