Keeping four quarterbacks would harm roster

For the New York Jets, it would be very hard for them to let go of one of their young quarterbacks. Though, they may have to for the sake of the roster’s overall depth and talent level.

For the past few years, training camp has been a time for the New York Jets to decide who their starting quarterback for the upcoming season will be. This year, the narrative has changed as Ryan Fitzpatrick is locked in as the team’s lead signal-caller with Geno Smith, Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty behind him on the depth chart.

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This year’s second round draft pick Hackenberg, is a lock to stay on the roster with Fitzpatrick due to the status that comes with being a second round pick, so the major competition is between last year’s fourth round draft pick Petty and Smith. There is also a possibility that both players could stay on the roster, but that would mean that a sacrifice would have to come in another area.

The Jets have a tremendous amount of depth in multiple position groups such as wide receiver, defensive line, running back, cornerback, safety and linebacker. Keeping four quarterbacks would mean that a talented player at one of these positions would have to get cut from the 53-man roster.

At wide receiver, the Jets will already have to make some tough cuts no matter how many quarterbacks they decide to keep. Players such as Jalin Marshall, Charone Peake, Jeremy Ross and Robby Anderson amongst others are all worthy of a roster spot. Having to cut another one of these talented young wideouts in favor of a quarterback who very well may not play this season would be very unfortunate.

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In the secondary, the Jets will need all the depth that they can get as injuries tend to pop up fairly often in that unit.

Last season, the Jets saw cornerback Darrelle Revis, safety Calvin Pryor, cornerback Marcus Williams and cornerback Dee Milliner get sidelined with injuries.

Players such as cornerback Darryl Morris, safety Dion Bailey, and safety Doug Middleton will be needed to provide insurance.

The Jets could certainly use the depth on the defensive front as well as linebacker and defensive lineman are two very grueling positions.

The Jets have some players in both spots who would be very tough to part ways with. On the defensive line, Shelby Harris and Thomas Lawrence have been very disruptive throughout training camp. They are two solid pieces that could potentially be sacrificed in favor of one of the quarterbacks.

At linebacker, there are plenty of young players with the potential to be contributors to the Jets at some point in time. Letting go of one player such as Taiwan Jones, Trevor Reilly or Mike Catapano could end up costing the team as a whole significantly.

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In conclusion, the Jets will need to be very sure about keeping four quarterbacks if they are going to do so. Keeping all four would take away from another position on the roster, which could end up harming the depth of the Jets this upcoming season.