State of The Union: New York Jets
Photo by PFF
As the 2022-2023 New York Jets season comes to a close at 7-10, many Jets fans were left with a sour taste in their mouth. The Jets closed out the season on a six-game losing streak, capped of by a certified snooze-fest of a game that saw the Jets extend their touchdown-less game streak to three in an 11-6 loss in Miami. To grab the full picture of the Jets season, however, we must look past the final six games and start at the very beginning.
So what were the expectations of this Jets team? This is a fundamental question when evaluating the team’s season. Many believed believed the Jets would be a bottom of the barrel team yet again due to the inexperience on the coaching side with second year head coach Robert Saleh (along with second year offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur). However, despite losing penciled in QB1 Zach Wilson in the first week of the preseason due to a meniscus tear, the youth of this Jets team seemed to be the source of the “juice” that was contagious. The Jets looked like a team that you would not want your favorite team to face off against in January. The Jets jumped out to a league-jarring 5-2 record on the backs of stud rookie performances of running back Breece Hall, receiver Garrett Wilson, and cornerback Sauce Gardner.
The season took an unfortunate turn in their Week 7 win over the Broncos losing Hall to a torn ACL and second year stud offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker to a torn tricep, sidelining both essential pieces for the rest of the season. After starting 5-2, a quarterback carousel between Mike White, Joe Flacco, and Zach Wilson helped the Jets close out the season 2-8. The “juice” that carried this team early was lost and will have to wait another season to prove its legitimacy, or perhaps expose its fallacy.
Now we can finally read the pulse of the state of the New York Jets. As difficult of a year this turned out to be for Gang Green, I believe there are much more positives to take away from the season than negatives. As a “give me the bad news first” kind of guy, I’ll provide the negatives first. The most glaring issue is the fact that the team still needs a quarterback. Zach Wilson showed zero improvement whatsoever from his rookie season in the nine games he played in tossing six touchdowns along with seven interceptions and an abysmal completion percentage of 54.5%. Along with needing a quarterback, there aren’t many real glaring issues with this team’s outlook. I can nitpick and say they need a better run game, but their solutions to the issue were sidelined most of the season with Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker. I can say they need better special teams play, but they can just simply cut punter Braden Mann and draft or sign a new one.
Now for the good news. This team feels like they are truly on the cusp of becoming a playoff team. In fact, they were firmly in a playoff position or at least firmly in the hunt for the majority of the season. With competent quarterback play the Jets will be picked by many to end the 12 year playoff drought. Another development that should bring Jets fans hope is the performance of the young guys. The top producing receiver on the team was rookie Garrett Wilson logging 1,103 receiving yards. Their top producing running back was rookie Breece Hall rushing for 463 yards despite playing in only seven games. Their top producing defensive back was rookie Sauce Gardner who had a league leading 20 passes defensed. Finally, their top producing defensive lineman was 25 year old Quinnen Williams who finally took that leap and became arguably the leagues top interior lineman recording 12 sacks on the season. Having youth as a strength is such an amazing thing to have, because that means that you are not just built for the now, you are built for the future. Despite how poorly the team finished, if you can enable yourself to look past the dreadful quarterback play, you will see the gems that will shine bright. Until then, keep your heads up Jets fans. I have a feeling it will all turn around much sooner rather than later.
