The Jets lost Trevor Lawrence, have to decide on Sam Darnold’s future and leave John Wolford.
Who is John Wolford?
Before being pressured into action by Jared Goff’s thumb surgery to start and make his NFL debut in an unmissable game for the Los Angeles Rams this week, Wolford was the quarterback the Jets dragged from his future life at a company of private equity.
Three days before starting at Teall Capital in August 2018, Wolford, 25, signed with the Jets for the final week of the preseason, after making a strong impression as an unscheduled participant in the rookie spring minicamp. The race lasted 10 days, which included three practice sessions and a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, before he was cut.
The odds are against players who sign with an NFL team as an un-designed rookie to fill a list of 90 men that will eventually be reduced to 53. They are even more miniscule for players like Wolford – considered worthy of just three test days and not a contract after the 2018 NFL Draft.
So his short run after Darnold and Josh McCown – which ended when the Jets decided to leave Wolford for agent Davis Webb on their training team in 2018 – was already a form of overachieving, considering where he started. Webb, the Giants’ draft pick and likely successor to Eli Manning, is on the Buffalo Bills training team.
Wolford finally started working on Wall Street, but he couldn’t get rid of the football itch and illuminated the brief Alliance of American Football. He made 14 touchdown passes, the best in the league, in eight games and caught the attention of Rams.
After a year as Rams’ No. 3 quarterback – imitating the next week’s scouting team opponent – Wolford moved up the depth chart when he did not resume former first-round pick Blake Bortles. Goff made 1,046 offensive shots this season, but they are turning to Wolford – backed by newly hired Bortles – to win and secure a playoff spot.
Again, who is John Wolford?
Of all the defenders who passed through talent-rich Florida, Wolford was briefly the state record holder for career passing yards (10,621), touchdown passes (126), total touchdowns responsible for (162), total offensive yards (13,403) and conclusions (706), according to Jacksonville.com. His final game was a legendary 74-73 defeat in the state playoffs.
Originally committed to East Carolina, where he reportedly executed the Lincoln Riley attack – yes, the Oklahoma coach wanted by apparently all NFL coach vacancies – Wolford overturned and took Wake Forest from college football waste to a bowling game winner during his four years as a starter.
Wolford’s senior season was so good that social media pushed him like an underdog for the Heisman Trophy: #WhyNotJohn.
Rams fans are asking – with hope? – the same thing in week 17.