From one New York Jets quarterback to another, Boomer Esiason has plenty to say about current Jet Christian Hackenberg.
At least one former New York Jets quarterback feels bad for Christian Hackenberg.
According to NJ.com’s Darryl Slater, Boomer Esiason feels Hack was thrown into a situation that no young QB can succeed in. He was speaking at an event for CBS Sports when he had this to say.
“I don’t know what to make of him, it’s hard to say, because I think we all see the same thing: Is there a team there to support him? Is the offensive line good enough? Is the running game good enough? Are the wideouts good enough? He’s in another new offense. You’re asking like almost the impossible.”
Esiason makes a great point. The team has question marks all over their offense, and the injury to wide receiver Quincy Enunwa didn’t help matters. He’s learning his second new offense in the NFL, after playing in three different offensive schemes in his time at Penn State.
Boomer, who played for the Jets from 1993 to 1995, didn’t stop there though, going into further detail.
“It’s just not a good, solid foundation for a young quarterback to really learn and shine. So all the negativity that’s thrown his way, it’s really unfair in my eyes. Because he really hasn’t had a chance, and he hasn’t had a chance with a good team. So I don’t know what everybody expects. A miracle worker?”
The Jets haven’t been a model for how to develop young quarterbacks, but they’ve done Hackenberg a bigger disservice than most other QBs they’ve had.
Hackenberg may turn out to be a bust, but he’s had absolutely no help from the franchise in terms of consistency or talent placed around him.
Obviously Hackenberg needs to be able to make the throws. But an inexperienced wide receiver group and an offensive line with more questions than answers isn’t a great situation for a quarterback that is viewed as a player with potential but a project.