Mike Maccagnan has been the general manager of the New York Jets since 2015. During that time, he has made two draft picks at the quarterback position.
In the fourth round of the 2015 draft, the Jets took former Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty. Petty did not play at all during his rookie season, then learned how to read defenses by playing Madden during the 2016 offseason. Over the ensuing two seasons, he has completed 53 percent of his passes, averaged 5.5 yards per attempt, and thrown four touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 10 appearances and seven starts.
Prior to Petty's second season, the Jets picked another quarterback: former Penn State passer Christian Hackenberg, who they tabbed in the second round. Hackenberg has yet to see the field, making him the first quarterback in 35 years to be drafted in the first or second round and not throw a single pass during his first two NFL seasons. It hasn't happened yet, but there have been persistent rumors that he will be released this offseason.
So, the question of just who will be the Jets' quarterback of the future is still unsettled. New York re-signed Josh McCown this offseason and also brought in former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on a one-year deal, but the lack of a clear long-term answer at the position motivated Maccagnan to surrender three second-round picks in order to move up from No. 6 in this month's draft to No. 3, with the idea of getting a franchise QB clearly on his mind.
Is he worried about identifying the right guy, given his previous failures drafting at the position? Apparently not.
"It doesn't faze me," Maccagnan said of the criticism of his draft record, per ESPN's Rich Cimini. "It's the college draft. [There are] guys you'll hit on and guys who don't pan out. That's part of the process. We feel pretty confident with this year's group and where we're situated."
Sitting at No. 3, the Jets can guarantee themselves one of the top four passers in the draft, but they may wind up with their third choice out of the group if the Browns and Giants take quarterbacks first (or if the Giants trade out of No. 2 and send the pick to a team that wants to jump the Jets and get a quarterback). They gave up a lot of value to move up to that spot without knowing for sure who will be there on draft day, especially when you consider that coach Todd Bowles recently said there are six or seven players the franchise feels is worth the No. 3 pick.