New York Jets Have Elite Quarterback Depth Behind Aaron Rodgers

The New York Jets made sure to shore up their quarterback depth chart this offseason.

Jul 27, 2024; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (2) walk across the field with teammates during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

One of the reasons that the New York Jets have failed to find consistent success on the field in is their lack of production at quarterback.

They have used top picks on Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson in recent drafts and neither panned out. Looking to change their fortunes, they acquired Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers during the 2023 offseason.

The future Hall of Famer was expected to make all of their problems go away offensively. Unfortunately, the team didn’t plan for one thing; an injury to their new quarterback.

When Rodgers injured his Achilles on the fourth offensive snap of the season, there was no contingency plan in place. They turned back to Wilson and quickly realized their other options, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian were worse.

There is almost always going to be a drop-off in production turning things over to a backup, but the Jets’ 2023 season was torpedoed because of their lack of contingency plan outside of Rodgers. All the eggs were put into one basket and broke when he was injured.

Looking to ensure that didn’t happen again this year, New York was aggressive in free agency. They signed Tyrod Taylor away from the New York Giants after he started several games for their MetLife Stadium co-tenants in 2023.

The veteran has some injury concerns of his own, but the coaching staff can be confident should he have to step into the lineup that he can keep the team afloat with competent play under center.

As we learned in recent seasons, having a good backup is as important as having a good starter. The Jets now have one of the best, as Taylor was ranked as the No. 6 backup quarterback in the league by Seth Walder of ESPN.

“In response to their backup quarterback fiasco in 2023 -- when they relied on Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle to start after Aaron Rodgers' season-ending Achilles injury -- the Jets signed Taylor, one of the top free agent backups. We have recent evidence of capable backup play, as he recorded a 52.3 QBR with the Giants in five starts in 2023, albeit with a minus-4.2% completion percentage over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Taylor carries risk at 35 years old, but New York should feel pretty good about handing him the ball if Rodgers needs to sit out a game or two,” Walder wrote.

Jameis Winston of the Cleveland Browns, Jake Browning of the Cincinnati Bengals and Russell Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, are the only non-rookies ahead of Taylor on the list.

Coming in at No. 1 is Drake Maye of the New England Patriots and just ahead of him at No. 5 is Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons. They were selected No. 3 and No. 8 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

If anything were to happen to Rodgers again, New York would remain a competitive team. They can rely on a stout defense to carry the load, but it wouldn’t be as detrimental when they slipped up as it was in 2023.

Without a perfect defensive performance, the Jets had little chance of winning games with an offense led by Wilson, Boyle or Siemian.