Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets are no different from any other team in the NFL. They want a specific type of quarterback to lead their team in the 2025 season.
Justin Fields, recently signed to a two-year deal worth $40 million, was the signal-caller the team coveted. Despite all the struggles the former first-round pick has endured, New York believes he can be successful in Florham Park this season.
But why? Why did the Jets want Fields in the first place?
Because he provides the perfect kind of fit the Jets want as their quarterback.
Glenn Has A Type At QB
Speaking to reporters at league meetings last week in Florida, Glenn made it clear that there was a type of quarterback he wanted leading his team in 2025.
Apart from the obvious leadership qualities, Glenn needed someone who had some mobility to his game and could be a threat with his legs just as much as his arm.
Fields, therefore, was the perfect fit.
“Obviously, we want to utilize his legs, but we also want him to play quarterback,” Glenn said last week. “This offseason, we’re going to allow him during OTAs to go out there and run an offense. We’re going to make sure we’re going to surround him with the right type of people that’s going to make him successful.
“I think he’s a dynamic player and I think there’s more that we can get out of that player and I’m looking forward to that.”
As high as the Jets are in Fields, though, there are obvious concerns.
The former Ohio State standout is on his third team in as many years, has struggled mightily to be a consistent passer, and has one of the worst completion percentages in the fourth quarter of games since he arrived in the league in 2021.
In Glenn’s mind, though, that had more to do with the coaches who were in charge of Fields’ play than it did the actual quarterback.
“We’re going to let him play quarterback,” Glenn said. “That’s what he’s always wanted to do. I’m not saying he hasn’t had a chance to play that, do that in other places. That’s not my issue. I know what I want to do with that player. Obviously want to utilize his legs but want to give him a chance to go out there and play quarterback.”
Jets Draft Plans
Believe it or not, New York’s perceptions of what kind of quarterback they want can be applied directly to the 2025 draft.
If the Jets are looking for athletic quarterbacks like Fields, who can scramble around and make plays when passing concepts aren’t there, the team is in luck. There are many mid-to-late-round quarterbacks who would be a perfect fit for the team.
On Sunday, Rich Cimini of ESPN highlighted Glenn’s interest in mobile quarterbacks.
“It became clear in talking to Glenn that he values quarterbacks with mobility — one of the qualities that attracted him to Justin Fields,” wrote Cimini.
Cimini proceeded to pinpoint several signal callers coming out of the draft this April, including Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Tyler Shough (Louisville), and Jalen Milroe (Alabama), as potential targets for the Jets due to their running ability.
Of the three, Milroe can be seen as an athlete almost equivalent to Fields as a deficient passer who the team is hoping grows into a quality starter.
As the team gets closer to their selection in the first round, a quarterback may not be on the docket early on. But if Glenn is to be believed, then the kind of quarterback coveted by New York may show their cards a little bit on what they expect to have happen in a couple of weeks.
