All in all, I thought it was a rather impressive 2026 NFL draft for the New York Jets, as they got a lot on both sides of the football. However, just as every team in the NFL will always face questions after its decisions, there will be some after theirs.
Whether that's the first pick the Jets made in the draft, the fourth one, or anything else, the Jets have been questioned throughout this process, and they'll just have to be hopeful that things go as well as the front office and coaching staff clearly thought they could when they made these decisions.
One of the moves being questioned is the decision to take Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik in the fourth round. Klubnik, who was viewed as a potential first-round pick just a year ago, didn't do what he needed to do at Clemson at times to suggest that he was worthy of moving up for in the draft.
“If you had to pick one decision the Jets made in this year’s draft that was questionable, it was moving up 18 spots in the fourth round to take Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. On the surface, it seemed unnecessary to move up to get Klubnik at pick No. 110 when it seemed likely he would have been available at No. 128, where the Jets were going to pick next.
“But the Jets believed there were two other teams that were targeting Klubnik, according to a source. They also knew that people around the NFL expected the Jets to draft a quarterback in the fourth round because they did not have a fifth- or sixth-round pick and the expectation was they would draft a quarterback on Day 3… The Jets felt like they were not losing a pick since they were getting that sixth-rounder back and they were interested in getting back into the sixth round where they had a player in mind. The Jets ended up taking Miami guard Anez Cooper in the sixth round after another trade where they moved up 11 spots,” Brian Costello of the Post wrote.
I understand what Costello is saying here, and I don't necessarily think he's wrong.
However, moving a couple of late-round assets to move up and draft a quarterback that they think others want isn't really that much of a problem to me. The Jets ultimately drafted a guy who could have been selected by someone else, and we can't fault them for that.