New York Jets Star Player Named Biggest Wild Card of Training Camp

With training camp underway, one New York Jets offensive star player has been named the team's biggest wild card.

Jul 27, 2024; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) participates in drills during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets 2023 season went downhill on their first offensive drive of the season. Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on the team’s fourth offensive play of the season.

That forced Zach Wilson back into the starting role, leading to another season of abysmal quarterback play. It wasn’t all Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian’s fault; the offensive line was arguably the worst in the NFL.

But, they certainly were not the answer under center. The Jets put all of their eggs into the Rodgers basket and it came back to bite them as no contingency plan was put in place.

Heading into training camp this year, Rodgers is healthy, providing New York with plenty of optimism. He is also the team’s wild card in the opinion of Anthony DiBona of Pro Football Network.

“Similar to Burrow with the Bengals, the New York Jets are relying on Aaron Rodgers being healthy in 2024. After missing essentially all of last season due to a torn Achilles, Rodgers is eager to prove he’s still an elite quarterback.

The truth is, though, that Rodgers hasn’t played at an elite level since 2021. If the Jets want to have any chance of reaching the postseason and making significant noise, he’ll have to prove he can be the same quarterback that he was three years ago,” DiBona wrote.

The Jets are taking a little bit of a risk running things back. But, they have a safeguard in place this time around after adding a capable backup quarterback in Tyrod Taylor. Taylor is more than capable of keeping the offense afloat for a period of time should the need arise.

But, if New York is going to have the kind of success they believe capable of, they need Rodgers healthy and in the lineup. Not only that, he needs to be playing at a high level.

As DiBona noted, it has been a few years since Rodgers played at a high level. On top of potentially declining performance, he also has rust to knock off after missing an entire campaign.

The front office has done a great job of upgrading the supporting cast around him this offseason. In the trenches, the offensive line is vastly improved and new weapons have been added at the skill positions.

The last piece to bring it all together is Rodgers. It is anyone’s guess how he will look at 40 coming off an Achilles injury, but that is what makes him such a massive wild card.