Why Couldn’t the Jets Take Flight? 

Oh the Jets… Where did it all go wrong? In typical Jets fashion, the entire season completely fell apart going from a promising 7-4 to a not-so-promising 7-10, eliminated from the playoffs. They lost six straight games and just like that the entire season collapsed. To be fair, this team wasn’t supposed to go near seven wins and showed a lot of improvement. However, we must talk about the highs and the lows that have brought the Jets into this current situation. 

Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was supposed to be the guy to decide how this season went; if he played well we would be a good team, and vice versa. In reality, the Jets were a solid team even with Wilson playing badly. In his first 4 games his record was a flawless 4-0. When one sees this record it leads them to believe that the quarterback is playing good football at the very least. Wilson was far from it, with the Jets defense keeping them in a position to win. Consistently only throwing for 100-252 yards with low touchdowns, Zach was not doing what he needed to do at quarterback. Usually this would be completely painful, as the franchise quarterback is failing and looking to be a bust. While it definitely is awful, there is still one positive to take from this situation: there are so many quarterbacks in the market this offseason. Some names are Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jared Goff, Gardner Minshew, Anthony Richardson (draft), and last but certainly not least, Lamar Jackson. My advice is throw everything you have at Lamar Jackson, a top 5 quarterback in the entire NFL who is frustrated with his current team not giving him the money he wants. This is the perfect opportunity for the Jets to pounce on a young, franchise quarterback with generational talent. The timing is absolutely perfect for the Jets and they need to be all in as this will elevate them to a Super Bowl contending team. The Super Bowl and Jets has not been a thing since 1969, but if there was a team that can do it it would be this one, with the right offseason, playoffs is just the beginning for this group of guys. Their defense is already top 5, we have the defensive rookie of the year who is already a top 3 corner in the league in Sauce Gardner (1st Team All-Pro, Pro Bowl CB), a potential offensive rookie of the year candidate in Garrett Wilson, and no large weaknesses/holes in our team besides quarterback.

Wrapping up this rant, the end goal is to have good quarterback play; it does not need to be great or elite, just good at the bare minimum. That alone will boost this roster up to be able to score consistent points. Of course there are other big points this Jets team needs to hit, such as re-sign All Pro DT Quinnen Williams to a big contract. Williams has been a staple of our defense, disrupting passers and runners. The Jets need him if they want to repeat the same defensive prowess that was displayed this season. Another large factor in this offseason is hiring an offensive coordinator. With the “mutual agreement” which led to the Jets losing offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, it leaves a hole at that spot. Looking at last year, the Jets did not score a single touchdown in the last three weeks of the season. Yes the team was beat up with injuries; however, the plays they were calling got the team nowhere. A strong play caller will elevate the offense greatly, with a good quarterback as well. With everything being said, the Jets need a quarterback they can rely on. When healthy, the Jets have an above average supporting cast that can most definitely get the job done. 

This offseason will decide if the Jets are contenders, or a repeat of this season, a large disappointment. If it were any season for Jets fans to get excited for, it would be this as we finally have a watchable roster which might seem like the bare minimum for some teams, but not for the Jets, as they look to snap the longest active playoff drought, last seeing the postseason in 2010.

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