For some New York Jets fans, Dante Moore’s decision to return to Oregon was a shot to the solar plexus. For others, the not-even-slightly-resembling-LeBron ESPN announcement generated a bout of curmudgeonly joy.
While the quarterback position is essential to a quality football team’s life, this is, after all, the same team that inspired the kid from Adam Sandler’s “Big Daddy” to be so youthfully resigned. Moore’s decision forces the Jets not to make the same mistake they have so often committed in recent years — so goes the perspective.
While Moore’s collegiate inexperience is undoubtedly a worthwhile consideration, the narrative surrounding his professional readiness is largely overblown. This is especially true in this particular quarterback class, where the other quarterbacks — even presumed QB1 Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson — carry major questions.
Nevertheless, it would be disingenuous to feign confusion; Jets fans’ concern over their franchise messing up the quarterback situation, yet again, is well-founded.
At the same time, Moore’s decision not to declare for the 2026 NFL draft inarguably puts the Jets in a worse spot. Not only is the theory that Moore stayed put while looking at who holds the No. 2 pick being intentionally overlooked by the masses — which is interesting in its own right — but choosing second in a two-quarterback draft heightens the value for the teams holding the cards.
The Jets would have held those cards. Now, choosing second in a perceived one-quarterback race, the Jets were dealt a lesser hand.
Starting with this mindset is critical. Those who cannot accept this reality will have a near-impossible time accepting the greater point of the day…
There is no perfect personnel formula in the NFL.
There is no perfect time to draft a quarterback in the NFL.
There is no perfect place from which an NFL quarterback must be acquired.
Nostalgia be damned
There’s a natural tendency to look back on recent history while analyzing an NFL franchise’s current situation. The New York Jets’ pursuit to play winning football is no different.
For fans, a specific type of nostagia is usually invoked, and the man who usually leads the way is Rex Ryan. It’s rational. After all, the last time Jets fans witnessed their team in the playoffs was January 2011, when Rex’s 11-5 squad qualified for its second-straight AFC championship game.
Therefore, it only makes sense for fans to view the Jets’ current situation through that lens. They ask themselves, “Ok, how can the Jets turn this never-ending torture around?” They then answer, “We need somebody to come in and kick ass as Rex did.”
It’s one thing for fans to make the connection between the team’s last moment of success and potential answers that could turn the current team around. It’s another entirely (and troubling) thing if the organization’s decision-makers are doing the same.
For instance, if New York Jets chairman Woody Johnson invoked nostalgia while hiring Mike Tannenbaum’s The 33rd Team to help guide the head coaching search last January, well, we have a major problem.
To me, the organization’s current situation is simple: The Jets’ roster needs are many, and at the top of this list is quarterback. Yet, where the great organizations steer the ship correctly lies in the details.
The detailed answer to where the Jets currently are is simple yet backed by clear-headed thinking: While the Jets’ roster needs are many, they aren’t nearly as desperate as was played out this past season.
More importantly, while the Jets quarterback need is both dire and starved, that hunger can be solved much more easily than the narrative would have anyone believe — at least as it relates to the perceived “herculean” effort the Jets fan thinks it takes to rebuild this football team.
The right way?
Without Dante Moore’s inclusion, opinions about the New York Jets are flying from every corner of the NFL internet. Again, some are disappointed, clearly understanding how it hurts the value of the No. 2 overall pick. Others, however, have taken a defeatist identity, believing the Jets would screw up Tiger Woods in his prime at the 1997 Masters.
Therefore, nothing matters to those ready-to-party folks.
One of the more parroted Moore-back-to-Eugene narratives could be summed up best by Chad Forbes, who viewed it as a defiant Jets’ positive:
“Jets fans should rejoice in Dante Moore returning to Oregon,” Forbes posted on X Wednesday afternoon. “Now, you can take the best player in the draft. Rebuild the club the right way. Don’t pick a 20-year-old quarterback to be the savior as they’ve done in the past.
“[They should select] Arvell Reese, Ohio State linebacker.”
Oh, well, isn’t that just nice and tidy? The New York Jets have been doing the personnel thing the “wrong” way all these years. Luckily for Jets fans, many are promoting this message, believing it’s Woody’s new rebuilding gospel.
Come on, now. What are we doing here?
So, not selecting a quarterback purely based on his age is the tell-tale sign it wouldn’t work out, specifically because it didn’t work out with Zach Wilson and Sam Darnold? Am I clearly grasping what’s being thrown down here?
When Aaron Glenn took over last offseason, he sort of ignored the quarterback position in the 2025 NFL draft. Despite the promising nature of New York Giants’ youngster Jaxson Dart (whose mere attendance helped attract John Harbaugh to the swamps of Northern New Jersey) and New Orleans Saints’ rookie Tyler Shough, Glenn and Darren Mougey instead opted to sign veteran Justin Fields to a $30 million guaranteed deal.
Was that not the right way?
Hey, they even drafted in a classical fashion, selecting mauler Armand Membou seventh overall and the pro football-bloodline-laden Mason Taylor in the second round. And yet, every molecular cell of the organization decreased in value and production this past season.
How? Why?
After the Ryan Fitzpatrick era, Mr. Coffee signed veteran Josh McCown, thus punting on the quarterback position that offseason. Mike Maccagnan turned his attention to LSU stud safety Jamal Adams at No. 7 overall in 2017.
Three picks later, Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes.
Oops.
Would the Jets have been incorrect to select Mahomes at No. 7? Would they have been doing it the “wrong way?”
Instead, Maccagnan and the Jets got “their guy” a year later, USC’s Sam Darnold, after three drafts of selecting the “best overall player.” Strangely, though, despite the Jets taking Forbes’s advice — not forcing a young quarterback down a not-ready-for-primetime roster’s throat — the Darnold-led Jets failed.
Roster imperfection is the norm
The truth of the matter is much simpler than so many of us would like to believe. In fact, it’s so damn simple that I think people have a hard time grasping the truth…
It comes down to coaching. That’s all it is, folks.
Any talk of punting on a quarterback this offseason, while simultaneously eyeing Arch Manning or Julian Sayin via a 2026 tank, is completely absurd. All it does is continue the madness that has been the Jets’ cycle of internal abuse — holding firm to a rebuilding belief that takes some near-mythical effort in the roster talent department, which distracts the decision-makers and fans from the real heart of the problem…
Coaching. More specifically, coaching that fits today’s wild, wild west of a sport that many are still trying to understand.
There is no perfect way to rebuild a football team. Better said, there’s no such thing as “rebuilding” — at least not in the traditional sense of the idea. A terrific coaching staff that grasps the realities of the modern NFL can turn a franchise’s ship around at the drop of a hat.
More importantly, the quarterback position today is about so much more than the singular individual playing it. Quarterback is instead a concept that a coaching staff recognizes and cultivates. Not every individual playing quarterback for a successful team is a stud in the talent department — not even close.
Sure, it’s nice to have a Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or even uber-talented Caleb Williams, as those guys can create magic in tough spots, but those guys are the exception, not the rule. What the Jets must learn is how to find success while not believing “perfect” is the only way.
They must understand that success can be achieved despite imperfection (an imperfect roster, quarterback situation, etc.).
Look around the league, folks
Of the eight teams set to battle in the divisional round this weekend, which squads benefited from building the roster before snagging the quarterback? Which of those teams actually tanked to snag the quarterback?
The AFC East-rival Buffalo Bills drafted Josh Allen No. 7 overall in 2017, four picks later than the Jets’ pointed at Sam Darnold. The Denver Broncos snagged Bo Nix as the sixth quarterback off the board in 2024.
C.J. Stroud arrived in Houston at the same time head coach DeMeco Ryans did, and the quarterback’s best year remains his first. It’s doubtful that anybody would label a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback situation as the “right way.” Yet, interestingly, that’s exactly the combo that yielded the Jets’ last glory-day era.
We all know Darnold’s story: a quarterback who struggled mightily before running into Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O’Connell. What a coincidence, huh? Imagine that: Darnold’s career acting out in bust-like fashion before bumping into two of the top quarterback minds in the sport today.
Speaking of the San Francisco 49ers, Shanahan wanted Zach Wilson but could not get him. He then pivoted to Trey Lance, who turned out to bust. See, in Jets and Jets fandom land, such a move would “set the franchise back a few years,” at the very least, in the minds of most. In logical NFL land, if the coaching staff knows what it’s doing, life simply goes on.
Understanding the modern realities of the slotted-salary draft system, missing on a Round 1 quarterback isn’t nearly as fatal as it used to be (when salaries were outrageous). It’s why organizations gamble on not-yet-ready-for-primetime quarterbacks in the top 10, and why they get pushed up the board in unwarranted fashion.
Thus, Shanahan turned Mr. Irrelevant into a quality starting quarterback. And make no mistake about it: “Quality” is the only correct descriptor for Brock Purdy.
Caleb Williams has legitimate talent and deserved QB1 status in 2024, but the man actually heard catcalls of “bust” in his lone year without Ben Johnson. Plus, Chicago didn’t tank to get Williams; it instead made a savvy deal with the Carolina Panthers, who were intent on drafting the overrated Bryce Young.
Oh, let’s also not forget about the “Tank for Trevor” season of 2020. Despite Jets fan hysteria of the highest order, the Jets failed to tank properly, allowing the Jacksonville Jaguars to draft Trevor Lawrence.
As much as fans want to point to the Jags as a tanking example, it’s sheer nonsense. Liam Coen’s presence is what drove this past season’s success, especially as it relates to the “generational” Lawrence.
Jets fans would recoil at the idea of trading away a No. 1 overall pick (who is a quarterback) for a 32-year-old quarterback who hadn’t won anything in his life. Yet, that’s the story of Sean McVay’s Matthew Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams.
Perhaps the only near-example of a tanking team is the New England Patriots, whose horrendous 2024 season led to Drake Maye at No. 3 overall. Still, Maye was the third quarterback off the board, and it’s a stretch to label that horrid Jerod Mayo-coached Pats team as anything less than “trying to win.”
Oh yeah, Maye was also just 21 years old when drafted. Darnold was also 21, the same age as Dart.
Forget about these quarterbacks’ ages, and forget about painting the most perfect rebuilding formula picture. That’s just not how this thing works.
Success in today’s NFL boils down to the coaching staff’s prowess. Anything beyond that, particularly how to acquire and/or when to draft a quarterback, as it relates to the rest of the roster in a hard-salary-cap league — while it could be impactful — is strategically cosmetic.
Any and all “March for Arch” calls will simply muddy the waters for the New York Jets, an organization that continues to focus on the wrong things when so desperately wanting to turn this thing around.
