Training camp is final chance for Bryce Petty

After being selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft, Bryce Petty has failed to show significant development. If he doesn’t prove himself at this year’s training camp, he’ll likely be looking for a new home shortly.

When the New York Jets drafted Bryce Petty in 2015, the expectations were relatively high considering the fact that he was selected in the fourth round. Several experts saw Petty as a second or third-round draft pick, which raised expectations even higher.

Many thought that Petty would be ready to seriously compete for the starting quarterback position after one or two years of development. Considering the transition he would have to make from a very basic spread offense at Baylor to a pro-style offense, this was clearly wishful thinking.

During Petty’s rookie season, he didn’t dress for any games as many expected. Fans hoped that learning behind quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith would help Petty’s mental ability get to where it would need to be.

With Fitzpatrick coming off of an impressive season and Smith remaining the backup, the thought was that Petty would have more time to develop his mental ability in 2016. With Smith suffering multiple injuries, and Fitzpatrick suffering an injury around the middle of the season, the door opened for Petty to have his opportunity.

He appeared in six games with four starts and a total stat line of a 56.4 percent completion rate with three touchdowns and seven interceptions. Obviously, it was a mostly underwhelming season for Petty who was not as ready to play as fans were hoping.

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While there were some positives from his season including some absolutely beautiful deep throws, Petty showed some serious inconsistencies.

His decision making was often times very poor while he also showed clear a lack of awareness and overall football I.Q.

Now as Petty’s heading into his third training camp with the Jets, this is almost certainly his last opportunity to stick with the team. It’s a very good opportunity though, as his competition consists of a second-year player seeing his first significant action.

Next year’s NFL draft class is expected to be loaded with top quarterback talent, and with the Jets expected to have a very high pick, they should have the chance to land one. This would likely bump Petty off the roster as all indicators point towards second-year quarterback, Christian Hackenberg, being valued over Petty. He unquestionably has to prove that he is developing nicely in training camp. If he fails to do so, he will be looking for a new home by this offseason at the latest.