The Jets Should Let Wilson Cook Like White Before Tossing Him To The Side For Good
It seems like the Jets’ quarterback controversy will have to be put on hold for another week, as Head Coach Robert Saleh indicated in Monday’s press conference that his starter for Sunday’s home tilt versus division-leading Buffalo will be determined solely based on health.
Saleh said that Zach Wilson, the Jets’ second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft who suffered a PCL strain in his right knee during the 54-13 debacle in New England on October 24, will be able to practice this week but still has “hurdles” to clear before returning to live game action. Wilson’s original timetable for his recovery was initially assessed as two-to-four weeks, and this is only Week 3.
With no need to rush Wilson back onto the field, Saleh can easily put the ball back in Mike White’s hands for another game. White’s forearm injury that forced him out of Thursday’s 45-30 loss in Indianapolis after just two Jets possessions will not hold him out of any practices either, according to Saleh, who promised to officially name a starter for the Bills game by Wednesday.
I’m sure there are Jets fans who grimaced when Saleh later asserted that Wilson will return to the starter’s role when fully healthy, but it’s the right call. Yes, Gang Green’s offense has been functioning at a different stratosphere with White under center, but that’s because offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur finally took the restraints off the game plan.
In Wilson’s first six games, the Jets opened up with first quarter runs on 73% of their first downs, per SharpFootballStats.com. What was the coaching staff thinking? Remember, the first 15-odd offensive snaps of each game are supposed to be scripted.
If the idea was to ease their rookie QB into the games, this was exactly the wrong way to do it because those early-down runs put Wilson into obvious passing situations later in the series. He rarely got a chance to sling the ball around until New York was down by multiple scores.
As a result, the Jets were a rock-bottom offense in points and were ranked 31st in yards after the Patriots loss, outscored 44-0 in first quarters.
Something had to give, and it wasn’t just the person playing quarterback. Whether LaFleur underwent a lobotomy or simply succumbed to making the necessary adjustments everyone else could see, the Jets have since rejoined the NFL universe.
After not reaching the 30-point mark for 27 straight games, the Jets have scored 31 and 30 points in their last two contests. In White’s two starts, LaFleur called 24 passes versus 10 handoffs on first quarter 1st-and-10s. LaFleur has also dialed up multiple trick plays we hadn’t seen all season, with more screens and jet sweeps as well.
Even journeyman Josh Johnson was humming in the new Jets Way, taking over for White in Indy and throwing for 317 yards in three quarters, albeit in mostly garbage time. Unshackled, the two backups combined to average 184.5 net yards passing in the first half, a figure Wilson managed to exceed just twice this season over the course of entire games.
How about we let everyone see what Wilson can do with this new offensive mentality before we throw him to the side like all the other QBs who have come here with great hype only to disappoint? (By the way, that Sam Darnold trade is looking better and better, right? Feel free to scroll through the archives to the Week 1 review where I predicted his inevitable downfall in Carolina.) White may have more “experience” in that he was drafted in 2018, but he never took a regular season NFL snap until Wilson went down. Are the Jets telling me they really opened up the offense for Mike White?
If the Jets still don’t trust Wilson to pick up where White and Johnson left off and are just being kind in their media chats, then I can see them sitting Wilson down some more. The worst thing Saleh could do for Wilson’s development is to reinsert him without giving him the best chance to succeed—and that’s by taking that Kyle Shanahan manifesto with an overabundance of handoffs out of two-tight end personnel groups and shooting it into the sun.
I find it hard to believe that Wilson isn’t capable of coming out of the gate throwing to running backs in the flat if given the opportunity. But other than that, there should be no other excuses—not Buffalo coming into town frothing at the mouth after getting upset in Jacksonville on Sunday—for a healthy Wilson to lose his job to White.
Because comparing the results from the performances of the two Jets QBs isn’t just apples and oranges: It’s more like apples and kale.