Will the Jets Eye Fernando Mendoza as Top QB Target After Disastrous 2025 Season?

The New York Jets have had a disappointing 2025 season, and after 15 games, they sit at the bottom of the division with a 3-12 record. With the Patriots and Bills up over the next two weeks, winning another game this season will be a tall task. All eyes are on 2026 as massive and major improvements are needed. A QB the caliber of Fernando Mendoza is definitely missing from this current roster.

It has been a season to forget for Gang Green. Even worse than many New York sports betting sites would have originally thought. The team started working on next year in the middle of this one. Trading away Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams brings in a lot of extra draft capital. Many are speculating that they have identified 22-year-old Boston native Fernando Mendoza as the man that they want to take with their first pick.

Having impressed at the college level in California, in December 2024, he transferred to Indiana University, and he has seen his stock take a meteoric rise this year. He was named the AP College Football Player of the Year, and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, and both the Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Award. He was not finished there as he was also named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, and first team All Big Ten. He topped off those achievements by being named as one of the four Heisman Trophy finalists, and went on to win it to boot.

Speaking recently to the Football 301 podcast, NFL analyst and insider Nate Tice stated that the Jets had made Mendoza their top QB priority, saying that they were “smitten” with him and the way that he has continued to develop this year.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler was also making an appearance, and he quickly commented that the Jets “…have the ammo”. This is a reference to the fact that Jets have five first round picks and three second round picks in the next two drafts.

It is a sentiment shared by others in the media, as NFL insider Jay Glazer stated on FOX NFL Sunday that going into the season, most people rated him as a second-round pick, or at worst, top of the third, but right now he is quite clearly the “clear cut top player in the draft” for the position.

Glazer went on to add that few could question his recent improvements when it came to leadership, poise, and calmness in the pocket, as it has all elevated his status beyond what many thought he was capable of, and obviously, a number of franchises are now keenly aware of his talents.

Before the games this weekend, the Jets were slated to have the 5th overall pick in the first round, but that is likely to change before the end of the season. We keep you up to date on that, and it will be a focus over the next two weeks for sure. Will the Jets pick higher than 5th? Will they have to trade up to get Mendoza? Will Dante Moore be the 1st QB taken? These are the things we will be discussing as we hope the team finally improves the Jets Roster and makes the playoffs next season.

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