When Aaron Rodgers announced that he wanted to play for the New York Jets on March 15, it probably made every Jets fans’ day.

The Jets were coming off a very disappointing end to the season as they didn’t score a touchdown after Week 15 and finished 7-10 after starting out 7-4. Losing AVT, star running back Breece Hall, and forcing Mike White to play with 5 fractured ribs were several reasons why the team struggled. It also didn’t help that Zach Wilson lost all of his confidence during this losing streak and got booed out of MetLife Stadium against the Lions and Jaguars. The Jets haven’t had a very good QB in a while. Sam Darnold was a massive bust as the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft. Geno Smith was atrocious throughout the early 2010’s as another bust. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a solid 2015 season, throwing for 31 TD’s and 15 INT with nearly 4000 yards, but he regressed heavily the next season. You can even go all the way back to Bret Favre, who threw the same number of TD’s as INTs (22) and was in a similar situation as this year’s Jets. So, could Rodgers be able to end this drought and lead us to the playoffs for the first time in 2010? Yeah, they definitely could.

If the Jets had an average quarterback (at best) last year, they definitely could’ve made the postseason. They had a top 5 defense that was anchored by All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams (12 sacks) and All-Pro LB C.J. Mosley (158 tackles). They had a lethal CB duo led by DROY Sauce Gardner and D.J Reed. Before Breece Hall tore his ACL, he was the favorite to win OROY (681 scrimmage yds, 5 TD). Star WR Garrett Wilson won the award as he had 83 receptions for 1103 yds and 4 TD’s while dealing with subpar quarterback play.

Before the Rodgers trade got finalized, I had expectations of a 8-9 win team that can possibly make the playoffs. Now, I see the Jets winning anywhere from 10-12 games and a team that should make the playoffs. They have given Breece Hall lots of time to work his way up to a full workload, as they signed star RB Dalvin Cook from the Vikings in free agency. In addition, they added WRs Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and Randall Cobb to increase their depth at the receiver position. Signing S Adrian Amos can be a solid upgrade over Lamarcus Joyner. Rookie Will McDonald looks outstanding at practice with lots of highlights over the summer. The Jets also hired Nathanial Hackett as their new OC to reunite with Rodgers after firing Mike LaFleur. However, one thing that lots of people are questioning is Aaron Rodgers’ productivity this season.

Lots of people don’t know that Aaron Rodgers played through a fractured thumb on his throwing hand last season. This led to him having meh numbers for his standards (26 TD, 12 INT). When fully healthy, Aaron is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. Between 2020-2021, he threw for over 8,000 yards, 85 TD and 9 INT. If you go all the way back to 2018, his stats are: 16,858 passing yds, 136 TD, 15 INT. Those are crazy numbers that a healthy Rodgers can have! It may take some time for him to build chemistry with the offense, but I believe it is very possible for us Jets fans to have a very good season! It all starts on Monday night against the Bills.