I do not believe Saleh is being misleading about getting Zach on the field. I believe he is saying this because JD and our owner have instructed him to showcase a "fixed" Zach to increase his trade value in the offseason – even if we lose out on playoffs. Mike White has shown enough to get him on affordable QB deal – that allows us to field a competitive team next year. JD will find young QB options in the draft again – that we can develop without the hype of Zach Wilson to influence decision-making, and his rich Uncle pressuring our nepotism driven owner Woody. We can finally turn the page – at least for one season – on the QB situation and be comfortable we have serviceable competent commander with our young weapons to complement and take pressure off. Mike White with... RBs - Hall/Carter/Knight WRs - Wilson/Moore/Mims TEs - Uzomah/Conklin/Ruckert Let JD fix the OL and get our LB core upgraded. We'll be a tough team every Sunday next year. This is the plan!
Actually, the real reason is competition. Keep the heat on both players, & let the best man win the job. If Zach is making any progress, I imagine that in the next week, or two, Zach will be upgraded to QB2.
That too – and this could be an ideal scenario. I can see Zach on the roster as the backup with a promising young drafted QB to compete with him in camp. This will take pressure off of Zach and let him develop properly.
I am hoping you are right. I have said Zach is not it since early last year, the kid is too small, doesn’t have the leadership skills or an ability to read a field. If we can get a 3 for him, take it and run. White is very similar to a Hassleback, Gannon, Dilfer type—good enough
Of course it's possible -- although very doubtful -- that we're already eliminated going into week 18, in which case Zach could play. Otherwise, how is Zach going to play? Why would we take a chance on disrupting our offensive chemistry? I just don't see it, barring some late-game garbage time. Which is hardly enough to change a lot of minds around the league.
The idea of putting Zach Wilson in to try to enhance his trade value this season is bonkers which means Woody might just be into it. They’ll lose the locker room and have a lot more trade requests if it comes at a time where they’re still fighting for a playoff birth and Zach shits the bed. This isn’t a bunch of vets with their eyes only on their next/last big contract. These guys are hungry, they want to win, and they love Mike White.
The reason the coach says Zach is going to play is simple. The kid has thin skin. He needs to be reassured or you lose him. Simple
Not only is he physically fragile, he's also mentally fragile so yeah, you have to baby him and stroke what's left of his ego.
Woody isn’t forward thinking enough to try to get ahead with of perceived value. It could simply be a statement to say he’s not as bad as everyone thinks so he could play again.
Considering his performance and his contract, we would be lucky to get a 7 for him, though maybe, if he got a certain number of snaps it could have a higher round contingency. Since, I doubt there will be any Zach takers out there, I see him coming back to camp next summer, and competing for a job be it as the #1, #2, or #3 guy. The key issue here, is that he has to earn whatever he gets forward going and nothing more gets handed to him based upon his past draft status. ideally, Mike continues to play well and is the clear #1 guy, we bring in a solid veteran to compete fairly with Zach for the #2 position. We also need to draft a late round developmental kid unless the staff things Streveler has shown enough to be that guy. I hope CS gets a fair shot to compete and find his level, whatever that might be. I cant get his pre-season performance out of my head and I want to see how real he might be.
I think as a HC Saleh has to keep his guys sharp and ready. All it takes is one bad hit, or a slip and we need Wilson back in. So Coach is playing his cards right. Hopefully there is no injury and at the same time if we need Zach to play, he would be ready bcuz he is putting in effort to get better.
The only way Wilson gets in there is if White gets hurt. Saleh can say he decides week to week, but we all know that White is the starter for the rest of the year. The Jets need to evaluate White to see if he can be "the guy" going forward. What better time to do it then now. It's December and the Jets are in a playoff race so there is pressure to perform well in these important games.
What happens in NY if Saleh tells the media that their #2 overall QB pick gets benched because he isn't playing at the level of an NFL QB? The papers probably already have the backpage and headlines ready to go.... "BIGGEST BUST IN NYJ HISTORY!!!!". All they need is some kind of juicy quote from Saleh to print so they can run with it. Look at the questions the beat writers ask Saleh... they keep asking the same question in different form trying to get him to slip. He knows this. He's gotten so much better with handling the media... He's gets along with them, doesn't get mad at them, tells them nothing, but does it with a smile. And most importantly, he protects his players.
All Saleh has to do is say "Mike White is starting for us next week". That lets the media do what they like to do best anyway which is have an opinion. No steering, no gotchas, nothing that the media could find offensive. 8 words that speak the truth and leave it at that.
I think everyone usually reads too much into what a coach says. They say so much coach bullshit and fans usually read too much into it. He’s obviously not going to put Wilson in a win or go home game at Miami for example, but he’s leaving the door open in case White shits himself two straight weeks.
Also, Saleh is playing the CYA game. Wilson was the #2 overall pick and he was benched after 1.5 seasons for a 5th round backup.
20 years from now when Zack writes his tell-all, he'll point to his benching by the Jets as a low point in his life, and a turning point that allowed him to grow into a Super Bowl winning QB (for which team I have no clue). He'll thank Saleh for making the tough call.
