Jets fans saw it every time rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner and rookie receiver Garrett Wilson took the field in their first season. The perfect coverage on deep balls, and the lock-down defense from Gardner. The ridiculous moves, speed and explosive plays from Wilson.
The Jets’ top two picks in last year’s draft were two of the biggest reasons this team found itself in a prime position to snag a playoff spot when the calendar flipped to December.
But if there was any thought that Gardner and Wilson’s impact had been overstated — which would have been understandable, because it has been more than a decade since the Jets had this kind of young talent on their roster — there should be none after both Gardner and Wilson received more national recognition for their remarkable seasons this week.
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The Pro Football Writers of America named Gardner its 2022 Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year, while Wilson was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Gardner, the No. 4 pick in April’s NFL Draft, and Wilson, the 10th pick, earned the votes of football writers from across the country to give the Jets a clean sweep of the PFWA’s top rookie honors.
And it’s likely just a sign of things to come next month when the most prestigious rookie awards — the AP Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year — is announced just days before the Super Bowl at the NFL Honors awards show.
It’s confirmation that despite their late-season collapse, when they lost the final six games to finish 7-10 and miss the playoffs for a franchise-record 12th straight season, the Jets are headed in the right direction. Their roster right now is far better than it was a year ago.
But as Gardner and Wilson are honored for their remarkable rookie seasons, it’s also a reminder of how much is on the line this offseason for general manager Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh.
They have to get this right. And not just for their own job security, but because of what it will mean for the future of this franchise and its young stars.
The final month-plus of the season proved that the Jets weren’t ready to be a playoff contender just yet, and there was plenty of blame to go around.
Douglas’ roster wasn’t good or deep enough at important positions (like quarterback and on the offensive line) to withstand key injuries — even though the Jets were one of the healthiest teams in the NFL compared to the rest of the league last year.
Saleh and his mostly young coaching staff weren’t good enough in the final weeks of the season, when they were smoked by the Jaguars and Seahawks in their final two games of the season.
And several key players didn’t come close to pulling their weight when it mattered most, including, of course, quarterback Zach Wilson.
But as tough as the end of the season was, for two-plus months before that the Jets proved that they were close.
They have a defense that should have most of its key players back and looks capable of being one of the best in the league with some coverage help at linebacker and safety in 2023. They have multiple, young explosive weapons on offense for the first time since the turn of the century.
And we all saw the impact that Gardner and Garrett Wilson have already made.
All of that young talent makes it easy to say that the future is unquestionably bright. But the window will close awfully quickly if the Jets don’t get it right this offseason.
Douglas is already going to have a potentially tricky salary cap situation with a big extension for Quinnen Williams looming and the Jets’ unenviable quarterback situation: they must add a veteran quarterback, which is likely to cost them $20 million at the very least because they can’t pin all their hopes on struggling 2021 No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson, who is still likely to be on the roster next year counting $9.6 million against the cap.
If the Jets add the right pieces on defense, quarterback, and the offensive line, it’s easy to see them as a legit contender as soon as a year from now. They have that kind of talent and upside on both sides of the ball.
But if they get it wrong, the window would suddenly become a lot smaller and the future murkier — especially if Garrett Wilson and Gardner are heading into their third seasons, after which they’ll be eligible for an extension, with a new coach and GM.
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Give Saleh and Douglas credit for putting the Jets in a better position than they’ve been in a long time. That’s why they both deserve a chance to see this through, despite the way the season ended.
But as the accolades roll in for Gardner and Wilson, who deserve every bit of it, don’t get lulled into thinking a long window of contention is guaranteed. It should be another reminder that Saleh and Douglas have to get this right, right now.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at avasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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