For a team named after a vehicle that has been clocked going as fast as 2,193.2 miles per hour, the New York Jets have looked shockingly sluggish on the football field over the past few years.
Pick any metric that is associated with speed and explosiveness, and the Jets have been snails by NFL standards. Since 2020, they have the second-fewest offensive plays for 20-plus yards (395), more than only the New York Giants, and are tied for the fewest interceptions (53), tied with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Jets need to pick up the pace. The promising news for fans who have become accustomed to using Jets games as white noise for a Sunday nap is that the team’s front office seems to understand the assignment.
After an offseason rife with athletic additions, the Jets might finally look like the Jets in 2026. Whether that translates to wins is another conversation, but at least they might not look like they’re running routes with pianos tied to their backs.
So, with all of the speed added to the roster, who is the fastest Jet going into 2026?
Let’s narrow that down: Who is the fastest Jet relative to their position?
We’ll break down the Jets’ fastest players at each position and then crown the fastest player on the roster relative to his peers around the league.
Offensive line
This is an easy one: right tackle Armand Membou.
The Missouri product lit up the 2025 combine with a 4.91 forty time at 332 pounds. The forty time ranks in the 96th percentile among offensive line prospects all-time, and it’s made doubly impressive by the fact that Membou’s weight ranks in the 91st percentile.
Pound for pound, Membou is one of the fastest players in the NFL today. We’ll be coming back to him later.
Tight end
Headlining the Jets’ pursuit for greater team speed is Kenyon Sadiq, the 16th overall pick in this year’s draft.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound tight end ran a 4.39 in the forty-yard dash at this year’s combine, setting an all-time record for the position. Combine that with his explosiveness (133-inch broad jump, 98th percentile, and 43.5-inch vertical jump, 99th percentile), and we may be looking at the most athletic tight end in NFL history.
The Jets’ challenge is to help Sadiq develop his all-around game so that he can translate his speed into more production. He failed to reach 1,000 receiving yards over the course of his college career and peaked with just 560 over 14 games in 2025 (40.0 yards per game). You’d like to see a more reliable track record from a first-round tight end.
New York, though, drafted Sadiq based on who he could be, not who he is. And as a player who has a case to be the most athletic tight end in the league, the ceiling is high if he can make some technical refinements.
Quarterback
Brady Cook predictably struggled in his limited action as an undrafted rookie, but it doesn’t change his status as an elite athlete for the quarterback position. He ran a 4.59 at the 2025 combine, ranking in the 89th percentile all-time for quarterbacks.
Rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik did not run at the combine, but the consensus on his unofficial pro day time appears to be a 4.65, so he can book it, too.
Running back
Breece Hall’s 4.39 time from the 2022 combine is still among the most impressive marks for NFL running backs who also have a starter-quality skill set. However, it isn’t the best time in the Jets’ running back room.
That belongs to kick returner Kene Nwangwu, who is officially listed as a running back. Nwangwu only took 13 carries for the Jets last year, but we’re only talking about pure speed here, not running back skills. His speed shows on special teams, where he owns the second-best kick return average in NFL history (29.7 yards).
Wide receiver
The Jets have some excellent contenders here. Garrett Wilson (4.38) and Arian Smith (4.36) both ran sub-4.4 times at their respective combines. First-round rookie Omar Cooper Jr. is no slouch at 4.42, still good enough for the 80th percentile all-time among wide receivers.
The crown, though, has to go to Adonai Mitchell.
Not only does Mitchell own the best 40 time in the Jets’ entire wide receiver room at 4.34 (94th percentile all-time), but he has translated it to the football field. Over the last two seasons, Mitchell has the seventh-best “open score” among wide receivers, per ESPN analytics, indicating that he has excelled at creating separation.
Two steps remain for Mitchell: Getting his drop rate down and having a quarterback who can throw him accurate passes when he’s open. Regardless, he remains the speediest threat in the Jets’ wide receiver room.
Defensive tackle
This is one of the toughest picks on the list, as the Jets do not have a defensive tackle who could be considered among the fastest players at the position. As constructed, their unit mostly comprises players who lean toward strength and size rather than athleticism.
Jowon Briggs, though, recorded a flat 5.00 forty time at his pro day, which is still very good for a defensive tackle. He translated that to plenty of explosive pass rush reps in his breakout 2025 season.
Edge rusher
The crown here clearly belongs to the Jets’ No. 2 overall pick, David Bailey, whose 4.50 forty time ranks in the 96th percentile all-time among edge rushers. Couple that with his 129-inch broad jump (96th percentile), and he can get off the line and close space faster than most players at his position.
Linebacker
Backup and special teamer Marcelino McCrary-Ball offers an impressive 4.51 forty time, which is the best among the Jets’ linebackers.
Jamien Sherwood’s speed is a fascinating conversation. As a converted safety who is listed at just 216 pounds, you’d think he’d be one of the league’s fastest linebackers, and he occasionally looks like it on the field. But he ran a 4.76 at his pro day, which is poor even by safety standards. That may have been an anomaly, but it’s too far off from McCrary-Ball for him to take the cake.
Cornerback
Much of the Jets’ cornerback room leans toward length and physicality over speed, highlighted by players like Brandon Stephens, Azareye’h Thomas, and Nahshon Wright.
But second-round rookie D’Angelo Ponds joins Sadiq in the influx of speed to the roster. Ponds was reportedly clocked at a 4.31 during Indiana’s pro day.
Safety
Like the cornerback room, the Jets’ safety room leans toward size instead of speed. But once again, an incoming rookie will juice up the unit. Seventh-round pick VJ Payne ran a 4.4, placing in the 94th percentile among safeties all-time.
Who wins?
Clearly, the Jets’ offense is well ahead of the defense in terms of raw speed. The Jets can stand to get faster at most defensive positions.
Offensively, though, the Jets have done a fantastic job of racking up speed in the Darren Mougey era. Of course, it doesn’t matter if the speed fails to produce victories, but from a pure athletic standpoint, the Jets’ offense has an advantage.
But who is the fastest player on the Jets relative to their position?
Adonai Mitchell has the speed to be one of the NFL’s top deep threats, while Kene Nwangwu is clearly a burner. Neither player, though, is in historical conversations.
Armand Membou and Kenyon Sadiq are in those talks.
Membou’s size/speed combination is more impressive than that of Sadiq, who is light for the tight end position at 241 pounds. Nonetheless, we’re talking about pure speed here, and in that case, Sadiq comes out on top.
Not only did Sadiq run the fastest forty by a tight end in NFL history, but he also had a 98th-percentile broad jump and a 99th-percentile vertical jump, which shows that he is just as fast at getting out of a break as he is at long-striding. Both of those factors must be considered when evaluating how fast a player covers ground on the field.
In college, Sadiq primarily maximized his speed as a deep threat. This past season, he led all college tight ends with five touchdowns on deep passes (20+ air yards). No other tight end had more than two.
Where Sadiq can improve, and where the Jets must figure out how to further weaponize him, is in the YAC department. In 2025, he finished just 17th among FBS tight ends with 248 total YAC, while his 4.9 YAC per reception ranked 71st out of 99 qualified tight ends. Those are unacceptable numbers for a playmaker with Sadiq’s athleticism.
The Jets’ coaching staff has their work cut out for them, but if they can finish off this project, it could be one of the greatest masterpieces in franchise history.
