Jets’ Late-Season Surge Raises Big Questions About the Future-Especially at Quarterback
Don’t look now, but the New York Jets are quietly putting together some of their best football of the season-and it’s happening at a time when many fans have their eyes on the 2026 draft board rather than the win column.
Winners of three of their last five games, the Jets have shown real fight, even in losses to the Patriots and Ravens-two games where they entered as clear underdogs but still made it a battle. That kind of grit matters. It speaks to a team that’s bought in, playing hard, and not folding when the odds are stacked against them.
But with each win, the picture gets a little more complicated. Because while the victories are encouraging, they could also be pushing the Jets further away from solving the biggest question still looming over the franchise: who will be the quarterback of the future?
A Culture Shift in Progress
Head coach Aaron Glenn isn’t shying away from the progress his team is making. And he shouldn’t. This is a group that’s learning how to compete, how to close out games, and maybe most importantly-how to win.
“We want to learn how to win games,” Glenn said. “That’s the only thing that we think about as coaches and players is, man, how we win games and how we continue to build on the process that we have to create the outcomes that we want.”
Glenn’s perspective isn’t just coach speak. He’s been through this before.
Back in Detroit, he was part of a Lions team that won just three games in 2021 before jumping to nine wins the following season. That same group reached the NFC Championship Game the year after that.
Culture matters. Winning habits matter.
And Glenn knows how to build both.
With five games left in the 2025 season, the Jets already have three wins. There’s still time to stack a few more and walk into the offseason with momentum and a locker room that believes it’s on the rise.
The Quarterback Conundrum
But here’s where it gets tricky.
Back when Glenn was helping build that Lions turnaround, Detroit had something the Jets currently don’t: a steady hand at quarterback. Jared Goff may have been written off by some after his time in Los Angeles, but he brought stability to the position. That allowed the Lions to focus on building around him rather than chasing a top QB in the draft.
The Jets don’t have that luxury.
Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields have both taken snaps this season, and while they’ve had their moments, neither has shown they’re the long-term answer. The Jets need a quarterback.
Full stop. And the higher they climb in the standings, the further they drift from the top of the 2026 draft-where a player like Fernando Mendoza could be waiting to change a franchise.
There’s no sugarcoating it: winning now could mean missing out on the kind of quarterback who could lead this team for the next decade.
A Balancing Act for the Front Office
This is the tightrope the Jets are walking. On one side, you’ve got a team that’s showing signs of life, with a coaching staff that’s clearly getting more out of the roster than many expected.
That’s a win in itself. It signals growth, development, and a culture that might finally be turning the corner.
On the other side? The reality that without a true franchise quarterback, all that progress could hit a ceiling-and fast.
The Jets’ front office has to weigh both sides of this equation. Yes, it’s encouraging to see Glenn and his staff getting results. But if those results come at the cost of missing out on a top-tier quarterback prospect, the long-term payoff could be limited.
Big Decisions Ahead
The final stretch of the season will be telling. Can the Jets keep playing competitive football while still positioning themselves to address the most important position on the field? Or will this late-season surge push them just far enough out of range to miss their shot at a true game-changer under center?
It’s a good problem to have in some ways-after all, winning football is always better than the alternative. But make no mistake: the Jets are entering a pivotal stretch, not just for 2025, but for the shape of the franchise in the years to come.
Winning is contagious, no doubt. But for the Jets, the real victory will be finding the quarterback who can make it a habit.