With one preseason game left, the Jets’ roster battles are starting to come into focus. A few competitions still have some life to them, but at several spots the pecking order is already pretty clear.
At quarterback, Cade Klubnik has taken control of the QB2 race.
The fourth-round rookie entered the preseason as the likely favorite, and nothing that has happened since has changed that. Klubnik has gone 15 for 21 passing for 138 yards, a 71.4% completion rate, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also showed some useful movement against pressure, including a 16-yard scramble on third down in Week 2.
Bailey Zappe hurt himself badly in the opener by throwing two interceptions, while Brady Cook has looked capable in a QB4 role, including a 31-yard touchdown to Quincy Skinner Jr. on Friday night. Even so, Cook’s body of work last year and his work against third- and fourth-string defenses suggest more of a practice squad path than anything else. The bigger question with Klubnik is whether he has done enough to keep the Jets from looking at veteran quarterbacks who may become available on cutdown day.
At wide receiver, Omar Cooper Jr. has started to separate from Isaiah Williams for WR3.
That battle probably never should have felt as open as it did after Williams opened camp strong, but Cooper has settled things down in the preseason. Williams started over him in the first preseason game, but Cooper took back the first-team slot role in Week 2 and then came out after the opening drive with the rest of the starters.
Through two preseason games, Cooper has caught three of four targets for 30 yards and hasn’t dropped a pass. He hasn’t put on a fireworks show, but he has looked steady, and that matters when the Jets are expecting him to play a major role right away.
The linebacker picture is tilting toward Kiko Mauigoa for LB3.
Before injuries started reshaping the group, Mauigoa seemed to have the inside track over Mykal Walker and Marcelino McCrary-Ball behind Demario Davis and Jamien Sherwood. He got on the field late in the first quarter of the preseason opener, while Walker didn’t show up until the second half. Walker is now out for the rest of the summer with a knee injury, while Mauigoa missed Week 2 with a hamstring issue.
Walker still has a case, especially after finishing the season strong last year. From Weeks 14-18, he posted an 80.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 10th among linebackers over that stretch.
He also brought special teams value, finishing second on the team in special teams snaps last season with 302 and earning an 80.2 special teams grade from PFF, sixth on the team. Still, Mauigoa is the one who appears to be in the driver’s seat heading into the preseason finale.
In the secondary, Azareye’h Thomas has made a strong push for CB2.
The former third-round pick has shown the kind of upside that gets attention fast. Across the first two preseason games, Thomas played 13 coverage snaps and was targeted just once, and that target ended with a strong pass breakup in man coverage. Overall, he has logged 24 defensive snaps without allowing a catch, missing a tackle, or drawing a penalty.
That matters even more with Nahshon Wright sidelined by a hip injury. Thomas also fits what Aaron Glenn wants to do defensively. His athletic traits and strong senior season at FSU point to a player built for man coverage, and Glenn leaned on man at a higher rate than anyone in the NFL during his final year as the Lions’ defensive coordinator in 2024.
The kicker job is already settled, and Jason Sanders won it.
Even after a rough Monday practice in which he made two of five field goal attempts, Sanders kept the job and Cade York was waived on Tuesday. Later, special teams coordinator Chris Banjo confirmed that Sanders will be the Jets’ kicker moving forward.
Sanders spent his first eight NFL seasons with the Dolphins and finished 2024 by making 27 straight field goals, a franchise record. He has converted 84.6% of his career field goal attempts. York, meanwhile, has bounced through seven teams in five years since being drafted in the fourth round in 2022, and he has made just 73.3% of his field goals in 23 NFL games.
Sanders had the better preseason overall, making both of his field goal tries and both PATs. York hit both extra points, missed a 59-yard attempt, and his lone make from 38 yards barely cleared the upright and could have been ruled a miss. In the end, Sanders did enough to lock it down.
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