Now Boarding<\/a>” series. “I mean, put it on a T-shirt. You got to find starters. You have to build up the infrastructure. Because is this the year the Jets find their quarterback of the future? Probably not. I don’t know that that’s this draft, but this can be the year that you build that team so that when you get the quarterback, they’re ready to roll.”<\/p>\nBeyond the 2026 draft, the Jets have stockpiled a trio of first-round picks in 2027. That draft could potentially include a handful of QBs (like Arch Manning of Texas, Dante Moore of Oregon and others) worthy of being called franchise players. The Raiders have the No. 1 overall selection, need a QB and are expected to take Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n
“This should not be a quick-fix philosophy. It is something that should take time,” Miller said, referring to the Jets. “So I do look at it and say, as much as I love Fernando Mendoza, and I’m rooting for him and think he’s a good quarterback, I think having the picks this year and next year are incredibly valuable to where maybe you are looking at a two-draft rebuild. If you can hit on those four picks in the top 44 this year, then the three first rounders next year, while maintaining that flexibility to go up [in 2027] if you have to next year to get a Manning or Moore or someone else who maybe you know comes along over the next year.”<\/p>\n
He added: “The Jets and a lot of other teams are going to be in a position where you have that need, that clear cut need at the quarterback spot, but you’re not going to be able to fill that void. And so, I think this becomes a draft where you try to set the table for that quarterback when you can get them. And maybe that’s 2027.”<\/p>\n
As he works through the next 8 weeks or so toward his 16th NFL Draft, Miller took us through his mock draft encompassing the first round; plus his other observations and sleepers to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n
No. 2 — Looking for That Edge
After the recent trade of Jermaine Johnson to Tennessee and an expected change on defense to a 3-4, many believe the Jets will choose from one of three highly rated players: Arvell Reese (Ohio State), Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami) or David Bailey (Texas Tech).<\/p>\n
“I do think it comes down to one of those edge rushers, and it’s almost daily, which one I would pick for you?” Miller said before the combine. “It’s David Bailey’s speed. It’s Rueben Bain’s power and with Arvell Reese, it’s the flexibility positionally and the upside that he brings to the table.”<\/p>\n
Who has the highest ceiling?<\/p>\n
“I think it’s Arvell Reese,” Miller said. “But he also has the lowest floor right now, and he’s not coming in with a huge pass rush plan, because he hasn’t done it full time, whereas these other guys have.” He added: “I think the upside is the highest for him, but it is a gamble.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL Scouting Combine has come and gone. Free agency is, literally, around the corner. But for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[4955,7,226,929,1917,255,88,2321,2097,6,109777],"class_list":{"0":"post-793859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-jets","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkjets","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-path-to-the-2026-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116176937971584720","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}