As the Jets inch closer to the 2019 season, the first big media availability before the NFL draft in April is the NFL’s annual league meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona this week.
Jets CEO and Chairman Christopher Johnson surely will face the brunt of many questions surrounding the Jets as he enters his third season leading the team in owner and brother Woody Johnson’s stead. Between a lavish free agency period, an almost entirely new coaching staff and the future of a team built around franchise quarterback Sam Darnold, there is much for Johnson to evaluate and discuss.
Here are the top four questions he needs to answer this week.
Is this Mike Maccagnan’s last year to prove himself?
Since the Jets hired Mike Maccagnan as their general manager in 2015, the team has yet to make the playoffs and has actually gotten progressively worse. Maccagnan only constructed a team that had a winning record once – his first season in 2015 – yet he was retained after the Jets fired coach Todd Bowles. Johnson said Maccagnan sold him on a blueprint for the team, but will Johnson move on from his GM if the team fails to improve after a horrid 2018 season?
Have the Jets done enough to compete in 2019?
Shortly after the Jets hired Adam Gase as their new coach, he said he thought the team could “improve quickly.” After spending over $200 million in free agency, does Johnson believe the Jets are on the right path? Or will they need more talent or more time to compete in the league? There is obviously still the draft to consider with the Jets holding the third overall pick, but it would be interesting to hear if Johnson believes the Jets are rebuilding for the future or ready to win now.
What is the expectation for Sam Darnold in Year 2?
There shouldn’t have been too much to expect from Sam Darnold in his rookie season, but as he enters his second season the Jets starter, Johnson may hope to see a sizable improvement from an up-and-down first season. Quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes made huge strides in their second seasons, so one would hope Johnson will want to see Darnold take a big step forward, especially with a new offensive-minded head coach in Gase.
How will Adam Gase be judged this season?
Expectations shouldn’t be too high for a team that doesn’t look very different from the one that went 4-11 in 2018, so how will Johnson evaluate Gase’s first season in New York? Wins? The progression of Darnold as a quarterback? Or something else entirely? Gase came to the Jets as an experienced offensive mind with a solid coaching background, but Johnson shouldn’t expect the Jets to suddenly compete for a Super Bowl in 2019.
