Aaron Rodgers has certainly been making the rounds around town after officially becoming a member of the New York Jets. 

Rodgers was all smiles at the Kentucky Derby, the Knicks home playoff game at Madison Square Garden alongside new teammate Sauce Gardner and even a Rangers playoff game. Showing your face and supporting the other local teams is a great way to ingratiate yourself to the local fanbase and media, but it won’t lead to any wins come the fall.

While the Jets are enjoying their time in the spotlight and basking in the glory the talking heads are heaping on them, this team still has a way to go in order to be true Super Bowl contenders. The good news? Most of what they need is already wearing the green and white. It will just need to be molded from potential to result.

There is a lot to be excited about for the 2023 Jets outside of Rodgers. They have the OROY and the DROY to go along with a talented roster, however this team cannot rest on the accomplishments of last year.

Take Garrett Wilson for example. In 2020, Jets fans were super excited for how Denzel Mims played only to see him disappear in 2021. Elijah Moore on the other hand got the fans going in 2021, only to be a forgotten member of the offense and demand a trade in 2022. Will Garrett Wilson fall into the same trap? It’s not likely, but it could happen.

Breece Hall was a beast for the first seven games of his rookie campaign and then he tore his ACL. How will he bounce back? Most fans will expect the same Breece Hall they saw when he torched the Green Bay Packers, but with a recovery timeline of 9-12 months, that may be a slightly optimistic projection. Most players don’t fully return to their former selves for about 18 months (see: Saquon Barkley).

The Jets offensive line is riddled with big time talent that come with big time question marks. Mekhi Becton needs to show something besides bathroom selfies in order to be counted on for more than a handful of plays this season. Alijah Vera-Tucker is coming back from his own season-ending injury. Duane Brown is 37-years-old and showed signs of slowing down last year. Laken Tomlinson’s first season in New York was easily one to forget.

Can this group keep a 39-year-old QB upright long enough to make some plays? They certainly have the talent, but can they stay healthy and progress?

On the defensive side of the ball, the Jets got a big 2022 campaign from Quinnen Williams who early in his career looked nothing like the dominant player he showed last year. Quinnen is (deservedly) due for a big contract, but will the Jets be signing the player he was last year or the guy he was his first few years?

The depth the Jets had last year at the defensive tackle position allowed them to sub in fresh, high-level players constantly, creating a lot of pressure on opposing QBs. A lot of that depth has since gotten paid elsewhere leaving Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas to go bargain shopping, again. They will have to repeat the same type of magic in order to keep this defense in the upper echelon if they want to compete in the vaunted AFC this season.

The Jets were beneficiaries from guys taking major leaps in the 2022 season including DJ Reed, Bryce Huff and Quincy Williams. These were essentially cast offs and undrafted free agents who played big roles under Saleh last year.

The future of this team will be determined on how guys like Quincy, Huff and Reed continue to progress going forward. If the Jets take a step back in their development or even remain stagnant, it won’t matter who is at QB for this team.