The State of the 2025 New York Jets

The 2025 season for the New York Jets is approaching rapidly, and with less than 10 days until their preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, it is a good time to take a high-level look at where the Jets and their new regime stand. This winter will mark 15 years since the Jets last made the playoffs, and in that time, they have had just one winning season. Since the 10-win 2015 season that ended in disaster in Buffalo, Gang Green has averaged just five wins a season. So, the lens through which we judge this team is whether or not what we see is leading to nine wins, which would be a huge step forward for the league’s perennial punching bag.

The Country Club Mentality Is Over

Courtesy of New York Post

The 2025 training camp has had a clear theme, and one that pops up every 5 or so years: this is not the same old Jets. The most glaring takeaway about how the overall feel of this new Jets era is different from the Robert Salah years is how much the players have leaned into the intensity Aaron Glenn has brought to camp. They actually seem to be taking every opportunity to praise the somewhat basic and old-school approach Glenn has: live tackling in practice and a constant focus on accountability. The comments from the team are clear shots at the previous regime. There was a country club mentality the last couple of years as Salah seemed to lay a foundation that centered around Aaron Rodgers’ happiness and that his mere presence would breed winning. We know how that worked out.

Premier players and leaders like Quinnen Williams, Garrett Wilson, and the usually quiet Alijah Vera-Tucker have made it clear the team is loving the new focus of camp. It is also refreshing to see refs on the field in practice (supposedly last year they weren’t used because they were cutting costs…) and accountability pushed on players when they commit mental errors. Jeremy Ruckert was sat after a false start, which seems minor, but when you have been the most penalized team in football the last two years, it takes a serious overcorrection to fix the issue.

Glenn is a rookie head coach, but he has certainly paid his dues climbing the coaching ranks, and it is clear he has a true vision of what he wants this team to feel like. He comes from the tree of Bill Parcells, Sean Peyton, and Dan Campbell, so intensity and focus come naturally to the former Gang Green standout. It will obviously all come down to wins and losses this year and seeing real growth, but it is safe to say there is a lovefest brewing with Glenn and Jets fans.

Where The Strength Lies

Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports

There are some very clear strengths to this team. For one, just from an organizational standpoint, extending Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson without any drama is an enormous win. Sauce felt inevitable, but considering what Wilson has gone through and the feeling that his talents have not been fully tapped into here, getting him signed long-term is a huge relief. It would have been hard to blame him for holding out, but instead, new GM Darren Mougie cleared a huge early hurdle in his first year as the leading voice in changing the makeup of this roster.

Another strength, which I still cannot believe I am about to type, is the offensive line. I know, impossible, right? But when you use four first-round picks on linemen in the last six years, with a second-round pick mixed in as well, eventually you have to crack the code. The tackle spots feel set for a long time. Ola Fashanu has been a beast in camp and seems ready for a huge leap in year two, and 2025 first pick Armand Membou has been getting first-team reps since day one in green, and by all accounts, he has looked the part. His battles against Will McDonald have been a highlight of the early stages of the preseason. Mix in a hopefully healthy AVT, veteran John Simpson, and the aforementioned second-round pick Joe Tippmann for the internal o-line starters, and this finally feels like a line that could end up being in the top 10 across the league.

That line will hopefully be blocking for what could easily be a top-five rushing team, and perhaps the best position room of the team. Having one running back be a workhorse for an offense is an ancient approach in today’s NFL, and the Jets' package of Breece Hall, Braelon Allen, and Isaiah Davis has top-tier potential. We know Hall is a legitimate home run threat, but his health issues and sporadic success on a down-by-down basis make depth a necessity. Enter second-year studs Allen and Davis. My guess is Allen will eventually be the true number one back on this team, and Davis would get heavy usage on most other teams. Expect a lot of bruising runs from Allen spelling Hall’s electricity, and do not be surprised if Davis gets a fair amount of touches every game. This is going to be a fun group in 2025, and any playoff hopes for the Jets are tied to that room.

The Major Question Marks

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What’s that? I’ve written seven paragraphs and not mentioned Justin Fields yet? Well, there is a full post coming on what to fairly expect from the new signal caller, but anyone who thinks he steps in and is a top-10 quarterback is putting the bar way too high. Fields is an elite runner, and I think the Bears and Steelers made a mistake giving up on him, but until he shows he is a top-half quarterback, expect what he has always been, a bottom-third QB.

Another huge concern is the defensive line and its ability to stop the run. The Jets have not been a top-half run-stopping team since 2019, and outside of Williams, the front is thin against the ground attack. The Michael Clemons experience cannot continue in 2025, but with Jermaine Johnson still working his way back from his Achilles injury, Clemons would be the starter right now. The talented linebackers the Jets have are less effective if lanes aren’t clogged, and overall, the line is a spot that needs an addition during camp.

The last question mark may have been partially answered by an old friend named Nick Folk, but the Jets' opening camp with a rookie punter and two rookie kickers was a mistake from the start. Folk has been signed, and he hit 96% of his field goals the last two seasons, but we know kickers can fall off fast. Rookie Austin McNamara is going to be the punter, and rookie punters are horribly fickle. Since 1985, only two rookie punters have made a Pro Bowl, and since 2010, only 15 punters have been top-15 at the position in the league in their rookie campaign. Add in that the returner role is very much up for grabs, and it is safe to say that, besides old-reliable Thomas Hennessy, not much is certain on special teams yet.

There is time to fix the issues on this team, and certainly plenty of practice ahead to fine-tune the strengths, but overall, all Jets fans want to see is progress each week. So far, so good.