Far More Than Rodgers

They say that perception is everything. We live in a country, and a world, where perception clouds reality far more often than it should and for the New York Jets, and their fans, it's important to not allow ownership to allow perception to mask reality. The New York Jets season is over, but this is not only because Aaron Rodgers is not under center.

When a star athlete goes down, especially early in the season, the spin by the team after the year goes into a downward spiral is often leaning on the built in excuse of "what if". The Jets have been playing the "what if" game all season long already, but Jets fans have to hold them accountable. Yes, Aaron Rodgers getting injured derailed what was supposed to be a monumental season for Gang Green, but there were many more issues after that that should be placed firmly on upper management, and the coaches' decisions.

Rodgers' inability to be under center should have immediately forced the organization to upgrade the QB position. There were options outside of carrying Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle on the roster in September. There were even more options at the trade deadline, when it was clear that Wilson was not the answer. Josh Dobbs was traded from Arizona to Minnesota and after Kirk Cousins went down, the Vikings regrouped and look like a playoff team. Dobbs was taken by Minnesota in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. That's peanuts in this league. The Jets were nowhere to be found. That trade showed the fan base New York was not a serious franchise as they then turned to Tim Boyle to propel them to the playoffs.

This team also has massive offensive line issues that were not addressed, they brought in an inept offensive coordinator to appease Rodgers and his hand-picked wide receivers have looked awful. This team was built around one man, and that man played four snaps this season.

New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rogers @NFLNotify | Twitter

That is franchise malpractice. Even if you can accept the fact that a superstar like Rodgers might need some concessions in the roster development, that should not have stopped them from tweaking and rearranging things once he went down. The Jets will tell you and spin the story that if Aaron had never gotten hurt this could have been a special year, however if you watched this team play you can see the Jets were never a playoff team, no matter who would have been under center. Jets fans can not allow the narrative of 'Rodgers could have fixed everything' to be the offseason calling card or nothing will change. The Jets are broken, and the healing of a 40-year-old quarterback's leg isn't the reason.