Even after their disastrous 2023 season in which they saw new squeeze Aaron Rodgers tear his Achilles on their first offensive series of Week 1, the New York Jets are hoping to achieve big things this fall and winter.
Rodgers looks to be recovered from his injury and had no limitations when they started OTAs recently. They already had a talented cast on both sides of the football last season, but they have added a couple of key pieces in wide receiver Mike Williams and offensive tackle Tyron Smith.
At running back, Breece Hall is going into his third NFL season after posting 994 rushing yards in 2023. Behind him, New York’s depth looked scant, and therefore, it signed Tarik Cohen to a one-year contract.
Cohen was once a promising player not too long ago. A fourth-round draft pick in 2017 by the Chicago Bears, he made both the Pro Bowl and All-Pro First Team in his second season.
That year, he had 444 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, and he also caught 71 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns. In addition, Cohen played a decent number of snaps on special teams and contributed 411 yards on 33 punt returns, both of which were league highs.
Unfortunately, in 2020 he tore both his ACL and MCL while also suffering a tibial plateau fracture. It limited him to three games that season, and he hasn’t played since, as he also tore his Achilles in the spring of 2022 as he was looking to be signed as a free agent.
Hall looks to have special potential as well. He caught 76 balls for 591 yards and four touchdowns last year, and perhaps a healthy and productive Rodgers will boost his production a bit more this coming season.
Last offseason, the Jets also brought in four-time Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook to bolster their running back room. However, Cook, who had run for over 1,100 yards in each of the previous four seasons, played very poorly in 2023, and they cut him loose near the end of the regular season.
The Jets have been laughingstocks for the better part of the last five decades. They definitely have the potential to finish first in the AFC East and possibly even compete for a spot in Super Bowl LIX this coming season.
However, it also looks like if things don’t go really well for them, they won’t go well at all. In fact, there seems to be a boom-or-bust vibe surrounding the long-suffering franchise as training camp creeps closer.
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