Jets Don't Need A Franchise Quarterback
The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions again, and they proved to the world — and the Jets — that you don’t need a “franchise” quarterback to win.
The term franchise quarterback is used very often when describing some of the best in the league. The problem is that the term is often used to describe a quarterback who carries the franchise and eventually commands a top-dollar and cap-cripling contract.
Sure, there are going to be some quarterbacks out there that will always be like that. The problem is when the media and fans focus so hard on not having one, and organizations build their entire philosophy around having one, they miss the plot.
In this era of pass-first offense, we’ve focused too much on quarterbacks, quarterback wins, and “quarterbacks winning” the Super Bowl. In their three Super Bowl appearance in the last two decades, the Seahawks won with good quarterback play, a great running game, and an elite defense. That’s how the Jets got to back-to-back AFC Championship Games as well.
Despite winning the Super Bowl, Sam Darnold won’t be able to command the top-QB dollars we’ve come to know because his performance, while good, was predicated on having the running game and defense to help him.
Many fans are apprehensive about the Jets signing Malik Willis, because he has a small sample size in Green Bay. Additionally, many fans want the “bridge quarterback” so the Jets can find their “franchise quarterback” in the draft. If a team keeps looking for the “franchise quarterback,” which generally means superstar in today’s NFL, they may never find him.
The Jets have an opportunity to get their long-term answer at quarterback and to stop searching for the “franchise quarterback”. They must go all-out to try and land him.
Build the running game and defense to help him reach his ceiling. It’s not about just the passing game, but the whole team.