Former Jets head coach Herm Edwards had one thing to say when asked about the future of the team he used to run.
“If you got a quarterback, you have a chance,” he told the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden. “It all starts with the quarterback, once you get that piece in place, you can build the rest of the team.”
The Jets hope they have that guy in Zach Wilson, especially after faltering with other first-round picks like Sam Darnold and Mark Sanchez. New York hasn’t had a stable quarterback situation since, well, Edwards’ coaching days. He had veteran Vinny Testaverde for his first season in 2001 and then elevated 2000 first-rounder Chad Pennington to starter by Week 5 the following season.
The consistent quarterback play helped the Jets make the postseason three out of Edwards’ five seasons in New York. They’ve had five different coaches, seven different quarterbacks and just three playoff appearances since the Jets traded Edwards to the Chiefs in 2006. Robert Saleh will be the sixth coach and Wilson will be the eighth quarterback over that span.
Edwards added that simply having a good quarterback isn’t enough, though. The presence of Testaverde and Pennington allowed him to add players to lift up his quarterbacks, which helped him build a winning team.
The Jets drafted players like receiver Santana Moss and running back LaMont Jordan in 2001, tight end Chris Baker in 2002, linebacker Victor Hobson in 2003 and linebacker Jonathan Vilma in 2004. Edwards created a solid corps of players to work with during his tenure in New York – and it worked. Though he finished with a 39-41 record in New York, Edwards’ five total playoff games rank second behind Rex Ryan’s six in team history.
“When you get a young one – I don’t care who he is – you have to protect him,” Edwards said.
So far, Joe Douglas has done that with Wilson. He traded up to draft guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and used his next two picks on receiver Elijah Moore and running back Michael Carter. It was the first time the Jets used their first four picks on offensive players since 1983.
Part of the reason the Jets failed to make the playoffs in the past decade is that the team neglected to surround their quarterbacks with talent. It happened once the Jets stripped away Sanchez’s weapons after the 2010 AFC championship run. It happened with Geno Smith, too. It certainly happened over the past three seasons with Darnold.
Douglas is doing all he can to avoid the mistakes of his predecessors, and Saleh will likely do the same from the sideline. But even with great planning from the front office and the coaching staff, Edwards’ message remains true: The most important thing about a team is its quarterback.
“You can look at the NFL right now and go ‘NFC and AFC’… and you can pick probably four teams on both those sides and say they’re in the playoffs [because of their quarterback],” Edwards said. “And ain’t nobody played a game yet.”
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