Gang Green Nation
A calculated risk at quarterback just might pay off for the Jets
On Sunday, reports leaked that the New York Jets had decided to move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers, ending a 24 month period in New York Jets history that feels like it lasted 24 years.
Now the New York Jets are tasked with finding a replacement. Eventually that replacement should take the form of a franchise quarterback, but, while ideal, that isn’t exactly a reasonable ask to accomplish in one offseason. While it could be done, it isn’t exactly likely, which is why lists of Jets quarterback options such as the one released by The Athletic list mediocre players like the below:
Admittedly, these are perfectly fine options. They likely won’t sink the ship in 2025, providing a floor that should approximately resemble competent. However, I’d like to propose a different path. It’s a path that I call “The Brenton Rooker Path”
At this point you may be asking, “Who is Brent Rooker?” That is a completely valid question given that I’m writing this article on a New York Jets blog that likely appeals most to football fans from New York. Brent Rooker is an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Sacramento baseball team who typically is a designated hitter.
What makes Brent Rooker so interesting is his approach to hitting, which runs counter to just about everything that the traditional baseball minds preached about hitting in the past. Rooker’s approach is basically as follows:
And in some ways that approach works. For example, Rooker tied for the 5th most home runs (39) and the 4th most runs batted in (112). In other ways, that approach fails. For example, Rooker swung and missed at pitches at a rate higher than 95% of hitters and struck out at a higher rate than 90% of hitters in in 2024.
Long story short, Rooker’s approach was all or nothing. In a lot of at bats, he failed. But in a lot of other at bats he happened to square the ball up and good things happened.
I think the Jets need to take a similar approach to their QB search. They need to accept that they’re likely to fail and they need to swing for the fences anyway, on the off chance that if they make contact, good things can happen. To me, that means considering a quarterback that comes with a high ceiling and some potential long-term viability that likely is only available because it comes with a floor that could be outright embarrassing or inept.
One such example of that is quarterback Justin Fields...
