No point of the NFL calendar produces more overreactions than the preseason.
Here are three overreactions to the New York Jets’ 2026 preseason opener.
1. Braelon Allen is ready to take over the NFL
There’s no question about it: Braelon Allen’s 31-yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty. He displayed excellent vision to read the flow of the defense and then made a slick cutback that looked especially impressive for a player who apparently weighs 250 pounds.
However, one touchdown run against backups in the preseason isn’t enough to crown Allen just yet.
That 31-yard run was more than 10 yards longer than Allen’s best play across his 131 career regular season touches. In two NFL seasons, his longest play went for 20 yards.
For his career, Allen is averaging 3.7 yards per carry and 5.5 yards per target, both well-below-average numbers for the running back position. We still need to see more than just one excellent run in the preseason to be certain that he’s ready to establish himself as a legitimate RB2, which is something he has yet to do.
Allen also has other concerns to address beyond his top-end explosiveness and per-play efficiency, namely drops and pass-blocking. He is clearly behind fellow Jets running back Isaiah Davis in those areas.
Allen has five career drops against 21 receptions for a 19.2% drop rate, while Davis has one career drop against 30 receptions for a 3.2% drop rate. As for pass protection, the Jets have shown more trust in Davis, asking him to play 2.2 pass-blocking snaps per game in his career to Allen’s 1.6, despite Allen being higher on the depth chart.
Kudos to Allen for coming back strong after his knee injury, and it cannot be overlooked that the quickness he displayed on that play was remarkable for a player of his size. It suggested that he might be capable of offering more than just short-yardage efficiency, even at a shocking 250 pounds.
Still, he entered the 2026 season with a lot to prove after his first 21 career games. That improvement needs to be shown in the regular season before Allen can be crowned a reliable RB2, even if Friday’s run was a promising start.
2. David Bailey is Lawrence Taylor/David Bailey is Vernon Gholston
David Bailey did not dominate in his NFL debut.
Nor did David Bailey look lost in his NFL debut.
The second overall pick’s first career appearance has generated plenty of overreactions on both sides. Some people are hyping it up too much, and others have been too critical.
Bailey’s first tackle, coming in the run game, was a mixed bag, despite being used by some as a retort to criticisms about his run defense. He was moved three yards off the line of scrimmage by a backup tight end. That’s not good. But Bailey did a nice job of shedding the block and getting in on the tackle, which was a solid recovery.
There was also a speed rush around the outside where Bailey ran past the tackle, but was pushed too far up the arc and yielded a potential scramble lane for the quarterback. This was the type of play that might get labeled a “sack” by reporters at training camp, but in a real game, would not look as appealing.
Bailey had some positive plays, though, even if they weren’t world-beating. He looped inside on a stunt and used a rip move on the guard to get into the backfield for a near-sack, only to be beaten to the quarterback by Will McDonald.
Later, Bailey delivered a nice spin move to the outside, but slipped on his way to the quarterback. He also won outside with a speed rush on a rep where there appeared to be a potential hold by the tackle, which was not called.
Bailey’s first NFL game showed exactly who he is. The tools that made him the second overall pick were on full display; seeing him in a live-game environment for the first time, his first-step explosiveness jumped off the screen. It was glaringly obvious how special a prospect he is. At the same time, there are still some fundamentals that need tweaking; he was far from perfect in this game, as expected, since he is a far-from-perfect player at the moment.
Spewing hot takes about Bailey’s debut, on either side of the spectrum, is a silly idea.
3. It’s time to worry about Omar Cooper Jr.
In April, the Jets traded back into the first round to select Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. Considering how thin their wide receiver depth chart was at the time, it was not far-fetched to think that Cooper Jr. could climb as high as the Jets’ WR2 spot.
Today, though, he appears to be the WR4 at best.
In the preseason opener, the Jets’ starting trio in 11 personnel featured Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, and Isaiah Williams. Wilson and Mitchell played every snap with the starting offense, while Williams was the slot receiver in three-receiver sets.
Cooper Jr. came in with the second-team offense.
It’s not what Jets fans were hoping to see, but there isn’t much reason to be skeptical about Cooper Jr.’s development just yet. It seems like he is developing at a normal pace for a late-first-round pick from a thin draft class, while Williams’ rise up the depth chart is just a product of his own fantastic play, not an indictment of Cooper Jr.
Nothing about Cooper Jr.’s appearance on Friday night was concerning. He caught both of his catchable targets for 31 yards and looked smooth while doing so.
In training camp, Cooper Jr. hasn’t been incredibly active, but there haven’t been many reports of him struggling to separate or catch the ball, either.
Mitchell and Williams’ placements above Cooper Jr. on the depth chart should be celebrated for their respective successes, rather than used as negative indicators of Cooper Jr.’s development. Mitchell has been creating vertical separation on a daily basis, connecting with Geno Smith for plenty of big plays downfield. Williams has developed beyond merely a special teams player, translating his playmaking as a returner to the offensive side of the ball.
It certainly has not been the fastest start for Cooper Jr., but nothing has happened yet to suggest that he is unusually behind in his development compared to expectations. Rather than be concerned about Cooper Jr., Jets fans should be excited about the improvement shown by Mitchell and Williams, two intriguing 25-and-under wideouts in their own right.
