Analyzing the 2023 Jets season, plus biggest offseason storylines

It’s hard to remember another Jets season that began with such hype -- even the years Rex Ryan roamed the sidelines. Hard Knocks, Aaron Rodgers’ arrival, the embracing of Super Bowl talk. 

Seriously -- the Jets weren’t looking to snap their 12-year playoff drought in 2022. As Rodgers said at his introductory news conference, their one Lombardi Trophy was "looking a little lonely."

Then, four plays into the season, it all ended as Rodgers looked to the sideline, shook his head, then sat on the turf of MetLife Stadium.

The Jets did not make a Super Bowl run this year. They instead missed the playoffs for a 13th-straight year. They experienced more quarterbacking issues with Zach Wilson, their offensive line broke down, they were undisciplined, they were (at times) unprepared and they were oft-injured. It was a disaster of a year.

Other than that, though, Mrs. Lincoln said, the play was lovely.

Here’s the Jets’ season in review.

What went right

Their good players are still very good. Receiver Garrett Wilson (95 receptions for 1,042 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games) and running back Breece Hall (223 carries for 994 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games) deserve immense praise for what they accomplished playing without a quarterback. 

Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (56 tackles, 5 1/2 sacks and one interception in 17 games) and corner Sauce Gardner (86.7 PFF grade) earned back-to-back Pro Bowl invitations. Tight end Tyler Conklin had a career year, setting new personal bests in receptions (61) and yards (621).

Maybe the best development, though, was linebacker Quincy Williams. He earned Team MVP honors and likely should have joined his brother, Quinnen, in the Pro Bowl. Williams finished with 95 tackles in 17 games and a Pro Football Focus grade of 80.9. Williams’ development is pretty incredible. The Jets claimed him off the waiver wire in 2021 when the Jaguars cut him. He’s now undeniably one of the game’s best linebackers.

On a side note: New York’s linebackers coach (Mike Rutenberg) doesn’t get enough credit for the job he’s done with that group. Williams is the perfect example, but he also turned Jamien Sherwood -- a college safety -- into a starting NFL linebacker, and has CJ Mosley playing the best ball of his career (137 tackles in 17 games, personal-best 80.8 PFF grade).

What went wrong

The offseason. Expected to read Rodgers’ injury, right? Wrong. That was a major part of New York’s downfall, but this NFL season has seen quarterback after quarterback go down. The Jets’ issues extend well beyond Rodgers’ Achilles, and they all trace back to the offseason.

The Jets entered this year with a 39-year-old quarterback and absolutely no plan behind him. They went and hired an offensive coordinator who was a disaster in Denver and then acted surprised when he struggled the same for them without his star passer. They passed on adding a receiver in the first round of the draft (Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison and Jaxon Smith-Njigba) to take a defensive end who plays five-to-10 snaps a game, then complained they didn’t have anyone opposite Garrett Wilson. 

They spent poorly on wideouts like Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman, and the contract restructures of defensive end Carl Lawson and safety Jordan Whitehead. They entered the year with Duane Brown, who barely practiced during summer, as their only option at left tackle, then watched as his body broke down (as expected).

The Jets absolutely would have been a better team with Rodgers. They’re likely in the playoffs with him because of some of the weaker games on their schedule he assuredly flips. However, his injury exposed just how flawed the construct of this team is. They were never a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

The offseason storylines

1. Can Joe Douglas fix the offensive line?

The Jets named Douglas their general manager shortly after the 2019 draft. It wasn’t long before he stressed the need to build the Jets from the inside out -- meaning their offensive and defensive lines. He’s still working on the former, as the majority of his signings and draft picks haven’t worked out for myriad reasons.

The Jets now enter this offseason needing to find a new left tackle (Brown won’t be back), right tackle (Mekhi Becton won’t be back), a player they can trust to start at right guard (Alijah Vera-Tucker is coming off an Achilles tear) and potentially a left guard (Laken Tomlinson struggled mightily again this season with a 53.2 PFF grade).

That’s no small task. You’re essentially asking Douglas to do in a few months what he hasn’t in five years.

2. Will there be a shakeup on the offensive staff?

You can blame Rodgers, the line and a lack of weapons outside Hall and Wilson, but the Jets aren’t the first team to have those issues. It should not give them a free pass for how bad this offense was in 2023. The Jets finished this season averaging 268.6 yards and 15.8 points per game. They had a league-worst DVOA of negative 30.5 percent.

Those numbers are not only worse than the production that cost Mike LaFleur his job in 2022 (318.2 yards, 17.4 points, negative-13.9 percent), but also Adam Gase’s final season in 2020 (279.9 yards, 15.2 points, negative-20.4 percent). Remember: Saleh called the roster Gase played with "expansion" level.

It’s hard to justify bringing that entire group back. It’s unclear if Saleh will or won’t make changes. He doesn’t appear inclined to.

3. Keep the checkbook open

The salary cap can be manipulated however a team wants. The key is having an owner willing to write the checks to get players here (signing bonus). That money is due to a player the moment he puts pen to paper. Some owners spend frivolously. Others are much more cautious. Woody Johnson must continue to give Douglas the resources he needs to round out the roster this offseason, and Douglas must be as aggressive as he’s ever been in free agency and trade market.

Some hesitation from Johnson might be warranted. The Jets spent quite a bit the last two offseasons with very little return. The moment the Jets committed to Rodgers, though, and Rodgers to them for the next two seasons (at least), penny-pinching was not an option. The Jets have a win-now window and must do whatever it takes to win now. That means spending and, in some cases, buying what they need.

Salary cap outlook

The Jets are projected to have $15.98 million in cap space this offseason, according to OverTheCap, assuming a team cap of $242 million. They can create more space by restructuring Mosley’s deal ($21.47 million cap hit) and the eventual trade of Zach Wilson ($5.4 million saved). Defensive end John Franklin-Myers ($7.3 million free) and tight end C.J. Uzomah ($5.3 million) are potential cap casualties.

Where they’re picking

The Jets finished the season 7-10 and are slated to pick 10th in the first round of the NFL Draft.

It will be a successful offseason if …

The Jets can fix their offensive line. That really is the root of the majority of their issues. Their running game looks better if the guys up front play better. The quarterback looks better if he has more time to throw. The wideouts look better if they have more time to get open.

It all starts up front, as Douglas alluded to at his introductory press conference in 2019. They key is actually doing it -- no small undertaking.