The New York Jets will almost certainly be a disaster this season, and it all starts with their mess of a quarterback situation. Earlier in the week, Jets head coach Todd Bowles called it an “open competition” between Josh McCown, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg. All signs point to the veteran journeyman McCown winning the job (he of the 72.9 quarterback rating in 2016), simply because the other options are so, so bad.
The Jets gave Hackenberg the Week 3 preseason start over Petty, and for the second consecutive week, Hackenberg was laughably horrible. The 2016 second-round pick out of Penn State completed 8-of-15 passes for 60 yards and threw two pick-sixes on Saturday night against the Gaints.
The first pick-six was particularly bad, as this throw is simple for an NFL defensive back to read and break on:
The second one wasn’t quite as bad and Hackenberg’s wide receiver didn’t help the cause, but when you throw passes like this into traffic, the interceptions are frequently going to happen.
Hackenberg is still just 22, but there seems to be no progress made — his wildly inaccurate throws were even hitting reporters in OTAs — and the draft pick was largely questioned to begin with. Even for a franchise better off tanking and with nothing to play for this season, it may be time for the Jets to consider giving up on Hackenberg.
