7 NY Jets players who disappointed the most in the 2022 season

The NY Jets managed to simultaneously overachieve and underachieve in the 2022 season. Their 7-4 start to the season proved that the Jets were ahead of schedule and had many excited about a potential return to the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the team's late-season collapse, spurred on by dreadful offensive performances that resulted in six straight losses to close out the campaign, ultimately left a sour taste in the mouths of many.

Teams don't just lose six consecutive games without numerous players falling short of expectations, and that was absolutely the case with the Jets this season. Quite a few players managed to disappoint.

Let's take a look at seven players who disappointed the most for the Jets this season.

7. Braxton Berrios, WR, NY Jets

When the Jets re-signed fan-favorite Braxton Berrios to a two-year, $12 million deal in the offseason, most rejoiced. Berrios was fresh off a 2021 season that saw him named first-team All-Pro as a kick returner while finishing second on the team in total catches.

Most expected Berrios to fill a similar role with the Jets in 2022, even with the team's revamped wide receiver room. What followed, however, was a disastrous campaign from Berrios who was essentially a net negative for the organization.

Berrios struggled mightily as a returner and made numerous bone-headed decisions on punts over the latter half of the season. His 62.8 Pro Football Focus grade ranked him as the 93rd wide receiver in football out of 123 qualifiers.

He trailed only Denzel Mims in drop rate among wide receivers on the Jets, including a brutal drop in the end zone that cost the team a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13.

Berrios was straight-up bad in 2022, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Jets cut him to save some money. They can replicate his production with a cheaper option.

6. Michael Carter, RB, NY Jets

Michael Carter was a revelation for the Jets in 2021. The fourth-round rookie went on to lead his team in rushing, taking over the RB1 job only a few weeks into the season.

Carter averaged a very healthy 4.3 yards per carry and contributed in the receiving game as well, adding 36 catches for 325 yards. When the Jets drafted Breece Hall the following offseason, the thought of a Hall/Carter one-two punch had many Jets fans excited.

Hall quickly emerged as the lead back, but following his devastating injury, Carter was once again given an opportunity to be the primary ball carrier. He didn't exactly light up stat sheets, however, and the likes of undrafted rookie Zonovan Knight and Ty Johnson cut into his touches.

Carter just didn't look the like the same player he was in 2021. Perhaps it was due to injury (and the Jets' offensive line certainly didn't help matters), but 3.5 yards per carry isn't going to get the job done.

Carter was the third or fourth most effective running back on the Jets' roster this season. That certainly qualifies as a disappointment.

5. George Fant, OT, NY Jets

It's easy to forget now, but George Fant was legitimately one of the best pass-blocking left tackles in football a year ago. There were ongoing extension talks between the Jets and Fant, and many had high hopes for the veteran tackle going into 2022.

Things got off to a rocky start after Fant missed most of the summer recovering from offseason knee surgery while also flipping back and forth between left and right tackle. He would start the first three games of the season, but it quickly became apparent that Fant wasn't close to 10 percent.

Fant spent time on the injured reserve and returned to start four of the final five games of the season at right tackle before landing on the IR again for the final week. All told, Fant started seven games and looked nothing like the player he did last season.

He led the team with a whopping five sacks and eight QB hits allowed despite his limited sample size. No other player on the roster allowed more than four QB hits. Fant was clearly hampered by injury, but don't expect him to be back in 2023.

4. Lamarcus Joyner, S, NY Jets

Lamarcus Joyner was the weakest link, aside from quarterback, on the Jets' roster in 2022. The veteran defensive back was re-signed in the offseason after his first year in New York ended after just nine defensive snaps.

Expectations weren't super high for Joyner given his recent track record, but the hope was that he could provide the Jets with a capable, affordable stop-gap free safety option. That didn't prove to be the case.

Joyner was a disaster for the better part of the season. His 57.0 Pro Football Focus grade ranked 70th among 87 qualified safeties. He was one of only three qualified safeties with a PFF coverage grade below 55.0 and a missed-tackle rate above 14 percent.

Joyner was equal parts ineffective in coverage as he was in run defense. The Jets will move on and look to quickly forget this mess of a season from their safeties.

3. Elijah Moore, WR, NY Jets

It was a roller coaster of a 2022 season for Elijah Moore, who went from promising second-year breakout candidate to offensive outcast to disgruntled trade requester to a rotational role in the offense. There was a bit of everything for Moore this season.

Ultimately, however, few would have probably predicted before the season started that Moore would finish with worse numbers than his rookie campaign.

The former second-round pick hauled in just 37 catches for 446 yards and one touchdown in 16 games — 10 of which he finished with two or fewer catches. It was a frustrating season for Moore in many ways.

Moore was undoubtedly the victim of poor quarterback play, and it's unfair to blame him solely for his lack of production. Still, this wasn't the sophomore season most envisioned for him, which is why he belongs on this list.

2. Laken Tomlinson, OG, NY Jets

Laken Tomlinson has been a bust of a free-agent signing for the Jets — there's no way around it. The Jets signed Tomlinson, a 2021 Pro Bowler, to a hefty three-year, $40 million contract with the expectation that he would be the team's best offensive lineman in 2022.

The reality couldn't have been further from the truth. Tomlinson finished with a 56.8 PFF grade — the worst of his eight-year career — that ranked 57th out of 78 qualified guards. His dreadful 46.9 run-block grade ranked 71st out of 77 qualifiers.

Tomlinson was one of the worst starting guards in football and arguably the weakest link of a Jets' offensive line that saw six different offensive tackles spend time on the IR in 2022.

Regression was expected given that Tomlinson was no longer playing alongside Trent Williams, but no one could have predicted this. The Jets are likely stuck with Tomlinson for at least one more season, and they better hope he improves in 2023.

We're not talking Trumaine Johnson levels bad here, but it isn't that far off.

1. Zach Wilson, QB, NY Jets

Who else could it have been? Zach Wilson is the primary reason that the Jets' 7-10 season feels more like a disappointment than a step in the right direction.

Wilson's failures and utter implosion in 2022 leave a black mark on what was mostly a positive year for Gang Green. Young players all across the roster proved themselves as franchise cornerstones for the foreseeable future, but while the likes of Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson soared, Wilson floundered.

From his preseason injury to his multiple in-season benches, there was no bigger disappointment on the Jets' roster in 2022 than Wilson. Wilson entered the season as the hopeful future of the franchise and will now be lucky to find himself as a third-stringer in 2023.

Zach Wilson's disappointment not only derailed a promising season for the Jets, but it threatens to derail the immediate future of the organization as well as the current regime. It doesn't get much more disappointing than that.