A call to arms
Jets the perfect reminder that it’s not easy to find a franchise quarterback
FOXBOROUGH — It’s not often — maybe never — that the Patriots look to the Jets for guidance or information.
Why would they? A side-by-side comparison of the franchises couldn’t be more laughable, the six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots towering over the division rival Jets, whose only title came all the way back in January 1969. When they take the field in Sunday’s regular-season finale, the Patriots are looking for a 16th straight win. That’s as lopsided as a division rivalry can get.
But in analyzing the primary reason for the Jets’ ongoing futility — the absence of stability at quarterback that goes all the way back to Broadway Joe Namath’s miracle — the Patriots are reminded of an important lesson.
Finding a franchise quarterback is hard. Really hard.
No matter where you pick in the draft, nothing is guaranteed.
No manner of high draft pick, high-profile trade, or veteran free agent signing is guaranteed to solve a team’s quarterback conundrum. The Jets, from Namath right up through this season’s Aaron Rodgers injury debacle, have done more than any franchise in the NFL to prove it. And where the Jets really serve to remind the Patriots just how unpredictable the search for a quarterback can be is in the draft. Twice in the past six years and three times since 2009, the Jets used a top-five pick on a quarterback. Three strikes later, they’re still out.
Out of the playoffs, out millions of dollars in wasted contracts, and out of answers. So even as Patriots Nation clings to a potential high draft pick as the only good reward of this dreadful four-win (so far) season, pumped by the idea of drafting Drake Maye or Caleb Williams or Jayden Daniels or Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix, or anyone not named Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe, warning bells flash, and they’re colored green and white.
Take the Jets’ most recent mistake, when they hung their hopes on Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021. Twelve career wins later, with more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23), Wilson resides on the bench, all but certain to have played his last game in New York.
Wilson was supposed to make up for the error of Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018. After seeing ghosts against the Patriots, Darnold lost his job, is now a backup in San Francisco, and is stepping in to start for the 49ers Sunday as insurance against injury to Brock Purdy. But it’s Purdy’s team, and he’s the one leading the NFC’s top-seeded 49ers when they begin their playoff journey.
And then there’s fellow USC product Mark Sanchez, whom New York made the No. 5 overall pick in 2009. With some early success, including AFC Championship game appearances in his first two seasons, Sanchez was exposed and flamed out, ultimately living the journeyman life along stops in Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, and Washington. He’s been retired since 2018 and is well into a successful broadcasting career.
Depending on this weekend’s results, the Patriots could end up anywhere from the No. 2 overall pick to No. 7. Lose to the Jets and they’ll likely get the second or third pick, and have a shot at those top-rated QB choices. But remember, Bill Belichick has coached this team to 15 straight wins over the hapless and hated Jets, and with his own future undetermined and no certainty whether he will even be here to make that draft pick, he’s all-in on winning, with the draft pick pieces left to fall however they will.
Belichick surely thought he had solved his post-Tom Brady problem when he took Jones 15th overall in 2021. When Jones eclipsed one-year veteran signee Cam Newton in training camp and was named the starter for the regular season, the torch had seemingly been passed from the Brady era.
We all know how that worked out. Belichick has proven his QB scouting mettle across the years, from the audacious discovery of Brady with the 199th pick of the 2000 draft to the many backups he supplied to the league since — players such as Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett, Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer, and Matt Cassel. Brady’s ridiculous success made all of them expendable, which was just fine as he was busy building two separate dynasties, six Super Bowls in total that separated the Patriots from the rest of the pack.
But it’s New England’s turn to remember how the other half lives, looking for stability at the most important position of all. When the Patriots take the field Sunday, the object lesson in QB futility will be looking back at them. Trevor Siemian is set to start for New York, the team’s fourth starter this season, from Rodgers in the season opener (when he tore his Achilles’) to Wilson to Tim
Boyle.
The QB carousel has long been spinning in New York. Before Sanchez it was Brett Favre and Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens.
Since Sanchez it’s been Greg McElroy and Geno Smith and Michael Vick and Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bryce Petty and Josh McCown and Darnold and Luke Falk and Siemian and Joe Flacco and Wilson and Mike White.
So many quarterbacks, so little success. And one sobering reminder: There are no guarantees, no matter where you pick in the draft.