At a certain point you just have to call a spade a spade. The New York Jets have the least talented roster in the NFL and it will be a shock if they win more than a few games in 2017. The lack of talent on the roster presents head coach Todd Bowles with a lot of difficult decisions and so far he’s made all the right ones.
Todd Bowles is Making the Right Decisions During a Tough Time
Quarterback Battle
Veteran Josh McCown has only played one drive this preseason. He drove his team down the field for a touchdown. That was all Bowles needed to see. McCown is a veteran who won’t improve much with preseason snaps.
Bowles has not had McCown take another snap in the preseason since his one drive in the first game and has since limited his reps in practice. The 38-year-old gunslinger has paid his dues, time after time.
With that in mind, Bowles made the correct decision as head coach: Give playing time to the players that need to be evaluated.
Young Quarterbacks
While the last two preseason games might have been painful to watch, they were extremely necessary to a team in rebuilding mode. Without being sure of the level of talent each player on your roster possesses, you can’t adequately evaluate which positions need to be upgraded or how dire the situation is.
While the Jets still have another preseason game and 16 regular season matchups to continue to evaluate Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, these preseason reps have been crucial.
They have confirmed what fans, coaches, and analysts have known since the beginning of last season: neither Petty nor Hackenberg are franchise quarterbacks.
Petty has looked a little better in the preseason, especially after Saturday night’s performance against the Giants which saw him complete 12 of his 15 pass attempts for 250 yards and three scores including a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
Those numbers are skewed since Petty went in with the third team. New York was able to see what the third-year quarterback was able to accomplish when starting regular season games last season (56.4 completion percentage and three touchdowns to seven interceptions.)
Hackenberg has looked worse. Granted his offensive line has been atrocious and his receivers are subpar, but he has looked erratic. Against the Giants he was able to complete a few sideline grabs that might give fans hope. However, he tossed a ball that was easily picked off by Giants safety Landon Collins who returned it for a touchdown. The Penn State product couldn’t move the ball and looked uncomfortable in the offense.
Bottom Line
Even though Bowles might not be any closer to naming a starting quarterback or having any idea what the depth chart might look like at the position, he is making the correct decision. At least someone is doing something right in that organization.
