Oh, New York Jets fans. Poor, poor, unfortunate New York Jets fans. Another NFL season six weeks in, another season already lost.
Gang Green fell to 0-6 in the first (And looking like, potentially, only) year of the Aaron Glenn Era, this time in a crushing 13-11 loss to Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos in London. Forget that the Jets kept up with Denver’s elite defense and held Nix, one of the more underrated talents in the league, to 174 yards passing.
Jets QB Justin Fields, on the other hand? A pathetic 9 of 17 for 45 yards while the Jets managed -10 net pass yards for the whole game. The former Ohio State Buckeye and first-round pick was sacked nine times for a total loss of 55 yards.
Denver’s pass rush wasn’t on another level, nor was the Jets’ O-line unbelievable bad. Fields was simply not that good.
Glenn has given no indication that backup Tyrod Taylor will take over in Week 7 against the Panthers at home.
What’s sad is that looking across the Jets’ lengthy history of trials and tribulations? This lack of stability at quarterback is entirely self-inflicted. The younger fans don’t remember, but the older ones sure do, so brace yourselves for this:
The New York Jets have not had a proper franchise quarterback since Chad Pennington.
Shocking, isn’t it? Granted, Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells helmed the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in 1998 with Vinny Testaverde under center, but he wasn’t a franchise QB. The former No. 1 pick was a journeyman and the Jets were his fourth of seven teams in a 21-year career.
Enter Pennington being drafted out of Marshall at No. 18 in 2000, he sat for two years, and then had a handful of good seasons as a starter. His career highlight came in the 2002 AFC Wild Card, when he tossed 3 touchdowns in a 41- upset over Peyton Manning and the Colts. Pennington also won Comeback Player of the Year in 2006 after missing most of 2005 with a bad shoulder. He later finished his career in Miami.
Since then, however? The Jets’ QB1 spot might as well have been a black hole. No disrespect to Mark Sanchez, but the Rex Ryan Jets were carried by defense and a strong running game. Neither of the teams that made it to back-to-back AFC Championship Games had 1,000 yard receivers. The pass rush wasn’t elite either, but does that really matter with Hall of Fame corner Darrell Revis in the secondary?
The list goes on from the end of the Sanchez years. To be fair, one can’t really hold 2013 and drafting Geno Smith against the Jets. That was an awful draft class for QBs. The same goes for 2015 after Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota went first and second, and in 2016 with Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
But 2017? Former general manager Mike Maccagnan dropped the ball big time by selecting safety Jamal Adams at No. 5. The Kansas City Chiefs scooped up Patrick Mahomes four picks later, and the Jets endured a 5-11 season with 38-year-old Josh McCown at QB.
And the Sam Darnold years? Oof…the awful, awful, Sam Darnold years. So much potential, and all ruined by the sheer coaching incompetence of Adam Gase. Darnold was off the team in three years, made his first Pro Bowl with the Vikings last year, and is now thriving in Seattle.
The list of Darnold’s successors reads like an Island of Misfit Quarterbacks. Luke Falk. Trevor Siemian. An aging Joe Flacco. Aaron Rodgers and an aging Achilles. The unbelievable Zach Wilson mistake that never should have happened at all if not for a weird pandemic season. Mike White and Tim Boyle!
Yet, here the Jets are again. Same problem, different season. Fields has proven completely inept under center, so what’s the plan? Tank for the No. 1 pick and snag someone like Dante Moore or LaNorris Sellers? Try and snag Daniel Jones in free agency?
One thing is certain. If a team hasn’t had a proper franchise quarterback in nearly two decades? That isn’t a football problem, but an organizational one, and no end in sight.
FOR FULL STORY ON STANDARD WEBSITE: Reminder: The Jets haven’t had a franchise QB in 20 years | Elite Sports NY