The NFL is a business and it’s in the business of winning, something the Jets haven’t done in quite a long time. Coming into the year people were hopeful about the 2019 season; They have a franchise Quarterback, flashy new Running Back, and strong defensive signings in free agency. There was some hype around the 2019 NY Jets and rightfully so, they are a unique team.
Flashback to last week when it’s announced Sam Darnold has Mono and will miss significant time. At that point, the media, fans, and even players on the team started to jump ship (just ask Jamal Adams). People were acting as if the Jets turned into the Miami Dolphins, they are FAR from that. Now let’s regather ourselves and think rationally. Darnold is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with his illness, but he’s not retiring? Out for the year? He WILL be back, and I have a win-win situation for the NYJ to do while Darnold is in recovery.
Sign Colin Kaepernick.
It is truly a win-win situation and here’s why. Let’s take a look at the Jets’ upcoming schedule through the next 5 weeks: At the Patriots (L), at the Eagles (L), vs the Cowboys (L), vs the Patriots (L), at the Jaguars. With Luke Falk, they stand no chance in any of them and we all know that, but with Kaepernick, they may have a fighting chance, they also may not. That’s the beauty about Kaepernick is there is so much unknown about him. We know the QB that he WAS, but does he still have any of that left in the tank?
If the Jets do sign Kaepernick the narrative changes immediately. You’re already not expected to win the next five games, but now, this at least makes those games interesting and absolutely must-watch. Let’s play out both scenario:
Kaepernick STINKS, the rust shows, he plays terrible, Jets go 0-5 over next 5 weeks:
You’re right back to square one where everyone thought you would be. You’re 0-7. The experiment failed miserably, but you got people talking about your team and watching the games because they wanted to see how Kaepernick did in his return. Because you’re 0-7 everyone is back to where they already were, jumping ship. Now, you cut him and send him packing. This is a win scenario for the Jets because nobody expected them to be good before they signed him, everyone expected them to be 0-7 at that point.
Now onto Scenario #2:
Kaepernick plays not bad-not great, some rust, but shows potential, Jets go 1-4, ~2-3:
2-3 would be optimistic solely based on the caliber of opponents they play over the next 5 weeks, but this is a hypothetical situation. You go 1-4, 2-3, now you’re 1-6, 2-5. Also, who’s to say you were going to win those games WITH Sam Darnold? Now It’s Week 8 and your schedule gets significantly easier. Over those next 6 weeks (8-13) you play: at the Dolphins (W), vs the Giants, at the Redskins, vs the Raiders, at the Bengals, vs the Dolphins (W). The only gimmes are the two games against the Dolphins, because I have never seen a team so willing to go 0-16 in my entire life, but the rest of those games ARE winnable games. You now have Sam Darnold returning and getting back to his normal self, some of the injuries you’ve been facing start to subside and you’re back to a fully healthy team. I like the Jets chances the remainder of the season, they get the tough games out of the way early and now they give themselves a fighting chance.
Signing Colin Kaepernick would be giving a liferaft to the media, the fans, and the players who had already thrown this season in the can.
