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Whenever free agency is upon us, and teams are looking for quarterbacks, names are brought up of players with bad film, and you wonder, if the team is truly interested in those players, what are they watching?
Also, at this time of the year, you often see NFL insiders shooting down other insiders’ reports. It’s almost like they are marking their territory. Two insiders went at it at a Starbucks in Indianapolis last week over such a scenario.
These two concepts came together in this tweet from the preeminent Jets insider, Connor Hughes, who is dominating the beat:
“I’d be surprised if the Jets traded up to the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Sources I touched base with in Indianapolis, who met with the Jets at different points, believed a veteran (Justin Fields, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota), Day 2 rookie and Tyrod Taylor were a more likely combination,” Hughes tweeted.
The first part was shooting down ESPN Dan Graziano’s speculation, which went viral, that the Jets and Giants are interested in trading up with Tennessee for the first pick in the draft.
In the second part, he brings up three players who could turn out to be an unmitigated disaster with the Jets, based on what we have seen from them in recent years.
Now, it’s unclear if Hughes is saying that the Jets are looking to add one of those veterans, or he was just filling in the blanks with those names – just listing three free agent quarterbacks.
It’s hard to tell.
But this is really good reporting – finding out what the Jets are telling people in meetings and then bringing it to the people.
That is high-level stuff.
But I’m not going to criticize Hughes or the Jets for those names because we don’t know if they are interested in them.
But let’s talk about those three, nonetheless, because they are three of the guys available.
Fields and Mariota are great athletes who are threats with their legs, but neither is a full-field reader or good at going through progressions or throwing with anticipation, three important factors on the NFL level.
Why would you go from somebody good at all three (Aaron Rodgers) to players who aren’t good at all three?
As for Wentz, he is better at these things than Fields and Mariotta, but you wonder where he is at mentally after going through a meat grinder at the end in Philadelphia and then in Indianapolis and Washington. Maybe spending last season in Kansas City, working with Andy Reid and Matt Nagy, has put him in a better place.
Some would argue that he wasn’t terrible in Indy, but he was sent packing after one year because of his vaccine stance. Who knows, because looking at his numbers that year – Wentz threw for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, and the Colts finished the season 9–8. Is that terrible?
So if Wentz’s head is in a good place, he is a better QB than Fields and Mariota, who are more athletes playing QB than pure pocket passers.
But people who think that the Jets signing players like Fields and Mariotta is a good idea, perhaps you need to watch a little more film.
At his introductory press conference, Aaron Glenn was asked what he was looking for in a QB, and he said, “A winner.”
Fields is 14-30 as an NFL starter. Mariota is 34-40.
Wentz is 47-46-1, which is average, though I would throw out his last loss, when he started for KC in Week 18 against Denver – they clearly tanked the game so Cincinnati wouldn’t get in the playoffs. But even if he was 47-45-1, that is pretty average.
Rodgers’ lifetime record is 153-87-1, so he has been much more of a “winner” on the NFL level than these three candidates.
It will be fascinating to see which direction Glenn goes to find “a winner.”
Perhaps the college ranks.
Hey, I’m not going to judge too harshly right now. Let’s see how the plan plays out and what the results are. The proof will be in the pudding.
March 4, 2025
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