Aaron Glenn enters this season with a lot to prove, and Garrett Wilson is one reason to think the Jets could be better than expected. Adam Hunger / Associated Press
The Athletic Football Show is previewing all 32 teams leading up to the start of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the New York Jets. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full AFC East preview wherever you get your podcasts.
Derrik Klassen on what about the Jets most excites him: I’m excited to see another year of this young offensive line getting to step up and hopefully a run game with more normal quarterback play. There are fair questions about Frank Reich. Geno Smith did not have a good year last year, but last year’s quarterback situation in New York was truly untenable. I just think if the passing game can even be like the 24th best in the league, just normal-bad, I do think it gives the run game a little bit more life.
Armand Membou is an 18-wheeler truck, man. That guy is incredible already. Josh Myers is a totally acceptable veteran center. I thought Joe Tippmann, when he moved to guard last year when Alijah Vera-Tucker got hurt, played pretty well. Now he gets an offseason where he’s locked into being a guard now. And then Olu Fashanu on the left side is a totally solid player, especially in pass protection. So I’m just excited that this offensive line hopefully gets a more normal environment to work in and we can see the best of them.
Dave Helman on what he’s watching the first month of the season: I assume we’ll know really quickly whether Geno has a little bit left in the tank or whether it’s over. There’s some degree of infrastructure in place here for Geno to be successful. Derrik already talked about the offensive line. The tackles make you feel really good. Garrett Wilson, perennially underrated. Breece Hall is there. This looks … it’s better than I think you would give it credit for, provided Geno is anything resembling Seattle Geno and not 37th in EPA per play like he was in Vegas last year.
Robert Mays on what’s keeping him up at night: Here is my concern with Frank Reich. Over the last five years in the NFL, there have been 13 offenses that have had negative 90 passing EPA or worse. Thirteen over the last five years, so you essentially get 2 1/2 a year. Two of those were coached by Frank Reich. We’ve seen in his last two times as the offensive playcaller the offense bottom out to a degree that we do not often see in the NFL. Very similar, by the way, to the 2025 Raiders. And that is my concern here is that even with better players, we see systemic things like this where the entire bottom falls out of it, and he has done it twice in his last two times as a playcaller. That is my concern.
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Sep 2, 2026
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