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2017 NFL Draft Rumors: New York Jets Management ‘Has The Hots’ For North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 05:54 PST, Dec 15, 2016

Through Week 14 of the 2016 NFL Season, the New York Jets hold the No. 6 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft as they currently sit with a 4-9 record. The team has a number of issues that will need to be addressed this offseason, including the offensive line, tight end, and cornerback, but the No. 1 goal of general manager Mike Maccagnan will be to find a viable starting quarterback.

After a solid season in 2015 that saw the Jets finish 10-6 and just miss the playoffs, the Jets made the decision to bring back Ryan Fitzpatrick on a one-year deal worth $12 million. After all, Fitzpatrick completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,905 yards with 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 2015.

Ryan was looking for a bit of long-term security in the offseason, which led to a contract stalemate between the two sides. Fitzpatrick and the Jets come to an agreement just before the start of training camp, and the quarterback seemed to be happy with the way things turned out.

“It definitely was a long process,” Fitzpatrick said. “After coming to the realization that it wasn’t going to get done right away and that it was going to take some time, I tried my best to put it out of my mind and tried to live life normally. But it was hard with people coming up to me and asking about the contract, people texting me. It was hovering… looming over my head for five, six months. In the end, I’m happy the way it turned out.”

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned for either side as the Jets lost five of their first six games, and Fitzpatrick ended up getting benched for New York’s Week 7 game against the Baltimore Ravens in favor of Geno Smith. Smith ended up getting hurt during that game, which led to Fitzpatrick coming off the bench to lead the Jets to their second victory of the season.

Head coach Todd Bowles rewarded Fitzpatrick with the starting job after that victory, but Ryan would get benched again during a 41-10 shellacking at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts during the Week 13 edition of Monday Night Football. After the game, Bowles named Bryce Petty the starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

In his second career start, Petty led the Jets to a comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14. Petty completed 23-of-35 passes for 257 yards and an interception as the Jets were able to win the game in overtime. In total, Petty has appeared in four career games and completed 55-of-94 passes for 574 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

With Petty not really producing, and the Jets’ second-round pick from 2016, Christian Hackenberg, not being prepared for game action, the team is still in desperate need of a franchise quarterback. That’s led many draft pundits to believe that the Jets will look towards the 2017 NFL Draft for their next quarterback.

According to New York Daily News beat writer Manish Mehta, that quarterback could be North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky. Mehta recently reported that Jets management “has the hots” for Trubisky.

“They got their eyes set on the North Carolina quarterback,” a rival scout told the newspaper. “The Jets are all over this kid. All over him. They’ll probably deny it if you ask, but they love that kid. That’s their guy. They’re not going to get him though, because I think that kid is going to get over-drafted.”

Most NFL draft outlets have Trubisky rated as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2017 draft class, but some have him going in the top five picks while others have him going in the late first round. It will be interesting to see what happens during the next few months as the prospects begin going through their pre-draft process to see whether or not Mitch Trubisky ends up being selected by the New York Jets in the 2017 NFL Draft.

[Featured Image by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images]

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