Here We Go!
Edition #1214: The time has arrived, it's back to business and the Jets have a lot to prove. Rookies are in the building and all veterans will follow tomorrow.
Good Morning ☕
Rookies are in the building, veterans will follow shortly and now the real work begins. All those claps on the back for smart free agent signings or draft steals won’t mean a thing if it doesn’t translate to on-field performance. I don’t think Aaron Glenn is necessarily on the hottest of hot seats, but this is a results orientated business. If we come out of the gates with a 0-5, 0-6 record then questions are going to start to get asked.
We’re not expecting the miracles, the Jets are 350/1 to win the Superbowl for a reason. But the Jets have to show progress, they have to show fight and they have to be competitive throughout the season. Will any of that happen? We’ll find out.
NEWS & NOTES 🗞️
NT T’Vondre Sweat will start training camp on the non-football injury list due to an ongoing hamstring issue. Reports indicate that this is a minor injury and it’s not expected to sideline him for very long.
WR Tim Patrick will start camp on the PUP list with an undisclosed issue.
Edge Tyler Baron will also start camp on PUP with an undisclosed injury.
Training Camp Preview🟢⚪🗽
Return of Geno
Geno returning full circle to the team that drafted him is a good storyline, but will it have a happy ending? Geno is coming off a difficult season with Las Vegas where he threw 17 interceptions to 19 touchdowns, but despite completing over 70% of his passes in 2024 with the Seahawks, the old interception issues were starting to become a problem (15 INTs). The Jets aren’t good enough to survive a QB who turns the ball over at that kind of rate.
Then there is the attitude, the behaviour, the leadership. There were some small indiscretions in sin city where he flipped off fans for holding a sign that hurt his feelings, this off-season he was accused of battery which is no longer an active investigation, and pulled over for speeding. If he fails in New York it likely leads the Jets to their QB of the future, but it would also probably result in the end of his career.
I can’t stomach any losing campaigns for one of the top QBs in the 2027 draft, I’ve been down that road far too many times with the Jets and it never ends well. We all know that Geno is here to hold the fort until 2027, but if he can re-capture a little magic and give us something to cheer about, all the better.
Camp Battles
Training camp is a lot of fun for a lot of reasons, but a good old fashioned position battle makes it even better.
A lot of the Jets starting positions seemed to be largely nailed down. There is always some back and forth at the bottom of the roster as players jostle through special teams performance to hang on, but there are a couple of notable battles that will likely go down to the wire.
CB2
Who starts opposite Brandon Stephens? Azareye’h Thomas has the head-start based on his rookie performance where he allowed just 48% of passes to be completed into his coverage with 1 TD and 3 passes broken up. Nashon Wright has more ball production and potential turnover impact (5 INT, 7 PBU in 2025), but he’s also more likely to get beat (64.5% completion against, 800 yards and 8 TDs allowed in 2025), and then there is rookie D’Angelo Ponds. Most expect him to spend his time inside, but he played outside corner in college and combined lockdown coverage (under 50% completions allowed over 3 years) and ball production (7 INT vs 4 TD’s allowed in three years). Aaron Glenn won’t let size impact his decision considering his own career and I think there’s a chance that Ponds wins this battle come the end of August.
Kicker
This is a big one. You often don’t appreciate a good kicker until you have an unreliable one. Nick Folk decided to take his talent to Atlanta and considering how many games they play in a dome, it’s a smart move for a kicker who’s about to turn 42, but that leaves a gaping hole that the Jets need to fill. They’ve already worked through a few kickers this off-season including Younghoe Koo, but there are two left on the roster fighting for that #1 position, Cade York and Jason Sanders. Sanders got released by Josh Harbaugh because he didn’t believe he’d be effective in the north-east and Cade York has plenty of questions surrounding his accuracy. If I had to put money on one of them I would say that Jason Sanders has the consistency needed to win a competition, but I’m still thinking the Jets kicker is currently wearing another teams jersey.
QB2
As with the kicker there is the possibility that the Jets #2 QB is currently playing elsewhere. The Will Levis connection continues to do the rounds and Dillon Gabriel has come up more than once. But the Jets genuinely like Cade Klubnik, in that they see a great deal of potential in him and are keen to see what he can do throughout camp. If you look at the roster it looks like a three-way battle between Klubnik, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe. But I think that room will evolve over the first few weeks with Klubnik being the only guy that really sticks. If Klubnik shows enough over the first few weeks then he could be the one to secure that role, if he struggles a little bit then I’m sure the Jets will be keeping a keen eye on the waiver wire. Klubnik right now is head and shoulders above the other two in terms of the battle for QB2.
Safeties
I wrote about this recently but this is one of the more interesting position battles at Jets camp, and for the first time in a while it’s because the Jets have real talent at the position. I think Minkah is obviously the #1 safety in the room and will be moved around and see time at multiple positions, but who’s going to be the #2 safety alongside him? The Jets will play plenty of sub-packages to get 3 safeties on the field and Malachi Moore showed enough last year for the Jets to want to continue to develop him in 2026. Then you have Cisco coming back from injury and we forget that he had 8 interceptions over three years before landing in NY last season. Then there is Dane Belton who knows a little something about playing in NY, not forgetting V.J Payne who for me was the steal of the draft. That’s a name that will climb up the depth chart as we get into the belly of camp.
3 Dark Horses
VJ Payne
Going to start with that man VJ Payne who I’m labelling as the steal of the draft, not just for the Jets, but in general. If he bombs he’s going to make me look very silly, but I’m willing to take that change. Payne is 6-3, 206lbs with 4.44 speed. He started 41 consecutive games to end his college career, recorded interceptions in each of the last 3 years and had over 200 tackles in college. He’s an exciting name to watch as things develop over the coming weeks.
Chip Trayanum
This is a signing that’s flying a little under the radar because of chips lack of production at Ohio State. He played at 4 different schools but it was his final year at Toledo that really stood out, not only was he a team captain but he put up 1000+ yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s not elusive and he’s not explosive, but he’s built like a linebacker and he moves the pile. The Jets obviously have Braelon Allen and Isiah Davis in front of Chip, not to mention Breece Hall, but I think he could have a very good camp when all is said and done.
Caullin Lacy
I always like to have a wide receiver on a list like this and I was between the size of Malik McClain or the elusiveness and production of Lacy, in the end I’ve gone with Lacy who has a 1300+ yard season on his resume at South Alabama, and while his last two years in Louisville weren’t quite as productive, he showed some good signs in 2025 with putting up 600+ yards. He didn’t test that well at the combine but his return ability showcased his athleticism at the college level, and we’re about to see if that translates to the NFL. If anything happens to the Jets return men then that could open the door for Lacy.
AROUND THE LEAGUE 🛬🛄
The Lions placed Kirby Joseph, Tyler Conklin and Brian Branch on PUP to start the season.
Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett signed a reworked, one-year, $15.5 million guaranteed deal that could be worth up to $21 million with incentives.
Every draft pick has now signed their rookie contract.
Ravens placed six players on the physically unable to perform list ahead of training camp’s opening, including DL Nnamdi Madubuike.
The 49ers are not focusing on Brandon Aiyuk who is holding out for a new deal “I’m personally, and we as an organization, are going to focus on the players who are here,” 49ers GM John Lynch said. “We wish him well, we wish his family well.”
I am worried (of course I am as a Jet fan) what ‘Here we go’ means. The Sweat injury may be minor but hopefully isn’t followed by many more. Health and depth are hallmarks of good teams, but are prerequisites of teams trying to improve. The players on PUP so early around the league is not surprising but injuries like Scourton (Panthers) can derail a team. Fingers crossed 🤞 the Jets get through training camp healthy.
Being a die hard Jet fan, I must admit I’m having a hard time in believing in Aaron Glenn.
There were so many things that he did wrong last year, I really don’t want to insult the intelligence of the fans who post here by repeating his gaffes. There are rookie HC mistakes which are understandable and then there were Glenn’s
Glenn did the impossible last year. He surpassed Rich Kotite as the worst HC in Jet history.
When he was hired, he said “ that he would be involved in not only the defense supposedly his forte but also the offense.
The only thing he showed was that he was a stationary mannequin on the sideline, dressed like Zorro.
The one time he did move was when Will McDonald blocked a kick, scooped it up and scored.
Glenn ran all the way down the sideline with him. He was so exuberant that he failed to notice that the Buccaneers moved down the field faster than Sherman taking Atlanta. It was a piece of cake for them. Then again when you hire an incompetent DC, what do you expect.
Doesn’t it bother this fan base that in 4 years as DC in Detroit and his excellent guidance here last year that his defenses have only been higher than 20th once.
Detroit’s offense saved his a$$ a multitude of times.
Last year’s Jet defense probably set a record that could possibly never happen again, not one interception in 17 games that’s comparable to DiMaggios 56 game hitting streak.For you trivia buffs, after DiMaggio went hitless for the streak stopper, he went on another 16 game hitting streak.
Glenn came off last year as being very stubborn. He reminded us every week “ I know what I’m doing”. He tried his hardest to be Parcells #2. Problem was, Parcell’s words not mine, “ he had no pelts on the wall” to come off that way
One of the criteria that was used to hire him was that he played here, he knew what that was about. The high profile scrutiny, the rabid fan base. The whole New York thing.
Did he present himself that way last year, not a chance.
He came off as combative, inflexible.
Do I think he is on the proverbial hot seat, contrary to what Woody says, yes I do.
Knowing Woody, it’s a Cracker Barrel rocking chair on top of an active volcano.
Based on previous Woody decisions, he probably shot down the Martindale hiring because that would be another contract that he would have to swallow if Glenn doesn’t perform a miracle.
Why he would want Glenn calling the defense is very alarming, considering how his past defenses have performed. Then again Woody is probably trying to save a couple of shekels in case the inevitable happens.
It’s quite possible that the Jet HC job would be very enticing if it was empty for some high profile HC candidates because of the young players on the roster, the talent in the 2027 draft, the three-1s and the amount of salary cap space that would be available.
Would Tomlin be interested, couldn’t answer that but please if not hire a highly qualified offensive coach.
Hiring these defensive minded coaches like Glenn has been disastrous. You know the old saying about insanity. It’s when you constantly do the same thing expecting different results.
Back to Kotite, when Parcells replaced him the Jets went from Kotite’s 1-15 record to Parcells 9-7. Glenn went 3-14 last year replacing 2 HCs that went 5-12.
Proving the point when you hire a guy who knows what he is doing as opposed to a guy who doesn’t the results are very positive and spreads confidence through the fan base.
Rumor has it that bouncers at a night club stopped Geno from entering this weekend.
Geno supposedly said”Do you know who I am”
Bouncer responded, “Yea, we know who you are.”