Rodgers Plans on Ending the Jets Post Season Drought

The 2024 National Football League offseason is almost over as we find ourselves heading towards the month of July, and with mandatory training camps having long begun for all franchises, including the New York Jets, gridiron fans across the world are already building their predictions for what may lie ahead in the coming season.

Those in the Green Gang are, of course, absolutely no different on that score in comparison to others in the game, but recently 32 year old, free agent, David Bakhtiari effectively gave his backing to the Jets making the playoffs in 2024. The close friend, and former team mate of Aaron Rodgers at the Green Bay Packers, felt that now the 40 year old, former Super Bowl winner, was back fit and fighting after his lengthy spell on the sidelines with an Achilles tear, that he would lead the team into the post season and one would assume the scores and odds would be favorable on that front given the seeming strength of the over all roster.

Everyone involved with the Jets this year will have a singular aim, they enter 2024 looking to end the longest active post season drought in the NFL. It has been a long 13 years of disappointment on that front, and Bakhtiari has now joined the ranks of those believers who trust that this will change over the coming months.

Bakhtiari has credit in the bank here having played alongside and protected Rodgers for about a decade (2013/22) where they went to seven play offs in eight years when fully fit and in a recent interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the former All Pro left tackle insisted that he ‘expected big things’ from Rodgers and the team this year, and that in his mind we will ‘for sure’ make the play offs as Rodgers looks to make up for lost time.

Given his career in the game, the inevitable future Hall of Famer entry has long proven true Bakhtiari’s now stated claim, that it would not be ‘wise for any betting man’ to say that he would not make the play offs this year, particularly as he knows his close friend will ‘put a lot on his shoulders’ in an effort to make last season’s unfortunate wrongs ‘right’.

There will certainly be those who feel that it is a bold claim given where Rodgers find himself in his long career, but even with last year’s injury he more than has the caliber to achieve that success again, as the four time Most Valuable Player has only failed to make the play offs two times in his entire 16 year spell in the game when he has been a healthy starting quarterback. Over all, he only actually has four losing seasons as a starter to his name, and that is some record on its own.

History is most certainly on his side here when it comes to the claim. His shoulder injury limited him to just seven games back in 2017, whilst a broken throwing hand thumb significantly hampered his performance levels and production in 2022, but he will now naturally have his doubters. The injury, his age and that fact that it has arguably been three years since we have seen him consistently at his highest level best are valid concerns in the minds of some, but there is also a good argument to be made that Jets fans do not need to see an MVP ready version of Rodgers to achieve the aim of ending the streak.

According to his coaches, his base line talent, experience, game knowledge and savvy, in the eyes of many, would be more than enough to take them to a greater level of victories when compared with the 2023 performances, and that is definitely a reason for some real hope and optimism to return.

Not least the California native can call on the services of two wide receivers in the shape of Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams. They have both gone, and could concurrently go 1000 REC yards in 2024, and that is before anyone gets round to mentioning ball carrier Breece Hall who only needs to add a further six yards on the rush to his 994 name, to make himself a genuine triple 1000 yard producer option.

Defensively the team could be even stronger on paper as well if it all comes together, and we could set a marker in the opening four contests of the new campaign, and we will soon find out if they do.

Steve Johnson

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