As we are all aware, the Green Bay Packers shipped off their best QB / player of the franchise in the last decade and 4 time MVP in Aaron Rodgers, to the New York Jets and there is a lot of stories, from how Rodgers wanted out long before the disastrous 2022 season, where the offense fell off a cliff with WR Davante Adams being shipped off to the, Las Vegas Raiders in that off-season.

I’ll write up on my thoughts on the Packers with Jordan Love for the next article. Raiders are a team I’m going to give some time on to see how things roll with the QB situation, after releasing QB Derek Carr and if the rumors of Adams wanting out, come to fruition.

Onto the Jets prior to trading for QB Aaron Rodgers, they have been an outright mess with not just QB but at almost every single position, and when they did get a great player on their roster, they either get ruined by bad coaching, past their prime, going to other teams by trade, or free agency. or even retiring when they’ve been the best player on that team.

However, in 2022 it was very different for the Jets, where they were reverting back to 2010 or 2009 with how they won games with a strong defense and ground ‘n pound offense led them to a 6-3 start but injuries to key players and sloppy QB play to have them losing 7 of their last 8 games. Hiring Nathaniel Hackett to be their OC was a sign of things to come, as they traded for the veteran QB in Aaron Rodgers from Wisconsin.

Nathaniel Hackett’s coaching career has been up & down prior to working with Aaron Rodgers and Packers HC Matt LaFleur in 2019. 1 AFC Conference Game Appearance in the 2017 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The offense was alright but not a legitimate threat to opposing defenses, and offenses on having no stress on scoring right away.

As for the Packers with Hackett at OC, the team was winning 13 games a season from 2019 to 2021 having a total record of 39-10 in that span (best record in that span) with 2 Conference Game Appearances and 3 Division Titles. In 2022 however, no one was doing well without the other. Nathaniel Hackett was in way over his head in Denver, with being fired after 15 games and Aaron Rodgers had little to no WR targets that were consistently reliable while also having some ugly stats from his MVP seasons.

Now that the two are back together on a new team, it should be easy to say things will go right. Right? Not so fast.

To speak on how they’ll do in New York (really NJ) would give Rodgers better targets to work with, and the OC from his Green Bay Packers years of winning MVP. It’s not that simple…without some issues that need to be discussed.

The Jets in 2023 are going to have a good defense to keep the offense in games if they can repeat their 2022 run of 6-3. However, the offense is as mixed, as a bizarre looking cocktail , that you truly have no clue if it’ll be good or not.

– Aaron Rodgers is currently the best option for the Jets for not just this year ,but during the last 2 decades, but he’s 39 going on 40 in 2023. Some QBs can still be good for a team when they reach that age but nobody is going to be at Tom Brady’s level consistently in his 40s.

He still has an arm to launch the ball, and a decent view of the field but not the same mobility in the last few years. I was watching the Colin Cowherd show a few months ago where his partner, J-Mac, mentioned how Rodgers is converting to being a pocket passer. Which leads me to the next topic.

– The Jets O line is a major mess and have been for years. Their best player on that line is OG Alijah Vera Tucker. Outside of him, you have Left Tackle Duane Brown who’s past his prime, rookie Center in Joe Tippmann from Minnesota, injury riddled Right Tackle Mekhi Becton at RT & a good OG in Laken Tomlinson, but will be conflicting on who plays right guard whether it’s him or Alijah , who both played left guard on their respective teams. There’s also OT Max Mitchell from Louisiana Lafayette entering his 2nd year in the league.

– The AFC East Division is far more tougher from what Rodgers has faced in the NFC North throughout his career. The Bills have been the juggernaut for that division in the last 3 seasons, Dolphins have a lot of emerging players on their roster if Tua stays healthy, at least long enough to see it being a competitive team and while the Patriots have been disappointing, with their offense, their defense has eaten the Jets Offense whole in a huge majority of their matchups since 2016.

– Not really a major concern but more of a question I have on HC Robert Saleh entering his 3rd season with the Jets: Is he a better HC than Matt LaFleur? It’s an unfair question with 1 coach having a HOF QB under center, and a more solid roster vs the other coach who had, to be honest, trash behind center and a rebuilding roster to work with but you have to wonder with both teams on a more equal level, who can construct the better game plan whether it’s in game day decision making, or preparing for their upcoming opponents.

Who’s better? Robert Saleh is more likely to be on the hot seat if he has another disastrous year with Aaron Rodgers under center now.

The same can be said for GM Joe Douglas. The former Eagles VP of Player Personal that won a Super Bowl in the 2017 season, that was hired by the Jets in 2019. While the team hasn’t been that successful, either due to a variety of things from coaches, player development or poor scouting, he’s feeling the fire with these high expectations.

Overall, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jets were good or bad under Rodgers. If Rodgers rebounds by showing the 2022 season was a fluke, and the issues were Green Bay themselves, but if he fails, Green Bay feels lucky, but they would have to hope Jordan Love pans out first. Let us know on Twitter @WeLikeSportzPC what you think.

– Jonathan Misak

*Photo courtesy of Fox News*