Jets’ problems run a lot deeper than quarterbacks (Zach Wilson)

New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman thinks he understands the real reasons why the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh. He blames the Jets’ failures, not on Saleh, but on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, the front office and former quarterback Zach Wilson. He also might have added bad karma, penalties, fumbles, climate change, Joe Namath, Hurricane Milton, interceptions, Rudy Giuliani, the Jets culture and their opponents’ stubborn insistence on scoring more points than the Jets.
But we quibble.
“Robert Saleh got a raw deal and Aaron Rodgers undermined him every step of the way,” Bowman, who has extra time on his hands since he’s a lame duck, posted on X. “This was downhill since (the Jets) drafted Zach Wilson. Nathaniel Hackett is trash. Saleh kept the defense great through the toughest times. Raw deal.”
Apparently, he believes that all of it — Rodgers, Wilson, Hackett, etc. — just fell into Saleh’s lap and he had no say in it, but the point is the Jets are pretty much a clown show and have been for a long time. It’s a bad organization and a bad culture.
They should turn this operation into a reality show. Think of all the storylines. Did Rodgers have Saleh fired (no, he says)? How come he didn’t hug Saleh (long story)? Did the Jets fire Saleh because he wore a Lebanese flag during a game? Did a security guard really escort Saleh from the building, as NBC reported, and, if so, why was it necessary to add insult to injury?
These are things we need to get to the bottom of.
Anyway, the Jets will now start over. Again. It’s a practiced routine. They will hire a new head coach, who has almost no chance of winning. They quickly named assistant coach Jeff Ulbrich their interim coach — the team’s fourth head coach in seven seasons.
They’ll draft a new quarterback in the spring. Again. It will mark the 13th time in 18 years they’ve drafted a quarterback, including, so far, three in the first round and three in the second round.
They’ll begin next season with renewed optimism, but without really changing anything, so there’s no reason to think things will improve.
Nothing reflects the Jets’ incompetence more than the quarterback position. Everyone likes to blame the quarterback for the team’s failures, but look at what happens when ex-Jets quarterbacks move on to other teams. The Jets drafted Geno Smith in the second round of the 2013 draft and Sam Darnold in the first round of the 2018 draft. They both failed to develop as Jets quarterbacks. Smith, now with the Seahawks, leads the league in passing yards, and Darnold, now with the Vikings, is being touted as an MVP candidate.
Even Rodgers, the future Hall of Famer, is playing like a Jet after just five games with the franchise. He’s playing down to their level.
Until Wilson was drafted, the Jets had switched quarterbacks a dozen times in five seasons. Meanwhile, the Packers had had two starting quarterbacks in 29 years at that point. The Chiefs, Saints, Patriots, Falcons, Seahawks, Giants and Steelers, among other teams, also had similar stability at the position.
Are we really supposed to believe that none of those Jets quarterbacks was competent? The common denominator is the Jets. If the Jets want to know why they’ve had one winning season in 13 years, if they are wondering why all these talented college quarterbacks failed to deliver, if they want to know why all their coaching hires fail, they should look in the mirror.
The Jets’ failure with Wilson, for example, was entirely predictable. I’m not going to say I told you so … well, actually, yes I am. I told you so. On April 13, 2021, I wrote an open letter to the Jets begging them not to draft Wilson, who was just coming off a near perfect season at BYU. “Don’t do it,” I wrote. “Don’t draft Zach Wilson. Give the kid a break; pick someone else. The Ohio State quarterback, for instance (Justin Fields). Or whoever that guy is from North Dakota State (Trey Lance).”
They didn’t listen, of course. The Jets made him the second overall pick of the draft and the rest was fait accompli. The column drew a lot of backlash from media and fans in New York, although it was difficult to understand how they could argue the team’s failings with quarterback after quarterback. The numbers don’t lie.
Then the Jets did the next worst thing: They made Wilson the opening-day starter instead of parking him on the sideline for a couple of seasons and letting him learn the pro game.
The Wilson-Jets marriage was doomed from the start.
Pity the next quarterback they claim. It will be the same thing all over: wash, rinse and repeat.