WITH HACK PICK
of overmatched QB he was drafted in second round
going there,’” a team insider told the Daily News.
It made perfect sense, after all. O’Brien had gotten the best out of the true freshman quarterback at Penn State three years earlier. Surely, he had jumped the signal caller-starved Jets to reunite with Hackenberg.
But the Texans drafted Notre Dame center Nick Martin. Hackenberg was still on the board, but there were fair concerns from people within the Jets organization about taking him so early.
Some thought it made little sense given that the quarterback would have almost certainly been available one, two or maybe even three rounds later.
It was Maccagnan’s show, of course, and there was a belief on One Jets Drive that the Texans’ trade had shaken him. One year after taking a flier on fourth-round project Bryce Petty, the general manager saw promise in Hackenberg.
The general manager was so enamored by Hackenberg’s physical traits and football IQ stemming from an impressive personal workout/meeting at Happy Valley that waiting was no longer an option for him.
The Jets wouldn’t pick again until the 83rd selection (20th pick of the third round). Although some people on One Jets Drive wanted to wait, the man in the big chair did not. The Texans’ trade placed enough doubt in Maccagnan’s mind that he would lose out on Hackenberg if he waited another round, according to team insiders.
“When the Texans traded up …” one team insider said. “I don’t want to say it spooked him, but it made him want to go ahead and take Hackenberg.” So, he did. It’s fair to wonder about the wisdom of a move that has yielded no tangible returns.
Hackenberg has become an easy target after a pair of lackluster preseason starts cost him a chance at winning the starting job officially claimed by Josh McCown on Monday. He’s been the most scrutinized player on the most talent-deficient team in the league, fodder for those ready to toss him on the trash heap before he’s ever played in a regular-season game.
The criticism has been ratcheted up primarily because of something Hackenberg had no control over: When he was drafted. Would there have been the same outrage over Hackenberg’s underwhelming preseason (65.1 rating, two pick sixes and only three points on 13 drives with the starters) if he were a fourth-round pick? Of course not.
Project quarterbacks typically get the benefit of the doubt … unless their general managers overdraft them. The reality is that second-rounders, regardless of position, are expected to be immediate contributors in this profession.
Maccagnan inherited an awful roster (see: John Idzik’s ghastly 12-man 2014 draft class), so he couldn’t afford whiffing on a secondround pick.
The NFL landscape is littered with recent second-round quarterbacks who never made it (Jimmy Clausen, Geno Smith, Brock Osweiler et al). It’s not a fireable offense for a GM, but it certainly hasn’t aided the prime objective to rebuild this roster through the draft.
It’s unfair to lampoon Hackenberg, because the truth is that he should have been a third, fourth or perhaps even fifth-round pick. It’s not unfair to question Maccagnan’s decision to take him so soon.
There’s no doubt that Hackenberg has made important improvements in the past year and a half, but the rate of development isn’t nearly fast enough given the big picture for this franchise. “It’s baby steps,” Hackenberg said. “I’m not saying that’s a total 180… but I feel like just having that experience (is important).”
“He continues to get better,” quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates said. “As a young quarterback in the NFL, I don’t think you just sign a contract and automatically become Peyton Manning. There’s going to be bumps in the road. There’s going to be ups and downs. The great ones have to come back and watch tape and learn from both the positive and negative experiences and grow from that.”
Hackenberg has a commendable work ethic. He’s handled himself like an adult when it would have been easy to lash out in the face of all this chaos.
Although Todd Bowles maintained that “I have faith that he’s getting better,” the secondyear quarterback has a definite deadline to meet.
If Hackenberg doesn’t sufficiently impress team decision makers by the end of the calendar year, it’s over. The organization will draft Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or Josh Allen to be the next quarterback hope.
“He’s 22 years old,” Bowles said of Hackenberg. “He has time to grow.”
Time is running out thanks to heightened expectations stemming from his draft position. Hackenberg’s inability to beat out a 38-year-old journeyman in a summer-long competition is an indictment on the man who drafted him more than anything else.