Davis Webb must start in Week 13 matchup against Titans

The New York Jets don’t have anything to play for as they must start quarterback Davis Webb in their Week 13 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

The New York Jets enter Week 13 at 3-8, with their season of disaster heading down to Nashville for a matchup with the 6-7 Tennessee Titans.  Despite losing back to back games, the Titans are still in the mix for the 6th and final playoff spot in the AFC while the Jets slim playoff hopes faded to none with their 27-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Rookie Sam Darnold has missed the last two games with a foot injury and recent reports are saying he likely won’t be back until the Jets matchup with the Buffalo Bills a week from Sunday. Josh McCown has filled in admirably, playing much better than he did in the Jets 41-10 beatdown at the hands of the Bills in which he completed just 17 of 34 passes for zero touchdowns and two interceptions. The blowout loss sealed Todd Bowles fate and proved the Jets are the same rudderless ship they’ve been since he took over following the departure of Rex Ryan back in 2014.

Now, with any thought of the playoffs being long gone, there isn’t a reason in the world why the Jets shouldn’t start second-year pro Davis Webb until Darnold is ready to return. Webb, a third-round pick of the New York Giants back in 2017, was one of the team’s final cuts back in August. It was a stunning move, being that Webb was thought to be the heir apparent to Eli Manning, but was let go before ever taking a snap for them.

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The Jets signed Webb to their practice squad two days later and added him to the active roster following Darnold’s injury against the Miami Dolphins.

He has served as the backup to McCown the last two weeks, but now it’s time for the Jets to get a glimpse at what they may have in the former Cal Golden Bear going forward. The Jets season is going nowhere and playing a 39-year-old quarterback that is likely to retire at the end of the season does nothing to help them going forward.

Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means saying that Webb is the Jets future quarterback. That fate’s still tied to Darnold, and as soon as he is ready to return, Webb will return to his duties of holding the clipboard.

But the Jets will need a backup quarterback moving forward and now is the perfect time to find out if Webb can be that guy. As mentioned before, Darnold is on track to rejoin the team for their matchup against the Bills in Week 14 which means if everything goes according to plan, this would be a one-game try out for Webb. It’s hard to judge anybody on one game, especially somebody making their NFL debut working with a below average supporting cast of skill position players, but what do the Jets have to lose?

Wins and losses don’t matter at this juncture of the season, and nothing is going to help save Bowles’s job, so the old mantra of playing the guy who gives you the best chance to win can be tossed out the window. I understand how valuable McCown has been to this franchise in terms of the leader he was last year when he started 13 games for them and the mentor he’s been to Darnold this year, but they can’t let their sentimentality get in the way here. Especially when trying to find out about what could be a valuable piece of their team moving forward at the most important position on the roster.