At 2-6, the Jets are what their record says they are. There’s no dressing that up, no matter how much talent sits on the roster. Bill Parcells used to say, "You are what your record says you are," and New York has spent this season living inside that line.
But if you’re sorting through the wreckage and looking for the one player who hasn’t earned any blame, Geno Smith stands out immediately.
Smith hasn’t been flawless, and nobody is pretending he’s playing like an MVP. Still, he’s giving the Jets quarterback play they haven’t really seen since Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015.
Against the Raiders last weekend, he completed 20-of-32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. His only interception came on a last-second heave into the back corner of the end zone.
That performance was just the latest example of how Smith has kept New York afloat in games that could have gotten ugly fast without him. At the very least, he has done enough to lock down the starting job for another season.
The bigger picture points to 2027. The Jets are expected to draft a quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft, and with three first-round picks next April, it’s nearly a lock that one of them will be spent on one of college football’s top prospects. But this time, the Jets should resist the urge to hand the keys to a rookie on Day 1.
They’ve already lived through that mistake with Zach Wilson and Sam Darnold. This time, the smarter move is to keep a veteran ahead of the youngster and let the rookie learn instead of being thrown straight into the fire.
Smith fits that role perfectly. He’s played well enough this year to deserve being the Jets’ starter in 2027, and he may also draw interest from teams trying to make a playoff push. That means New York could have to pay to keep him, no matter who ends up making the decisions.
And if the season ended today, Smith would already be putting together one of the best quarterback years in Jets history. On his current pace, he’d finish with 4,065 passing yards, which would be the most in team history, and 26 touchdown passes, which would rank fifth. His 69% completion percentage and 4.33 touchdown-to-interception ratio would also stand as franchise bests.
That’s why the Jets need him in the picture in 2027. He gives them a chance to stay functional on offense, and he’d also be an ideal guide for whoever they decide is next in line to be the franchise answer.
He’s been through that exact process before, when the Jets drafted him in 2013.
In Other News...
Jets Painful Reset Is Starting To Look Very Different One Year Later
One year after the Jets made the kind of franchise-altering move that usually gets judged for years, the picture around those deals is already changing. New York sent Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams away on Nov. 4, 2025, and in return landed a pile of draft capital plus Adonai Mitchell and Mazi Smith, a reset that looked painful in the moment but was clearly meant to give the team more ways to rebuild on the fly.
The early returns have helped the Jets feel a little better about the path they chose. Indianapolis has stumbled through a losing stretch and roster changes since the trades, Gardners play has dipped, and Mitchell has given New York a dependable presence at receiver. With so many picks in hand, the Jets now have the flexibility to keep reshaping the roster however they see fit, which is exactly why this kind of move was made in the first place. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Draft Focus Is Already Shifting After This Brutal Start
The season has barely settled in and the conversation around the Jets is already drifting toward April. After a 2-6 start, the front office is looking ahead to a 2027 draft haul that includes three first-round picks, a rare chance to attack more than one hole at once and reset a roster that still needs help in key spots.
Among the names drawing early attention are Georgia cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, Tennessee defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam and Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr. The fit is obvious enough: the Jets need more help in the secondary, more juice up front and more clarity in the quarterback room, and with that kind of draft capital, they can start lining up answers well before the board is set. [Read more 🡒]
Breece Hall Just Got Pulled Into A New York Trade Twist
The running back market is suddenly part of the conversation in New York, with the Giants exploring ways to add help before the NFL trade deadline and Jonathan Taylor emerging as the name drawing the most attention. Indianapolis may not make that easy, though, since the Colts are believed to be asking for a steep return and could still decide to keep Taylor for the rest of the season, which would force the Giants to keep looking at other options.
If Taylor never becomes available, the search could shift toward familiar names on the board, and Breece Hall is among the backs being mentioned in that broader discussion. For the Jets, it is the kind of cross-town wrinkle that naturally gets noticed, even if the market is still fluid and the deadline picture remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]