The New York Jets are trying to correct decades of poor QB play by having three capable QBs on their roster right now.
The New York Jets are finally addressing the only need their franchise has lacked in basically 50 years, the quarterback position. However, just because they are making moves and shuffling things up behind center does not mean they can’t mess it up. They very much can, and likely will.
I am not blind to the fact that NFL teams hold three QBs all the time. I’m not blind the new trend of keeping your franchise QB behind a veteran until he is ready to pass the torch. Teams swing or miss on these kinds of situations and there are so many moving parts, it almost requires luck to land a “franchise QB.”
However, the Jets are not in one of these situations, not by any means. Having just Josh McCown and Sam Darnold would put them in a situation where it was just the passing of the torch. However, Teddy Bridgewater is there.
I am not going to get into the X’s and O’s of all this right now. But Teddy Bridgewater is someone who can throw this entire plan off course. Teddy Bridgewater is a non-proven QB. He is close, he led a playoff team but did not do anything long enough to prove he is a franchise guy. Teddy does have experience though. He has started NFL games. The Jets did not screw themselves here because he is only on a one year contract.
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However, this needs to be Sam Darnold’s team. Josh McCown is worth the price tag just to mentor Darnold. The Jets knew they were drafting a QB when they re-signed him.
Teddy Bridgewater is turning heads, his comeback story is heartwarming, and would be good injury insurance. The catch is though that he needs injury insurance for himself rather than playing the role.
Sam Darnold skill wise, might not be NFL ready. That standard is based on what a single individual set. Josh McCown is coming off a solid year but has massive room for a huge falloff. Remember Ryan Fitzpatrick?
However, Darnold played college ball in a massive, corrupted media market of LA. He understands he will be under a microscope and part of over exaggerated headlines to sell media. That is something some New York QBs never learn let alone come into understanding.
His turnover rate in college is alarming but he has never had NFL coaching yet. It is not his fundamentals. Regardless of what else there is to be said about Darnold, he should be the centerpiece of this foundation. They traded up to get him and he also fell to them. And even if you cannot decide who should be the backup it still leaves the fact that the Jets have too many QBs. It’s an awkward spot.
If they go with Teddy then they will need to keep someone behind him because his re-injury risk is high. If they stick with McCown they should have Darnold be the backup. Vice-versa if they go with Darnold.
In any scenario, the Jets are going to have a QB in a spot they do not deserve on the depth chart. The Jets are just coming off having too many third string QBs always being there but being irrelevant, they should not go down that path again. The Jets seem like they are bolstering their QB position but also over-correcting the years of having it wrong.
The situation the Jets are in is pretty obvious. They need to not mess it up. They should have three QBs on the roster but it should not be these same three. If so, it is complicated and expensive. Just because it has been since Super Bowl III that the Jets have not been able to successfully manage one above average QB does not mean they need to go out and mismanage three.
Next: What Should The Jets do with Teddy?
The Jets should go in with either McCown-Darnold package or with Teddy and either one of them. Keeping all three of them is likely what will happen but it is not necessary. Don’t let being the “same old Jets” blind us so badly that they mess up the chance to become the “new Jets.”
For once, what the Jets are doing is intriguing. If all else fails, then that is something that has not happened for decades either. Don’t over-correct a problem. That will create more.