5 realistic NY Jets expectations for the 2022 NFL season

While there's still room for free agent moves, the 2022 offseason is slowly morphing into preseason for the 2022 NFL season, and it's time that teams start to think about how they will approach the upcoming campaign.

The NY Jets are one of the teams in the AFC set to scratch and claw their way out of the basement, but after their work this offseason, that goal is becoming more and more of a reality.

Sure, there are still plenty of powerhouse teams ahead of them, and the playoffs are unlikely, but that doesn't mean the season is lost as player and team progressions can help this team an immense amount as we look toward the future.

Fans of struggling teams that have a good offseason can sometimes raise their expectations a little, and while that's forgivable, that's not what we are doing here. The following are five realistic expectations for the Jets in 2022.

1. The NY Jets should expect significant contributions from the 2021 draft class

Joe Douglas may have whiffed on some of the picks in the 2020 class, but the following year he did no such thing, building the foundation of this young core with Zach Wilson, Elijah Moore, Michael Carter, and Alijah Vera-Tucker.

Beyond that, they do have some who will contribute in 2022, but if the organization wants to take a step forward on the way out of playoff purgatory, then those four names will have to be four of the best on the squad.

Wilson and Carter will both make huge jumps, but it's Vera-Tucker and Moore who could step into superstar status in 2022. If that happens, along with great play from the rest of this young core, playoffs could finally be in reach for Gang Green.