The Christian Hackenberg era has come to an end for the Jets, after zero games played.
Hackenberg has been traded to the Raiders for a conditional seventh-round draft pick.
The Jets took Hackenberg in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft, so to settle for a seventh-round pick for him now is a major disappointment. But realistically, it was never going to work for Hackenberg with the Jets: He looked bad in preseason action and the practices that were open to the public, and with Sam Darnold now in town, there was zero chance of Hackenberg ever emerging as the Jets’ starter.
Can he do anything in Oakland? Raiders coach Jon Gruden was a fan of Hackenberg’s coming out of Penn State, saying before the 2016 draft that Hackenberg should be a first-round pick. So Gruden may think Hackenberg has a chance.
In Oakland, Hackenberg will be competing for a backup spot behind Derek Carr. Perhaps Gruden can help him develop into a starter some day. That day is likely a long way away, but at least he has a coach who likes his potential now that he’s a Raider. With the Jets, the Hackenberg experiment was doomed to failure.