Josh McCown's deep ball could lead to starting role in NY

Embattled quarterback Josh McCown will be given the chance to battle it out with youngsters Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty for the starting role in New York. If there's one area where McCown has a leg up, it's throwing the deep ball, an area the Jets do often.

• In 2013, while taking over for an injured Jay Cutler in Chicago, Josh McCown had the best passer rating in the NFL (130.0) on deep passes (passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield).
• He had an accuracy percentage of 43.5 percent on those throws in that year.
• Last season, Jets QB Bryce Petty was the third-least accurate quarterback in the league on deep passes with just a 27.3 accuracy percentage.
• While Christian Hackenberg was the sixth-least accurate quarterback of his draft class on deep passes (39.7 percent) in his final college season at Penn State in 2015.
• The Jets were one of only four teams to have two wide receivers (Robby Anderson, Brandon Marshall) among the top 20 of most targeted on deep passes in the NFL last season.