Going into the 2025 season, the wide receiver position was one of the weakest points for the New York Jets offense. Outside of Garrett Wilson, the organization had plenty of question marks throughout the entire room.

Those questions have only grown throughout the season. At 3-11, New York owns one of the worst passing offenses in the league. With Wilson out due to a knee injury, there isn’t expected to be a player who finishes the year with 500 receiving yards.

As bad as the group has been, though, there’s reason for some optimism.

A midseason trade for former second-round pick Adonai Mitchell has brought some juice to the Jets’ offense that was missing beforehand.

Should that continue in the final three weeks of the regular season, it could alter the Jets’ future plans for the position group.

If there is one person who believes Mitchell will keep improving, it’s offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand.

Mitchell continues to impress

At first glance, Mitchell’s 18-catch, 236-yard, two-touchdown stat line (5 games) isn’t anything to get overly excited over. The former Texas standout was shipped to New York as part of the deal that traded Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts.

What Mitchell has done off the field, though, has impressed Engstrand the most.

The first-year offensive coordinator lauded the receiver for his ability to pick up the Jets’ offense.

“You know [when] a guy’s kind of ‘got it.’ He’s understanding the offense,” Engstrand said. “We’re fairly multiple in different formations and calls, and how we’re saying things and where we want to get him. When you see him in a walkthrough, he’s listening to the call, and halfway through it, you can see that it’s already processed in his head, and he’s already getting where he needs to go. It’s there for him right now, and that’s been one of the coolest things to see.”

To Engstrand, it’s a testament to the 23-year-old’s work ethic.

“It’s just a credit to him and he’s one of the first guys in here every day,” Engstrand said. “We walk down, we’re having a staff meeting, he’s over there in the receivers room. So, I think that’s a credit to him and the time that he’s put in.”

Mitchell’s time in Indianapolis didn’t quite work out. So far with the Jets, though, the young wideout has been the top target in their passing attack. If he can build on his early success, the Jets may deem Mitchell a quality second option beside a healthy Wilson going into 2026.

Factoring in the additional moves they could make in the offseason, Mitchell’s development pushes the ceiling of the Jets’ receiver room to a brand-new level.

Jets’ future wide receiver outlook

Imagine, if you will, that the Jets trade up in the first round of the 2026 draft to select the quarterback of their choice. Let’s also hypothesize that it’ll take their own first-round pick, a second-round pick, and one of their 2027 first-round picks as well.

That would still leave New York with an additional first-round pick this year, as part of the Colts deal that brought Mitchell in. It’s a pick that is rapidly ascending as Indianapolis circles the drain, currently situated in the No. 17 slot with the potential to rise much higher.

There is a world where the Jets can draft their future franchise quarterback in Fernando Mendoza and still pair him with one of the top receivers in the class.

Would a wide receiver trio of Garrett Wilson, AD Mitchell, and USC rookie Makai Lemon strike fear in the hearts of opposing defenses? If Mitchell keeps tapping into his second-round talent, then it certainly would. At the very least, the unit would be infused with far more potential than it had in 2025.

So long as Mitchell continues to impress, this is the type of potential that New York’s offense has on the table.