Jets First-Quarter Stock Report

Who's up and who's down after the first four games?

Anyone who has access to the internet, a newspaper, television or radio is well aware that things have not been going well for the Jets.

That makes it fairly difficult to take stock of where the Jets stand at this point in the season. Their performance thus far, even with a 2-2 record, and the absence of Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes for the rest of the season make it hard to say anything positive without the caveat that none of it probably means a thing in the final reckoning. 

We soldier on, though, because a full accounting of the first four weeks must include a few nods to the Jets who have stood out in a good way because so many of them have negatively distinguished themselves. It need not include Mark Sanchez, however. 

Sanchez has certainly negatively distinguished himself, but it's hard to say that his stock has acutally dropped during the first four weeks of the season. It's unchanged, really, as the same quarterback who was reviled by so many last season has merely picked up where he left off. 

So we won't be using one of the spots below for the umpteenth observation that Mark Sanchez isn't the quarterback that the Jets need him to be and almost certainly won't ever be the quarterback that the Jets need him to be. That dead horse has been beaten quite enough, our breath will be spent on others. 

Stock Up: There haven't been many bright spots on the Jets offense this season, but Jeremy Kerley has given off a nice shine through the first four weeks, with a little extra credit given for his punt return skills. He's not going to replace Santonio Holmes or likely even come close, but at least his presence gives some hope that the Jets will score again this season. 

Stock Down: Shonn Greene's presence holds no such promise. One of the things you need to actually run a Ground and Pound offense is a decent running back and it's hard to remember when the plodding Greene actually looked like he was going to turn into one of those. 

Stock Up: General Manager Mike Tannenbaum doesn't get a spot on this list because a stock that's at zero isn't worth mentioning, but he did make one of his rare smart moves when he signed LaRon Landry to play safety this season. Landry's play has been a vivid reminder of just how bad the Jets' safeties were last year and how much of a difference it makes when you have someone of value in the back end. 

Stock Down: It would be equally nice to have linebackers capable of making plays, but even David Harris seems to have lost his knack on that front. Most galling, though, has been the play of Bart Scott. His only job is stopping the run, but he misses so many tackles that you have to wonder how much longer the Jets will persist with the charade that Scott's career as a useful player hasn't come screeching to a halt. 

Stock Up: The Jets have gotten almost nothing from the draft in the last few years, but defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson could change that as he continues to progress. Wilkerson's not a star, but he's very solid and he's one of the few young Jets that could conceivably be part of the foundation of the next good Jets team.

Stock Down: This stock's been dropping for a while, but it doesn't seem like Rex Ryan has even come close to touching bottom. Instead of making changes to the way he and the team conduct business, Ryan keeps doubling down on the same stuff that isn't working and it's not unthinkable that he could end this year needing to fight for a fifth year on the sideline. 

Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.

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