It is never too early to look ahead, right?
ESPN NFL draft analyst Jordan Reid predicted that the New York Jets would get their quarterback in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft. With the No. 4 overall pick, Reid projected the Jets to take South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
“Sellers’ superb traits make him a contender for a meteoric rise up the board. He’s a true dual threat, having passed for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns with 7 interceptions in 2024 while rushing for another 674 yards and seven scores. Sellers will have to improve his pocket vision and ball security (six lost fumbles in seven games), but he has the physical tools that NFL teams covet. He reminds me a lot of Donovan McNabb coming out of Syracuse,” Reid said.
The Jets Are All in on Justin Fields for Better or for Worse
This offseason, the Jets stole Justin Fields from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Fields signed a two-year $40 million contract with $30 million of that guaranteed.
Shortly after signing Fields, the Jets brass officially crowned him QB1. No quarterback competition necessary.
Regardless of what anyone thinks outside the building, the Jets have stated they believe Fields can unlock a different level in his game in 2025.
#Jets GM Darren Mougey explained why they named Justin Fields QB1 without an open competition.
He reiterated how strongly they feel about Justin & that they believe in him. 😤
LINK: https://t.co/RdLnoz2OzB pic.twitter.com/lqQrLW9IvM
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) April 21, 2025
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Despite temptations during the 2025 NFL draft, the Jets didn’t select a single quarterback.
Part of that could be because this quarterback class wasn’t as heralded as other years.
For context, six quarterbacks went off the board within the first 12 picks of the 2024 NFL draft. In 2025, only two quarterbacks came off the board within the first 39 picks of the draft.
The other reason could simply be because they wanted to give Fields the best chance at success.
There are three possible outcomes for the Fields-Jets experiment.
He succeeds and is the franchise quarterback the Jets have been desperately searching for decades. Fields fails miserably, and the Jets replace him in 2026.
However, the third option is the worst possible outcome.
What if Fields is something in between? Not good enough to be a franchise quarterback, but not bad enough where you’re in a position to replace him?
Reid Explains the Sellers Jets Pairing at QB
In Reid’s mock draft, he had the Jets picking No. 4 overall in next year’s draft.
“I did not make the draft order. The order of these teams doesn’t reflect who I think will make the playoffs or who is going to the Super Bowl. We simply took the inverse of Super Bowl odds from ESPN BET, breaking some ties based on the 2024 standings and tweaking the back end to ensure the appropriate number of teams from each conference are in the playoff slots (Nos. 19-32),” Reid explained.
ESPN has set the over/under on Jets wins in 2025 at 5.5. Only one team is predicted to be worse, the Cleveland Browns, with a 4.5 over/under win total.
“If the Jets are picking this high, they probably didn’t have a great 2025 season. And that means they would be in the market for a quarterback, despite another year on Justin Fields’ contract,” Reid said.
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