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I’m not a special pleader for Nathaniel Hackett.
Is he a good offensive coordinator? Right now, I have no idea.
Last year didn’t look very good, but the Jets didn’t have a good backup QB plan.
Not to belabor the point that has been discussed ad infinitum, the Jets should have had a veteran backup QB behind Aaron Rodgers last year, not Zach Wilson, who they had hit the reset button last year to fix his mechanics.
So just like it was hard to judge Mike LaFleur as a coordinator with Wilson as his quarterback, the same can be said for Hackett.
Rodgers was asked about all the Hackett detractors today on SiriusXM MadDog Radio:
“You should trust me and I trust Nathaniel,” Rodgers said. “So, to me, that’s the end of the story.”
Some Jets fans might be a little jaded when it comes to Rodgers trusting a colleague from Green Bay, who the Jets brought in.
He said former Jets backup QB Tim Boyle was like “a little brother” to him.
But then the Jets cut Boyle after somebody leaked to “The Athletic” that Wilson didn’t want to start anymore late last season.
Some accused Boyle of being the leak, but we can’t confirm that.
It might not have been him, but it could have been an agent. Who knows?
Clearly some people added from Green Bay that didn’t work out as planned.
But with Hackett, he probably deserves the trust, because quite honestly, it’s no secret that Rodgers is essentially the co-offensive coordinator. Rodgers is very good at taking the play and calling audibles at the line based on what he sees from the defense.
“At the end of the day, his and my partnership is one that’s been fruitful in the past, and it’s gonna be fruitful again,” Rodgers said on SiriusXM.
Rodgers won an NFL MVP Award in Green Bay with Hackett as his offensive coordinator.
Some might argue that while Hackett had the title of “offensive coordinator” in Green Bay, head coach Matt LaFleur tactically called the plays.
However, Hackett was very involved in that offense, and in Rodgers’ last year in Green Bay, after Hackett left to take the Denver head coaching job, the Packers’ offense fell apart. The Rodgers-LaFleur offensive partnership wasn’t nearly as good without Hackett as a buffer.
“There’s been a lot of BS that’s been said out there,” Rodgers said about Hackett. “There’s a lot of things that have gone on the last couple years that he’s dealt with that I think he’s handled very professionally. And at the end of the day, I think you gotta trust his and my working relationship.”
So this is Rodgers telling Jets Nation: “Trust me on this guys, I know from whence I speak.”
And considering his resume, which includes four NFL MVP Awards, he probably has earned that trust.
Is Hackett Bill Walsh or Don Coryell as a play-caller, perhaps not, but he is a good partner for Rodgers.
May 24, 2024
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