New York Jets: Josh McCown wanted back for another year by John Morton

New York Jets quarterback Josh McCown has been so good for the team that offensive coordinator John Morton would like him to come back for another year.

When the New York Jets inked Josh McCown to a contract, many fans groaned loudly. It was understandable at the time. The Jets were giving $6 million to a quarterback that never amounted to much on any team. He would flash, like he did briefly for the Bears, but he was never able to sustain it. He was the prototypical “journeyman” quarterback. He was known as a mentor but never much of a starting quarterback.

Now we are 12 games in to a season where McCown won the starting job. Todd Bowles has his quarterback and he will be that quarterback for the rest of the 2017 season. How has that worked out? Better than anyone could have ever imagined. The team’s record is 5-7. McCown has thrown for 300+ yards on three separate occasions, completed 67,8% of his passes and posted a TD:INT ratio of 18:8. McCown hasn’t been “good”, he has been better than good.

With McCown’s success has come the expected question. Should the Jets bring him back for another season? Chad Pennington has made the case that they should. More recently, however, it has been the offensive coordinator. John Morton tells the NY Daily News he would be happy to have McCown back:

"“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” Morton said Thursday in Florham Park when asked if he’d like to have McCown in his quarterback room next season. Look at the stats. …He’s been consistent. He’s perfect for this offense.”"

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On its face, it’s hard to argue with Morton’s point. The way McCown has performed this year would make one wonder if he could have been a viable starting in this system for his whole career.

McCown has been efficient, failing a few passes when he wanted to make a play. He has been aggressive when necessary, cautious when needed. He has distributed the ball well. All in all he has been a great veteran leader to this group of young players.

However, when talking about a second year with a player like McCown we have to be very cautious. They should not just blindly re-sign him expecting the same thing in 2018.

First of all we have seen this movie before. This rebirth of Josh McCown has 2015 Ryan Fitzpatrick written all over it. Jets fans fell in love with the guy and 2016 happened. Fitzpatrick came back down to Earth and Fitzmagic became fake news. We couldn’t say goodbye to Fitzpatrick fast enough last year. Why? What happened in the span of one year.

Here is why. Players play to their career averages. Look at any player you want and you will see it. A big year comes back down to Earth and a terrible year comes back up to the middle. Take Vinny Testaverde as one quick example. He never came close to equaling his 1998 season of 29 touchdowns versus seven interceptions. In fact, he led the league in interceptions just two seasons later. He was a mid-level quarterback that had an outstanding year. That’s who he was. That’s who Fitz is. We have seen this before.

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Despite the success this year, there really isn’t a reason to expect Josh McCown to be as successful next year. If the Jets blindly bring him back they will be making a mistake. If they really want him back, that’s fine, here are two caveats. They must sign him for far less than $6 million. Do not sign him to a big deal. The second is he must be aware he will be in a dog fight to play. He cannot be handed the job. Otherwise, forget it and say goodbye.

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