Jets may present best situation to develop young quarterback among teams picking early in 2026 NFL Draft
You can already hear it. And because this is the Jets, those cries will only grow louder.
Once again, New York is coming off a miserable season, well short of the playoffs. Once again, it needs a quarterback. Once again, the draft looms as the likely solution.
And once again, there will be warnings for top prospects - like Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore - to do whatever they can to avoid Gotham City, where promise and potential are said to go to die.
It's inevitable. It's also misguided.
The reality is that the Jets - yes, the Jets - may present the best situation for a young quarterback to thrive, among quarterback-needy teams expected to pick in the top 10. The infrastructure is there, regardless of reputation.
I believe we can be competitive and respectable by next year," general manager Darren Mougey said.
Jets fans have been here before. Time and again. Seasons of suffering end with the same consolation prize: A tantalizing college quarterback. Hope creeps in. Draft him, and everything will change like an elixir prescribed from the Football Gods themselves.
It happened in 2018, when a 4-12 finish delivered Sam Darnold. It happened again in 2021, when the dysfunction of a 2-14 season landed Zach Wilson. Both failed in New York.
The difference then - and now - matters.
In both previous cases, the Jets didn't just need a quarterback. They needed nearly everything else. The offensive lines were overwhelmed. Playmakers were scarce. Darnold's top targets as a rookie included Robby Anderson, Terrelle Pryor, and Jermaine Kearse. Wilson's primary options were Corey Davis and Elijah Moore.
Drafting those quarterbacks wasn't the mistake. Expecting them to survive amid structural collapse was. Darnold was overwhelmed before he could develop. Wilson followed a similar path, though his long-term ceiling was always debated.
That's why this time is different when observed beyond the surface.
The Jets finished 3-14, one of the worst seasons in franchise history. They became the first team since the NFL began tracking the statistics to go an entire season without recording an interception. According to ESPN, they finished with a league-low 759 passing yards in the first half of games, trailed by double digits on 53.1 percent of their offensive plays, and became the first team to lose five straight games by 23 points or more.
The failures were undeniable - there's no sugarcoating that level of ineptitude. The Jets often appeared outmatched schematically. Effort and accountability were questioned late in the season. Scrutiny of head coach Aaron Glenn was more than justified.
And exactly why the familiar Same Old Jets" refrain will resurface. But when it comes specifically to a young quarterback, the comparison falls apart.
Mougey said the Jets intend to exhaust every option to retain running back Breece Hall, which would keep a backfield featuring Hall, Braelon Allen, and Isaiah Davis intact. The team has already re-signed center Josh Myers and is hopeful of retaining at least one of John Simpson or Alijah Vera-Tucker. With Olu Fashanu, Armand Membou, and Joe Tippmann also in place, the line projects as a strength. If Fashanu and Membou develop as expected, the Jets could field one of the league's better units - a rarity in recent franchise history.
Receiver depth still needs attention. The Jets require a No. 2 and No. 3 target. But with roughly $74 million in projected cap space, an extra first-round pick (assuming they select a quarterbackat No. 2) and two second-round selections, they have ample resources to address it. Any additions would join Pro Bowl receiver Garrett Wilson, along with young options such as AD Mitchell and John Metchie III. The tight end room, featuring Mason Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert,offers developmental upside.
For a rookie quarterback, this all matters.
Why advise a prospect behind an offensive line, left to right, of Fashanu, Vera-Tucker, Meyers, Tippmann, and Membou? While handing it off to Hall or Allen? Throwing to Wilson, Carnell Tate, or Makai Lemon? For an owner in Woody Johnson sick of losing and hellbent in spending and doing whatever he can to turn this around?
Other quarterback-needy teams - including the Raiders, Browns, and Cardinals - can't offer that same combination. The same goes for the Dolphins, in a trade-up scenario.
History has earned Jets fans their skepticism. Caution is justified. There's no guarantee the franchise will finally get the quarterback decision right.
But the environment is different.
The Jets have, at long last, built their best ecosystem for a young quarterback to succeed.
Ignoring that reality would be the laziest take of all.