There is a small contingent of New York Jets fans who will look at their victory over the Cincinnati Bengals not as a positive step forward for the franchise, but as a major step backward for the future.

New York’s 39-38 thrilling victory was the team’s first win of the 2025 season. At the time, they had the worst record in football with a clear need at quarterback.

To some fans, the main takeaway from Sunday is that it greatly hurts the team’s chances of acquiring the top overall pick in the 2026 draft, thus making it harder to find their long-coveted franchise quarterback.

Nick Mangold: The embodiment of a true New York Jet

But did Sunday’s win really hurt the Jets’ draft stock? Is this even a good quarterback class to want to be the worst team in football?

Jets’ tanking update

Contrary to popular belief, the Jets’ win against Cincinnati did not do much to change their status as one of the worst teams in football. At 1-7, New York is tied with the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans for the league’s worst record.

Gang Green would have the second overall pick behind the Saints if the season ended today. New York and New Orleans currently have an identical strength of schedule (.496), which is the first tiebreaker. After multiple ensuing tiebreaking scenarios, the Saints come out on top due to a worse conference record (1-5 vs. Jets’ 1-4).

Projected 2026 NFL draft order through Week 8:

  1. New Orleans Saints: 1-7 (.496 SOS)
  2. New York Jets: 1-7 (.496)
  3. Tennessee Titans: 1-7 (.562)
  4. Cleveland Browns: 2-6 (.456)
  5. Miami Dolphins: 2-6 (.489)
  6. New York Giants: 2-6 (.553)
  7. Baltimore Ravens: 2-5 (.286)
  8. Las Vegas Raiders: 2-5 (.286)
  9. Arizona Cardinals: 2-5 (.286)
  10. Cincinnati Bengals: 3-5 (.375)

With New Orleans struggling in several key areas, the Saints may opt to avoid the quarterback position and instead rebuild their offensive line or defense. The other team with one win, the Tennessee Titans, just drafted Cam Ward first overall last season, so their chances of selecting another quarterback are slim at best.

In short, the teams currently competing with New York for the top overall pick aren’t exactly guaranteed to be selecting a quarterback in the first round.

But should Jets fans even be focused on draft positioning at this time?

Future QB concerns

Last season, the Titans did not possess the top overall pick for most of the year. The New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, and New England Patriots were all jockeying for the worst record.

It wasn’t until the final two weeks of the season that Tennessee ended up securing the top pick, and the rights to Cam Ward.

The lesson is that while a team may appear to be the worst in the league right now, that doesn’t mean it will stick. The Jets’ 1-7 record could easily turn into five wins by the end of the year.

It also doesn’t mean that winning games would cause the Jets to miss out on their future franchise quarterback.

Here’s a current list of some of the top starting quarterbacks in the league who were not taken first overall:

  • Jayden Daniels (2nd)
  • Drake Maye (3rd)
  • Justin Herbert (6th)
  • Josh Allen (7th)
  • Patrick Mahomes (10th)
  • Bo Nix (12th)
  • Lamar Jackson (32nd)
  • Jalen Hurts (53rd)
  • Dak Prescott (135th)

That’s a long list of good quarterbacks. It shows that the Jets do not necessarily have to pick first overall to get their franchise player.

While some No. 1 picks have worked out, such as Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford, all three of those quarterbacks have found their best success with a different team than the one that drafted them.

The Jets just need to make sure they get the right guy for them. That doesn’t mean he has to have the biggest arm or the most accurate ball. The future starter has to be the right guy for the team, city, and scheme.