New York Jets: Can Ryan Fitzpatrick Win a Super Bowl?

The quarterback position has been a mess for the New York Jets in recent years, but in 2015, Ryan Fitzpatrick helped solidify an area of weakness.

Jets’ general manager Mike Maccagnan made a few great moves this offseason, but arguably the best was the trade to acquire Fitzpatrick from the Houston Texans. In 2015, Fitzpatrick totaled 3,905 passing yards, 31 touchdown passes, and 15 interceptions.

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The big question for the Jets throughout the year was could they win with Fitzpatrick as their starting quarterback. After leading them to a 10-6 record, Fitzpatrick made many doubters into believers, and now the focus is turned to keeping him in 2016.

“I definitely think Ryan’s a quarterback we can win with,” Maccagnan, the Jets’ general manager, told WFAN’s Mike Francesa in a recent radio interview.

“Everybody kind of looks for that, whatever, if you call it franchise quarterback, or a very high-caliber quarterback, whatever the case may be. We had success this year, and had we played better at some point in time in one of those six losses, we could have been in the playoffs. And once you get there, anything could happen.

Usually, a 10-6 record will get you into the playoffs, and as Maccagnan mentioned, anything can happen once you’re in the playoffs.

“The one thing I will say is this: I do think we can success with Ryan. But the thing I liked about our team this year was that, like I said before, they all kind of complemented each other well. So if you can build a good, solid team—and I’m not just talking, not just offense, defense, also special teams—we can go out there, hopefully, and be competitive, and compete for the playoffs. We can do it with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Bryce Petty as our quarterbacks.”

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“But it’s one of those things,” Maccagnan told Francesa. “You’re constantly trying to make sure you’re making lots of decisions and trying to bring in talent into the team, and stockpiling young talent that hopefully [will] grow, develop, and then be impactful. But I do feel like we can be a competitive team with Ryan, and go out there and compete for the playoffs. And if we were able to get in, see what happens.”

The growing feeling is that Fitzpatrick will certainly be back with the Jets for at least next season, but as the general manager, Maccagnan also has to be thinking about the future for the quarterback position. The Jets selected Bryce Petty in last year’s NFL Draft as a project to develop, which comes at a good time with Fitzpatrick succeeding as the starter.

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If the Jets are to win a Super Bowl one day, the growing trend is that they will need an elite quarterback or, at least, a quarterback that can play elite for a playoff run. We have yet to see if Fitzpatrick can lead the Jets to the promise land, but 2015 was made a pretty strong case that the Jets can be a successful team with him under center.

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