The Jets are heading toward the 2026 season opener against the Tennessee Titans, but for plenty of people around the team, the bigger conversation is already drifting toward the 2027 NFL Draft.
New York owns three first-round picks, and the expectation is that the club will be in position to chase its next franchise quarterback. Arch Manning, Dante Moore, CJ Carr, and Jayden Maiava have already been part of that discussion. Another name that belongs on the radar is Miami’s Darian Mensah.
Mensah wasted no time making noise in his Hurricanes debut. In Miami’s opening win over Stanford, he completed 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns. It was only one game, but it was the kind of performance that makes people pay attention, including those inside the Jets organization.
Against the Cardinals, Mensah looked sharp in every phase. He was accurate, showed touch, handled pressure when blitzes came his way, and looked composed at quarterback. For a first impression, it was about as strong as he could have asked for.
This is already Mensah’s third college stop, and each move has come with a step up in competition. He began at Tulane in 2024, then transferred to Duke for 2025. Across those two seasons, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 6,696 yards, 56 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
His production has climbed from Year 1 to Year 2, and now he’s in a spot to keep building on it. If he gets another 12-15 starts this season and is throwing to the best offensive talent he has had in college, with Malachi Toney described as a superstar, there’s plenty of room for his stock to rise.
Mensah isn’t the type to overwhelm you with pure arm talent, but his arm strength is good enough. The bigger selling points are his accuracy, touch and processing. For a Jets team that needs a long-term answer at the position, he’s the kind of quarterback who could be talked about a lot over the next few months.
The more talented the quarterback class looks, the better it is for New York. Manning and Moore are already expected to stay in the conversation, and Mensah should not get lost in the shuffle.
In Other News...
Jets Had Even Their Top Pick Guessing Before The Draft
The pre-draft process can be a maze for prospects, and David Bailey had one of the more confusing paths of all. About two weeks before the 2026 NFL Draft, the Jets canceled a planned meeting with the Texas Tech edge rusher, a move that left some uncertainty around how strongly they were considering him at the top of the board.
Bailey later said in an interview that he was unsure where he stood with New York, even as his agent told him the cancellation was not a sign of fading interest. The uncertainty ended in the biggest possible way for the Jets, who still made Bailey the No. 2 overall pick and made clear that a missed meeting was never the full story. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Enter Week 1 With Depth Concerns Aaron Glenn Couldn't Ease
The Jets are heading into Week 1 with a few key depth questions still hanging over the roster, and Aaron Glenn could only do so much to calm them before kickoff. Edge rusher Joseph Ossai and wide receiver Tim Patrick have already been ruled out for the opener, while rookie cornerback DAngelo Ponds and kick returner Kene Nwangwu were both listed as doubtful after dealing with calf and back injuries.
For a team trying to settle into a rhythm early, those absences matter because they trim the margin for error on both sides of the ball and in the return game. Glenn offered updates on where each player stands and sounded encouraged about Ossais recovery timetable, but the Jets still have to get through Sunday with some uncertainty attached to spots they were hoping would be settled by now. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Head Into Week 1 With Key Roles Suddenly In Doubt
The Jets are already dealing with a little September uncertainty before the opener even arrives, as Aaron Glenn ruled out edge rusher Joseph Ossai and wide receiver Tim Patrick for Week 1. Ossai was hurt in the preseason finale with a foot injury, leaving a spot on the edge suddenly unavailable, while Patricks absence trims another option from a receiver room that needs to settle in quickly once the games count.
There is more nervousness on the depth chart, too, with cornerback DAngelo Ponds and returner Kene Nwangwu both listed as doubtful because of injuries. Ponds is working through a calf strain, and Nwangwus availability is complicated by hamstring problems, which adds another layer of uncertainty to the Jets' special teams plans and secondary rotation heading into opening week. [Read more 🡒]