For the Jets, the Time for Petty or Hackenberg is Now

The New York Jets have played beyond expectations so far in 2017.

Despite the 3-5 record, the Jets have shown glimpses of a bright future.  The play of rookie safeties Marcus Maye and Jamal Adams and the emergence of Darron Lee at linebacker have been a welcome sight for Jets fans.

On offense, Robby Anderson has shown big play ability at the wide receiver position.  The Jets finally may even have a tight end for the first time in ages in Austin Sefarian-Jenkins.

The Jets have even gotten professional quarterback play with Josh McCown and therein lies the question; why is he even playing?

The answer is simple, but reveals a bigger problem with the New York Jets at an organizational level.

No, this isn’t about tanking nor should it have ever been about tanking.  The fact is, on a team that is so bad that it warrants the number 1 selection in the NFL draft can’t be fixed simply by drafting a franchise quarterback – just ask the Browns and Colts.

So realistically, the season should have been about seeing how many solid pieces you have before moving into the draft.   The good news for the Jets is that goal is still happening, but it isn’t happening at the quarterback position.  This is because the organizational goals seem to be at odds with the goals of the coaching staff – keeping their jobs.

When things didn’t work in year two of the Maccagnan and Todd Bowles regime, the Jets decided rightly to tear it down and rebuild.

Gone were veterans and fan favorites such as Nick Mangold, David Harris, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker and planned to start over. However, starting over should have included ridding of Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan.

You see, their goals run at odds with the goals of the team.  With their jobs in the balance, Bowles is going to go with the quarterback that gives his team the best chance to win and there is no question that the best QB on the roster at the moment is Josh McCown.

However, with the overwhelming thought among the football world is the Jets will draft a quarterback this coming April, what use is finding out what we have in a 38 year-old signal-caller in McCown? – A guy whose role next year will most likely be as quarterback coach.

Why not play Petty or Hackenberg while the games still matter?