Can Nathaniel Hackett Fix Zach Wilson?

The New York Jets finished last season 7-10 with a huge question mark around their first-round quarterback Zach Wilson who looked bored out there lobbing beach balls directly into the chest of opposing cornerbacks. No sense of urgency at all. Just vibes.

The Jets ranked 29th in points scored but they have just hired a new offensive coordinator to save Wilson’s career.

We’ve hired Nathaniel Hackett as our offensive coordinator.

📰 https://t.co/nP2ldF4SfL pic.twitter.com/ZhuJdZWBz6

— New York Jets (@nyjets) January 26, 2023

Nathaniel Hackett is the new offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Ok.

First, it’s never a great idea rushing to hire a former head coach who was fired a couple weeks earlier but that’s the Jets’s favorite move.

On December 31st, 2018, the Miami Dolphins fired Adam Gase. He finished his time in Miami with a 23-25 win-loss record. On January 11th, 2019—twelve days later—the Jets hired Adam Gase as their new head coach. He was supposed to groom Sam Darnold into a perennial All-Pro.

Gase went 9-23 with the Jets.

Nathanial Hackett just went 4-11 with the Denver Broncos and the Jets immediately hired him as the new offensive coordinator. Hackett was fired on December 26th and he’s hired today on January 26th.

All you have to do is walk in with a resume and the Jets will hire you. Make up your references with fake phone numbers or your friend’s phone numbers and it won’t matter. The Jets aren’t calling anyone.

But it’s a new year and a new me. Let’s try to be positive about the Jets and their obsession with hoarding trash.

So can Nathaniel Hackett actually fix Zach Wilson?

The problem with Zach Wilson is his overconfidence in what he’s actually capable of. He throws so many lazy lob passes off his back foot. There’s no sense of urgency. I really think Patrick Mahomes ruined a generation of QBs who think they can throw from weird angles and on the run when in actuality, Mahomes makes everything look easy and no one—especially Zach Wilson—can replicate what Mahomes does.

But Hackett isn’t actually here to fix Zach Wilson. That’s like, the backup plan.

Their real plan is obvious.

Nathanial Hackett was the Packers offensive coordinator from 2019-2021. There are rumors that the Broncos only hired him because they were under the impression they were going to acquire Rodgers but instead ended up with Russell Wilson. The results were, uh, less than.

Fast forward a year and once again, the Packers and Aaron Rodgers are once again looking ready to break up but this time it feels more likely.

The Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett in hopes of securing Aaron Rodgers. As you’re reading this, the Jets front office is probably erasing Zach Wilson’s number from their phone contacts.

If the Jets start signing Randall Cobb and David Bakhtiari then you already know they’re going all in on Rodgers.

Personally, I think Aaron Rodgers is cooked but I’ve also watched Mike White throw some of the worst-looking interceptions in NFL history so he’d step into the locker room as one of the best players on the team already.

Surround Aaron Rodgers with Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore and the Jets could easily walk into the playoffs next season.

But if they don’t end up with Rodgers then this Hackett hiring doesn’t really do much for this team. We just watched Hackett in Denver make Russell Wilson look like the worst quarterback in the league. He might be Zach Wilson’s final NFL coach after a full year of the worst playcalling.

Nathanial Hackett can fix Zach Wilson if Zach’s main focus is catching Milfs and not actually winning football games.