NFL Exec Predicts Jets To Draft First-Round QB -- But Not Cam Ward Or Shedeur Sanders

Now here's a new one.

Mock NFL mock drafts have Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders as the first two quarterbacks taken in some order. If the New York Jets use the seventh-overall pick either to draft or to trade up for a QB, it presumably would be to land Ward or Sanders.

However, at least one NFL executive has a very different take.

The Athletic's Mike Sando recently had five executives conduct mock drafts for the first 10 picks. He then chose one of the mocks as a springboard for additional insight into each team currently in the top 10. And, in the mock draft used for Sando's story, an unnamed executive has the Jets selecting Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the No. 7 pick.

Here's Sando's full blurb on New York selecting Dart, who boosted his stock last week at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine:

Former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, who led the team’s search for its new coach and GM, recently called Dart the “clear” third QB in this draft. Was he priming expectations for the Jets to select Dart this early?

“They gotta get a quarterback, and this might be where Jaxson Dart goes,” the exec projecting Dart to the Jets said. “They are sitting there with Tyrod Taylor as their starter right now.”

So many of the available veteran options are Jets alums, from Aaron Rodgers to Sam Darnold to a potential reclamation project in Zach Wilson. Bringing back any of those QBs appears remote.

Could Jaxson Dart, or perhaps another QB, leap into the top 10? (James Gilbert / Getty Images)
Not everyone agrees with Tannenbaum’s contention that Dart should be the third quarterback in this class, but all agree the Jets appear desperate heading into free agency, with few appealing options. So we’ve penciled in a quarterback here, leaving open the chance it could be someone other than Dart.

“I think it’s going to be a quarterback, but we don’t know which one,” another exec said.

One name to keep in mind: Tyler Shough of Louisville.

Todd McShay, the former longtime ESPN draft analyst now with The Ringer, predicted Shough would be drafted ahead of Sanders.

Because Shough has had only one especially strong season, his stock could appear to rise late as teams work through his 2024 tape. His age (25) and injury history have worked against him so far, but some execs see him as a first-round talent with a shot at cracking the top 10.

With the 2025 NFL Draft still over a month away, it's hard to envision the Jets going against industry consensus and drafting Dart. But Sanders' stock reportedly already is falling, and the narrative could be completely different by the time the draft starts on April 24.

Regardless, Jets fans have reason to hope New York will leave the draft with an Aaron Rodgers replacement.

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