Ranking every NY Jets starting quarterback since 1990

The NY Jets have struggled to find an answer for the quarterback position over the last few decades. The hope is that the newly-acquired Aaron Rodgers will finally solve the team's QB woes, but that, of course, remains to be seen.

Not since the great Joe Namath have the Jets had a quarterback that can consistently help them win games. This organization has cycled through failed quarterback after failed quarterback in search of their next savior.

Just in the last 33 years, the Jets have had a whopping 29 different quarterbacks start at least one game. We thought it might be fun to look back and rank each of those QBs, solely based on their performance with the Jets since 1990.

Also, it's June. What else are we going to talk about? Let's dive in.

29. Trevor Siemian, QB, NY Jets

I genuinely feel bad putting Trevor Siemian here, as he's far from the worst quarterback on this list. Unfortunately, his brief Jets career is what lands him at this unappealing spot.

Siemian was thrust into action for one game in 2019, with Sam Darnold out with a case of mononucleosis. He completed just three passes for six yards before suffering a fractured ankle courtesy of Myles Garrett in the first half.

Thus was the story of Trevor Siemian's Jets career. It was brief, unspectacular, and well deserving of the last-place spot on this list.

28. Luke Falk, QB, NY Jets

The individual who took over for Siemian was none other than Luke Falk, who was signed off the team's practice squad just a few days prior. Falk was forced to make two starts after his first appearance, and neither went well.

Falk finished his Jets (and NFL) career with zero touchdowns and three interceptions on a lackluster 5.7 yards per attempt. Not that it needs to be said, but the Jets didn't win any of the three games Falk played. They scored just 23 points combined over those three weeks.

This was a dark era for the Jets.

27. Greg McElroy, QB, NY Jets

For a very brief moment in 2012, Jets fans were pleading for former seventh-round pick Greg McElroy to get his opportunity. He finally did, and the results were not great.

McElroy made his debut in Week 13, throwing the game-winning touchdown in a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. That helped him earn his first career start a few weeks later. That game didn't go so well.

McElroy completed 14 of 24 passes for 185 yards and an interception. He failed to score a touchdown, and the Jets were soundly beaten by the then-San Diego Chargers. McElroy never stepped foot on the field for a regular-season NFL game again.

26. Jack Trudeau, QB, NY Jets

A former second-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts, Jack Trudeau started two games for the Jets in 1994, filling in for the injured Boomer Esiason. He actually won one of those games as well, against his former team no less.

That said, Trudeau's performance in that game wasn't anything to write home about. He finished just 4 of 10 for 30 yards and an interception, but it was enough to secure a Jets win.

Trudeau played just one more NFL game after his one-year Jets stint, a relief appearance for the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1995.

25. Bubby Brister, QB, NY Jets

The following season, it was longtime Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Bubby Brister who filled in for the injured Boomer Esiason. Brister fare ever-so-slightly better than Trudeau.

The eventual 14-year NFL veteran started four games for the Jets, managing a win over the Miami Dolphins with a solid performance in Week 8. Brister finished his Jets career with four touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine total games.

It's safe to say that Brister had more productive stints in his career.

24. Browning Nagle, QB, NY Jets

The first quarterback on this list to actually start a season for the Jets, Browning Nagle was brutal in his one year as a starter in New York. The former second-round pick threw just seven touchdowns and a whopping 17 interceptions in 13 starts.

The Jets went just 3-10 with Nagle at the helm, and he would never start another game for the team. He has quite a few more starts than some of the others on this list, but he was so bad in those starts that he belongs at this spot.

23. Bryce Petty, QB, NY Jets

Bryce Petty actually started seven total games across two years with the Jets, even winning a game in his rookie season. Unfortunately, he just wasn't very good.

Petty finished his Jets and NFL career with four touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing just 53 percent of his passes. The Jets didn't give Petty much to work with, but it quickly became apparent that he was just not an NFL quarterback.

22. Rick Mirer, QB, NY Jets

One of the NFL's most infamous draft busts, Rick Mirer started six games for the Jets in the team's ill-fated 1999 season. Filling in for the injured Vinny Testaverde, Mirer went just 2-4 before he was eventually replaced by Ray Lucas for the rest of the season.

Mirer finished his Jets career with five touchdowns and nine interceptions, completing just 54 percent of his passes. His poor performance was made even worse by the fact that Lucas legitimately played well after taking over.

There was no career resurgence for Mirer in New York — just further struggles.

21. Michael Vick, QB, NY Jets

The Jets signed Michael Vick to serve as Geno Smith's backup ahead of the 2014 season, but just seven games into the year, Smith was benched in favor of the former Pro Bowler.

Vick would make three starts with the Jets and actually did alright for himself. He won his second start against the Pittsburgh Steelers and even became the first quarterback to reach 6,000 rushing yards in that same start.

Head coach Rex Ryan would soon turn back to Smith, however, and Vick once again found himself on the bench. He was a serviceable backup for those three games, but that's about it.

20. Frank Reich, QB, NY Jets

Frank Reich started seven games for the Jets during their infamous 1996 season that saw the team finish 1-15 in Rich Kotite's final year as the team's head coach. Reich was the one who led the Jets to their only victory that season.

The future Indianapolis Colts head coach recorded a pair of three-touchdown performances but also finished with 16 interceptions in 10 appearances. He also completed under 53 percent of his passes.

It's best not to dwell on the 1996 season for much longer, although we still have two more quarterbacks who started that season to talk about.

19. Glenn Foley, QB, NY Jets

And here's one of them. Former Jets seventh-round pick Glenn Foley earned the first starts of his NFL career during that infamous 1996 season, throwing three touchdowns and seven interceptions in three winless appearances.

Foley would actually stick around for a few more seasons as a backup, starting five more games between 1997 and 1998. He even started Week 1 for the Jets in 1998 before losing the starting job to Vinny Testaverde.

Foley had his moments with the Jets and made more of an impression than his numbers would indicate, but it's hard to rank him any higher on this list, given that he still went 1-7 as a starter.

18. Brooks Bollinger, QB, NY Jets

Brooks Bollinger was unexpectedly thrust into action in 2005 following injuries to both Chad Pennington and Jay Fielder — the latter of which never started a game for the Jets, so you won't find him on this list.

Bollinger was quickly replaced by the returning Vinny Testaverde before head coach Herman Edwards handed the job back to the former sixth-round pick.

2005 was a difficult year for the Jets, and Bollinger performed about as well as you'd expect a sixth-round third-string to perform. He finished the year with seven touchdowns and six interceptions, going 2-7 as a starter. The Jets finished 4-12, and Edwards was sent packing to Kansas City.

17. Quincy Carter, QB, NY Jets

Quincy Carter started just three games with the Jets in 2004, but he played well enough that he deserves to be ranked ahead of some of the others on this list.

Carter filled in for the injured Chad Pennington, leading the Jets to two wins in three starts. He nearly pulled off the win in his first start against the very talented Baltimore Ravens team as well.

Carter's Jets career finished with three touchdowns, one interception, and a 60 percent completion percentage. More importantly, their two wins with Carter helped earn the Jets a playoff appearance. He helped hold down the fort while Pennington was sidelined.

16. Kellen Clemens, QB, NY Jets

One of the less-talked-about Jets quarterback draft busts, Kellen Clemens started nine games for the team, with eight of those coming in 2007. Originally filling in for the injured Chad Pennington — an all-too-frequent trend — Clemens was actually named the starter even upon Pennington's return.

The former second-round pick didn't exactly make the most of his opportunity, throwing five touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight starts. The Jets flip-flopped him and Pennington for the remainder of the year.

That was Clemens' only opportunity to prove himself as a potential starter in New York. He'd start one final game in 2009, filling in for the injured Mark Sanchez, and that would essentially be it for Clemens' Jets career.

Credit to him, though, he did manage to carve out a 12-year NFL career. That has to count for something.

15. Zach Wilson, QB, NY Jets

Now, we've arrived at the only quarterback on this list to still be a member of the Jets' roster. It's difficult to rank Zach Wilson, given that his Jets career isn't over just yet, but it's hard to justify ranking him any higher than this.

Wilson has thrown 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in his first two seasons in the NFL. He's been outplayed by pretty much every other quarterback on the roster and looked like a deer in headlights the last time we saw him on the field.

Is it possible that Wilson turns his career around? Sure. But given what we've seen to this point, this ranking might honestly be generous.

14. Joe Flacco, QB, NY Jets

From Zach Wilson to one of his primary backups. Joe Flacco started nine games over the last three seasons with the Jets, and his numbers are actually pretty impressive.

The longtime Baltimore Ravens QB has thrown for 14 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 12 total appearances with the Jets. That's not bad at all, especially when compared to what Wilson and Sam Darnold did with similar supporting casts.

Ultimately, Flacco's lack of mobility and declining physical abilities served as significant detriments — his overall performance is worse than the box scores suggest. But Flacco had his moments with the Jets, most notably the team's miraculous comeback win over the Cleveland Browns last season.

He deserves his flowers.

13. Mike White, QB, NY Jets

Somehow this entire slide turned into a ranking of the Jets' 2022 quarterback room. I promise that was not planned. Mike White earns the nod over Wilson and Flacco primarily because of how high his highs were.

Don't get me wrong — the lows were low. But White provided Jets fans with genuine optimism at the quarterback position and even put together a Hall-of-Fame performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.

While he finished his Jets tenure with eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions in seven starts, he did complete over 62 percent of his passes while averaging a whopping 7.0 yards per attempt. He's one of the best backup quarterbacks for the Jets in recent memory.

12. Ray Lucas, QB, NY Jets

Speaking of great backups in Jets history, it's hard not to mention Ray Lucas. Following the Jets' thrilling AFC Championship Game appearance in 1998, fans were excited about a Vinny Testaverde-led team in 1999.

That was until disaster struck, and Testaverde tore his Achilles in Week 1. In stepped the aforementioned Rick Mirer, who sputtered in six starts. That was when Bill Parcells turned to former undrafted free agent Ray Lucas.

Lucas started nine games for the Jets and helped lead the team to the brink of playoff contention. In an otherwise lost season, Lucas provided Jets fans with a glimmer of hope and some fun weeks of football.

He doesn't have the longevity of the players above him on this list, but Jets fans will never forget what he did for the team in 1999.

11. Geno Smith, QB, NY Jets

Geno Smith never really got a fair shake of things in New York, all things considered. His rookie season was marred by inconsistency, but he still helped lead the Jets to a surprising 8-8 record. That would prove to be the peak of his Jets career.

Smith and the Jets would struggle in 2014, leading to his premature benching in favor of veteran Michael Vick. Rex Ryan would eventually turn back to Smith, but the damage had already been done.

One IK Enemkpali punch and an untimely ACL tear later, and Smith's Jets career was as good as over. He'll go down as a Jets draft bust, but it's nice to see him finally turning his career around in Seattle after all these years.

10. Sam Darnold, QB, NY Jets

Another young quarterback who the Jets didn't do any favors is Sam Darnold. The highest QB drafted by the Jets since Joe Namath at the time, Darnold was hailed as the savior of the franchise.

He had his flashes of greatness, but ultimately, Darnold's inconsistencies proved to be his downfall. He threw 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions in three seasons as the Jets' starting quarterback.

The Jets shipped him to Carolina ahead of the 2021 season and replaced him with a new young QB in Zach Wilson. Darnold's supporting cast got worse every year he was in New York, so it should come as no surprise that he never really developed.

Still, he wasn't a good NFL quarterback. It's hard to rank him any higher than this.

9. Neil O'Donnell, QB, NY Jets

The third and final quarterback on this list to start during the Jets' ill-fated 1996 season, Neil O'Donnell was the big-money free-agent signing who never panned out in New York.

O'Donnell started the first six games of the 1996 season, losing all of them before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the year. He ranks so high on this list, however, because of what he did the next year.

O'Donnell returned as the starter in 1997 and actually put together a very solid season. The former Pro Bowler finished with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions as the Jets improved from 1-15 to 9-7 in Bill Parcells' first year as the team's head coach.

Many will remember O'Donnell for his shortcomings, but he was a quality game manager in that 1997 season. He deserves a spot in the top 10.

8. Josh McCown, QB, NY Jets

Another veteran who served as a quality game manager for the Jets is Josh McCown. Very little was expected of McCown when the Jets signed him ahead of the 2017 season, but he actually put together one of the best single-season QB performances for the Jets in years.

McCown finished with 18 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, completing an excellent 67 percent of his passes that nearly matched a franchise record. He was even garnering Pro Bowl consideration early in the year.

Of course, McCown's second season with the Jets wouldn't prove nearly as fruitful as he struggled when filling in for the injured Darnold. Still, that 2017 season was impressive.

7. Ken O'Brien, QB, NY Jets

Remember, this list is only accounting for a player's contributions from 1990 to the present day. If this list included all of Ken O'Brien's career, he would most definitely rank higher.

O'Brien started 35 games with the Jets from 1990-1992 and even made the Pro Bowl in 1991, although he still threw more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10). He helped lead the Jets to one of three playoff appearances during his tenure that year.

Everyone will always remember that the Jets passed on Dan Marino to draft O'Brien, but the New York native had a quality NFL career. He earns the No. 7 spot on this list based solely on his final three years with the Jets.

6. Brett Favre, QB, NY Jets

It's easy to look back on Brett Favre's lone season with the Jets as a failure, but some of that is revisionist history. After all, Favre led the Jets to an 8-3 record over their first 11 games and looked like one of the better quarterbacks in football.

That was before disaster struck, and he tore a biceps tendon in his throwing shoulder. Favre would record just two touchdowns and eight interceptions over the final five games of the season, tanking his overall stats for the year.

The Jets would finish 9-7, losing four of their last five games, and miss the playoffs altogether. It's fair to wonder what might have happened had Favre not injured his shoulder. What would his Jets legacy be?

5. Boomer Esiason, QB, NY Jets

Boomer Esiason's first year with the Jets was a success. The hometown kid returned to New York and made the Pro Bowl in his first season, helping lead the Jets to an 8-8 record in 1993, falling just short of a postseason berth.

Esiason started two more years for the Jets in 1994 and 1995, although his team did him no favors. Coaching turnover and a Rich Kotite-led team in his final season tarnish Esiason's reputation, but he was a solid starter during his time with the Jets.

That Pro Bowl appearance certainly helps his case, as does the fact that he never threw more interceptions than touchdowns in any of his seasons as a starter. That's a rarity for the players on this list.

4. Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, NY Jets

Ryan Fitzpatrick had perhaps the single greatest season by any quarterback in Jets history in 2015. It doesn't matter that the team fell tragically short of the playoffs. It doesn't matter what happened the following year. That fact cannot be taken away from him.

The 2015 season was a magical one for the Jets as Fitzpatrick helped lead the team to a shocking 10-6 record. Fitzpatrick set a new franchise record with 31 passing touchdowns and fell less than 100 yards shy of becoming the second QB in team history to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.

Unfortunately, the Jets' 2015 season ended in heartbreak, and Fitzpatrick's second year with the organization was, for all intents and purposes, a disaster — contract dispute included.

It was very much a tale of two seasons for Fitzpatrick, but that glorious first year carries him into the top five.

3. Mark Sanchez, QB, NY Jets

We've reached the top three. First up, the quarterback who managed to find more success with the team than any other QB in recent memory.

Mark Sanchez may not be the reason the Jets went to consecutive AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010, but he will forever be the quarterback who helped get them there. And his performance in the postseason cannot and should not be overlooked.

In total, Sanchez started four seasons with the Jets, throwing 68 touchdowns and 69 interceptions. Despite his playoff success, he will still go down as a Jets draft bust. But he's also sixth all-time on the team in passing yards and has more playoff wins than any QB in franchise history.

Sanchez is absolutely deserving of a top-three spot on this list.

2. Chad Pennington, QB, NY Jets

Chad Pennington will always be one of the great what-ifs in Jets history. What if Pennington could have stayed healthy? What might his career have looked like?

As it stands, Pennington is still one of the best quarterbacks in Jets history. The former first-round pick started 61 games for the Jets over eight seasons, battling injuries every step of the way.

Pennington holds the Jets' single-season record for completion percentage and is the team's all-time leader in passer rating. He finished his Jets career with 82 touchdowns and just 55 interceptions before leaving to join the Miami Dolphins.

Pennington will be remembered as a gutsy fan favorite who provided the Jets with safe, consistent quarterback play. He could've been even better had injuries not derailed his career.

1. Vinny Testaverde, QB, NY Jets

Vinny Testaverde has to be the No. 1 QB on this list, if only for his stellar 1998 performance in which he led the Jets to a 12-1 record as a starter en route to an AFC Championship Game appearance.

You could very easily argue that said 1998 team was the best team the Jets have had since their Super Bowl-winning season. That season also marks the second-to-last time the Jets won the AFC East.

Testaverde never managed to reach those heights again, due in part to the torn Achilles he suffered in Week 1 of the following season, but that magical 1998 season can't be forgotten.

The Jets won more games with Testaverde at quarterback than any other QB since 1990. His No. 1 spot on this list is well-deserved.