Getty
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints.
Geno Smith is the QB1 for the New York Jets. That is clear.
What isn’t clear is who will be the QB2 come September. Head coach Aaron Glenn explained that it is a wide-open competition.
“It is an open competition. Obviously, Geno is our [No.] one. Bailey [Zappe] was our [No.] two, but that can change as we go through these practices. That [pecking order] is how we started yesterday,” Glenn said on Thursday, May 28.
It’s on Like Donkey Kong
Zappe is the leader in the clubhouse, and that shouldn’t be surprising.
Zappe, 27, joined the Jets in January. The former Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky product entered the league as the No. 137 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
He is heading into his fifth season at the NFL level. Zappe spent the first two years of his NFL career with the New England Patriots. Over the last two years, he has ping-ponged back and forth between the Cleveland Browns and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Across all of those stops, Zappe has appeared in 15 games and has made nine starts. With those opportunities, Zappe has completed 62.1% of his passes, has thrown for 2,223 passing yards, and has a 12 touchdown to 14 interception ratio.
Zappe is the most experienced quarterback the Jets have on the roster, not named Geno Smith.
The Jets have four quarterbacks on the 91-man roster. Smith is the QB1, which leaves three other quarterbacks to duke it out for the QB2 void.
That group includes Zappe, Brady Cook, and rookie passer Cade Klubnik.
There are 10 total OTA practices, a three-day mandatory minicamp, and a full training camp to decide who deserves to be the QB2 behind Smith.
A Rollercoaster of Emotions
The Jets drafted Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round of April’s draft.
It was the first time the Jets took a tight end in the first round since Dustin Keller got his name called during the 2008 NFL draft. That was an exciting move by the Jets.
This past week, head coach Aaron Glenn started his press conference with a Sadiq injury announcement. The talented pass catcher went under the knife for a sports hernia surgery and would be out for a chunk of time.
Not ideal. You never want to hear any of your players going through surgery, especially a rookie who is just getting their feet wet.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini provided an encouraging update on Sadiq’s recovery timeline on the “Jets Collective” podcast.
“He will be ready for training camp. I’ve been told there is absolutely no doubt he will be ready for training camp,” Cimini explained.
A confusing component for fans is the timing of everything. Glenn revealed during his media availability that they knew about this hernia situation from college. Yet Sadiq didn’t have surgery until recently. What was the holdup?
According to Cimini, “I think the thought originally was maybe he would try to get through the year with it. After rookie minicamp, they just decided lets get it done now.”
Sadiq played with it last season and obviously was able to play through it. However, the Jets thought it would be best to address it now so he’s good moving forward.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
