The NFL world will take over Indianapolis this week and, yes, the Jets will be there this time. Over the last few years, Robert Saleh was known to skip the NFL Combine, feeling like he could accomplish more doing offseason work from the Jets’ facility in New Jersey. Most of his staff, outside of a couple coaches involved in on-field drills, stayed back too.
Aaron Glenn will be in Indianapolis for his first combine as an NFL coach. It’s a crucial event for him and his staff, as well as for first-time general manager Darren Mougey and his staff. They’ll try to not only find the prospects that fit into everything Glenn wants to schematically and culturally, but to initiate the conversations with others around the league as they look to improve the roster.
The combine is about more than just the draft prospects. The Jets arrived in 2023 trying to figure out who they wanted to pursue at quarterback. They met with then-free agent Derek Carr in New Jersey and then at the combine. Aaron Rodgers entered a darkness retreat as the Jets awaited word on whether he intended to play in 2023, and if he’d be interested in joining the Jets.
Of course, everyone knows how that played out, so now the Jets are back at square one at quarterback. There is no long-term solution on the roster, though veteran Tyrod Taylor is still around and perfectly capable of serving as a stopgap solution in 2025.
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The Jets have already started work on this quarterback draft class, and are digging into potential options via free agency or trade. There has been buzz about the idea of pursuing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields in free agency, and there’s believed to be some level of mutual interest, though the Jets have done a good job of keeping their intentions close to the vest. Fields is just one of many options, and he is a flawed option at that — a dual-threat quarterback with room to improve but also a long way to go as a passer. Other notable veterans who could become available (or are already set to hit free agency) include Carr (again), Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Daniel Jones and Jameis Winston. The Jets could also look into trading for unproven, young backups on other teams like Hendon Hooker (Lions) and Tanner McKee (Eagles).
Expect to hear noise about quarterbacks in this draft class the Jets are “in love” with and would want to pursue; there’s already been some of that with Miami’s Cam Ward, the consensus top quarterback in this class. That would require a significant trade-up from seventh overall — keep in mind, the Jets don’t pick again until 42nd overall (second round) and then not until the 92nd pick, in the third round. The Jets traded their own third-round pick in the Davante Adams deal, a curious win-now move for a team that had just fired its head coach. The Jets also don’t own their 2026 third-round pick as a result of the disastrous Haason Reddick deal.
But if the Jets believe Ward is a surefire starter and potential franchise quarterback, it is worth making a move. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Ward ranked 15th overall — the lowest ranking for the QB1 since 2022, when Kenny Pickett was the top quarterback prospect (and ranked 30th). Brugler’s scouting report on Ward: “There is a looseness to his game that is both worrisome and exciting, but it allows him to buy time and create explosive plays. After playing in a Wing-T offense in high school, Ward has made noticeable improvements each season in college, which creates optimism for his NFL future.”
It has been reported that Glenn prefers quarterbacks with mobility. Ward has some of that, though he didn’t run a whole lot at Miami or Washington State: He scrambled 32 times in 2024, which ranked 32nd among all college quarterbacks. Only 14 of his carries went for 10 or more yards, though he did rush for 17 touchdowns over three collegiate seasons. More impressive was that Ward threw 39 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 2024 and has improved as a quarterback each season — his untapped potential is a big reason why the Jets would even consider a trade-up.
If the Jets were going to draft a quarterback, it’s more likely at this juncture that they stick at No. 7, trade back or draft one after the first round. Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is the next-best prospect but he’s not an especially good athlete, nor does he meet the physical markers teams typically want in a franchise QB. This is a draft class that is viewed as having only two first-round prospects, but don’t let that consensus be the driving force when trying to suss out what the Jets might do. Just look at where Mougey came from, and how the Broncos approached the quarterback position in last year’s draft.
Head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton went out of their way to keep their affinity for Oregon’s Bo Nix a secret, going so far as to create a dummy draft board that ranked their quarterback preferences in “no particular order,” according to a report from The MMQB. This was both to keep their true feelings from getting out, and also to internally “prevent any sort of bias in discussion and also, simply, to keep the brass’ secret.”
At this time last year, Brugler had Nix ranked as the 37th overall prospect and fifth among quarterbacks. There were some rumblings that the Broncos had interest in Nix heading into the draft, but it still came as a surprise when they pulled the trigger and picked him 12th overall.
The Broncos ultimately fell in love with Nix regardless of how others felt about him. It worked out. After a slow start, Nix finished his rookie season with impressive numbers: 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns, 12 interceptions while completing 66.3 percent of his passes, a stat line that would rank among the greatest seasons in Jets history.
That’s a long way of saying: The Jets will be keep their plans close to the vest, and don’t put it past them to fall in love with a quarterback prospect regardless of the consensus rankings. If Glenn and Mougey truly believe in a prospect’s ability to take over, like the Broncos did with Nix, then it would be in their best interest to not wait until the second round and risk losing him.
The process for finding that sort of player will begin in Indianapolis this week, particularly in those private meetings the Jets are sure to have with players including (but not limited to) Ward and Sanders. Three others to keep an eye on: Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart, Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
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Dart and Shough have been getting a lot of buzz in league circles as potential first-round picks. Glenn and Mougey weren’t at the Senior Bowl, but according to most reports Dart and Shough both performed well in Mobile — Brugler was highest on Shough, who looks the part at 6-foot-5 and 224 pounds.
Brugler wrote this after the Senior Bowl: “With his size, arm strength and mobility, he has the requisite physical traits and sees the field well to deliver the ball downfield. If the main criticism against him is that he is already 25, plenty of teams can live with that.” (Nix, it should be noted, was 24 during last year’s draft process.) Shough’s college numbers weren’t as prolific as the other top prospects’ — he completed only 62.7 percent of his passes in 2024, with 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions.
As for Dart, there are some teams that have him graded ahead of Sanders in this class, though that’s not a universal feeling. He was prolific at Ole Miss and is a “natural thrower of the football with promising mobility and high-level competitive intangibles.”
Milroe is considered the biggest project of the three — with the most tantalizing potential because of his mobility. He rushed for 32 touchdowns at Alabama the last two seasons while throwing for 39 more, though he was inconsistent as a passer.
The other quarterbacks considered Day 2 or Day 3 prospects include Ohio State’s Will Howard, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Syracuse’s Kyle McCord and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel. If the Jets are seriously considering a quarterback in the first round, though, their meetings at the combine with Ward, Sanders, Dart, Shough and/or Milroe will go a long way toward deciding how they approach the position this offseason. Just don’t expect them to show their hand.
(Photo: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)
