The Jets dynamic duo of Mike Tannenbaum-Eric Mangini have left the building folks, and with them they bring the hope of long-term stability to a team that has been depleted of it most important players.  I'm talking about the offensive/defensive linemen.  We will get to Reggie and Matt in a minute, but first I want to tell you about a few past mistakes that put them in the position that they were in on Saturday's draft.

Remember the non-dynamic duo of Herm Edwards and Terry Bradway?  They collectively had the worst off-season in Jets history in 2003 as we watched four of our top rated players leave for the Washington Redskins.  They were: John Hall (K), Lavernious Coles (WR), Chad Morton (KR-WR) and Randy Thomas (G).

Flash forward to today and you will find just one player still in Washington after three years passed: Randy Thomas, a guard that we should have never let go and who is still considered one of the top guards in the NFL.

In 2005, we let Jason Ferguson (DT) and Kareem Mckenzie (T) two of our best lineman go to the Cowboys and the Giants respectively.

Then, something funny happened.  Chad Pennington forgot how to be a quarterback, so did Jay Feidler, and Curtis Martin forgot how to run, and the Jets couldn't stop the run, and we giving visiting teams quarterbacks enough time to complete just enough plays to make Jets fans everywhere wonder where everything fell apart.  Our running backs couldn't run, our quarterbacks couldn't throw and at times looked completely frazzled.

Who makes a running back great?  The line.  Who gives the QB enough time to throw?  The line.

The line of scrimmage in football is like a line in the sand.  Imagine if you will that you and I meet one day on the beach.  I draw a line in the sand and dare you to cross it.  Are you afraid?  Are you intimidated?  That's the line-you have to stack it up with intelligence, talent and the most selfless players that you can find.

On offence, their job is to get those hard-fought yards that are so crucial to success on your downs.  They should always be able to get your team a yard or two.  On defense, it isn't enough to hold the line you need to penetrate it-consistently.  The Jets were terrible at both last year and our new brain trust knew it.

Now to Reggie Bush and Matt Leinhart.  Do you take a running back knowing that you had to surrender most or all of this years picks for him?  If your answer is yes, then you need to examine your reading comprehension.  We have no line to open up holes for a running game-period.  This would apply to the QB situation as well only it falls under the heading of protection.  Our O-line was as effective as a screen door in a submarine.

Let's face it-two things can make a QB or RB a star-one is natural born talent-to the level of Barry Sanders or Dan Marino-a rare find in the draft, they have the ability to elevate the players around them.  Not something that you can bet on in the draft, nowadays impact players like them can be found through free agency.

The second way is the better way to do it-build the line, protect the quarterback and open some holes for the running back.  Pick any starting quarterback in the NFL and give him an extra two or three seconds to throw the ball and he will be a star like Tom Brady.   Take it away and he will by flat on his back.  Give any running back some pro-bowl blocking and he will turn into Emmit Smith.  Take it away and he is running into a brick wall.

In order to be a playoff caliber team, you need a mix of both.  How?  Simple, stay cool and follow your plan.  Build the line in the early rounds to offer the most talent up front of offence and defense.  Pick your WR's and your QB's in the later rounds because pro-bowl caliber players on the offence and defense can take those mediocre players and allow them to make plays and turn them into superstars.  They can be brought along over a couple of seasons while your linemen will start right away and start turning this mess around.

This may speak more to why the Jets chose not to take a QB early.  Here is the plain truth:  If you swapped Tom Brady for Chad Pennington last year, Brady would have fared no better than Chad did behind the weak line of protection that simple could not provide enough time for the offensive plays to develop.

Our new brain trust for the Jets will make sure that is not the case this year, and our quarterbacks will prosper in a new era of protection.

Mark my words-we got better last weekend where we needed to and it will have tremendous repercussions on the competitiveness of our team.  We got a lot better with a group of impact players like D'Brickshaw Furguson and Nick Mangold that we drafted who will start and become impact players for years to come.

Our line in the sand is much more intimidating now and trust me, you don't want to cross it.