Bailey Zappe’s shaky preseason showing has put the Jets in a bind, but J.J. McCarthy is not the answer.
The New York Jets spent much of the offseason with a pretty straightforward backup plan in mind. Even after drafting Clemson standout Cade Klubnik, the expectation was that Zappe - the former Patriots pick who has bounced around the league - would sit behind Geno Smith and give the team a workable No.
- There was even a little room to wonder whether Zappe could pull off something like a Mac Jones-style rise and strengthen his standing.
That idea took a hit in last Friday’s preseason loss to the Buccaneers. Zappe entered on the Jets’ third drive and went 6-of-10 for 55 yards with two interceptions. He also took two sacks before Bailey Cook came on late in the third quarter.
Still, the answer to that problem is not to go chasing Minnesota Vikings backup J.J. McCarthy.
Jets fans have seen this movie too many times over the past 15 years: the search for an outside quarterback who might be better than what’s already in house. You can trace that habit back to the Tim Tebow trade, and it really surged in the spring of 2014 when the Jets brought in Michael Vick to compete with Smith instead of fully backing him.
There have been moments when that instinct made sense. The Ryan Fitzpatrick and Aaron Rodgers trades are obvious examples, even if neither one ended with a playoff berth. Rodgers, for all his name value, still couldn’t end the Jets’ long stretch without a winning record.
But if the question is whether McCarthy would be an upgrade over Smith, the answer is no. Even the critics of Smith entering this season can’t seriously argue McCarthy is the better quarterback.
Last year showed the former Michigan star still has a lot of growth ahead of him, and the Jets do not have the luxury of waiting on that kind of development. They used a fourth-round pick on Klubnik for a reason.
If Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey want to bring in another veteran, there are better places to look. The Steelers’ Mason Rudolph and the Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell make more sense as names to call about right now. Some might want the Jets to chase the Titans’ Will Levis, but that idea runs into the fact that Robert Saleh is now coaching in Tennessee.
Even beyond that, the Jets should be thinking along the lines of Rudolph, Tyson Bagent, or Case Keenum, if the Bears would even be willing to move either one. As of now, there’s no sign that any of those three will be traded before Week 1.
So yes, McCarthy might be available. That still doesn’t mean he belongs in the Jets’ plans.
If you want him in green and white, the suggestion is to fire up Madden, deal for him there, and let the game engine handle the rest. In that version, he can throw toward Garrett Wilson, miss badly, and get picked off before leaving injured.
As the line goes, “it’s in the game.” And with McCarthy, a classic drive comes with the territory.
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For Zappe, the margin for error was especially slim after a rough outing that included turnovers and very little forward progress. Smiths night also turned sharply after a mistake helped swing possession the other way, and he faded from the passing game after that. Moore, meanwhile, did not see much of the field, which can be telling in August when every snap is part of the conversation about where a player sits on the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]