The New York Jets may be 0-2 for the first time since 2007, but I’ve got a smile on my face so far this season.
New York Jets fans, everything is going right for the team.People have started to question my demeanor, it has completely changed this season. The losses sting for sure, but not as much as in years past. For the first time in my Jets fandom, I entered the year with no expectations.
Not a one.
This helped make the Jets competing against the Oakland Raiders throughout that first half even more titillating — It wasn’t expected. The experts told us that this would be a blowout, and even though it was, the Jets kept it entertaining for a while.
In a perfect world, what will happen this season is that the Jets will stay in every game and lose close at the end. That would provide the fans some excitement during the season, but maintain their draft status for next season.
Yes, the draft status.
To the fans who don’t embrace the tank: I get the narrative, and it’s us against the world, but let’s be real. This season is a necessary evil. Would fans rather the team be .500 forever? Of course not, so embrace being bad and ultimately this sacrifice will be returned with favor come the 2018 NFL Draft.
Well #Jets are right on course then w/ the ESPN FPI Analytics #NFLDraft #JetUp w/ best odds at No. 1 pick (40%)https://t.co/dAT5Z3e4ee
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) September 19, 2017
So here’s a little optimism for 2018:
- Jets are projected to have more than $80 million in cap space next season.
- Jets ‘should’ have their choice of the top quarterback prospects.
- Despite the inevitable bad record, the Jets have some nice young talent on the team to develop for the future.
Reports are surfacing that the Jets wanted Derek Carr in the 2014 draft, but didn’t pull the trigger. The Jets also wanted Odell Beckham Jr, but couldn’t trade up. Hindsight is 20-20, all this talk and articles is crap.
They coulda woulda shoulda, but guess what? They didn’t do any of those things. So there’s no point in talking about them. By the way, something the Jets should do is bring in a quarterback guru. You can draft the best quarterback in the world, but if he doesn’t have help around him or isn’t coached the right way, he’ll fail like everyone else.
So that leads us to our next point of optimism. While I initially thought the Todd Bowles hire was key for the Jets and a good move, it isn’t looking that way in 2017.That’s the case for a variety of reasons: clock management, psyche, and poor execution.
Perhaps it’s time for the Jets to go with an offensive-minded coach, although they shouldn’t pigeonhole themselves. If he’s there, take him. There should be plenty of names like Sean Payton, and of course Jon Gruden in the conversation.
Fret not Jets fans, winter may be coming early this season, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and that’s the spring. Not only will it bring us better weather, but also new winds of talent through the NFL Draft.
