Top 25 New York Jets of 2026: Ranking Every Player Based on Impact

New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) at MetLife Stadium. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

New York’s front office brass, led by GM Darren Mougey, will hope that the Jets' new offseason additions can get this football team back on track. One could even argue that with the influx of talent on the roster, the Jets shouldn’t be one of the worst teams in the league in 2026.

Speaking of the roster, there are a ton of new faces and guys from last year’s squad who will play a huge role in helping turn around the football program. Over the next few weeks, here at Jets on SI, we’ll be unveiling our top 25 Jets heading into the 2026 season.

It wasn’t easy nailing down the top 25, as there’s a ton of new faces on the team in the midst of figuring out its identity, but there's already a good idea of who will make the biggest impact in 2026.

Offensive Breakdown

New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (5) takes the field prior to a game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Jets’ offense will have a new captain leading the charge this season as Frank Reich, who spent last year as the head coach at Stanford University, is stepping in as offensive coordinator for Tanner Engstrand.

With Reich at the helm, we should expect this season’s offense to be more player-empowered, which has drawn rave reviews from standout wide receiver Garrett Wilson. We also know that the former NFL quarterback and head coach will make sure the game plan is geared to the quarterback’s strengths.

Geno Smith, who is back in New York for his second stint, will be looking to execute Reich’s game plan every week. Smith is coming off an ugly 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders and will be trying to re-establish himself as a starter in this league. If he can take this passing offense from 32nd (140.3 yards per game) and scoring offense from 19th (22.3 points per game), there’s no reason to think that the Jets won’t have more than three wins.

However, Smith won’t have to do it by himself, as he has a star running back in Breece Hall, a budding receiver room—which features Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, and rookie Omar Cooper Jr.—a dynamic tight end tandem (Kenyon Sadiq and Mason Taylor), plus an offensive line that has a ton of potential to be one of the better units in the league.

The sky is the limit for this Jets’ offense in 2026, but for them to have success, it will be up to Reich, Smith, and Hall, who is coming off his first 1,000-yard rushing campaign.

Defensive Breakdown

New York Jets edge David Bailey (31) warms up during minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

There’s a ton of excitement surrounding this Jets’ defense, which added a ton of talent at all three levels in free agency, the draft, and the trade market. Head coach Aaron Glenn will take over the play-calling duties, as he’ll be running a multiple-scheme defense, which is perfect for the pieces the Jets have.

When you look at the defensive line, New York has the talent off the edge with Will McDonald IV and rookie David Bailey, who will look to improve the Jets’ sack numbers from last year. Then, in the middle, the Jets acquired T’Vondre Sweat from the Tennessee Titans, and he should help in stopping the run, which was a major issue in 2025.

At linebacker, the Jets brought back Demario Davis, who still has a lot left in the tank despite being 37 years old, and he will help out Jamien Sherwood.

And finally, we can’t forget about the Jets’ secondary, which has new faces in Nahshon Wright, D’Angelo Ponds (rookie), and Minkah Fitzpatrick. These three defensive backs in particular should help create some turnovers this upcoming season after having zero interceptions in 2025.

Special Teams Breakdown

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn smiles after New York Jets running back Kene Nwangwu (34) scores a touchdown on a kickoff during an NFL Week 10 game between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last but not least, the Jets’ special teams unit will be under a huge microscope this season. As of now, we don’t know who will be the team’s starting kicker as Cade York and Jason Sanders are battling against each other to earn that spot.

The Jets hope that whoever wins the competition can duplicate what veteran Nick Folk (insert stats) did last season. Luckily, New York doesn’t have to worry about their punt and kick return games as it has two of the better specialists in the league in Kene Nwangwu and Isaiah Williams.

Nwangwu averaged 33.6 yards per kick return and scored a kick return touchdown. He led all active players in the NFL with 29.7 yards per kick return.

As for Williams, he was ranked third in yards per punt return (14.1) and scored two punt return touchdowns. The 25-year-old wide receiver also showed off his versatility on kick returns with a 29.2-yard per kick return average.

Williams and Nwangwu combined to help the Jets be ranked first in yards per kick return (29.9) in 2025. Needless to say, we should expect this unit to be one of the best in 2026.

Top 25 rankings

*will be updated with every player's breakdown once published