Joe Douglas’ failed Jets gamble on aging stars may have sealed his fate

What if we were conscionable incorrect astir nan Jets? 

Everyone is looking astatine nan 2-6 Jets and searching for reasons why a roster that was viewed arsenic 1 of nan champion successful nan NFL is underachieving. But what if they are conscionable not arsenic bully arsenic we thought they were? 

When you look astatine nan Jets roster, nan names jump disconnected nan page. It starts pinch Aaron Rodgers, 1 of nan champion quarterbacks successful NFL history and a four-time MVP. Davante Adams has been to six Pro Bowls. Tyron Smith has been to eight. C.J. Mosley is simply a five-time Pro Bowler. Haason Reddick is simply a two-time Pro Bowler. 

Jets proprietor Woody Johnson called it nan champion squad he’s had successful 25 years pinch nan Jets. 

But this is not imagination football. And it’s not 2019. The Jets look aged … and slow. And erstwhile you look astatine those 5 players aforementioned Pro Bowlers, you cognize why. They’re old. They are each 30 aliases over. 

“We person a talented roster, you know, connected paper, ace talented roster connected paper,” cornerback D.J. Reed said Monday. “But rather honestly, that doesn’t mean anything.” 

Reed is correct. Names connected a expanse of insubstantial do not construe into wins, and nan Jets are conscionable excessively aged astatine excessively galore cardinal spots, peculiarly connected offense. The Jets do person immoderate good, young players — Sauce Gardner, Quincy Williams, Quinnen Williams, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall and Jermaine Johnson, who is retired for nan play — but nan property has infiltrated nan Jets roster. 

Sunday successful Foxborough, the Jets looked for illustration nan aged driver successful nan near lane pinch his move awesome on. They were slow getting retired of nan huddle. They were slow executing plays. They utilized each 3 timeouts successful nan first 4th and had a hold of crippled connected a two-point conversion. 

You tin blasted coaching each you want. Robert Saleh had to go. Now, Jeff Ulbrich stinks, too. They are not blameless here. But this is besides astir players and nan man who assembled this team. 

General head Joe Douglas has escaped his stock of nan blasted this season. For one, he’s invisible during nan play dissimilar nan caput coach who has 4 property conferences a week. Secondly, everyone has fixed Douglas nan use of nan uncertainty because nan communicative has been this is simply a awesome roster that is underachieving for immoderate reason. 

The truth is this is simply a profoundly flawed roster and 8 games has shown that. 

Douglas signed aged players because he missed connected young ones. In galore ways, nan Jets are paying for nan sins of Douglas’ first drafts successful 2020 and 2021 successful nan 2024 season. Douglas swung and missed for illustration postseason Aaron Judge successful those drafts earlier hitting it complete nan obstruction successful 2022. 

Let’s conscionable look astatine nan first 2 rounds, wherever you should deed connected players much than you miss and what has happened since then. 

In 2020, nan Jets took Mekhi Becton successful nan first information to beryllium their near tackle for nan adjacent decade. He was a bust and now they person Smith, who is simply a early Hall of Famer but a existent bad near tackle for nan Jets. In nan 2nd round, they took wide receiver Denzel Mims. Douglas added different receiver successful nan 2nd information successful 2021, selecting Elijah Moore. Mims is retired of nan league. Moore was traded distant aft 2 seasons. That led to signing Allen Lazard, Mike Williams and trading for Adams. The Jets should person 3 bully wide receivers correct now. They utilized 3 premium draught picks connected nan position successful 3 consecutive drafts. Instead, they person Wilson, Rodgers’ aging buddies and a surgery down Williams. 

That gets america to Rodgers, who is only present because Douglas whiffed connected nan biggest determination of his six years successful nan GM chair erstwhile he drafted Zach Wilson astatine No. 2 wide successful 2021. Wilson flopped and nan Jets recognized that midway into his 2nd year. That led to nan Rodgers trade, which was ever a bet but group did not want to spot that bringing successful a 39-year-old backmost disconnected a bad 2022 play mightiness not work. 

It hasn’t … and present we are. 

The Jets and everyone pursuing them are searching for answers why nan Jets are 2-6 and barreling toward different rebuild aft 5 consecutive losses. 

Douglas, who is 29-62 arsenic nan Jets GM, does not person a statement for 2025 and it feels for illustration location is zero chance he will beryllium back. 

Douglas tried to conclusion Father Time pinch this 2024 Jets roster. Like astir everyone other nan Jets person played lately, that was a matchup he could not win.