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Jets should be worried about Christian Hackenberg

Matt Verderame News NFL

Joe Namath could come back in his prime for the New York Jets, and it wouldn’t matter this season. New York is going to be one of, if not the worst, teams in the NFL this year, and somewhat by design.

After suffering through a miserable 2016 campaign, general manager Mike Maccagnan decided to blow up the roster. In a torrent of moves, Maccagnan oversaw a roster purge of Nick Mangold, Brandon Marshall, Ryan Clady, Darrelle Revis and most recently, Eric Decker and David Harris. While all of those moves both save money and help the Jets secure the top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, it makes the upcoming slate utterly unwatchable.

However, that could change (the unwatchable part, not the losses) with some hope at quarterback. Many in the draft pundit world believed the Jets were going to take a quarterback in the first round, whether it be Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. Instead, New York used its first two choices on safeties, giving avote of confidence for Christian Hackenberg, the 2016 second-round pick from Penn State.

With only Bryce Petty and the aging Josh McCown to beat out, one would think Hackenberg has a pretty good chance of seeing ample playing time. After all, a second-round pick is legitimate draft capital and the Jets have to do something to get fans in the seats when they are playing out the string at 2-12.

Then again, there was this report from Connor Hughes on NJ.com about Hackenberg thus far at OTAs:

When Hackenberg misses… he really misses. He threw just two interceptions in team drills, but nearly tossed six others. And I’m not talking about a receiver falling down. I’m saying the defender just dropped the ball.

Other times, the wideout/running back/tight end was wide open, and Hackenberg sailed it over his head or bounced it to him. That can’t happen. In the three media-open OTAs, Hackenberg hit reporters with passes twice.

This is beyond alarming. Hughes did say that Hackenberg looks improved, but still like a raw work in progress who misses easy throws against air. In reality, it sounds like the former Nittany Lions star is looking more bust than boom.

Perhaps Maccagnan was not showing confidence in Hackenberg by passing up quarterbacks in the draft, but rather sees a slew of potential franchise players at the position next year. Most believe that Josh Allen, Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen are going to be top-10 picks, perhaps along with the annual riser up the board. If that’s the case, the Jets can trot Hackenberg out in meaningless games without a care. If he’s great, fantastic. If he’s awful, better chance at the top pick.

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