Once again, New York Jets fans are rooting for draft position in September…

Except this time, they’re not rooting against their own team to do it.

The 2026 season will be a unique experience for Jets fans, as they will have four favorite teams each week: the Jets, whoever is playing the Indianapolis Colts, whoever is playing the Dallas Cowboys, and whoever is playing the Green Bay Packers.

New York owns three first-round picks in the 2027 NFL draft: their own, the Colts’ pick, and whichever pick is highest between Dallas and Green Bay, courtesy of the Quinnen Williams trade with the Cowboys.

Dallas owns Green Bay’s 2027 first-rounder from the Micah Parsons trade, along with their own. The parameters of the Williams deal state that the better pick goes to New York.

Week 1 was a clean sweep for Jets fans. New York picked up a blowout win to open the season, while all three of the Colts, Cowboys, and Packers lost their season openers. A quick peek at the draft order shows the Jets in possession of the fourth and sixth overall picks in the 2027 draft; although, of course, referencing the draft order after one game is tongue-in-cheek.

However, in a 17-game season, one loss can turn into a season-crushing skid very quickly. The Jets would love to see at least one of these teams spiral out of control.

Here is the Jets’ draft rooting guide in Week 2.

Jets vs. Packers (1 p.m. EST)

Well, this is an obvious one, isn’t it?

This will be the Jets’ only opportunity this season to improve their own draft position by winning a football game. They will not play the Colts or the Cowboys.

If the Jets win, not only would it be the Jets’ first 2-0 start since 2015, but it would also be the Packers’ first 0-2 start since 2006. Green Bay finished 8-8 that season, which isn’t awful, but it’s a poor performance by Packer standards, tying for their fourth-worst win total over the last 20 years.

With an 0-2 start while playing in one of the league’s toughest divisions (every NFC North team had at least eight wins last year), an eight-win season would be very much in the cards for Green Bay, perhaps even worse.

Given that Green Bay had a projected win total of 9.5 entering the year, the Jets would happily sign up for an eight-win season from Green Bay. It would give their 2027 pick a mid-first-round floor.

Commanders @ Cowboys (4:25 p.m. EST)

After watching the Jets at 1 p.m., the Gotham Green faithful can put on their Commanders jerseys for the late afternoon window, hopefully feeling giddy after a 2-0 start.

There will be a desperation feel at AT&T Stadium, as both of these NFC East rivals opened the season with a division loss. Falling to 0-2 with two division losses will be brutal for the loser of this game.

Dallas swept Washington in 2025, scoring 74 points across the two contests.

Chiefs vs. Colts (8:20 p.m. EST)

The schedule lines up nicely this week, as Jets fans will have a rooting interest in all three Sunday windows.

The Colts will grace the Sunday Night Football spotlight as visitors to Arrowhead Stadium. They are looking to bounce back after an ugly season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens in their own building.

Indianapolis looked lost on both sides of the ball in Week 1, getting out-gained 506 to 251. Now, they have to contend with a Chiefs team that seems to finally have built a strong rushing attack for Patrick Mahomes.

If any of the Jets’ three draft rivals has a chance of watching their season go all the way down the drain, it’s the Colts, who are led by a post-Achilles Daniel Jones and have a concerning defense.

AFC East roundup

The Jets are undefeated, so why not eye the AFC East crown?

The Buffalo Bills already defeated the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football, moving to 2-0 to take a half-game division lead over the Jets. New York can re-tie Buffalo atop the division with a win over Green Bay, but after the Bills’ win, the Jets will have to keep waiting for their chance to hold sole possession of the best record in the AFC East for the first time since October 2010.

The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins both lost in Week 1. New England will host the 1-0 Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. today, while Miami will visit the 1-0 San Francisco 49ers at 4:25 p.m.