Jets Latest Drew Allar Buzz Makes Perfect Sense

The New York Jets should avoid taking a quarterback in the first round of the 2026 National Football League Draft.

If the Las Vegas Raiders shock the world and don't draft Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall, then we can talk. But with the expectation being that Mendoza will be going to Las Vegas, there arguably isn't a quarterback prospect worth taking in the first round for New York. Ty Simpson will be brought up out of Alabama. He very well may be taken in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft as well.

But he arguably is too big a risk for a Jets team that simply doesn't need to miss on another quarterback right now. Simpson was great in 2025 for Alabama, but it was his only college season in which he played more than six games. There's a small sample size there and the Jets played that game before with Zach Wilson, who hadn't played in more than nine games in a college season before being drafted by the Jets.

The Jets should be thinking Drew Allar

Feb 28, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State quarterback Drew Allar (QB02) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The second round is when the Jets should be starting to think about the quarterback position, arguably with the No. 44 overall pick. New York currently doesn't have a third-round pick. If the right pick is available at No. 44, great. If not, wait. ESPN's Rich Cimini said to "keep an eye on" Drew Allar out of Penn State and specifically mentioned the fourth round as an option.

"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 (Alabama) at Nos. 16 or 33."

Now this would be even better than taking a quarterback at No. 44. The Jets have the No. 103 overall pick and the No. 140 overall pick in the fourth round. If Allar is still on the board at No. 103, it would be a no-brainer of a pick. He's a sleeper in this draft class after dealing with injuries in 2025. He played in just six games, but played 16 games in 2024, 13 games in 2023 and 10 games in 2022. He's 6'5'' and 228 pounds and fits the Frank Reich mold. That's why he's interesting.

If he didn't get hurt in 2025, we'd be talking about him with the Ty Simpsons or Carson Becks of the world. Instead, he looks like a mid-round option at this time but he's arguably not much different from Simpson or Beck.