The New York Jets have a playoff drought that just seems to be growing and growing.
Bleacher Report thinks that trend will continue… at least for one more year.
B/R broke down the NFL’s playoff longest droughts. The Jets are squarely in that discussion, holding a league-high 11 season departure from the postseason.
While B/R does not predict the 2022 postseason for New York, the ensuing year isn’t off the table in their mind. Naturally, tons of that has to do with the man under center in quarterback Zach Wilson.
Here’s B/R’s lookahead at the Jets’ postseason possibilities as the outlet “sells” the idea of Gang Green cracking the playoffs for now:
Will the Jets get back into the playoff picture in 2022? We aren’t buying it just yet.
They still have a young roster that is relying on key players on their rookie contracts, including three first-round picks in 2022 and second-year quarterback Zach Wilson. Head coach Robert Saleh also needs to show progress in his second season.
The bar is particularly high in the AFC and AFC East. Having the Super Bowl favorite Buffalo Bills within the division is a major roadblock, and the New England Patriots are no pushover as long as Bill Belichick is on the sidelines. The Jets aren’t even the best young team in the AFC East right now, as the Miami Dolphins have more playmakers on both sides of the ball.
The Jets have yet to reach the “winning” part of their rebuilding process. Their next logical step is to become an annoyingly feisty team to play as their youth develops.
They’ll have higher expectations and the possibility of a playoff appearance in 2023 if Wilson becomes at least a league-average quarterback between now and then.
By some accounts, the Jets have had a successful 2022 offseason. But winning during the spring and summer doesn’t translate into victories on the field.
Especially in the NFL, it takes time.
If Wilson and other younger options on the team, such as first-round rookies Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson can take steps this year, it would make 2023 look a lot more likely.
New York head coach Robert Saleh has said it himself all offseason that last year’s rookies already look a lot better and more prepared. Giving the even newer faces another year to develop might pay off in a big way.
But B/R isn’t selling everyone. If you’re looking for teams that could blaze the postseason trail for the Jets in 2022, B/R thinks these clubs could be ending their playoff droughts next season:
- Broncos (6 years)
- Dolphins (5 years)
