It’s only Week 3 but the Jets are already back in familiar draft territory

It’s only Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season, but New York Jets fans already know this feeling all too well. A winless start, marked by a demoralizing loss to Buffalo and a heartbreaking finish against Tampa Bay, has head coach Aaron Glenn's team staring down the draft conversation before fall has even settled in.

This 0-3 start hasn’t been without positives. In Week 1, the Jets were in position to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers before a late Xavier Gipson fumble set up Aaron Rodgers and company for the game-clinching drive.

Against the Buccaneers, New York struggled through three quarters but stormed back from a 23-6 deficit to take a 27-26 lead, only to fall on a game-winning field goal as time expired.

There have been glimpses of hope, but in the NFL, you are what your record says you are. The Jets sit at 0-3, sitting firmly in the league’s cellar, again.

Jets draft talk arrives early again in Florham Park

Of course, the silver lining of a season filled with struggles is the chance to land a high pick in the next NFL Draft. The Jets are no strangers to that. Since 2016, they haven’t picked lower than 15th in the first round and have made six top-10 selections in that span.

The problem is that it hasn’t translated to results on the field. Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner, and Garrett Wilson have all looked like studs, but the Jets have swung and missed at quarterback multiple times and struggled to build a deeper group of wide receivers, which just can't happen in today’s pass-first league.

Given the trajectory New York and general manager Darren Mougey are on, they’ll likely have another chance to pick high and bolster an already young roster.

There are multiple 0-3 teams, and it’s far too early to know exactly where the Jets would land in the 2026 NFL Draft order. For now, though, they technically sit in the No. 1 overall slot. Let’s assume they’ll be selecting somewhere in that range.

That puts them in position for a quarterback in a signal-caller-rich draft, whether that’s LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Oklahoma’s John Mateer, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, Penn State's Drew Allar, or Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Realistically, they may need a top-three pick to secure one of those names, since quarterbacks are always the most coveted.

They could also look to boost the pass rush with Clemson’s T.J. Parker, Miami's Rueben Bain, or Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, adding another playmaker alongside Quinnen Williams. But the long-term issue has been the passing game, and that’s probably where the emphasis needs to be if the Jets want to keep pace with the rest of the league.

Of course, it’s still early to jump to conclusions. Fourteen games remain in the regular season, and the Jets have been competitive in two of their three outings, perhaps a sign of better things to come.

Their next true test doesn’t arrive until Nov. 23 against the Baltimore Ravens. Between now and then, the schedule features, in order of opponent, the Dolphins, Cowboys, Broncos, a Joe Burrow-less Bengals team, the Browns, and the Patriots. On paper, those are all winnable matchups.

At the same time, this is still a Jets team ironing out discipline issues, leaning on Justin Fields, who flashes brilliance one moment and spirals the next, and a secondary that struggles outside of Sauce Gardner.

Just as easily as they could steal wins, they could drop most of those games and wind up ‘competing’ for another high draft pick. History points to the latter.

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