Jets Land The Face Of The Franchise Load Up On Elite Talent In Latest

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 16, 2025, 8:08 PM

jets land the face of the franchise load up on elite talent in latest

Ty Simpson has made just nine career starts, but he's helped carry Alabama into playoff position. Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images By Zack Rosenblatt, Dane Brugler and Nick Baumgardner When the New York Jets traded Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, arguably their two best players, they announced to the NFL world that this season was no longer a priority. The rest of 2025 is about the future. It’s hard to blame them.

The Jets were 1-7 at the trade deadline (2-7 now), and had acquired enough draft capital to completely overhaul the roster and infuse it with young, cost-controlled talent. Last week, head coach Aaron Glenn backtracked on his preseason statement that he wanted fans to be proud of the team at the end of this season. “I want this to be a team the fans are proud of, but I never said they were going to be proud of them right now,” Glenn said after the trades. “At some point, I want this to be a team the fans are proud of.” The New York Jets are projected to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, according to a way-too-early mock.

The 2025 NFL draft wrapped up less than two weeks ago, but that hasn’t stopped the top draft analysts from cooking up early projections for 2026, despite no official draft order and uncertainty over... In his “way too early” 2026 mock draft, The Ringer’s Todd McShay presents a bold scenario for the New York Jets. The veteran draft analyst projects New York to land the No. 1 overall pick and select LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. “I have my hesitations on the Jets’ ceiling with Justin Fields next year, but the floor is a whole hell of a lot higher than this projection by FanDuel. But that’s a different discussion for a different day,” McShay said.

New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey will eventually take a swing at quarterback. While the Jets are resetting the culture and roster, they've signed Justin Fields to a two-year contract to be their bridge QB. At some point, Mougey will attempt to draft a face-of-the-franchise signal caller. That's exactly what happens in Pro Football Network's latest three-round 2026 NFL mock draft. Equipped with the No. 2 overall selection, the Jets take Texas quarterback Arch Manning.

In a shocking twist, QB Cade Klubnik went no. 1 overall. "There’s a very real possibility that Arch Manning will not declare for the 2026 NFL Draft and instead return to Texas for his senior season," PFN wrote. "However, if that doesn’t happen, he has all the tools to be a top selection this year. "Manning has only started two college football games, but will officially take the helm for the Longhorns in 2025. From the small sample size he put on tape in 2024, it’s already clear he has the arm, athleticism, size, and overall skill set to be as good as any quarterback in the country.

Manning could be considered the best player in this class with a good season at Texas this year." If Manning enters the draft, he'd be considered the current favorite for the top overall selection. Manning is draft-eligible, but the general expectation is he'll remain in college beyond 2026. That was the route his uncles Peyton and Eli took. The NFL season is past its halfway point, as the NFL trade deadline has passed for the 2025 season. The college football season is nearing the playoffs, while the NFL playoff picture is also coming into focus.

Which means, it's starting to become clear which teams need to think about what they want to do in the 2026 draft. With a remixed order and the top prospects in flux, here's Sporting News' third set of first-round projections for what will go down next April 23 in Pittsburgh: MORE: Where Fernando Mendoza, other QBs rank in 2026 NFL Draft reset (No. 1-18 order courtesy of Tankathon; No. 19-32 from Week 9 playoff picture)

The New York Jets may yet again be searching for a franchise quarterback when the offseason rolls around. Current quarterback Justin Fields is under contract through next season, but that should not stop New York from selecting a quarterback in next year's draft. Many believe they will, including Bleacher Report's NFL Draft Scouting Department, as they have the Jets selecting Arch Manning with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. "Manning's draft stock will be purely projection until the season progresses further," Dame Parson wrote. "He struggled in his first start against a talented defense, with NFL-caliber game-planning, in a difficult environment.

Within the struggles, a couple of high-level throws were mixed in." Manning did struggle tremendously in his first true road game at the collegiate ranks, but he is expected to greatly improve from that game throughout the remainder of the season. Six weeks into the 2025 NFL season, the New York Jets find themselves in an all-too-familiar position—staring down the barrel of another lost year. At 0-6, they’re the league’s only winless team and, for the moment, hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. While the draft order is still subject to change as the season progresses, the Jets currently have the luxury of picking whoever they want and all eyes are on the quarterback position.

The Jets’ ongoing instability at quarterback has been one of the franchise’s defining issues for over a decade, and with a fresh shot at the top pick, the front office is expected to cast... The only problem? There’s no clear-cut QB1 in this year’s class. Most analysts agree this is one of the deeper but more divisive quarterback classes in recent memory. Different boards feature different names at the top, with no consensus pick like previous years. However, two well-respected ESPN draft analysts, Mel Kiper Jr.

and Jordan Reid, appear to agree on one rising star the Jets should have their eyes on: Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. A 6’5” pocket passer who transferred from Cal in 2024, Mendoza has taken the college football world by storm. He’s led the Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated start and vaulted them into the top 3 of the AP poll, something almost unthinkable just a year ago. After loading up on draft assets galore with not one, not two, but four big deals in the hours before the 2025 NFL trade deadline, New York Jets fans the world over have their... Sure, they still have to suffer through a few more months of lopsided losses, which will only grow more so without Sauce Gardner and Quennin Williams on defense, but the eventual spoils will be... But who should the Jets target?

Well, ESPN's Field Yates broke it down on NFL Live and identified three players fans should keep an eye on. “Yeah, let's start with who's been perhaps the best quarterback in all of college football this season. That's Fernando Mendoza for Indiana. He's completing north of 72 percent of his passes. He's got this powerful arm, has accuracy to all levels of the field. 25 touchdown passes this season.

He played at Cal the prior two years, Laura, and around better infrastructure in Indiana, he has cleaned up some of the areas which he was not brilliant at last season. Seeing some real growth from him. I do expect him to declare for this upcoming draft,” Yates explained. “Ty Simpson is just like a runaway train right now. He has 20 touchdowns, one interception. First-year starter for Alabama who waited and waited and waited some more to become the starting quarterback.

Few people thought he would be on the NFL draft radar, and he may go back to Bama for one more season, but he is showing out with major accuracy each and every week...

Jets Land The Face Of The Franchise Load Up On Elite Talent In Latest

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