beyond the back page The next Jets quarterback — and the dramas that will dominate this college football season By Howie Kussoy Published Aug. 6, 2026, 7:50 a.m. ET Arch Manning heads into the season as the quarterback of a top-five Texas team and the potential No. 1 pick in the 2027 draft. Getty Images It is August, the time to be optimistic, to envision the best-case scenarios for the NFL season ahead. On average, nearly half of every playoff field consists of teams that weren’t in the postseason the previous season. Last year, the Patriots jumped from last place to the Super Bowl.
But the Jets remain the exception, having gone 11 years since finishing with a winning record while owning the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports (2010). They enter this season with the third-lowest over/under win total (5.5) in the league.
The Jets have long had their eye on 2027. It is why they traded for an aging bridge quarterback who led the league in interceptions last season (Geno Smith) and didn’t reach to take a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, when only two quarterbacks were selected in the first two rounds.
