NY JETS: JOSH MCCOWN NAMED WEEK 1 STARTER

NY JETS: JOSH MCCOWN NAMED WEEK 1 STARTER

By: Matthew Blittner

Well that's that!

Today, Monday August 28, 2017, the New York Jets once again revealed just how dysfunctional of a franchise they are.

Declining to draft a Quarterback during the Draft in April, the Jets went into the offseason with three QB's fighting for the right to be their Week 1 starter against the Buffalo Bills on September 10th.

Josh McCown was brought in via free agency to compete with Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty for the right to be the Jets' starter.

Of the three, neither has had success in the recent past. Hackenberg was essentially redshirted last season after being drafted in the second-round of the 2016 Draft. Petty started four-games last season and failed to impress after being a fourth-round pick in the 2015 Draft. McCown, the veteran of the trio, is 2-20 in his last 22 games as a starter (primarily for the Browns) and is the definition of a journeyman. 

An offseason that saw the Jets trade away or outright cut nearly every high-priced veteran on their roster, made fans and executives alike, believe the Jets are tanking the season in order to acquire a franchise Quarterback with the top-pick in the 2018 Draft.

There's a few problems with this.

You have two recent, fairly high-picks, in Petty and Hackenberg, and while they have yet to impress, you have to give them a sustained look to determine if they are capable of being NFL starters. If you refuse to give them their chances, then you essentially wasted two prime picks. 

McCown, who is nothing more then a stopgap Quarterback at this point, conceivably gives the team their "best chance to win," but his 2-20 record says he won't be doing much winning.

Here's the conundrum; if they start Petty or Hackenberg, they are seeing what they've got in their young QB's but you will likely lose most if not all of your games. On the other hand, if you start McCown, you aren't giving your young guns a chance to develop, and you are attempting to win games in a season where you have already gutted the roster in hopes of acquiring the top-pick in next year's draft.

In true Jets fashion they are screwing up the franchise, both in the present and the future. This team doesn't have the talent to win many games, so in theory they should tank in order to finally draft a franchise QB -- something they've been missing since Joe Namath left the team.

But in order to secure the top-pick in the draft, the Jets need to finish with a record of 1-15 or 0-16. Putting McCown in charge of the huddle is flying in the face of that logic as it shows you are trying to win as many games as you can -- which is likely in the 4-win range. A 4-12 season hurts the Jets more than it helps. You don't secure the Number One pick, and you endure another season of pointless futility. 

Hackenberg is not ready to lead the team, but you'll never know what he can be without giving him an extended look. The same can be said for Petty. It's not wise to waste draft picks.

Either way, the Jets' season just took a hit. Either Hackenberg/Petty was going to lead the way to the Number One pick, or McCown was going to ruin the future while compromising the present -- looks like the Jets chose option number two.

Hang in there Jets fans, it's going to be a long, long season.