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Now this is how the Jets envisioned it. 

Zach Wilson efficiently operating Mike LaFleur's offense and some of the youthful additions made over the past two years contributing in victories. Yes, victories. As in consecutive victories for the first time since Week 15 and Week 16 of the 2020 season. 

In his first two games of 2022, Wilson hasn't been perfect -- he has more picks (2) than touchdowns (1). However, his play is noticeably more streamlined and less anxious than a year ago. As a passer, Wilson's averaging a husky 8.10 yards per attempt after a 6.10 as a rookie. Now, of course it's early in his sophomore season, but Wilson's only been sacked on 4.4% of his drop backs after a ridiculous sack rate of 10.3% in 2021. 

How about second-round rookie Breece Hall? He's quietly averaging 4.91 yards per tote and has amassed 213 yards on 17 receptions (12.5 per). Remember too, Round 1 first-year pro Garrett Wilson had eight grabs for 102 yards with two scores in the how'd-that-happen win in Cleveland in Week 2.

The club's initial first-round pick in April, cornerback Sauce Gardner, has surrendered just 12 catches on 26 targets in his coverage area for 127 yards with one touchdown, one interception, and four pass breakups through five weeks, all equating to a passer rating of 49.6. 

And what's super-encouraging for the Jets -- at 23 years old, Wilson is the oldest member of the triumvirate at the center of the offense, and Gardner turned 22 in late August. 

The stellar play from the Jets youth movement has only come in bits and pieces to date -- Zach Wilson completed three passes in the fourth quarter and had 14 total completions in Week 5, Hall had two receptions against the Dolphins, and Garrett Wilson hasn't gone over 60 yards in a game since his 100-yard performance. And that's OK. It's the positive nature, not the low-volume makeup of those efforts that matter right now for Gang Green. 

As the Generation Z takeover for the Jets is maturing, the established veterans are doing their part to support the turnaround. Carl Lawson has a beefy 16% pressure-creation rate on almost 120 pass-rush snaps to date. Quinnen Williams, who's actually still 24, has 17 pressures on 116 attempts (14.7%). C.J. Mosley and Kwon Alexander are holding it down at linebacker. 

Of course, the Jets have a win after recovering an onside kick, in a game started by their backup quarterback and emerged victorious over a division rival's third-string passer. We mustn't get ahead of ourselves here. But those are the type of wins that occur for a club when it moves from "rebuilding" to establishing itself as a "fun, upstart team." Until Sunday, the Jets hadn't won a game by more than one score since Week 12 of 2019! The last time they got to 3-2 in a season -- 2017. 

The Jets have a complementary blend of youth and experience that appear to be steering Robert Saleh's club in the proper direction for the first time in a long time. 

Next up is a trip to Lambeau Field to play the Packers, then a road contest in Denver before three-straight divisional games, at New England, home against the Bills, and in Foxboro for another battle with the Patriots

We'll learn much about New York over the next five contests; how ready is this team to compete this season? They're not juggernauts but have suddenly become a team with an opportunistic defense and youthful exuberance on offense no one is ecstatic to play, and earning that label is a benchmark every team hopes to hit as it moves out of the ground-floor stages of the franchise renovation process.