While typically overlooked by some people, one of the most important positions on a football roster is the backup quarterback position. We’ve seen teams get derailed because their starter went down with an injury and the backup could not keep the ship afloat.
Ask Jets head coach Robert Saleh and he’ll tell you he feels very good about his backup quarterback. In fact, he’ll tell you he should be a starter in the league.
Of course, the backup to starter Zach Wilson is Super Bowl XLVII champion Joe Flacco, who is in his second stint and third season overall with the Jets.
“He should be, in my opinion, he could start in this league. I believe that,” Saleh told reporters Wednesday. “Joe Flacco is a starting quarterback in this league. He’s really, really talented.”
Flacco started one game in 2021, going 24/39 for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-17 loss in Week 11 to the Miami Dolphins.
In total, he has started five games for the Jets, going 96/171 for 1,139 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
Despite some of the thoughts among football heads across the landscape, the Jets do have one of the better backups in the league, something quite a few teams can’t really feel too comfortable saying themselves. Flacco still has the size, but certainly his arm strength has gone down, which is to be expected for a quarterback that is 37 years old (unless you’re Tom Brady or Drew Brees).
Still, the veteran presence and smarts at least gives the Jets’ coaching staff some confidence should anything happen to Wilson, though they’d obviously prefer that not to happen.
#Jets head coach Robert Saleh on Joe Cool:
"He should be, in my opinion, he could start in this league. I believe that. … Joe Flacco is a starting quarterback in this league. He's really, really talented." pic.twitter.com/96p62iybcK
— Bobby Trosset (@bobbytrosset) August 3, 2022
