The Jets main problem is that they assembled a team of great players who have no chemistry and expected them to be great right away. That isn’t how football works. Continuity is so important and guys need to play together for years and build a connection for a team to truly thrive.
The Jets basically did the college equivalent of the Colorado Buffaloes by bringing in a a lot of talented guys from the transfer portal and expecting to succeed right away. It reminds me of when the Pats lost Brady in the 2020 offseason and spent a record amount of guaranteed money for free agents and brought in Cam Newton to be their QB. They ended the season with 7 wins.
The Jets will likely be better by season’s end. But for right now, they are still learning how to play with each other. Aaron Rodgers, Tyron Smith, Mike Williams, and now Davante Adams are all talented players at important positions. However, you can’t just expect to bring them in and mesh with the team, organization, and city right away. It’s even harder when the Jets don’t have any established stars that have been there for a while or a strong, winning culture – which makes it easier for guys to adapt to.
To their credit, the Jets have drafted and developed a lot of talented young stars like Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, and Alijah Vera-Tucker. They also have signed and acclimated good free agents in C.J Mosley and Quincy Williams. They need to be patient with letting the younger guys that have been here for a little bit mesh with the star veterans they have brought in. Firing Robert Saleh only hurts their growth because now they also need to combine a new coach with all of these other players.
I am no fan of the Jets, but fans should not panic yet. Brady and Stafford had slow starts in their first season with the Bucs and Rams, respectively. This basically is Rodger’s first year with the Jets. This team should end up having a much better 2nd half of the season than 1st.
