The New York Jets are in the market for a quarterback.
That much is clear after the Justin Fields experiment fizzled out in New York.
Tyrod Taylor is in line to start Week 12 against the Baltimore Ravens, but the 36-year-old obviously isn’t the long-term answer in New York.
With all of the draft capital accrued at the trade deadline, the Jets are going to have plenty of pathways to address the quarterback position.
They could trade for a veteran, although they just tried the bridge quarterback route and it didn’t go so well.
Or, they could take another swing at a first-round quarterback, and hope it pays off better than it did when they selected Sam Darnold in 2018 or Zach Wilson in 2021.
Matt Miller Has the Jets Trading up to No. 1 Overall
ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller released a mock draft on Wednesday, predicting what each team will do in the first round of next April’s draft.
He predicted that the New York Jets would be aggressive and trade up with the Tennessee Titans for the No. 1 overall pick.
“Armed with two first-round picks and an additional second-round pick in 2026 thanks to the deadline trades of cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, the Jets are moving up to Tennessee’s spot at No. 1 in this mock draft,” wrote Miller.
Armed with five first-round picks over the next two seasons, the Jets can afford to sacrifice some of that capital to make a push for a quarterback of their choosing.
“Since the Titans used their 2025 No. 1 pick on quarterback Cam Ward, they could be persuaded to move down and accumulate draft capital to build around their young QB. In this deal, the Jets would send both of their first-round picks (Nos. 4 and 28) and their 2027 second-round pick to the Titans for the top selection.”
If New York falls in love with a specific signal caller during the predraft process, they likely won’t want to get beat out by any other team for the right to draft him.
That’s why Miller has them trading up in this scenario, to ensure they get their pick of the litter.
Jets Make Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza the First Pick
Of course, the trade-up is only part of it.
Miller continued in his prediction that the New York Jets would sacrifice two first-round picks and a second-round pick for Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“Jets general manager Darren Mougey didn’t load up on draft capital by trading away Gardner and Williams to watch teams pick quarterbacks ahead of him,” wrote Miller.
“So I had the Jets aggressively move up for Mendoza, a pocket passer with great touch and timing who can carve up a defense with surgical accuracy while providing enough mobility to execute on the move.”
Mendoza has been widely considered one of the top quarterbacks in college football this year and is the current favorite to win the Heisman Trophy on most major sports books.
“Mendoza might not be in Caleb Williams‘ class in terms of top QB prospects over the past five years, but he’s the best in this class and the Jets have to take swing at the position.”
“Justin Fields was just benched, and Tyrod Taylor isn’t the long-term answer. Mendoza’s 30 touchdown passes to five interceptions shows how careful he is with the football.”
The Jets’ Detroit Lions-based coaching staff could view Mendoza as their own version of Jared Goff, a prototypical pocket passer who is able to hit the layups and keep things steady on offense.
New York has plenty of time to decide what they want to do at the quarterback position until April, but until then, it’s safe to say this would be a fun place to start.
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