Just End The Season.
Man, I love that phrase. It's appropriate for the Jets' season 95% of the time. After such hype and promise leading into 2016, I just want the suffering to end. Decker is out, Revis is burnt, and our defensive line is a no-show. Put a fork in it, Todd. Nail the coffin shut.
Well, actually don't end the season just yet. In fact, I want the Jets to be in full-in tank mode. At 1-5, we're essentially eliminated from the playoffs. This upcoming draft is one of the most hyped drafts in years. We have four QBs on our roster, and now one I think has the potential to be a franchise quarterback. This draft is loaded with possible franchise-altering talents.
So the smartest thing to do is to suck. I want the Jets to suck so bad from now until the end of the season that I'll be rooting for a loss week in and week out. Yeah, it may not be the ideal outlook for a fan to have. But at the same time, I'm a pragmatist--I see our inefficient defense, our lack of offensive power fire, and our quarterback situation. The best thing for the future of the Jets is to mail in the season, completely and unequivocally, and aim for a top 2 pick.
Start Geno, or Petty or Hackenberg. It honestly doesn't matter who's in at quarterback anymore. Besides for Brandon Marshall, the offense is stagnant. I mean, we put up 3 points against the Cardinals. That's pretty pathetic, even for a team that was already 1-4 like the Jets.
We've seen teams mail in seasons to ensure long-term success. Just in 2011, the Colts won one game to guarantee that they could get Andrew Luck. This coming year, you have studs like Lamar Jackson and DeShaun Watson, who many people are viewing as the best current quarterback prospects. The Jets haven't had a franchise quarterback since Joe Namath and they've been aimlessly searching through the draft for decades to no avail. There is still so much talent on this team; if they just had a competent quarterback helming the offense, maybe we wouldn't be 1-5.
The question remains though, is it worth tanking the season for just the possibility of getting either Jackson or Watson. In my opinion, Lamar Jackson is the perfect modern QB and is a sure-fire franchiser. Assuming the Browns stink it up more than the Jets, they might decide to pick Jackson themselves. Cleveland hasn't had their own franchise QB since... well never, actually. I hope the Browns whiff on Jackson this year like they did on Wentz last year. However, if the Jets got the 2nd pick and landed Watson, I would be happy with that too. I honestly don't think neither Petty nor Hackenberg are the answer, so a top draft pick could be the answer.
Again, this all hinges on how the Jets play the remainder of the season. Their schedule gets easier, but not by that much. They still have to play the Patriots and Dolphins twice, the Ravens, the Rams, the Colts, the 49ers, and the Bills. It's much better than the first six games, but there are a lot of games that can swing either way.
The biggest remaining game on the schedule is against those Browns in Week 8 though. If we can stink up the joint that week, I'll be confident in our chances on getting the number one overall pick in the draft. So let's lose out the rest of the year. Let's be those lovable losers for the rest of the year. It will pay major dividends for the team down the road.
