The 2017 season will be the 58th season in Jets franchise history. It is also the least anticipated season by Jets fans in that 58-year history. New York went 5-11 last year, and probably wasn’t even that good (the Jets had an SRS of -8.5, 4th worst in the NFL). In the NFL, the way to give a fan base hope is to be good or to make some exciting changes in the offseason. The Jets retained the same general manager (Mike Maccagnan) and head coach (Todd Bowles) from last year’s uninspiring squad, and while New York switched quarterbacks, the addition of 38-year-old Josh McCown somehow feels like a downgrade on Ryan Fitzpatrick.

How bad is it? The USA Today had the Jets going 0-16. Multiple other outlets have spent time discussing that possibility, too. It’s only a question of degree, at this point: everyone assumes that the Jets are going to be horrible.  McCown is a 38-year-old quarterback who has won 8 games since 2006.  The offense is almost certainly the least talented in the NFL ignoring the quarterback position.  And if you were wondering how they got here, well, since the end of 2016, the Jets also said goodbye to:

• David Harris
• Nick Mangold
• Eric Decker
• Brandon Marshall
• Sheldon Richardson
• Darrelle Revis
• Ryan Clady
• Quincy Enunwa (placed on injured reserve)

And again: this team was terrible last year with those players.  So is this really the least optimistic season in Jets history?  Let’s run through things in reverse order, and explain why Jets fans were feeling better on September 1 of every other season than on September 1, 2017.  For brevity’s sake, I’m going to skip seasons where the Jets went at least .500 in the prior year, because, those seasons obviously had more hope than this one.

• 2017: The least-anticipated season in Jets history.

• 2016: Jets went 10-6 the prior season. Optimism!

• 2015: Jets had a new coach in Bowles, and the additions of Marshall and Decker. Maybe the offense would be good? It was.

• 2014: Jets went 8-8 the prior season and had a second-year quarterback prospect in Geno Smith who showed promise as a rookie despite a terrible supporting cast.

• 2013: This was an ugly-looking season outlook, but the Jets at least had hope in a rookie Geno Smith, and a ton of young talent on defense. Muhammad Wilkerson was 24, Damon Harrison was 25, Quinton Coples and Dee Milliner had not yet proven to be busts, and Sheldon Richardson was about to be the DROY. Antonio Cromartie and David Harris were still in their 20s.

• 2012: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 2011: Jets went 11-5 the prior season.

• 2010: Jets went 9-7 the prior season.

• 2009: Jets went 9-7 the prior season.

• 2008: Jets added a 39-year-old QB in the offseason, but it was Brett Favre. Exciting! Hope!

• 2007: Jets went 10-6 the prior season.

• 2006: Jets had an exciting new coach in a young Eric Mangini, and Chad Pennington was returning after missing nearly all of 2005. The Jets went 10-6.

• 2005: Jets went 10-6 the prior season.

• 2004: Pennington had led the NFL in passer rating in 2002, then was hurt in 2003.  There was excitement about a healthy Pennington in ’04 — SI had the Jets at 9-7 — and the Jets fulfilled that excitement, thanks in part to the best season of Curtis Martin’s career.

• 2003: Jets went 9-7 the prior season.

• 2002: Jets went 10-6 the prior season.

• 2001: Jets went 9-7 the prior season.

• 2000: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 1999: Jets went 12-4 the prior season.

• 1998: Jets went 9-7 the prior season.

• 1997: The Jets had Bill Parcells! In Bill We Trust!

• 1996: This was another low expectation year after a disastrous 1995 campaign; for reference, SI had the Jets at 6-10. But the Jets just drafted Keyshawn Johnson with the first overall pick and signed Super Bowl-appearing quarterback Neil O’Donnell.  There was hope!

• 

  Leon Hess found his man in… Rich Kotite

  1995: Okay, this Jets team was terrible — comparable to the 2017 squad — but there was at least a small modicum of hope. That’s because — and hear me out, because you need to teleport to September 1995 to understand this — there was excitement about Rich Kotite! He was a Brooklyn guy with a winning record (36-28) in the NFL.  No, really, just read this article. Even wrongheaded optimism is better than Josh McCown.

• 1994: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 1993: This Jets team added a 32-year-old Boomer Esiason, who would make the Pro Bowl this season. The defense looked to be decent, especially after signing Ronnie Lott and using the 4th overall pick on Marvin Jones. The Jets started 8-5, but lost their final three games to miss the playoffs.

• 1992: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 1991: Blair Thomas, the 2nd overall pick in 1990, looked like a future star RB as a rookie. Rob Moore was on the rise, and Ken O’Brien and Al Toon were still around. There was hope about the offense, at least. The Jets finished 8-8.

• 1990: Another bad team, but at least there was a new HC in Bruce Coslet and the addition of Thomas to the backfield. O’Brien was 30 years old, Toon was 27, and the Jets had just drafted Moore with a first round pick in the supplemental draft. You can see a real offense coming together!

• 1989: Jets went 8-7-1 the prior season.

• 1988: The Jets still had the bulk of the team that was really good in ’85 and ’86: O’Brien was 28, Toon was 25, Mickey Shuler was about to have a Pro Bowl year at tight end, Wesley Walker and Freeman McNeil were still starters, and Rich Kotite was the OC! What could go wrong? The Jets actually finished the year 6th in scoring, and as noted above, went 8-7-1.

• 1987: Jets went 10-6 the prior season.

• 1986: Jets went 11-5 the prior season.

• 1985: The Jets used a 1st round pick on Ken O’Brien in 1983, but he didn’t enter the season as a starter until this year.  The Jets had gone 7-9 in ’84, leaving optimism if O’Brien could turn into a quality quarterback (he did).

• 1984: Again, there was optimism surrounding O’Brien, although he sat behind Pat Ryan for most of the year. But the Jets still had Mark Gastineau (about to set the sack record), Joe Klecko, and Marty Lyons, and some exciting players on offense (Freeman McNeil was a Pro Bowl, Walker and Shuler were still in their primes). The Jets started 6-2, went 1-7 down the stretch.

• 1983: Jets went 6-3 the prior season.

• 1982: Jets went 10-5 the prior season.

• 1981: The New York Sack Exchange! Klecko, Gastineau, Lyons, and Abdul Salaam were about to break out. Lyons was a 1st round pick in ’79, Klecko had turned into a good player but not yet a star, Gastineau showed signs in ’80 (11.5 sacks) that he was about to break out, and Salaam was the reliable veteran. The Jets would fall one shy of the NFL record with a whopping 66 sacks on defense, and that level of output wasn’t entirely unexpected.  Richard Todd was still in his prime, and there was hope that he would rebound from a bad 1980 (he did). And the Jets drafted McNeil with the 3rd overall pick. The Jets went 10-5-1.

• 1980: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 1979: Jets went 8-8 the prior season.

• 1978: Richard Todd, the 6th overall pick in the ’76 Draft, wasn’t bad in his first year as a starter in ’77.  Surely he would get better. And the Jets had a star young receiver in Wesley Walker, who led the NFL in yards per catch as a rookie in ’77 (and would do it again in ’78).  The Jets wound up finishing 3rd in scoring (although thanks more to Matt Robinson than Todd) and went 8-8, which is more than the 2017 Jets could hope for.

• 1977: The team had moved on from Namath, and now Todd — again, the 6th overall pick in the ’76 Draft — was the team’s new QB. Exciting!

• 1976: The Jets added Lou Holtz! A young and promising college coach! What could go wrong?

• 1975: Jets went 7-7 the prior season.

• 1974: Joe Namath had been arguably the best quarterback in football in 1972, then missed most of ’73 due to injury.  Namath was back, baby! Plus the team had a real winner at head coach: Charley Winner, that is. The former Cardinals head coach was replacing Ewbank and surely would restore the team to its glory days.

• 1973: Jets went 7-7 the prior season.

• 1972: Namath was just 29 years old, and had been hurt most of the last two years.  Namath was back, baby! He ended up leading the NFL in ANY/A and had one of the best seasons of his career.

• 1971: Namath was just 28 years old, and had been hurt most of 1970.  With a healthy Namath, the sky is the limit!

• 1970: Jets went 10-4 the prior season.

• 1969: ***DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS***

• 1968: Jets went 8-5 the prior season.

• 1967: Jets went 6-6 the prior season.

• 1966: They had a second-year Joe Namath! The offense was young and exciting: Namath, Matt Snell, Emerson Boozer, George Sauer, and Don Maynard were all on this team.

• 1965: THEY JUST DRAFTED JOE NAMATH.

• 1964: Year two of the Ewbank era.  The Jets drafted RB Matt Snell with the 3rd overall pick. Maynard was in the prime of his HOF career, and Bake Turner was a 23-year-old wide receiver coming off a 1,000 yard season.  All this team needed was a quarterback.

• 1963: The Jets added Weeb Ewbank, who had won a pair of titles with the Colts. What more could a young franchise ask for?

• 1962: Jets went 7-7 the prior season.

• 1961: Jets went 7-7 the prior season.

• 1960: HEY THERE’S JETS FOOTBALL. THAT SOUNDS FUN.

So there you have it. No season has ever been less anticipated by Jets fans than the 2017 season. The 1978, 1995, and 1996 seasons come close, but with a third year coach, a journeyman backup quarterback, and below-average talent at most positions, Jets fans have never had fewer reasons for optimism prior to a season than in 2017.