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The offseason's biggest question isn't if Tom Brady will finally show signs of aging. It isn't if the Bears will move on from Jay Cutler. It has nothing to do with Chip Kelly's future in the NFL. The offseason's biggest question is about Jets quarterback Christian Hackenberg.

Specifically, if Hackenberg threw a football on a beach, could he hit the ocean?

Here's how that question materialized: The Jets selected Hackenberg in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He looked awful in the preseason and failed to get on the field in the regular season, despite the fact that Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Bryce Petty represented his competition. On Sunday, an ESPN report quoted an unnamed Jets coach saying that Hackenberg "couldn't hit the ocean." Jets coach Todd Bowles shrugged off that report. So did Hackenberg.

And then it was Woody Johnson's turn to weigh in. The Jets owner was asked about that report Thursday. Instead of denying it, he posed a question: Which ocean? Because some oceans are small.

Via NJ.com:

"Yeah, I saw that [ESPN report]. I guess it depends which ocean. Maybe it was a small ocean. The EPA describes that as an ocean. Anyway, no, that's not funny. But you ought to ask Todd Bowles about that, about Christian, because he has some opinions about Christian Hackenberg. I think he has maybe a little bit higher opinion than that."

Compare the owner's answer to the coach's answer, via NJ.com again:

"There's nothing wrong with Christian," said coach Todd Bowles, who also denied the ESPN report. "[Ryan Fitzpatrick] had a great year last year. Geno was coming back strong, too. Bryce was making progress as the No. 3. He is allowed to have a redshirt year. Next year he has to show some progress and make the same jumps."

Despite what Bowles said, I'd like to present the evidence in favor of the following argument: Hackenberg might not be able to hit the ocean.

I'll start with his preseason numbers:

  • 36.2 completion percentage
  • 3.4 yards per attempt
  • 35.7 passer rating

Let's move onto anecdotal and video evidence. This was Hackenberg in June:

This was Hackenberg in December:

I rest my case.

OK, in all seriousness, it's unfair to judge Hackenberg at this stage in his career. He's yet to play in a real game. Nobody -- probably not even the Jets -- has any idea if he'll develop into a competent NFL quarterback.

If anyone deserves to be ripped at this point, it's the Jets, because it's not Hackenberg's fault the Jets deemed a quarterback who couldn't manage to beat out Fitzpatrick, Smith, and Petty worthy of a second-round pick. That's entirely on the Jets.