Gang Green Nation
The New York Jets have been eliminated from the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season. You know what the Jets haven’t done even once in those 15 years? They’ve never made the first pick in the NFL Draft. In fact, they haven’t made the first pick in the NFL Draft since 1996 when the franchise selected Keyshawn Johnson. So how can the Jets get there this year? It’s complicated.
The first step is that the Jets have to lose out. They have the Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, and Buffalo Bills, with three of those games on the road. A quick reminder in case you’ve forgotten, the Jets have just one road win this season, against the Jake Browning led Bengals.
A loss to the Jaguars and the Patriots seems secured. However, the Saints and Bills, not so much. Why the Bills? Well, there’s no guarantee that the Bills will be playing for anything that week. If the Pats have the division secured and the Bills are locked into their wildcard spot then they probably play backups in that one.
Meanwhile, the game with the most consequence is the Saints game. Both of these teams need quarterbacks and both of them are in contention to pick number one. How this game goes could determine the future of both franchises. Not unlike the Jets/Pats game just two years ago that landed the Pats Drake Maye, or the Jets/Titans game way back in 2014 that landed the Titans Marcus Mariota. Of course, the Jets won both of those games and in return they were rewarded with Olu Fashanu in 2024 and Leonard Williams in 2015.
If the Jets lose to the Saints and completely lose out as a result, they will have a legitimate chance to select first overall. However, they’ll need a lot of help.
As things stand the Jets are set to select seventh overall, as they’re caught up in a glut of two and three win teams. The good news is, if they lose out, they just need five others to find one more win, as the Jets would already be past the Saints.
Let’s start looking at the teams in front of the Jets and their upcoming schedules. Starting with the team that currently owns the top pick, the New York Giants.
Giants: Washington Commanders, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, and Dallas Cowboys
The Giants have the easiest schedule of anyone remaining and will play a huge role in who picks number one. Both the Commanders and the Raiders are currently slated to pick in front of the Jets. But the best case scenario here isn’t a split. As you’ll see when the games for both the Raiders and Commanders come up, the Giants are their easiest opponent left. So, the best case scenario would be the Giants defeating the also under .500 Vikings and losing to both the Commanders and the Raiders.
Let’s use that as...
