Arian Smith’s latest preseason moment may have pushed him even closer to the Jets’ roster edge.
The New York receiver, a 2025 fourth-round pick, entered camp already under pressure. Drops had been an issue throughout the summer, and he was already being talked about as a possible cut despite this being only his second season. Against the Buccaneers on Friday night, that concern only grew when Smith dropped a Bailey Zappe pass that Tampa turned into an interception.
That kind of mistake is exactly what teams remember when roster decisions start getting real.
Smith is fighting for one of the few receiver spots that isn’t already spoken for. Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr., and the surging Isaiah Williams are viewed as locks if injuries don’t change the picture, and Tim Patrick, who joined the Jets after the draft, also appears headed for the Week 1 roster. That leaves Smith in a cluster with Jamal Pritchett and Quincy Skinner Jr. for what looks like the sixth and final spot.
Skinner finished Friday with two catches for 31 yards, while Pritchett added three receptions for 24 yards. Smith, by comparison, had just one target. After the interception, the Jets didn’t even go back to him, which says plenty on its own.
For a player whose calling card is supposed to be speed, the ball-security questions have kept dragging him back down. Draft analysts had already pointed to his hands before the 2025 draft, even though he turned heads with a 4.36 40-yard dash at the combine. That combination of burst and unreliable hands was enough to send him into the draft’s third and final day, and the same problem is still hanging over him now.
It’s also hard to ignore how little Smith produced as a rookie. In 16 games and five starts, he totaled just 65 yards from scrimmage.
With new offensive coordinator Frank Reich in the picture, there was at least a path to a fresh conversation. Friday night made that path a lot narrower.
At this stage, the Jets have little reason to keep feeding him meaningful preseason reps over the final two games. The most realistic outcome now may be that he clears waivers, lands on the practice squad, and tries to fight his way back from there. Smith turns 25 in October, and the drop issues haven’t gone away.
Typically, there’d still be time to change the story. Friday might have been the last chance.
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