The New York Jets are used to being overlooked.

After all, it’s well-deserved. When there are people in the American workforce who weren’t born the last time you made the playoffs, you shouldn’t expect anyone to believe in you.

However, that pessimism should only be applied to the franchise as a whole. It isn’t fair to slight individuals on the roster who did not contribute to those 15 years of losing.

Those slights continue to pour in, however.

Pro Football Focus recently released its “2026 All-Breakout Team”, highlighting the players at each offensive and defensive position who are the most likely to have a breakout year in 2026.

No Jets players were included, even though two of them should have been no-brainers.

RT Armand Membou

Armand Membou’s resume screams “breakout candidate” as loudly as any player in football, let alone simply among offensive tackles.

Whether it’s his age, draft pedigree, high-ceiling player profile, or his high rookie-year jumping-off point, Membou checks every box that you look for in potential breakout candidates.

The seventh overall choice in the 2025 NFL draft, Membou started all 17 games at right tackle in his rookie season and was instantly an above-average starter. PFF rated Membou with a 72.7 overall grade, good enough for 14th among 32 qualified right tackles (min. 500 snaps).

Considering he did this at 21 years old as a player with elite enough athleticism (9.89 Relative Athletic Score) and technique to be drafted in the top 10, Membou’s ceiling in 2026 is limitless.

A player’s rookie year is typically their worst form in the NFL (save for running backs). When you’re this young and talented, and you’ve already set a floor that high, the likelihood of a leap in the upcoming season is extremely high, and the potential distance of that leap is immeasurable.

Instead of Membou, PFF tabbed Cincinnati’s Amarius Mims and New Orleans’ Kelvin Banks Jr. as their All-Breakout tackles.

Banks is a fair choice. Chosen two slots after Membou (ninth overall), Banks started all 17 games at left tackle for the Saints, and he earned a 73.5 overall PFF grade, slightly better than Membou’s.

The Mims selection, though, is surprising. Mims has first-round talent, as he was the 18th overall pick in 2024, and he took a step forward in 2025 after a rough rookie year. However, Membou was already better than Mims in 2025 despite being a year behind in experience. Mims’ 67.6 overall PFF grade ranked two spots lower among qualified right tackles.

Membou is on track to be one of the top 5-10 right tackles of the 2026 season; this may even be an understatement. He should have been listed alongside Banks in the All-Breakout Team.

DT Jowon Briggs

Last August, the Jets swapped a sixth-round pick for a seventh-round pick to acquire a solid run-stuffer who was chosen in the seventh round of the previous draft, looking to bolster the back end of their defensive tackle room. They expected minimal contributions in a situational run-stopping role and no pass-rush impact.

That player was Jowon Briggs. And for the first half of the season, Briggs delivered precisely what the Jets thought they paid for.

Then, the Jets traded Quinnen Williams at the deadline, suddenly thrusting Briggs into a featured role as New York’s primary three-technique. Out of nowhere, Briggs essentially replicated the production of the star he replaced.

From Weeks 10-18, Briggs ranked seventh among defensive tackles in total pressures (29). Even more impressive than his cumulative production was his per-snap efficiency. Over the same span, Briggs was second at the position in PFF’s pass-rush grade (89.4), third in pass-rush win rate (19.4%), and sixth in pressure rate (14.4%).

When it came to PFF’s pass rush grade and pass-rush win rate, Briggs joined Chris Jones and Jeffery Simmons as the top three players in each category from Weeks 10-18. For half of the season, Briggs was giving the Jets legitimate superstar-level interior pass-rush production.

Remember, this is a guy who was acquired solely for his run defense. Yet, for a nine-game run, he was running step-for-step with the likes of Jones and Simmons in the pass-rush department.

With this type of trajectory, Briggs has a chance to emerge as one of the NFL’s best defensive tackles in 2026. If he maintains his second-half numbers over a full season in a starting role, he will be an All-Pro.

Instead of Briggs, PFF chose Arizona’s Walter Nolen and Detroit’s Tyleik Williams as the defensive tackles on the All-Breakout Team.

Nolen, the 16th overall pick of the 2025 draft, is a good pick. His rookie year was shortened due to injuries, but he was hyper-efficient in limited playing time, racking up 15 pressures on 99 pass-rush snaps (15.2% pressure rate) and an 80.1 PFF pass-rush grade. This is a player you could easily envision having a monster year if he stays healthy.

Williams, though, does not have a case to be ranked over Briggs.

While Williams also has a first-round pedigree, being drafted 28th overall in 2025, his rookie year did not show much promise. In 17 games, he had just 19 total pressures (8.4% pressure rate), a 68.2 PFF pass-rush grade, a 53.8 PFF run defense grade, and one sack.

A breakout could certainly occur in Williams’ second season, but it’s purely a hypothetical projection based on his draft pedigree. Williams didn’t show enough to justify being chosen over a player who displayed more promise on the field.

Such is life when you play for the New York Jets, though. If Membou and Briggs played for the Dallas Cowboys, they would likely be included on lists like this.

But until the Jets re-establish themselves as a competent franchise, their best players will not get the national recognition they deserve.