It’s not exactly a secret that the New York Jets have struggled offensively. Largely in danger of wasting a championship-caliber defense, the fingers have started to point back at the team’s offensive unit, led by Zach Wilson.
The Jets can barely manage to score, let alone sniff the league average in points per game. The Jets are averaging one offensive touchdown a game, having scored just 8 on the season, as they’ve stumbled to a 4-4 record out of the gate.
There’s a lot of blame to be passed around, even if Wilson has statistically been one of — if not the worst — starting quarterbacks in the league. But Bart Scott, who has risen to prominence as a voice in New York sports media, wants it to be known that the team’s offensive issues are much more than just the 24-year-old out of BYU.
.@BartScott57 talks with @JeaneCoakley about how the issues with the Jets' offense go beyond Zach Wilson: https://t.co/RfYmWDNAD0 pic.twitter.com/wM1ZD5mLSZ
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 10, 2023
“I mean you see that number in front of him? 54 got dog walked back to the quarterback every time,” Scott said during a recent appearance on SNY, in reference to offensive lineman Billy Turner. “I’ve seen more resistance from a wet paper bag. That’s the problem, right? When you have a quarterback that doesn’t process very fast, then you need to be able to hold up to give him time to go through his progressions.
“See this, is the problem. And listen, everybody knows I keep it all the way 100. It’s hard for me to evaluate Zach Wilson when your second receiver (Allen Lazard) doesn’t catch the ball at above a 50 percent clip. When the right tackle (Turner) is being walked back to the quarterback as if he’s not there — like he’s a cone — and then, you talk about guys not getting separation. If I’m defending the New York Jets, I’m just going to stack the box and double Garrett Wilson and say, ‘Let Allen Lazard beat me.'”
Scott said he thinks it’s an admission by the Jets when they decide to try to go out and make a trade for Mike Evans or Davante Adams prior to the trade deadline. Of course, New York’s advances were rebuffed, but the Jets aren’t getting what they need out of Lazard, Randall Cobb, and several others in their wide receivers room.
“When you think about every team that has great receivers, the team that they’re facing this week (the Las Vegas Raiders) — Davante Adams, Jakobi Myers, and Hunter Renfrow,” Scott said. “When you talk about the guy that’s leading the league, or one of the guys that may be able to win the MVP in A.J. Brown, he has Devonta Smith. Tyreek Hill has Jaylen Waddle. And that’s really where they struggle.
“They’re so easy to defend, even when they try to block it up and put two men out on a route, then all they did is because the pressure was coming so fast, you got seven guys looking at two receivers. What is Zach supposed to do? When two guys go deep down they routes, if he throws the ball, how far can he throw it if they’re both on long routes…They got a personnel problem. Sometimes you can’t go with guys in formations. You have to go with the best personnel you got.”
Scott brings an interesting point to the table. At the same time, New York’s personnel at both offensive line and wide receiver will need to perform better if they want to knock off the Raiders on Sunday night.
