For north of a decade now, you could set your watch to the Jets being out of playoff contention by Thanksgiving, if not Halloween.
Could this be the year that finally changes?
The Jets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010 campaign, and New York has finished last in the AFC East for five of the last six years. It’s been a woeful stretch for Gang Green, but their maneuvering in the draft and free agency has made them the darling of the offseason.
Still though, until they prove otherwise, they remain team four out of four on paper in the East. The Buffalo Bills are the class of the division right now, while the Patriots are a fringe postseason contender. The Dolphins have quality pieces and loaded up this offseason, so maybe this will be the year they finally put things together.
There are a lot of things working against the Jets making huge strides this season. But former NFL quarterback David Carr apparently loves Zach Wilson and the Jets, guaranteeing on NFL Network this week that they’d make the playoffs.
He then explained why during an appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show” Wednesday afternoon.
“I look at the offensive line and what they could be healthy,” Carr told Eisen after raving about Wilson. “Alijah Vera-Tucker I thought played as good as anybody in the league. You signed Laken Tomlinson, and you have (Mekhi) Becton – that could be a solid offensive line. And then, not even counting Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson and C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin. There’s some good football players that have joined this team, and that’s not even counting the defensive guys.
“And I love Robert Saleh, I think Robert Saleh is a fantastic human being, a fantastic coach. … Robert cares about every individual in that building, and guys feel that. That is not a question mark for me as far as building a young team. I guess all that to be said, they have a lot of young talent that doesn’t even know that they shouldn’t go to the playoffs next year.”
To support his case of a dramatic turnaround, Carr pointed to teams that have made stunning turnarounds in recent years, like the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars, who narrowly missed a Super Bowl visit by falling to the Patriots in the conference championship after going 3-13 a year prior. The next season, the Houston Texans went from 4-12 to 11-5.
“I think (Saleh will) get better as a play-caller, he obviously was a young guy doing that last year, so he’ll improve," Carr said. "I love the system. You have Solomon Thomas, you have some pieces on defense, they didn’t play great towards the end of the year on defense, but they will play better. Robert will put together a great defense.
“Those kinds of jumps happen, they just randomly happen. It’s not something that you’re going to pinpoint the Jets for 12 wins, but you know what? They could do it, they could easily do it, because that kid is fearless. Zach Wilson is absolutely fearless. So for me, I’d roll the dice, that’s why I said what I said the other day.”
It’s an ambitious take. But as the old saying goes, that’s why they play the games.
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