Heavy on Jets
It might be time for the New York Jets to zig after zagging at the quarterback position.
On the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast, co-hosts Connor Rogers and Trevor Sikkema gave Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe to the Jets in the first round of their 2025 NFL mock draft.
“This is where my Jets’ theory is quarterback,” Sikkema explained his thought process. “Whether [Aaron] Rodgers comes back or not, I’m getting much more on the train of this should be a quarterback pick for the Jets [in the first round]. I don’t want to say no matter what but if you draft Jalen Milroe and if Rodgers comes back next year that is best best-case scenario actually. You give Milroe a year to sit.”
It Might Be Time for the Jets to Dip Its Toes Back in the Draft Waters
Milroe, 21, is in the middle of his fourth season with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
During his run in college, Milroe has thrown for 5,404 passing yards, he has 44 passing touchdowns to 15 interceptions, and has completed 65.6% of his passes.
While his passing numbers are impressive the young man is a dynamic dual threat. Milroe has also added 1,459 rushing yards on the ground, 30 rushing scores, and he has averaged 4.5 yards per rushing attempt.
Ian Cummings of the Pro Football Network said Milroe has “elite arm strength” in his scouting profile.
There is no clear QB1 in this 2025 draft class which complicates who will go where. However, the Jets directly benefitted from the Cleveland Browns’ upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers to start Week 12.
If the draft started today, the Jets would hold the No. 6 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, per Tankathon.
Why Not Try Something Different
The Jets took a quarterback in the top three of the NFL draft twice in a span of four years. In 2018 the Jets selected Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick out of USC. Then in 2021, the Jets snagged Zach Wilson with the No. 2 overall pick out of BYU.
Both options failed which forced the team to pivot to a veteran to see if that would work. Well, Rodgers also failed which left the Jets empty-handed at the quarterback position once again.
It’ll be up to the new regime coming in to decide the next direction of the franchise.
“I love the idea of drafting Milroe and actually allowing him to sit, learn, and get things down. Watch one of the best quarterbacks of all time, even though he is not in his prime. Sit in meeting rooms with him, learn little things from him, and then you’re taking off next year and being able to run much more of a dynamic dual-threat offense which is why I like Jalen Milroe a lot,” Sikkema said.
The commonality in the Darnold and Wilson failures is forcing them to play right away. There is no guarantee that sitting them would have led to success, but it surely couldn’t have hurt. If the Jets do draft a young quarterback this offseason they will have the luxury of sitting him.
Whether it is Rodgers or Tyrod Taylor at QB1, the Jets would be able to develop a young quarterback in a different way than they have in the past.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts Cumulus Media's morning show, "The Manchild Show with Boy Green." Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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