Fans Happy To Tank, But Lack Trust In Draft Selection

John wrote a great article yesterday which perfect articulated my feelings around this off-season. On one hand the Jets look to be rebuilding in year three of the current regime, which leads me to believe they have been given assurances that their tenure will extend beyond this season, regardless of the results. On the other hand, there are a couple of moves that don't make a great deal of sense to a team shredding itself of any veteran leadership.

We can talk until we're blue in the face, but I wanted to get fan sentiment in relation to the Jets at the moment. So I posted two polls online. In the first I asked if people would be happy to witness a 1 win season if it meant we secured the first overall selection in the 2018 draft. Here are the results:

With nearly 1,000 votes, that's pretty conclusive. Nearly ³⁄₄ of Jets fans polled were happy to sit through a disastrous 2017 campaign if it meant the Jets secured the first overall selection in 2018. This all comes down to the quarterback, with the 2018 class set to be one of the finest QB classes in recent memory.

I'm always wary of guaranteeing anything in the draft, but I looked at a number of QB's who could potentially be available in 2018, a list headlined by USC product Sam Darnold, who could be a can't miss prospect if his development arc stays on course. After so many years without a QB and abject failure on a regular basis, what's one more year.

Following this question, I asked fans if they had faith that the Jets would make the right decision and the results were very different:

I can't help but think that this is largely related to the selection of Christian Hackenberg. You can say what you like about Jets management, but when something has fallen in their lap, they've not looked a gift horse in the mouth. In 2015 when Leonard WIlliams dropped to the Jets, they picked him straight away. In 2017 when Jamal Adams dropped to the Jets, they picked him straight away.

The concern here is that the Jets would likely take a QB, they'd just select the wrong one. There are a number of QB prospects who could be in contention as first round guys, but after early evaluation, it seems clear to me that Sam Darnold is a cut above the rest, in fact I'd say he is the best QB prospect I've seen since Andrew Luck. So it seems that some envision us getting the first selection, having Darnold there and then taking another QB who ends up busting out like a Ryan Leaf.

Whether you're happy to witness a 1 win season or not, looking at our roster... you may not have much of a choice. So it's a good thing 74% are happy to witness it, as it almost certainly would result in the top selection in the 2018 NFL Draft.