Believe it or not, if you're a Jets fan, you have reason to be merry.
Yes, the Jets are 6-10, have been eliminated from the playoffs for the 13th consecutive year, and will play Sunday's final game of the season against the hated Patriots in New England.
Yes, this is the fourth consecutive season with double-digit losses.
Yes, you're right to be angry at head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. Both have been given a vote of confidence by owner Woody Johnson to return next season.
And yes, this year has been full of dark moments, starting with Aaron Rodgers tearing his left Achilles tendon on the fourth play of the season.
But there are players on the current roster who represent the rays of hope for 2024 and beyond, and the hopes that this team will be a championship team again next season.
Starting with Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson, followed by the Williams brothers, Quinnen and Quincey, and if the team re-signs CJ Mosley, Bryce Huff and Tyler Conklin. .
Wilson, the team's second-year receiver, caught 93 passes for 1,103 yards and four touchdowns this season, one year after being named Offensive Rookie of the Year. He has totaled 1,008 yards and 3 touchdowns.
When considering these impressive numbers, consider the following: Wilson did this with quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Mike White, Chris Streveler, Joe Flacco, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian.
Just imagine what these numbers would look like if Aaron Rodgers threw the ball to Wilson. It's really fascinating.
Wilson is the first Jet since Keyshawn Johnson (1998-99) to record 1,000 yards receiving in consecutive seasons, but he's not one of those diva receivers who's all about the numbers. He's fired up to win and he's fired up to help change the Jets' losing culture. When he speaks to reporters after a loss, you can feel his pain after each game and you wish things were better for him.
“I'm confident that my time will come and our time will come,” Wilson said after last Thursday night's loss in Cleveland.
Ditto for Hall, who played in all 16 games as a second-year running back for the Jets after his rookie year was cut short by a torn ACL. He rushed for 816 yards on 186 carries, averaging 4.4 yards per game and scoring four TDs. Hall also had 74 receptions for 579 yards, both of which rank second in Jets history for receptions by a running back, behind Richie Anderson's 88 catches for 853 yards in 2000. There is.
Conklin, who is in his second year with the Jets, has a career-high 605 yards on 59 catches this season after going 58-of-552 with three TDs in 2022. He's been the team's best tight end in recent years. To find this kind of production at this position, you have to go back to 2011, when Dustin Keller had 65 receptions for 815 yards and five TDs.
Defensively, Johnson has been the team's most improved player this season, with 6.5 sacks, 1 interception with a TD return, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 7 passes defensed, and a lost tackle in last week's game against Cleveland. He had 10 quarterback hits and 15 quarterback hits.
Mr Saleh recently described Mr Johnson as “grossly underrated”, and he is right.
Quinnen Williams hasn't had a season like the one he had in 2022, when he had 12 sacks and 28 quarterback hits, making him a millionaire with a new contract worth $96 million, but he still had 3.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, and one interception. He is showing good play with 1 forced fumble. , one fumble recovery, one safety, and nine tackles for loss.
Quincy Williams leads the team with 15 tackles for loss out of 131 total tackles, and has one interception, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
Then there's Mosley, a veteran defensive captain who leads the team with 145 tackles.
This season hasn't been perfect, but the defense, unnecessarily taxed by an anemic offense, still ranks fifth in the league in yards allowed, with nine more takeaways this season than last season. (twenty five). This is also a defensive line, with nine of the 11 starting pitchers under contract for 2024.
A second-year cornerback and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2022, Gardner, like Wilson and Hall, privately believes he is part of the solution to the persistent losing this franchise has endured. I'm capturing it.
“Saleh said last year we have to be a big part of the team,” Gardner said of his draft class, which included Wilson, Hall and Johnson. “We accepted that challenge, put everything on our shoulders, and now we're just trying to find ways to get better.”
They will be even better in 2024. They're going to be even better because of these players, and the fact that they have Rodgers, an NFL-level starting quarterback, behind center.
