New York Jets: The importance of a franchise quarterback

The New York Jets haven’t had an established franchise quarterback that stayed long enough to make a difference since the late 60’s. It’s about time they realize the true importance of having one for long-term success.

It sure has been a while since the Jets had a franchise quarterback that was able to be a difference-maker under center. They haven’t had one since the days Joe Namath was under center and even then, he wasn’t really the kind of quarterback that brought consistent success for long periods of time.

Most of the quarterbacks the Jets have had in their franchise history tend to have only produced two seasons of good success. But not since Namath guaranteed victory back in 1969, the quarterback situation of the Jets has historically always been terrible.

Aug 13, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Jets quarterback Bryce Petty (9) warms up before the preseason NFL football game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets have drafted more quarterbacks than any other team in the NFL since the inception of the draft and yet they’ve failed to find the one that can push this team towards truly being a contender. No, not just making it to the AFC Championship Game twice or winning a playoff game or two, a quarterback that puts this team on his back and delivers 8-10 wins per season when he’s taking care of business.

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Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington, Boomer Esiason, Geno Smith, Ken O’Brien and so many others have been brought in to enjoy some success but nothing to the caliber of a long-term franchise quarterback.

One that is consistently being built around to only continue pushing the envelope.

Whether one can chalk it up to terrible scouting or just making bad picks that ended up being busts, the importance of a franchise quarterback can’t continue to be underestimated by the Jets.

That’s why many hope that maybe, just maybe, they’ll get it right with quarterback Bryce Petty once and for all. He’s probably one of the very few at the position the Jets have drafted/brought in that is being developed the right way. He’s not being rushed as he was given his rookie year to just sit back and learn from both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Smith.

Of course there is no guarantee if he’ll even be up to the task of being a true franchise starting quarterback but it looks like the Jets are serious about his development and not rushing him like they’ve done to countless others before him. At the rate they’re going, they should probably get another quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft in the middle rounds to have another option to develop for the future like they have been with Petty.

A true franchise quarterback can bring the results this franchise has been waiting for that can finally bring consistency, execution and above all else stability. Look at guys like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and even Peyton Manning just to name a few to see that at the end of the day, it’s the most important position on a team for a big reason since that’s how you put your team in a position to win championships.

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Hopefully the Jets get that and much more with Petty, otherwise, they might as well keep drafting quarterbacks and continue this pattern going until they finally find that once-in-a-lifetime player that can get them to the big game consistently enough to actually win it all. Until then, all we can do is continue to hope that maybe one of these years, they’ll get lucky with what they got at the moment and have something else to talk about than Super Bowl III.

Luck can only get you so far though.

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