New York Jets 2025 Profile

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Aaron Glenn
Offensive Coordinator: Tanner Engstrand
Defensive Coordinator: Steve Wilks
Special Teams Coordinator: Chris Banjo

2024 Summary (W-L Record: 5-12)

Do you remember that scene in the movie “Being John Malkovich” where John Malkovich goes through the portal to his own head and finds himself in a restaurant where the only word anyone says is “Malkovich?”

“Malkovich! Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich!”

Now just replace “Malkovich” with “Rodgers” and that’ll be what most in the media tell you about why the Jets’ 2024 season turned out the way it did. But reality, and really any level of examination, tells you the main issues went far beyond the quarterback position. You can see some of that reflected in their 2024 numbers:

Rodgers certainly didn’t play up to his standard last season. There were flashes of the old Rodgers to be sure. But there was also just too much of plain OLD Rodgers. He was as inconsistent from game to game as he’s ever been in his career, with the recovery from his Achilles tear and subsequent injuries to the same leg certainly playing a role.

We sometimes forget that the Jets weren’t necessarily meant to turn into some high-flying top-ranked offense with the acquisition of Rodgers. That was certainly the case entering last season with Rodgers returning from his Achilles injury.

The constant refrain was, “If he can just put up numbers like he did in 2022, this team has a shot!” By the way, 2022 was arguably the worst season of Rodgers’ career (before last year). And yes, Rodgers’ numbers last season were very similar.

Instead, this team was supposed to be led by its defense, which would either win games single-handedly or at least keep the Jets in every game.

That all went out the window after head coach Robert Saleh was hastily fired in Week 6 last season. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who had the D rolling before Saleh’s departure, had to take over as interim head coach.

Being forced to do that suddenly and unexpectedly gave him no time to prepare. It clearly spread him thin, and that impacted the defense dramatically.

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Through their first 5 games of the season, the Jets ranked 5th in the NFL with just 17 points allowed per game. After Saleh was fired, they allowed an average of 26.6 points over their final 12 games, which ranked 28th in the NFL during that span.

That’s a bottom-5 scoring defense for nearly three quarters of the season, folks.

Even more consequential was the fact that they lost 6 games after holding a lead in the 4th quarter. The defense was also bailed out by the offense in Jacksonville after blowing two 4th-quarter leads.

You can read our full assessment of the Jets defense from last season here:

Ultimately, the Jets decided to clean house and steer this team in a completely different direction, which I can’t say was the wrong decision.

Key Additions

QB Justin Fields
WR Josh Reynolds
WR Arian Smith (4th Rd, 110th Overall)
TE Mason Taylor (2nd Rd, 42nd Overall)
RT Armand Membou (1st Rd, 7th Overall)
C Josh Myers

DT Derrick Nnadi
DT Byron Cowart
CB Brandon Stephens
CB Azareye'h Thomas (3rd Rd, 73rd Overall)
S Andre Cisco
S Malachi Moore (4th Rd, 130th Overall)

Key Losses

QB Aaron Rodgers
WR Davante Adams
TE Tyler Conklin
LT Tyron Smith
RT Morgan Moses

DT Javon Kinlaw
DT Solomon Thomas
EDGE Haason Reddick
CB D.J. Reed
CB Brandin Echols
S Chuck Clark
S Jalen Mills
S Ashtyn Davis

Did They Address Their Holes?

If we’re just talking about personnel, the answer is no. I’m not sure the Jets’ moves this offseason substantially improved any position groups.

Maybe you could say they’ll be better at tight end with the addition of 2nd-round pick Mason Taylor? And perhaps they’re a bit better on the O-line with the addition of 7th overall pick Armand Membou at right tackle? Some of their position units will also benefit from one more year of experience under their belts instead of an infusion of new faces.

But across the board, I don’t think their talent is as good as it was a year ago. That’ll happen in a re-build I guess. Older (and sometimes better) talent is replaced with younger, cheaper players.

A lot of this speaks to how much talent the Jets had last year. They had it in spades up and down the roster, but they couldn’t put it all together, which is a reflection of the ownership/front-office/coaching situation.

Biggest Questions Entering 2025

Will it be any different this year? That’s the biggest question for an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs in 15 years. Every button they’ve pushed recently has ultimately led to failure.

Their last 3 head coaching hires have been disasters. Todd Bowles went 24-40, Adam Gase went 9-23, and Robert Saleh then went 20-36.

You can’t solely criticize the coaches themselves, though. Bowles has had plenty of success since becoming the Buccaneers Head Coach, winning 3 straight division titles and a playoff game. Gase brought the Dolphins to the playoffs before his stop in New York. Saleh was a first-time head coach, so we’ll have to wait until he gets another head-coaching job to see if he was the main issue or not.

The Jets have also failed to find an answer at quarterback despite trying just about every type of option, from high first-round picks, to a lower-risk second-round pick, to journeymen QBs, to a Mount-Rushmore quarterback.

Several of those players (Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sam Darnold and Aaron Rodgers) have also had success elsewhere, either before or after their stint in New York.

People joke about it, but something happens to players and coaches when they go to the Jets. That’s because this team has had issues from top to bottom, inside and out, on the field and off. The organizational culture is hard for any one coach or player to come in and change or overcome.

Will Aaron Glenn be able to break the trend? Only time will tell.

2025 Outlook

Despite what I said above about the Jets having less talent in 2025 than they did last season, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be a worse team. In fact, I feel confident that they’ll finish with a better record than they did in 2024.

That’s because coaching, culture, and scheme play a bigger role in football than any other sport.

I like what Glenn brings to the Jets. He evolved as a defensive coordinator in Detroit and did about as good of a job as anyone could have last year as the Lions were signing players off the street weekly during the second half of the season.

Perhaps his signature performance was in Detroit’s week 18 win over the 14-2 Vikings to secure the #1 seed in the NFC. He was aggressive with both his pressure and coverages. He played more snaps of cover-0 than any defense in the NFL did in any game last season. He wasn’t hoping the division would be handed to the Lions. His defense went out and took it:

This is exactly what the Jets need. The previous regime’s motto was “all gas no brakes,” but Glenn utilizes a more aggressive defensive scheme that better represents that approach.

We’re also likely to see the Jets lean on their run game more under Glenn. Aside from Garrett Wilson, they’re a bit shorthanded at wide receiver. They also signed a quarterback in Justin Fields who is one of the premiere running quarterbacks in the NFL. On top of that, you just know Glenn wants his team to be physical and tough.

I think that all adds up to a 2025 season where we’re going to see the 3-headed monster of Fields, Breece Hall, and Braelon Allen often.

Ultimately, though, this year won’t be about the Jets’ W-L record. Instead, it will be about determining whether or not Glenn is the guy to finally right the ship long term.