As fans of the New York Jets, we feel like we’re some sort of football purgatory. We’re winning too many games to get a high draft pick, and we’re losing too many games to make the playoffs. Here’s what we need to do.
For The Love of God and all that is holy, LOSE the next two games!
Losing the last two games of the season is imperative for the Jets if you want any future for this franchise beyond a revolving door of mediocrity and almost making the playoffs, like that’s some sort of accomplishment. Denver is basically guaranteed to lose the next two games against the Redskins and the Chiefs; all the Jets need to do to secure the higher draft pick is to lose the next two games. It’s bad enough we lost five games ruining even more opportunities for the future of the team, so don’t make it worse than it already is.
Some fans would pontificate, “why would you want your team to lose?!” Listen, there is no point in winning the next couple of games at all, it’s about as worthy of an accomplishment as winning a “kindness award” when you’re in elementary school. Plan for the future, not just today. Seriously, there is no point in winning a game that may satisfy a fan base for a solid 24 hours that will eventually turn out to be disastrous for the future of the franchise. This would be reminiscent of when the Jets foolishly beat the Dolphins in the last week of the season in 2014, which deteriorated our draft stock. Likewise, this was the same season the Knicks won two of their last three games ruining their chances for the number one lottery pick. See what I go through as a fan! If God forbid we beat Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, that puts Denver ahead of us, and possibly even the Bengals and boom, we’re out of the top ten and the magic is gone. As I wrote previously, I hope the Jets take some advice from JR Smith and show up to the Meadowlands hung over on Christmas Eve.
What about Mike Maccagnan?
I’m not sold on Mike Maccagnan. Frankly, ever since John Idzik was run out of town for being arguably the worst GM in the history of New York sports, any replacement could’ve been popular. Idzik set the bar so low, anybody with a football IQ higher than an avocado would’ve riled up the Jets fan base after the previous clown show, but that doesn’t speak to how efficient of a GM Maccagnan actually is. First, he’s made some “good” moves, but nothing Earth-shattering that really put his football brilliance on display. Jet fans were celebrating when we drafted Leonhard Williams in the first round in 2015. Solid pick. Jet fans celebrated when he drafted Darron Lee in 2016 and Jamal Adams in 2017, both of which were solid picks, but both picks were consistent with the Jets’ identity and how they’ve drafted in the first round since 2010. We also have to address the elephant in the room which is that Maccagnan was stupid to pass on DeShaun Watson, who was clearly an A+ prospect from day one.
The main difference between Maccagnan and Idzik is that Maccagnan is able to pander to the New York Media, while Idzik would be lucky to handle the media in North Dakota. The New York Media was pushing the narrative that drafting a QB, any QB, will be the kiss of death for the franchise, so Maccagnan took the easy way out by drafting a defensive player because the Jets are “a defensive team,” whatever that means. Really, the lumping together of all quarterbacks is stupid, what matters is who you draft. Ever since the Redskins gave away their life savings for RG3, the average NFL fan bought into the narrative that you never take risks like the Redskins did for any QB. Well, no, the Redskins just did a lousy job evaluating talent and that’s why they fell flat on their faces. Last time I checked, GMs are paid to evaluate talent.
Enough with the “It’s not you it’s me” routine
Maccagnan has an eye for defensive talent, but he can’t evaluate QB talent for his life. In fairness to Maccagnan, he hasn’t had too many opportunities to prove himself, but for the last couple of years, he deserves an F- in how he’s evaluated QB talent when one takes into account how he passed on DeShaun Watson and drafted Hackenberg and Petty. The worst part of this whole debacle is that the Jets try to sell to the fan that these guys are actually capable of leading the Jets beyond the 50 yard line. They’re both AWFUL, plain and simple. Many times I’ve heard coaches tell the media, “Petty’s not ready,” or “Hackenberg’s not ready.” This is the “it’s not you it’s me” routine of sports. It’s all a bunch of horse crap. Just flat out say it, they both stink. Franchise QBs are always ready, they may not be great their first year, but they’re always ready. Seriously, if he’s not “ready,” then why even draft him? QBs are supposed to do more than pick their noses on the sidelines. Petty doesn’t have the mechanics to play in the NFL period, especially in a Northern stadium with a defensive-minded head coach. These Big 12 QBs play in “training wheel offenses” in college and are never well prepared for the NFL. There’s a reason why no Big 12 QB has ever won a playoff game. Petty is not exception and he has no future with the team.
Send Hackenberg home, he’s as useful as guest wifi.
The only reason not to not cut Petty is because Hackenberg might be worse! Hackenberg only dressed for one regular season game last season and two this season, which is a total of three games for which he even dressed in two years and he still hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL. If the Jets had any faith in him at all, they would at least let him take a snap and give him a chance. Instead, the Jets are avoiding playing Hackenberg like the plague. Enough he’s not ready nonsense, how are you not ready to dress for more than two games in a particular season. Hackenberg is just like guest wifi, he’s there, but he never does anything useful. Watching Hackenberg “learn” on the Jets sideline is like watching my phone connect to guest wifi, it keeps loading, but the internet never works.
What should we do in the draft? Mike Maccagnan better draft like an American.
First, we need to take a chance with a QB, but here’s the problem, Maccagnan has to know what he’s doing when he drafts a QB, don’t just draft any Tom, Dick and Harry in the draft to add to the current garbage pile of Jets QBs. What I know is that we need some type of shake-up. If you need to trade up, then trade up, if you’re willing to take a chance on Baker Mayfield, so be it, but don’t draft another defensive player which we obviously don’t need at this point.
We’ve drafted defensive players in the first round in the previous eight drafts, we don’t need to anymore. Our defense is just fine, not perfect, but not what we need most. When the team can’t move the ball on offense, there’s bound to be more devastating problems in seasons to come. First of all, Josh McCown is 38 years old and is now out for the season. Re-signing McCown for next season would be stupid, even though he might be the cheapest QB on the market. If you think the Jets can become a playoff team with an almost 40 year old, recently injured washed up scrub who still makes rookie mistakes late in games taking snaps, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
I know Mike Maccagnan and the way he drafts, there’s a solid chance he won’t want to take a risk and trade up for a QB. Guess what, America was built on risk-taking, you can’t succeed in any area of life when you don’t take risks. This includes any area of sports. For the love of God, please, don’t be afraid to take a risk, and draft like an AMERICAN. Because if we don’t take a risk on a young talented QB, the future of the Jets franchise is completely doomed, at least for the time-being.
