Ranking the AFC East QB rooms: Where do Aaron Rodgers and the NY Jets stand?

The NY Jets are primed to be contenders in 2024. That much is sure. They have a talented roster from top to bottom, Super Bowl aspirations, and the built-up pressure of years of failure waiting to be unleashed.

While talented, the AFC East landscape is loaded with contenders and teams that cannot be underestimated. Buffalo has claimed the division crown in the last four seasons.

Miami has a high-octane offense with an upstart young head coach looking to make his mark. In New England, a new era has dawned and the shadow of their former greatness still looms large.

We're going to take an in-depth look at how these four teams stack up against each other, position by position, starting with perhaps the most important position in all of sports, the quarterback.

For this exercise, we're looking at the entirety of the room, so while star power is important, injuries are a fact of life in the NFL and depth matters. Therefore backups and role players will be considered in these rankings.

With all that said, let's get into these rankings and see where the Jets stack up. We're going to go in order of worst to first and provide a detailed breakdown of what each team has to offer and where they may fall short.

4. The New England Patriots - Jacoby Brissett returns, Drake Maye will try to prove he's a franchise QB

First, the depth chart: Jacoby Brissett enters as the presumptive starter, Drake Maye is the No. 2 QB who may take over starting duties at some point in 2024, and 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe will battle 2024 sixth-round pick Joe Milton for the No. 3 QB spot.

Brissett has fans in the Jets locker room, and some fans even preferred him as a stop-gap QB over Aaron Rodgers last offseason. He's also torn the Jets up in the past, most recently going 10 for 13 with 100 yards and a touchdown in relief of Sam Howell in the Jets' Week 16 matchup with Washington last season.

As a starter, first in Indianapolis and later during Deshaun Watson's suspension in Cleveland, he's proven to be a steady hand. That said, Brissett is more likely not to be the reason you lose a game than the reason you win a game.

For his career, he averages just 6.6 yards per attempt, meaning he's taking a lot of check-downs and dump-offs. His career 51 touchdowns to 23 interceptions demonstrate that while he's careful with the ball, he's not going to put a lot of points on the board.

All in all, this makes him a high-level backup QB. The kind that can keep a team in the game if the starter misses time and can be lifted by his defense and supporting cast. Unfortunately for New England, he won't have a lot of help from his playmakers to mask some of his limitations.

Many assume at some point during the 2024 season, Brissett will hand over the reins to this year's third overall pick, former University of North Carolina Tar Heel Drake Maye.

Maye is a big and athletic quarterback who played in a sub-optimal system at North Carolina. He will use his athleticism to keep plays alive and is always searching for the big play downfield.

As per Pro Football Focus's scouting report, this can be both a blessing and a curse for Maye. When it works, he's able to utilize his superior athleticism and rocket arm to keep plays alive and make something happen downfield, but when it doesn't his footwork betrays him and he can misfire badly leading to turnover-worthy plays.

How the soon-to-be 22-year-old turns out is anyone's guess. He's obviously got all of the tools to be a star and could end up quickly becoming the best QB in the division. However, for that to happen, he'll need to improve his footwork and decision-making, specifically under pressure, to not bust.

Lastly, you have Zappe and Milton vying for the No. 3 spot. Zappe has often been former New England QB Mac Jones' replacement over the last two seasons. The results have been mixed with him posting a 70.7% completion percentage in 2022, which then plummeted to 59.9% in 2023.

Milton is a cannon-armed rookie out of Tennessee. He's raw but has some intriguing tools as a developmental QB, which is why he was ultimately selected in the sixth round. Look for the Patriots to move on from Zappe while holding on to Milton as their developmental third QB.