With just four games remaining in the New York Jets’ 2025 season, much of the fan base has already shifted their attention away from what many view as a meaningless final stretch and toward the 2026 NFL draft, where the search for a long-term answer under center once again looms large.
Brace yourself for some breaking news: the Jets need a quarterback.
Shocking, right?
While Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore have generated early buzz among Jets fans, another name out west is quietly gaining traction. He continues to improve on a weekly basis and has the makeup to build the most sustainable NFL career of any quarterback in this class.
That player is USC’s Jayden Maiava.
In an exclusive interview with Jets X-Factor, Richard Muraco, Maiava’s high school head coach at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, reflected on the quarterback’s rise and detailed the traits that have fueled his success at every level.
“The biggest things that stood out were his size and arm strength. He had real arm talent and could make all the throws. He was calm and poised, which was huge for us,” said Muraco.
At 6-foot-4 (73rd percentile) and 230 pounds (77th percentile), Maiava brings the frame most coaches covet in a quarterback.
The 21-year-old is averaging 9.1 yards per attempt, tied for the fifth-highest mark among 107 qualified FBS quarterbacks.
According to Muraco, Maiava, a natural leader, earned his respect through quiet confidence.
“He [Maiava] wasn’t super vocal,” said Muraco. “Everyone was excited because they saw his talent. He brought an energy where we felt we had something special and believed we could win a second state championship. He bought into the culture. As the quarterback, he was naturally a leader, but not the yelling type — more of a ‘let’s go’ and then let his play speak.”
Maiava has come a long way since his days at UNLV, and you can see it on the tape. Over the course of his college career, he’s cleaned up his mechanics, cut back on the risky throws, and looks far more comfortable working through his reads than he did early on.
What really stands out is how natural the transition has looked from one system to another. At UNLV, he was asked to get the ball out quickly in a spread-heavy offense. At USC, he’s stepped into Lincoln Riley’s air-raid system and hasn’t missed a beat, showing he can handle a pass-heavy attack that asks a lot of the quarterback mentally.
Not every college quarterback can make that kind of jump. Maiava has, and that matters to NFL talent evaluators.
“What he’s demonstrated at UNLV, going in as a freshman and playing well, then earning an offer from USC and thriving there, that’s been impressive to me,” Muraco told Jet X. “I’m proud of the maturity he shows and how he carries himself.”
Maiava, known for his pocket-passing ability, is an intriguing quarterback whose tangible development has sent him soaring up draft boards and could land him in the first round come April.