The New York Jets are one of the most quarterback-needy teams in the NFL entering the 2026 NFL Draft. The Jets have a slew of picks that could go in a few different directions, even possibly taking a quarterback with the 16th pick in the first round. The Jets have that pick due to moving on from Sauce Gardner.
It's tough to say that Drew Allar would be the perfect pick for New York. As I've said a few times, I think it's very fair to mention that Allar can be a great player in the NFL, but he's going to need a lot to go right on his side.
I also understand that this is a different situation than the Jets have been in over the past few years, with an entirely new regime, but if we're going based on history, the organization has had a horrible time developing quarterbacks at the level it needs to.
Regarding when the Jets might take a quarterback, though, and when Allar could be in play, Rich Cimini seems to think that it could be in the fourth round.
“Fill in the blank: The Jets will draft a quarterback in the [Blank] round,” Cimini wrote. “Fourth. Keep an eye on Drew Allar (Penn State), who recently had a private workout at the Jets' facility. He's a developmental prospect with great size (6-foot-5, 228 pounds) and arm strength. Of course, this becomes moot if they pick Ty Simpson at Nos. 16 or 33.”
A lot of people would say that taking Allar in the fourth round would be a better idea than taking Ty Simpson in the first round.
It isn't the craziest thing to say that Allar is a better quarterback than Simpson, though Simpson played a lot better last year and the hype is higher because of that. If Allar had looked how he did in his previous two seasons last year, he'd be in a much different position right now and would likely be higher than Simpson on draft boards.
“The best options in this range would probably be Allar or Miami’s Carson Beck. Beck put out better tape in 2025, though Allar did miss much of the season with an injury. Still, the sense I get is that most teams view Allar as someone with a higher ceiling, even if you’d be in trouble if you had to play him as a rookie,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said.