Jets should give Hendon Hooker a chance after another Brady Cook disaster

The New York Jets are starting Brady Cook at quarterback in the name of a concerted tank effort that will help them get a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, the Jets may have been a bit too thorough in their desire to stink it up, as Cook has been so bad that his stats rival those of Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle.

Cook has thrown just one touchdown pass in the last four games, including a Week 17 loss to the New England Patriots, all while tossing seven interceptions and losing multiple fumbles. Even on a team that is clearly stockpiling assets for the future, Cook has been so bad that the Jets may need to make yet another quarterback change.

The Jets recently signed former Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker to the practice squad. While it appeared as though Hooker was just going to be a depth signing behind Cook, the UDFA's terrible performance may force the Jets to dig deep for a more earnest replacement.

The Jets need to consider throwing Hooker out there for Week 18 against the Buffalo Bills. Hooker is likely going to put forward a similar performance against Buffalo, and it might be worth doing the team a solid after a month of purposefully non-competitive football.

Jets need to consider starting Hendon Hooker after Brady Cook disaster

Let's get this out of the way: Hooker is a very bad quarterback. The former third-round pick of Glenn and Tanner Engstrand's Lions was in a quarterback competition with Kyle Allen for the backup job during the last preseason, and he threw three interceptions without a touchdown before getting cut.

Hooker is not going to impact the Jets' quarterback plans for the 2026 season and beyond. However, playing someone like Cook brings an air of defeatism throughout this team. No one believes the Jets will win with Cook, so why try hard? Perhaps Hooker could instill some extra effort in this team.

The only non-tank reason Cook could be playing is for the purposes of evaluation, both him and the rest of the roster. Unfortunately, Cook has likely given the Jets all they need to see out of him. He has been so bad as a quarterback that it's impossible to gauge how well the skill position players are performing.

Hooker will aid in the tank, but he won't be as non-competitive as starting Cook again would be. At least, that's the hope. Surely he won't be worse, right?