Early Jets 3-round 2025 NFL mock draft sends Aaron Rodgers back into the darkness

To say this season hasn't gone the way fans were hoping for is an understatement. The NY Jets are 3-7 and well in the conversation for a top-five or even top-three draft pick next spring.

Mathematically, the Jets aren't out of it yet. But, we'd be kidding ourselves in trying to finagle these Jets into the postseason by way of some dream scenario. This organization is going nowhere, and fast, this season.

As a matter of fact, the entire Aaron Rodgers experiment could very well end with a thud and without anything to show for it. The Rodgers signing, Davante Adams trade, and all of the other moves the Jets have made to keep their quarterback happy could wind up being for nothing.

Rodgers hasn't looked like the player he once was and the Jets look like they need to start planning ahead. So, where do they turn?

This coming quarterback class isn't the best, but New York just might want to give themselves a shot by addressing the position, even if Rodgers comes back for one more year. Heck, maybe a first-round quarterback motivates Rodgers just one more time.

With all of that said, let's dive into a quick, early mock draft.

Aaron Rodgers wouldn't escape an impending retirement in this 2025 Jets mock draft

Assuming Shedeur Sanders is gone by the No. 8 pick, the Jets trade back for a bit more value.

Following their trade-down with the Bengals, with the No. 13 overall pick, the Jets get their quarterback in Texas' Quinn Ewers. He's mostly graded out as a first-round prospect by many major outlets and, outside of Sanders, there aren't any prospects who look close to a sure thing.

Here, the Jets take a gamble they'd be taking with any of the other top prospects like Cam Ward, Carson Beck, and Jalen Milroe, among others.

Ewers has the prototypical arm and build, so he's got that going for him. Learning behind a passer like Rodgers in his first year, too, could be highly beneficial. Look at what sitting and learning did for Jordan Love, after all.

Is Ewers the answer? Maybe, maybe not. But, the Jets are in a position to at least try.

From here on out, the Jets try to address areas of need while also going with the best-player-available approach. Early in Round 2, New York brings in Minnesota offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery.

At 6-foot-6, 330 pounds, Ersery brings sufficient size and strength to the position and could be a long-term solution at right tackle for the Jets. Ersery plays left tackle for the Golden Gophers but could make the transition to right tackle in the NFL with Olu Fashanu manning the blindside.

With that third-round pick from Cincinnati, the Jets get a huge, physically imposing cornerback to pair with Sauce Gardner. Arizona's Tacario Davis is a towering 6-foot-4 and has great strength while possessing quick feet. He does have a tougher time keeping up with the fastest receivers out there, which is an area where better technique could benefit him.

Still, in the third round, Davis is a heck of a pick, especially with D.J. Reed headed for free agency in the offseason.

The Jets need a difference-maker at the tight end position, and with Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr., they just might have found it. Undersized in terms of the tight end position, Fannin is more like a big-bodied slot wide receiver standing 6-foot-3, 230 pounds.

He certainly qualifies as the athletic type and can be a real problem, vertically. Fannin is in the midst of his best year, yet, having caught 83 passes for 1,170 yards and eight touchdowns to this point on the season.

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