The New York Jets have spent years looking for answers, and one of the clearest problems is hiding in plain sight: they can’t finish drives.
Since 2015, red zone offense has tracked almost perfectly with the team’s long slide. The Jets’ last season above a .500 record came in 2015, and that same year was the last time they were truly dangerous inside the 20.
They posted a 66.0% red zone touchdown rate then, good for third in the league. Since that point, the numbers have swung wildly downward and never really recovered.
The full run tells the story. The Jets finished 31st in 2025 at 44.7%, 21st in 2024 at 54.5%, dead last in 2023 at 32.4%, 31st in 2022 at 43.5%, 21st in 2021 at 54.9%, last again in 2020 at 42.1%, 19th in 2019 at 54.5%, 30th in 2018 at 44.4%, 15th in 2017 at 54.5%, and 32nd in 2016 at 35.2%. The pattern is ugly, and it lines up with the franchise’s 10-year run of losing seasons.
That matters because red zone football is where drives turn into points, and points decide games. A team can march the length of the field and still walk away with nothing if it stalls near the goal line. Even getting deep into opponent territory doesn’t guarantee much if the last few yards keep turning touchdowns into field goals.
The Jets obviously need to get better at moving the ball between the twenties, too. Their issues at quarterback, along the offensive line, and in play-calling have kept them from reaching the red zone often enough. But the bigger point is this: if a team is efficient once it gets there, it can survive without piling up huge trip totals.
Last year’s Philadelphia Eagles are the perfect example. They ranked 28th in red zone trips with 44, one spot ahead of the Jets’ 38.
But they finished first in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage at 70.5%, scoring touchdowns on 31 of those 44 chances. The Jets, by comparison, scored 17 red zone touchdowns with a 44.7% conversion rate.
That gap came despite Philadelphia getting only six more trips.
The Eagles still had an uneven offensive season, finishing 19th in points per game at 22.3. But they went 11-6 anyway, helped by an 8-3 record in one-score games, with the season finale in which they rested their starters counted out.
That is the real value of red zone efficiency. A touchdown instead of a field goal can flip the outcome of a close game. Sometimes it is the difference between losing by one and winning by three.
The encouraging part for the Jets is that there are pieces in place that could help them fix this. Second-year tight end Mason Taylor showed off strong contested-catch ability in his rookie season, but he finished with just one touchdown, suggesting there is more to unlock there in the red zone.
Braelon Allen, now up to 250 pounds, looks built for short-yardage work. Garrett Wilson, meanwhile, has produced some of the most impressive end-zone catches in the league during his career, yet he has only 11 red zone touchdowns in four seasons.
There’s also reason to think the offensive line can be part of the solution. The Jets’ young line is viewed as having a top-six ceiling in 2026, and that kind of development would matter most near the goal line, where blocking and timing shape everything, especially in the run game.
The Jets have spent enough time at the bottom of the league to know where the damage is coming from. If they ever turn the corner, finishing in the red zone is one place it has to start.
Their last season above 60% in red zone touchdown rate was also their last winning season. If they can get back to that level in 2026, it may show up where it matters most: in the standings.
In Other News...
Jets Receiver Battle Is About To Get Brutal At Camp
The Jets are heading into training camp with a crowded receiver room and a clear top of the depth chart, with Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell expected to anchor the group. After those two, though, the competition gets crowded in a hurry. New York has 12 wideouts on the offseason roster, and the mix includes rookies, undrafted players and a pair of names already drawing attention as the most realistic candidates to stick behind the starters.
Arian Smith and Isaiah Williams look like the ones to watch as the roster battle tightens, especially with Williams bringing special teams value and Smith still trying to turn his draft pedigree into a bigger role. The Jets will have to sort out who can help on offense, who can contribute in the kicking game and who is simply getting a camp look, which makes the final receiver spots one of the more intriguing jobs on the roster. It also means some familiar names are likely to be pushed toward the bubble quickly once practices get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans Will Instantly Recognize The Risk In Cade Klubnik Buzz
For Jets fans, the Cade Klubnik buzz comes with a familiar kind of warning label. New York has spent years trying to solve quarterback development, and now the conversation is shifting toward the Clemson passer as a developmental bet, the sort of talent evaluators can talk themselves into because the arm, movement and intelligence all look the part.
One scout sees enough there to believe Klubnik can be a decent NFL player, but the fit matters almost as much as the player. The concerns are the ones that tend to travel with young quarterbacks into the league: how he handles pressure, how often his decisions get loose when the pocket tightens, and whether the environment around him can keep those issues from becoming the story. For the Jets, that is exactly the sort of risk they know too well. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans May Not Like Where This Young Pass Rusher Stands
Tyler Baron entered the Jets offseason as one of the younger pass rushers trying to carve out a role, with the former fifth-round pick still early in his career and still carrying the promise that comes with it. He flashed enough last season to get on the field in six games and finish with nine tackles before a knee injury cut his year short, leaving the team with an incomplete evaluation as camp gets underway.
Baron now finds himself in a crowded fight for survival, the kind that can shift quickly over the next few weeks of practices and preseason snaps. He still has a chance to make his case, whether that means forcing his way onto the opening roster or making himself appealing enough that another team wants a look if the Jets move on. [Read more 🡒]