Anyone watching the New York Jets’ 2023 season is intimately familiar with the nauseating feeling of tragedy. The Jets, with a championship-level defense and future hall-of-fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, had high hopes. These hopes imploded after four plays when starting quarterback Rodgers went down, leaving third-year quarterback Zach Wilson to carry the team. In the weeks since, everyone has blamed Wilson for the team’s failures but he is not the problem. He is simply a scapegoat to distract from a failing organization. Rather, the offensive line and the looming shadow of Rodgers’ and his buddies should bear the brunt of the blame.
A massive problem hinders Wilson’s ability to make decisions and key throws – his offensive line. As of week twelve, the Jets’ offensive line ranked dead last in the NFL and Wilson’s confidence continued to crumble. “It’s tough to have his confidence high when, on the first third down, he gets sacked within two seconds or something crazy. That’s on the O-line,” says Wilson’s troubled offensive line captain, Connor McGovern. He refers to the Jets’ disastrous Black Friday game, where the opposing Dolphins embarrassed the Jets, especially the offensive line which allowed Wilson to be sacked seven times. Wilson’s 38 sacks on the season are the third-highest in the entire league. Any quarterback, even potential MVPs like Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, could not create success with the current turbulence of the Jets’ offensive line.
Wilson must also overcome the shadow of Aaron Rodgers and his 17-year legacy. Rodgers, a four-time league MVP, signed with the Jets in the 2023 offseason and intended to be a much-needed spark in the Jets’ offense. Unfortunately, on the fourth play of the regular season, Rodgers tore his Achilles – a season-ending injury. Wilson, expected to be in “football rehab” for the 2023 season, his only job to watch, listen and learn from Rodgers, found himself with the entire team on his shoulders and shoes the size of Metlife (the Jets’ stadium) to fill. The Jets’ coaches initially designed the offense around Rodgers’ ability to read defenses and predict their moves, sometimes before they even made them. Wilson can’t read the defense in the same way and the designed offense makes it impossible for him to succeed.
The players and coaches Rodgers vouched for are another contributing factor to the crumbling Jets’ offense. Rodgers brought his friend Nathaniel Hackett to the Jets as Offensive Coordinator. Under Hackett, the Jets offense is 31st overall, 30th in scoring and last in third-down and red-zone conversion percentages. Other busts recruited by Rodgers include receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, running back Dalvin Cook and quarterback Tim Boyle. Lazard and Cobb are nonexistent this season, with Lazard benched in favor of rookie receivers and Cobb with only three catches on the year. Cook, coming back from an injury, lacks the explosiveness he had on his previous team, the Vikings. Boyle has a total of four touchdown passes and twelve interceptions in his entire NFL career. Every single member of the Jets team that Rodgers brought failed miserably. He left Wilson with a graveyard of an offense.
The best proof that it’s not all Wilson’s fault came after his week 12 benching. The offense was inept as ever. Named starting quarterback for the Jets’ week 13 matchup against the Falcons, Boyle completed 14 of 25 passes for 148 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and took one sack. He was benched late in the game for Trevor Siemian, whose performance was just as lackluster. Boyle and Siemian’s depressing partial showings prove that the Jets’ troubles are not Wilson’s fault. Against the Falcons the Jets scored just eight points, two from their defense! The offense with Wilson was tragic but the offense without Wilson is unwatchable.
Zach Wilson may have eight million haters, but I am not one of them. I see a young kid, put on the biggest stage in the world, with no support and an immediate expectation of failure. With his horrendous offensive line, it’s a miracle he’s stayed alive, let alone completed a pass. The ghost of Rodgers hangs over each game Wilson plays, whether in the remnants of Rodgers’ offense or the failed players he recruited. Don’t get me wrong, Wilson needs to develop and the Jets need better, but better may not be necessary at the quarterback position – if the rest of the offense starts to do its job.
