3 Takeaways From the 2021 New York Jets Season

When your team goes 4-13 and you haven't gone to the playoffs in more than a decade, you try to find the positives. The Jets did not have a good season but there were definite improvements. Yesterday's battle with the Buffalo Bills followed a down to the wire loss at the hands of Tom Brady. Plenty of teams have lost in the last 2 minutes to that guy. There is an undeniable fight in this Jets team. Now, will it last?

Here are my 3 Takeaways from the 2021 season:

1. Robert Saleh is a good coach. Saleh made changes during the season and adapted to the personnel he had. The team fought hard right up to the end for him. It took a few weeks to get his staff's act together but they did. There were some bad losses but there were some really good wins. The team seemed to get better as the four win season went on. That is the sign of a good coach. As a Jets fan, you definitely saw progress in Saleh's first season.

2. Zach Wilson is going to struggle to be an adequate starting NFL quarterback. Buffalo's defense is good but 53 yards of offense? That has a lot to do with Wilson. He is too small. He regularly throws passes into the backs of his own lineman. Wilson makes bad decisions in normal situations that only get worse under pressure. That may get better but I doubt it. Wilson played his college football at BYU. He never saw competition close to what he faces now. The Jets have to have a solid plan moving forward to bring in real competition for Wilson and the quarterback position in 2022.

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3. General manager, Joe Douglas had better get the 2022 NFL Draft right or he may not have a job next year. The roster got better this year. The Jets were decimated by injuries and the COVID protocols but so were most NFL teams. Zach Wilson? He may have been a terrible draft miss, when the Jets didn't have enough pieces to protect a franchise quarterback in the first place. Denzel Mims? He was a big miss for Douglas. Plenty of teams passed on Mims for a reason. Douglas has made some bad choices with some top picks. The roster has to continue to improve and stay healthy.

This year, the Jets GM will have two picks in the first round, two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. He has to hit on those picks. The Jets have $60 million in cap space. The Jets have an opportunity to get much better quickly. They should win 7 or 8 games next year or Douglas should be fired.