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The New York Jets appear headed in a positive direction with Aaron Glenn at the helm following the humiliating debacle that was the 2024 season (and all the miserable years that preceded it). The Jets’ new leader is emphasizing culture. Glenn isn’t promising a miraculous turnaround. Instead of slapping paint on the exterior, he’s trying to fix a rotten foundation. It’s a level-headed approach to team building but it takes time. And if there’s one thing that football fans hate, it’s anything that takes time.
Fortunately, fans don’t have to wait for scorching-hot takes as the NFL generates opinions year-round. Here are three particularly hot Jets takes to ponder at the start of summer.
The New York Jets will win the AFC East
Please take a minute to allow your eyes to adjust through the tears of laughter. All good? OK. Yes, that’s a real thing that someone said. And that someone is former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
Now, it should be noted that Johnson started his career with the Jets (although that didn’t exactly end well). And he is friendly with Glenn, as they were teammates in New York for four seasons. Johnson even prefaced his prediction by acknowledging that “I am a homer and I am a good friend of Aaron Glenn.” But the pick wasn’t just a tongue-in-check throwaway aimed at flattering his buddy or the fanbase.
Johnson spent a couple minutes discussing the changes New York made to its coaching staff and roster this offseason, concluding that he’s “high on the Jets” and picking the woebegone franchise to finish first in the division.
Now, there are hot takes and then there are hot takes. And this, friends, is the latter. The Jets last won the AFC East 23 years ago – in 2002 (with a 9-7 record by the way). That was one of two times New York has won the division since the merger in 1970.
Forget winning the division, the Jets haven't reached the playoffs in 14 years. Their last winning season came in 2015, which was also the last time the team finished better than third in the AFC East.
There’s really no need to pile on with all the reasons the Jets absolutely will not win the division in 2025. But here are a couple more.
The Jets have gone a miserable 16-44 against AFC East opponents since 2015. They’re 6-24 against their division rivals over the last five seasons, including a 2-4 finish in 2024. The Buffalo Bills have dominated in recent years, winning the AFC East five straight seasons. And there’s no reason to assume that will change with Josh Allen coming off an MVP campaign.
But even if Buffalo falters, the Miami Dolphins have finished second each year since Mike McDaniel became head coach in 2022. Additionally, the New England Patriots appear much improved. The team hired Mike Vrabel as its head coach this offseason and added wideout Stefon Diggs as a weapon for talented second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
The division features Josh Allen, Tua Tagovailoa and Drake Maye. And the Jets have Justin Fields (more on him shortly). Preseason projections have the Jets winning 5.5 games in 2025. So, painful as it is to admit, there’s a far, far greater chance that the Jets finish last in the division than first. And the team seems destined to extend its soul-crushing playoff drought, which is already the longest in North American professional sports.
Justin Fields is about to break out
Aaron Glenn is actually largely responsible for the Fields hype, as he set lofty expectations for the fifth-year passer, telling reporters, “I just think he’s ready to break out as a top-notch quarterback,” per NFL.com. That sentiment has been picked up by others as the offseason has progressed.
ESPN’s Ben Solak predicts that Fields will resurrect his career this season like Geno Smith in 2022, Baker Mayfield in 2023 and Sam Darnold in 2024. Of course, each of those passers threw for over 4,000 yards in their breakout campaigns while accounting for 31, 29 and 36 total touchdowns respectively.
Fields has never come close to that level of production over the first four years of his career, as he tops out at 2,562 passing yards (in 2023) and 25 total touchdowns (in 2022). It’s unrealistic – and unfair – to expect Fields to follow in those QB’s footsteps, particularly given the Jets’ dearth of receiving talent (more on that shortly) and the coach’s desire to run the ball as much as possible with three different backs.
While Solak stops short of predicting a 4,000-yard passing season from Fields this year (which would put him just behind Joe Namath for the all-time single-season franchise record of 4,007 yards), he does anticipate 3,000 passing yards, 900 rushing yards and 30 total touchdowns.
Although those numbers don’t seem entirely out of the realm of possibility, that stat line would go down as one of the greatest in team history – which honestly says a lot about the Jets.
However, team reporter Randy Lange took things a step further, blowing Solak out of the water with a preposterous prediction of 4,500 total yards and 35 combined touchdowns for Fields in his Jets debut. That would demolish the franchise record of 4,175 total yards (held by Ryan Fitzpatrick) and top the team’s all-time single-season QB touchdown mark of 33 (also Fitzpatrick).
Beyond crushing Jets’ records, a 4,500-yard, 35-touchdown campaign would make Fields an elite NFL quarterback. For perspective, only five QBs hit both those marks last season. Josh Allen won league MVP with 4,262 total yards and 40 combined touchdowns.
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It’s time to pump the breaks on Fields. Yes, it would be great to see him succeed and find a permanent NFL home after playing for three different teams in five seasons. But expecting him to make the leap from borderline starter to top five quarterback on a Jets team that ranked 24th in offense last year with Aaron Rodgers leading a far more talented group of pass catchers is absolute madness.
Josh Reynolds can be the Jets’ WR2
Reports from minicamp indicated that newly signed wideout Josh Reynolds is winning the WR2 battle, suggesting the Jets should be comfortable going into the 2025 season with the veteran wideout starting opposite Garrett Wilson.
Reynolds is entering his ninth season in the league. In that time he’s earned a reputation as a strong blocking receiver, which should help him get on the field in what figures to be a run-heavy scheme under Glenn. However, the 30-year-old wideout has eclipsed 600 receiving yards just twice in his career.
Reynolds finished with 52 receptions for 618 yards and two touchdowns while operating as the WR3 behind Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. And he was the Detroit Lions’ third-leading receiver in 2023, catching 40 passes for 608 yards and five touchdowns.
Reynolds did draw 13 starts that season, essentially operating as the Lions’ WR2 after Jameson Williams’ four-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy. However, there was a massive gap between tight end Sam LaPorta, who functioned as Detroit’s second receiving option, and Reynolds.
As the roster currently stands, the Jets don’t have a tight end capable of replicating LaPorta’s 86-catch, 889-yard, 10-touchdown output from 2023 (those are completely unrealistic numbers to expect from Mason Taylor in his rookie season). So New York will need more than 40 receptions, 600 yards and five scores from whoever ends up as the team’s WR2.
Last season New York had four players with at least 51 receptions, 449 yards and four touchdowns and a fifth receiver had 37 catches for 530 yards and six scores. And the team won five games, ranking 24th in offense.
Even if Reynolds is able to match his career-best output in 2025 (with Fields and first-time OC Tanner Engstrand), that production simply wouldn’t be enough.
The problem is, the Jets don’t really have many options for the role. Allen Lazard is Reynolds' primary competition at the moment. But it’s unclear if Lazard will still be on the team by the time the season rolls around.
Whether the Jets ultimately decide to keep him, cut him or trade him, Lazard has never caught more than 60 passes in a season and he’s never had more than 788 receiving yards. And that’s despite playing with MVP-caliber Aaron Rodgers in his Green Bay Packers days.
Additionally, drops are a persistent problem for Lazard. He had the sixth-highest drop percentage among wideouts last season.
Beyond Reynolds and Lazard, the Jets have second-year wideout Malachi Corley, who’s already in danger of being cut, and fourth-round rookie Arian Smith, who will need some development time before taking on a significant role in the offense.
So, the Jets must make a decision. Go with Reynolds in a role he’s not suited for or acquire a wideout capable of opening up the offense and taking some coverage off of Garrett Wilson. Of course, the most likely outcome is a million dump offs to the running back – split three ways between Breece Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis naturally.
