PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jets owner Woody Johnson said he is encouraged by the direction of his club.
“I feel really good. I feel very optimistic. We’ve had a couple horrible seasons. We won four games last year. We won two games before that, this is not where we obviously want to be,” Johnson said Monday from the NFL owner’s meetings at The Breakers Resort. “And so now we’re addressing that big time. I think you’ve seen what we’ve done in free agency. No trade yet, just an attempted trade that was pretty dynamic and interesting with [Tyreek Hill]. And now we’re on to the draft.”
The Jets finished 4-13 in last season. The Jets have the capital, with four picks in the top-40 of the draft, including two picks in the top-10 (No. 4 and No. 10), to supercharge their rebuild.
“Particularly the draft, we have to hit on it, but we were very conscious of hitting on it,” Johnson said. “Making sure that we have the players that we need, particularly for developing the young quarterback. That’s really mission number one is getting him going and giving him the things that he needs around him.”
With the pairing of Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas, Woody sounded confident the Jets have the right setup to eventually end the longest playoff drought in the NFL (11 years).
But even though Johnson wants the Jets to improve vastly in 2022, he isn’t setting the goal at playoffs or bust for the Jets.
“Yeah, I never look at it that way,” Woody said. “The way I look at every season is I think we’re going to win every game, but putting a marker like that I don’t think helps us achieve that. So needless to say, we want to win games. That’s what it’s all about. Do a lot better than we did last year. We owe the fans that and we owe the players and the coaches, everybody. We’re all working for the same thing.”
One way for the Jets to take the next step towards being playoff contenders is for Zach Wilson to improve.
Wilson struggled through his rookie year, completing under 60% of his passes and tossing less than 10 touchdowns in 13 games.
His struggles weren’t all his fault.
Towards the end of the year, his receiving corp was decimated by injuries. Elijah Moore and Corey Davis missed the last five games of the season and Jamison Crowder missed two of the last three. Wilson didn’t receive much help from the tight end group, either, which combined for under 600 yards receiving.
Wilson did flash impressive arm talent and athleticism, which Johnson made note of.
“We saw the talent. Amazing arm talent, amazing escape ability and all of the athletic things he does on the field,” he said. “If we can keep him protected, and we can give him some weapons, I think the sky’s the limit. ... Keep progressing. That will be a lot on what the team looks like.”
