Jets are paying the price for Darren Mougey’s biggest offseason blunder

The New York Jets are in the first year of what could be a very long rebuild under Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey. With the Jets remaining the only 0-7 team in the league under their leadership, both of them are in the crosshairs of an understandably impatient fanbase.

Mougey has had plenty of wins after his first offseason. The 2025 NFL Draft class, led by Armand Membou and Mason Taylor, appears to be a strong one. The trades for two defensive tackles in Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs improved the defensive line, Brandon Stephens has proven free agency doubters mostly wrong, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. looks terrific.

However, Mougey didn't allocate enough resources to the skill positions, especially wide receiver. Garrett Wilson missing his first career game in Week 7 against the Carolina Panthers put Josh Reynolds, Arian Smith, Tyler Johnson, and Allen Lazard into prominent roles they clearly were unable to make the most of.

The resulting 13-6 loss to Carolina underscored that Mougey's biggest offseason mistake, namely rolling out a non-competitive wide receiver room, was so debilitating that it makes the offense borderline impossible to operate without Wilson making plays on the outside.

Jets paying price for Darren Mougey not improving WR room

Smith has been getting open, but he never managed to get on the same page with Fields. When his whole game is being a deep threat burner down the field, and no quarterback on this team can throw downfield, his ability to make an impact in this offense becomes very limited.

Reynolds has made a few catches in recent weeks, but he shouldn't be anything more than a No. 3 wide receiver at this stage of his career. Johnson has played about as well as he usually has during his career, which is to say that he isn't playing very well.

If the Jets use their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on a franchise quarterback and use every subsequent selection to select wide receivers and pass rushers, there may not be many fans who would be upset with that move. At different points this year, the lack of depth in those two areas has knee-capped them.

Mougey can't fix this poor roster in one offseason, and he seems to have checked off quite a few wins in some of his additions, but his big mistakes in acquiring depth at key areas keep coming back to haunt this team.