Early in the 2020’s, NFL teams saw success when they paired young quarterbacks with receivers from the same school. The Bengals did it with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase and the Dolphins likewise with Tua Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle. Now, the New York Jets appear to be trying to pull off the same feat but in reverse order.
The Jets drafted Ohio State receiver Garrett Wilson in 2022, and he’s already proven to be an NFL starter. In March of this year, they signed former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields to a two-year deal, reuniting the pair of former Buckeyes. While Fields has not yet lived up to his potential as the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jets are hoping that better coaching and a familiar face will help him finally take a leap.
The strategy already appears to be paying dividends even this early in OTA practices. Fields and Wilson were spotted at practice excitedly congratulating each other after a successful passing play.
Justin Fields 🤝 Garrett Wilson#Jets | 🎥 @nyjets pic.twitter.com/xWGPmXoeJ9
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) June 4, 2025
It’s hard for Jets fans not to feel the same kind of excitement. For a fanbase as starved for a franchise quarterback as Jets fans, Fields offers a tantalizing future of elite quarterback play. Sure, Fields has been inconsistent at best in his four NFL seasons. That’s part of the reason why he’s already on his third team. But the team that drafted him, the Chicago Bears, infamous for being the city that ruins quarterbacks, takes the lion’s share of the blame for Fields’ failure to develop.
The situation with the Jets is a far cry from that one. The Jets brought in a highly regarded coaching staff and the team has a far better defense to help preserve leads than Fields ever had in Chicago. Perhaps most importantly, Fields now has a receiver with whom he’s already proven to have good chemistry.
If these two can recapture their magic from their days at Ohio State, then the future for this organization is truly bright.