Don’t look now, but the New York Jets are playing much better football over the last few weeks than fans may want to give them credit for.

New York has won three of its last five contests, including two hard-fought losses to the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens as substantial underdogs.

For all that they have accomplished, though, each passing win clouds the organization’s future, putting head coach Aaron Glenn even more in the spotlight.

Jets hope winning is contagious

There are two trains of thought with each game the Jets win over the next month. Some fans and analysts believe each win moves the organization further away from drafting the quarterback they feel is needed to turn the team into a champion.

Others believe that each victory sets a foundation for the team’s future.

Glenn agrees with the latter line of thinking.

“We want to learn how to win games,” Glenn said. “That’s the only thing that we think about as coaches and players is, man, how we win games and how we continue to build on the process that we have to create the outcomes that we want.”

Glenn was part of a Detroit Lions franchise that won just three games in 2021, then saw a six-win jump in 2022. The following season, the Lions reached the conference championship game. New York still has five games to go in the 2025 season and could ultimately improve upon their three current victories.

The more wins they pile up as the season progresses, the firmer the foundation for the future.

Why draft position can’t be overlooked

There is one key difference why wins down the stretch aren’t as valuable to the 2025 Jets as they were to the 2021 Lions.

When Glenn was a part of the Lions team that incrementally improved down the stretch of Dan Campbell’s first season, Detroit already had a quality starting quarterback in Jared Goff. While the former first overall pick had fallen out of favor after a hot start in Los Angeles, he was still a respectable starting signal-caller.

Because of Goff’s standing on the team, the Lions didn’t need to focus on drafting a signal-caller during the following selection process.

The Jets do.

New York cannot go another season with passers like Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields competing for starting reps. The further the Jets are from drafting a Fernando Mendoza-type player in the 2026 draft, the harder it will be to truly take that next step as an overall team.

Seeing the coaching staff improve is indeed a good thing for the Jets in 2025. It allows fans to have some confidence that the young team will improve over time.

But pushing themselves out of quarterback range for the upcoming draft will only prolong the inevitable for the organization.

The Jets need a quarterback. The more they win, the more difficult it becomes to find one.