How Jets could pick a quarterback in 2026 NFL Draft just not at No. 2

Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.This is the second in a two-part series examining the Jets’ options at quarterback.

We examined veteran options in the first part and now we take a look at what the Jets could do in the NFL draft.When it comes to quarterbacks, the Jets and the NFL draft, they might have to adopt the old rallying cry of the Brooklyn Dodgers and “Wait Till Next Year.”The Jets find themselves in an unbelievable situation this year where they have the No.2 overall pick in a draft where only one quarterback — Fernando Mendoza — is seen as worth taking at the top of the draft.If the Jets can’t find a quarterback in this year’s draft, the expectation is that they can find one in 2027 when the Jets have three first-round picks to use as ammunition to trade up if they need to.

The 2027 draft is viewed as having many quarterbacks worth a top pick, but we are 13 months away from that and Arch Manning, Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers all have a college season to play and things can change.“It’s a weird place [for the Jets] to be in if I’m being frank and being honest,” said former Titans general manager Ran Carthon, who is now an analyst for SiriusXM, “just because if you remember like we came into the 2025 draft saying that, ‘Oh my god, like, you just wait, the 2026 draft class is gonna be loaded.’ And there are good players in this draft, but then now we’re saying that for 2027.You know, like 2027 is going to be loaded.”NFL Network analyst Charles Davis points out that at this time last year, we would have thought Manning would be the potential No.

1 pick in 2026.“If you and I had talked at this time last year, we would have been like, ‘Hey man, that 2026 class is loaded.’ That is not revisionist history,” Davis said.“Now, we’re talking about, ‘I don’t know about these guys.’ Things change quickly in both directions.

[Joe]...