New York Jets: What does Jeremy Bates mean for 2018 quarterback?

The New York Jets officially promoted Jeremy Bates to offensive coordinator which could mean that the team won’t make a move at quarterback.

Kirk Cousins is available in 2018 NFL free agency. Moreover, this is supposedly the best quarterback NFL Draft class since 1983 gave us three future Pro Football Hall of Famers (John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino). That means there are a bevy of quarterbacks for the New York Jets to choose from.

But they should stand pat: re-sign Josh McCown and have him battle Christian Hackenberg for the No. 1 quarterback spot in 2018. This may seem completely ridiculous given the nature of the draft, and having a quarterback like Kirk Cousins available, but it’s not. Here’s why.

According to the Jets official Twitter account, they have promoted Jeremy Bates to offensive coordinator, and he’s keeping his role as quarterback coach.

In Denver, Jay Cutler had his best two season stretch of his career. Cutler completed 62.9 percent of his passes, had 45 touchdowns, and made his only Pro Bowl. Bates left the Broncos for USC, and he returned to the NFL in 2012.

In 2012, Cutler would have somewhat of a bounce-back season, even though his stats didn’t match what they did together in Denver. The Bears did finish 10-5 in games started by Cutler. In three seasons with Cutler, Cutler finished completed nearly 62 percentof his passes with 64 touchdowns and 46 interceptions, not too shabby.

Then, last year, McCown had the best season of his career. McCown completed over 67 percent of his passes and had a 2-1 TD-INT ratio.

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It appears as if Bates knows how to get the best of out quarterbacks. That means he should continue to work with Christian Hackenberg and see what he can get out of him. Imagine if Bates could get out of Hackenberg what he did from Cutler and McCown. The Jets should build a running game and offensive line and give Hackenberg weapons to throw to. Also, they should put a good defense on the field.

If Bates can get that season out of McCown, he can do better with Hackenberg. This certainly looks like a marriage made in heaven for the Jets.