Heading into the draft, there were plenty of opinions offered about quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
They broke down into two general camps. One was that Hackenberg turned in two poor years at Penn State that provided little reason to believe he’d be a good NFL quarterback and the other was that Hackenberg’s poor play was a byproduct of bad teammates and a coaching change that left him in a system that didn’t fit his skills.
The Jets fell into the latter camp and picked Hackenberg with the 51st overall selection last Friday, something that Hackenberg called a “fresh start” this Friday. Hackenberg said he “kind of buried” criticism of his college performance, which he believes will help him be a better player in the NFL.
“I think you’re defined by how you react to adversity and how you’re able to get back up,” Hackenberg said, via NJ.com. “So I think ultimately, having to go through that at a young age and doing it through college is only going to help me in the long run. That’s how I’ve compartmentalized that, and that’s how it’s really been a stepping stone for me moving forward. I think it’s only going to help.”
Hackenberg did have plenty of experience getting back up while at Penn State after being sacked more than 100 times and the pounding he took joined his inaccuracy as concerns from the less enthusiastic observers of his play. Those observations helped Hackenberg wind up with the Jets rather than any of the league’s other teams, but they won’t matter if Hackenberg is correct about how the future will play out.
