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Jets insider reveals private workout results of polarizing QB prospect

Could Drew Allar be a Jets draft target?
Charlie Baduini
Charlie Baduini

The Jet Press

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The New York Jets need a quarterback. Yes, they acquired Geno Smith to be their starter for the 2026 season, but what about after that? No one expects the former Jets draft pick to be under center for the next five years.

New York needs a long-term plan at quarterback, and the best way to find one is in the NFL Draft. Of course, in the upcoming class, there's no sure-fire QB prospects outside of Fernando Mendoza, and you can practically put him in a Silver & Black jersey already.

The Jets are better off taking a dart throw on a mid-to-late round quarterback prospect, someone they can hope to develop into a future starter, or at least a competent backup. They have three first-round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft, and will likely put all their eggs in the hopeful franchise quarterback basket then.

But when it comes to the 2026 NFL Draft, it seems the Jets already have their eyes set on a handful of prospects, including Penn State quarterback Drew Allar.

Jets 'pretty impressed' with Drew Allar after private workout

SNY's Connor Hughes revealed on his podcast, Jets Final Drive, that New York hosted Allar and roughly a dozen of his Penn State teammates on a private workout last week, and they were fairly impressed with what they saw from the Nittany Lion.

"They had something like a dozen Penn Staters in for a private workout. Among those players, the big name there was Drew Allar. And among the reasons why the Jets chose to bring everybody with Drew Allar...is when they put him through a workout, he was throwing to his guys. I was told they came away pretty impressed. He's a big dude, strong arm, great build, a lot of attributes there that you love."
Connor Hughes

Hughes added that there's still "some of the mental game" that needs work on Allar's end of things, but that doesn't make him undraftable. His size and physical abilities make him one of the more polarizing prospects in the upcoming class.

Allar needs time to develop. If he's drafted to be a Day 1 starter, there's a good chance that it could get a general manager or head coach fired. Luckily, if he were to go to the Jets, he would be behind Smith and likely another veteran quarterback who New York plans on adding at some point this offseason.

The Jets shouldn't make Allar a priority in the upcoming NFL Draft. If he's available to them in the fifth or sixth rounds, that's the perfect spot to take a shot on a developmental project.

Any higher, and you risk lighting a valuable draft pick on fire that could help New York in the short-term.

Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini covers the New York Jets as a site expert for The Jet Press and FanSided. He is a sports journalist based in Northern New Jersey with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in print and broadcast journalism. Baduini’s byline can also be seen on Heavy and The Sporting News, where he covers several teams across the NFL and NBA. His work has been featured in Heavy, Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and Yardbarker. He also serves as a seasonal intern for ESPN, working as a production assistant for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony every year since 2022. Baduini has been a Jets fan for as long as he can remember, with his family's fandom dating back to the 1960s when his grandfather, Louis, became a season ticket holder. His family has since held on to the tickets to this day. He is an avid fan of the New York Knicks and New York Mets.