They say that an NFL team can only go as far as its quarterback can take them.
But the last few seasons have proven that a quarterback can often go only as far as his supporting cast allows him to.
Sam Darnold and Jalen Hurts won the last two Super Bowls. Gone are the days when a championship could only be won by a surefire future Hall-of-Fame quarterback. If the supporting cast around the signal-caller is strong enough, a “very good” passer is good enough.
That’s why the New York Jets have been working hard to strengthen their offensive supporting cast.
The Jets are still in search of their franchise quarterback, and he likely isn’t on the current roster. But as the search continues, it is imperative that they build a castle around the vacant throne. That way, their hopeful savior can walk into a situation that will lift him up, rather than a situation that will ask him to lift the kingdom on his own.
Where does the Jets’ offensive supporting cast rank around the NFL?
Based on a ranking from CBS Sports, the Jets still have a long way to go in this department, but they are trending up. The Wednesday article ranked New York’s offensive supporting cast 26th in the league, part of the fifth tier. There are two tiers below.
For now, it’s a fair ranking. Ceiling-wise, the Jets have one of the most tantalizing supporting casts in the NFL, but the problem is that they are extremely unproven.
First-round rookies Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr. are slated to play major roles in the passing game. Meanwhile, the offensive line features three players with under 50 career starts. The Jets are waiting for their highly drafted linemen, such as Olu Fashanu, Armand Membou, and Joe Tippmann, to take the leap from good to great, allowing their line to collectively rise from average to strong.
New York is also eager to find out whether the faces of their offense, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, have another level to tap into.
Wilson and Hall’s abilities have always exceeded their production across four NFL seasons. Based on the eye test, they both look like premier talents at their respective positions, but both players’ stats have been hampered by a poor situation. Is this the year they finally prove they are capable of putting up numbers that rank them among the best players at their position? Or will the hype continue to exceed their production?
The play-caller role, which CBS Sports considered in its ranking, is also a question mark. Frank Reich is an experienced offensive mind who won a Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator with the Eagles, but his last two NFL seasons resulted in him getting fired before the end of the year. What will the Jets get out of the 64-year-old?
If everything clicks, the Jets’ offensive supporting cast could be one of the better groups in the league, with the youth and upside to keep trending up in 2027. Until we see results on the field, though, the uncertainty around this unit justifies its status as one of the least reliable supporting casts in the NFL.
