What would a New York Jets season be without talks of a tank season to earn a high draft pick? Honestly, I could question what a New York Jets season would be without talks of a tank before Halloween with how the last decade feels like its gone.
Admittedly, a tank is alluring as you can get the best player. That player, in turn, provides hope for a turnaround. It’s an easy narrative. For me, a tank is merely a math equation of “why pick worse rather than better once playoffs are a wrap because you can always
just trade back to the worse spot and get some picks to help the bad team that has led to the tank in the first place” and for that reason I’ve always gotten behind it (and still will for the record as that logic still stands for me).
But if picking high was all that a team needed to turn a team around then the Jets would be good by now… and they aren’t.
In his press conference this week, I thought Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Liam Coen gave some statements that (while simple and maybe even obvious) were accurate, fair, and worthy of sharing as it pertains to getting it right at quarterback. I encourage you to listen to what he has to say in this minute or so clip.
While Coen is talking about (former Jet and now current) Seattle Seahawks quarterback Darnold, it doesn’t only apply to Darnold. Teams that take a quarterback high often feel compelled to play them right away. I imagine this happens for a variety of reasons that range from “the fans want to see him and we have to sell tickets” to “he’s probably the best option we have even if he isn’t fully ready.” Often that means these quarterbacks are being evaluated on their play at a point in time before their development is really anywhere near complete, and development is going to be needed for essentially any prospect if they’re going to make it work at the NFL level.
As I look at the Jets roster, I don’t really see one built to develop a quarterback right now. Their offense line has potential, but currently has the 24th ranked pass blocking win rate. Their wide receiver room is just Garrett Wilson if we’re considering quality. Their running game has been quite good, but I’m not sure that’s enough to buoy a young quarterback. Sure, they can build that out while the quarterback develops on the bench but the Jets have never shown a willingness to do that. In fact, they traded away another starting quarterback option in Teddy Bridgewater to play Darnold and spent the first offseason of the Aaron Rodgers era talking about the need to develop quarterback Zach Wilson on the bench before throwing him back onto the field as soon as the injury bug bit Rodgers.
With that said, for all the talk of tanks, I’m not really sure the Jets are built to provide the environment needed to nurture a quarterback right now. And after watching the ascent of quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Geno Smith after leaving the Jets in addition to the rise of players like Tampa Bay Buccaneer Baker Mayfield and Indianapolis Colt Daniel Jones after leaving their past teams, are we really sure that it’s the player and not the situation? Tank away, but maybe it’s time to built the infrastructure instead of hoping for a savior to fix it all.
