For years, New York Jets fans have heard every variation of the same conversation. Maybe this is the year. Maybe the rebuild is finally working. Maybe the roster is closer than people think. Then reality arrives, a reality that usually carries defensive breakdowns, offensive dysfunction, or some entirely new flavor of chaos.
That is what makes Chris Simms’ recent comments interesting. It isn’t because Simms is some all-knowing football oracle. It’s because he is about the last person Jets fans would expect to hand out encouragement.
A famous Giants fan likes what the Jets are building
Chris Simms grew up in New York Giants country. The son of one of Big Blue’s legends, Phil Simms, has never exactly hidden where his true football loyalties live. Yes, he played professionally elsewhere. Yes, he has worked in different NFL circles. None of that erased his longstanding Giants ties.
So when someone with that background offers praise for the Jets, it naturally grabs attention. During a recent discussion on PFT Live, Simms offered a surprisingly optimistic take on Aaron Glenn’s squad.
“This is the first year in a while I think you can look at it and go, ‘Hmm, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.’ If you look at teams … that were in the bottom of the barrel last year, that you could see maybe getting up to fringe-playoff, pain in the butt, yeah, the Jets are one of those teams you look at to go ‘they got a possibility there.'”
For Jets fans, that probably qualifies as soothing background music. For everyone else, it seems a common theory outside of the organization. The Jets are at least becoming respectable again.
Simms was not predicting a Super Bowl parade down Broadway. That would be reckless. His point was simpler and arguably more important. The Jets no longer feel like automatic bottom-feeders. After last season’s disaster, that alone represents progress.
New York attacked roster weaknesses aggressively this offseason. Veteran leadership was added. The defensive front looks tougher. Geno Smith raises the quarterback floor, and his new offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, is one of his biggest supporters. Younger offensive weapons bring intrigue. There are still obvious questions. There always are.
But for the first time in a while, the Jets look less like a franchise inventing new forms of dysfunction and more like a team with an actual plan, and if a lifelong Giants guy is willing to admit that, Jets fans may have reason to believe the rebuild is finally becoming visible from outside the building.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Famous Giants fan offers surprisingly favorable Jets review
Reporting by Geoffrey A Knox, Jets Wire / Jets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
