NY Jets: Bryce Petty is not the answer in 2015

Earlier this week, the NY Jets were considering starting rookie quarterback Bryce Petty due to injuries at the most important position on the team. Thankfully, they didn’t have to since he’s not the answer in 2015.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is dealing with a torn ligament injury on the thumb of his non-throwing hand. While he should have listened to his coaches advice weeks ago about sliding instead of taking head on hits, he should be good to go this week against the upcoming Jacksonville Jaguars.

Geno Smith also suffered injuries last week thanks to the Oakland Raiders and it was a bizarre set of circumstances since both quarterbacks were down and out with their health being in question for the rest of the season. Luckily for the Jets, Fitzpatrick played well in practice this week and showed no signs of decline or discomfort. He’ll be wearing a special glove from here on out as he continues being the Jets’ starter.

While fans were thinking about throwing quarterback Bryce Petty to the wolves, he’s far from being ready to handle starting duties. While I think he has promise to be a viable starting option down the road, let’s be a bit realistic.

Petty looked decent but albeit lost when it came to running a pro-style offense during training camp and preseason football. He’s the kind of player that would benefit tremendously from learning from the sidelines. He’s at least another year or two away from being able to execute on everything he’s been absorbing these past few months.

He came into the Jets at the perfect time though so he can be groomed the right way. I don’t see Bowles or Gailey or any of the major coaches in Petty’s development leaving anytime soon which means he’ll be around the same offensive philosophies for at least the next few years.

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Throwing Petty into the mix this season would have done nothing but prove he’s nowhere near ready to be a starter in the NFL at this point in time. He’s still a rookie and very raw to everything around him. He’ll be good to mention in future training camp competitions to earn a starting spot either next year or even the year after that.

Overall, Petty is not and won’t ever be the answer the Jets need at quarterback this season. He’s still in the development stages of a hopefully good NFL career but until he has a few years under his belt, he’s better off staying on the sidelines with the Jets sticking with either Fitzpatrick or Smith here on out.