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Whoever the Jets draft at quarterback is doomed

Evan Habeeb / USA TODAY Sports

"With the sixth pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, the New York Jets select quarterback ..."

Those are the words that will be haunting the dreams of prospects Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky, and DeShone Kizer for the next few weeks.

There is certainly no guarantee that the Jets will take a quarterback in the upcoming draft, as there is no guarantee the Jets will or will not do anything ever, but the likelihood is high and that should scare the crap out of the prospective selections.

The Jets are officially stuck in no man's land after betting on themselves and Ryan Fitzpatrick to capture magic in a bottle for a second straight season, finishing 2016 with a 5-11 record and an aging roster. The third-year head coach-general manager duo of Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan appear to be embarking on another rebuild, whether they like it or not. Though, there's not much of a foundation to build upon.

Moving on from Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith, the Jets signed 14-year veteran quarterback Josh McCown to a one-year, incentive-laden contract on Monday, signaling one of the least-inspiring additions the team has made in recent years. While McCown could be a great mentor for younger players, he carries a 2-20 record over the past three seasons while suffering a series of injuries over that time.

That being said, he's likely the current favorite to win the Jets starting job over 2015 fourth-round pick Bryce Petty and 2016 second-rounder Christian Hackenberg, who is reportedly terrible. While Petty earned four starts last year, he doesn't have the talent to lead a decimated team out of the darkness and is likely best-suited to be a career backup.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

With such little hope at the quarterback position and limited talent outside the defense's front seven, the only way Bowles and Maccagnan can salvage the upcoming season and convince ownership they have some semblance of a plan is to add a quarterback in the draft - whether they're ready to or not.

Hint: They aren't ready.

Other than having a fatherly veteran to mentor a young quarterback, the Jets have nothing in their organization to suggest a rookie pass thrower will have anything but hardship in his first season.

To start, the offense will be run by John Morton, a first-time offensive coordinator who is converting from a two-year stint as the receivers coach for the New Orleans Saints. Just like a rookie quarterback, Morton will be learning things for the first time on the fly and comes from a nontraditional coaching system with the Saints where head coach Sean Payton assumes many of the coordinator's duties. Bowles, a defensive specialist, is giving Morton more power and control than Saints OC Pete Carmichael Jr.

The Jets receiving corps just lost their leader and best player in Brandon Marshall, leaving Eric Decker as the only receiver with more than one season as a full-time contributor. With Marshall in the lineup last season, the Jets finished with the 27th-ranked passing attack, averaging just one touchdown through the air per game. Aside from Marshall, Quincy Enunwa was the only Jets receiver to tally at least 50 catches and 400 yards last season.

The ground game was good-not-great in 2016, finishing the season with the 12th-most rushing yards, but losing major veteran contributors on the line in Nick Mangold and Ryan Clady will make that difficult to repeat, meaning the passing game will be leaned on to score points.

The offensive line has subpar talent at best, but without longtime captain Mangold at center, there will undoubtedly be some miscommunication and bumps in the road that won't allow a rookie quarterback any extra time to make his reads. Rookie quarterbacks already have a tendency to take more hits than they need to when entering the league, especially when they are lacking experienced receivers and blockers.

On top of all the problems facing the Jets roster at the moment, young quarterbacks have not fared well with the club historically over the past decade.

Quarterback Year Drafted Round Career Record
Christian Hackenberg 2016 2nd 0-0
Bryce Petty 2015 4th 1-3
Tajh Boyd 2014 6th 0-0
Geno Smith 2013 2nd 12-18
Greg McElroy 2011 7th 0-1
Mark Sanchez 2009 1st 37-35
Eric Ainge 2008 5th 0-0

With the absurd amount of problems the Jets are facing this year, they may be better off punting the season. Still, someone has to go out there and take snaps from the center.

Unfortunately for the 2017 draft class' quarterbacks, that someone is likely going to be one of them.

Conventional NFL wisdom says if you're going to lose games, you might as well let a young quarterback go out there and learn a thing or two. Regardless, someone's going to be learning things the hard way come next season.

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