The NFL doesn’t operate on hindsight, but fans and the media certainly do. If you’re a New York Jets fan, one otherwise forgettable December win suddenly feels worth revisiting.
Back in Week 13, the Jets entered a matchup with the Atlanta Falcons sitting at 2-9.
Their season was effectively over. Playoff hopes were dead. The franchise was simply trying to find anything positive to build around after another miserable campaign, so naturally, they did what NFL teams are supposed to do. They won to infuse some confidence.
No one in that locker room was thinking about draft order. Coaches don’t tank. Players don’t intentionally lose. That mindset belongs elsewhere. This isn’t the NBA. Guys are fighting for jobs with every snap/ Still, hindsight opens the door to an interesting conversation.
That victory over Atlanta would prove to be New York’s final win of the season. Instead of finishing with the NFL’s worst record, the Jets landed tied among the league’s basement dwellers. Four teams had won three games. The Las Vegas Raiders claimed the top pick and used it on quarterback Fernando Mendoza. New York ultimately earned the second overall selection, and they pivoted toward edge rusher David Bailey.
Bailey was a solid selection and may become a star. That isn’t the point, not right this second anyway. The more interesting question is obvious. What if the Jets had lost to Atlanta? Would Fernando Mendoza be Gang Green’s new franchise quarterback?
The Jets’ quarterback search seems far from over
Hindsight is seen in 20-20 vision. We’ll never know what may have been, but CBS Sports recently added another wrinkle to this discussion by identifying the Jets as one of the NFL’s most likely quarterback-needy teams heading into the 2027 NFL Draft.
That certainly says plenty.
QB Geno Smith was never positioned as the long-term answer. He’s a stabilizing veteran, not a decade-long solution. Rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik remains an intriguing developmental prospect, but asking Jets fans to view a fourth-round rookie as the unquestioned future would be premature.
The silver lining is obvious. The 2027 quarterback class is expected to be significantly stronger, so while hindsight may tempt Jets fans to wonder what could have been, the smarter takeaway may be this.
If New York eventually lands its true franchise quarterback next spring, that win over Atlanta won’t feel like a costly mistake. It’ll feel like a temporary detour that still led them exactly where they needed to go. David Bailey may become a star in his own right, which only makes that possibility easier to stomach.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: An extra Jets win in 2025 may have altered New York’s QB timeline
Reporting by Geoffrey A Knox, Jets Wire / Jets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
