New York Jets' Draft History is Hexed

The New York Jets have two selections in the first round of tonight's NFL Draft. You know what that means: Two chances to screw it up.

(Just think, there are people out there who root for the Mets and the Jets, who were expansion cousins in the early 1960s and co-tenants at Shea Stadium until 1984. This must be like running a never-ending 4x400 relay of misery)

Anyway, this shouldn't - SHOULDN'T - be a bad first round for the Jets, who are scheduled to pick second and 16th. The second pick was earned by the Jets being their usual brand of bad last season, when they went 3-14.

Of course, that means the team forever searching for the next Joe Namath is picking second - behind the Las Vegas Raiders, who narrowly "won" the strength of schedule tiebreaker - in a draft with only one first-round quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. The Jets, everyone!

The 16th pick was obtained from the Indianapolis Colts, who sent their 2026 and 2027 first-round selections to Florham Park in exchange for Sauce Gardner on Nov. 4.

The Colts overpaid for Gardner when they were 7-2 and entertaining dreams of a Super Bowl run. They went 1-7 the rest of the way, missed the playoffs and ended the season by coaxing grandfather Philip Rivers off the couch to play quarterback.

Related: Potential Hall Of Famer Philip Rivers Mounts An Unusual Comeback

The Jets' activity last Nov. 4 could - COULD - signal a potentially new, less miserable day dawning for the perpetually miserable franchise.

Jets' Draft Haul Might Spark Rebuild

The Jets also got a haul on Nov. 4 in exchange for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, whom they dealt to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 second-rounder and the higher of the Cowboys' two 2027 first-round picks.

This armful of high draft picks - FIVE first-round picks and two second-round picks in the next two years - represent the kind of treasure chest that can help a franchise not just turn itself around but turn into a Super Bowl contender. Per ESPN Research, only six teams have made eight first- and second-round picks in back-to-back drafts since 1992.

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Why is 1992 the start of the time frame here? Because that's one year after the Cowboys finished selecting eight first- or second-round picks in a two-year span - a haul that built the core of the dynasty that won three Super Bowls in four years from 1992-95. As then-Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson told longtime Jets beat writer Rich Cimini last week, those picks "…could give them a foundation for years to come."

These are the Jets, so they probably won't. But with a ton of needs and two first-round picks nestled in reasonably safe spots - i.e. where they won't take the right quarterback or will take the wrong one - the Jets probably won't add to their litany of draft day/night instantly memorable draft day/night mistakes.

Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

The Jets' Draft Day Disasters

All the picks and reactions contained in this hilarious YouTube clip that will hopefully be seen by archeologists sifting through the ruins of American civilization are from 1995 or earlier, which is a reminder the NFL Draft was better when it was just sort of its own quirky thing that happened on a random day in the middle of the week and then a random weekend in April.

Now the NFL Draft is just another thing the NFL has decided to blow up and drag out and take on the road for no other reason than the NFL can do whatever it wants knowing we'll all watch anyway. Enjoy the Wednesday night opener in September so the NFL can play a game in Australia the next night, which means week one will include games on four different days! Sigh.

Anyway, the Jets fans in these clips weren't looking to get on TV (OK maybe they were a little), but they were hardcore fans heading into Manhattan to tie a few on and see if their favorite team could just not screw things up. They weren't looking to go viral, mostly because that wasn't a thing. These reactions were funny and cool and organic in a way nothing will be funny or cool or organic tonight or the next three days.

• 1980: Johnny "Lam" Jones: A toolsy receiver who won a gold medal on the United States 4x100 relay team in the 1976 Olympics, Jones was selected second overall - one pick before Hall of Fame-bound offensive lineman Anthony Munoz and 16 picks before wide receiver Art Monk, the only other Hall of Famer in this first round class. Jones was a member of playoff teams in 1981 and 1982, which is impressive for any Jets player. But he never topped 800 yards receiving in his five NFL seasons, all with the Jets. He battled myeloma for more than a decade before his death in 2019.
• 1981: Freeman McNeil: Fans didn't love this pick and McNeil had the misfortune of being taken third overall in between Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Kenny Easley. But McNeil had a terrific career and led all 1981 draftees with 8,074 rushing yards while playing for two of the three best post-Super Bowl Jets teams - the 1982 squad that fell to the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game and the 1986 club that squandered a late 10-point lead in a divisional round loss to the Cleveland Browns. McNeil also helped NFL players earn free agency by participating in a suit against the league in 1992.
• 1983 Ken O'Brien: Watch that YouTube clip, which is a reminder the NFL commissioner used to be a human being and not a robot engineered for world domination. Pete Rozelle knows what he's doing to Jets fans when he pauses after "quarterback." So good. Only the Jets could take the guy who had the median career amongst the quarterbacks selected in a historic first round for signal-callers - not as good as John Elway or Jim Kelly, much better than Todd Blackledge and Tony Easton - and STILL be haunted forever by their pick. Because, of course, the Jets took O'Brien out of Division II Cal-Davis at no. 24, three picks before the Dolphins snagged Dan Marino. Yup. That's how it goes. O'Brien threw for 24,386 yards, 124 touchdowns and won 50 games as a starter, all the second-most in franchise history behind only Namath. But Marino was Marino.
• 1987 Roger Vick: By this point, Rozelle was enjoying the Jets' debauchery as much as anyone. Check out the smirk after he utters "fullback." The good news is the Jets didn't miss out on any superstars in a first round that featured only one Hall of Famer (Rod Woodson went no. 10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers). The bad news is they took a fullback with the 21st pick in the draft. Vick ran for 1,231 yards in three seasons before ending his career with one season with the Philadelphia Eagles. O'Brien also works for Jets/Eagles on Immaculate Grid, you know.
• 1989 Jeff Lageman: In classic Jets fashion, one of their better draft picks yielded an all-time soundbite mocking the franchise. "It's obvious to me right now that the Jets just don't understand what the draft's all about," Mel Kiper Jr. said after the Jets took Lageman with the 14th pick. Turns out they did, at least in 1989! Lageman racked up 34.5 sacks in six seasons with the Jets before signing with the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, for whom he collected 12.5 sacks in his final four seasons.
• 1990 Blair Thomas: Oh no, the Jets drafting second. What could poss-i-bly go wrong? Thomas was a no-doubter behind Jeff George after gaining 3,301 yards and winning a national title at Penn State, but he rushed for just 2,236 yards in the NFL - the 12th-most amongst 1990 draftees and a mere 16,119 yards behind all-time leading NFL rusher Emmitt Smith, who went 17th to the Cowboys. Two future Hall of Famers - Cortez Kennedy (third) and Junior Seau (fifth) - went within the three picks after Thomas.
• 1992 Johnny Mitchell: This is probably another example of the Jets being punished for being the Jets. Mitchell, who was selected 15th and had 2,086 receiving yards in four seasons with the team, wasn't a great pick, but he wasn't terrible and he was nowhere near the worst selection of a Hall of Fame-free first round. The Giants drafted another tight end, Derek Brown, one pick earlier and he only collected 401 yards receiving in his career. Quarterback David Klingler, who went sixth to the Cincinnati Bengals, proved to be a run-and-shoot product who couldn't adjust to the NFL.
• 1995 Kyle Brady: The magnum opus of pre-2000 Jets draft mistakes. With Jets fans chanting "We want Sapp!" the Jets spent the ninth pick on Brady and probably saved themselves a ton of off-field headaches…as well as perhaps the Super Bowl Sapp won with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who stopped his slide by selecting him with the 12th pick. Sapp, who dropped due to a positive drug test, made seven Pro Bowls and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2013. Brady only exceeded 500 yards receiving once but played a remarkable 13 seasons with the Jets, Jaguars and New England Patriots.

Related: A Diary of The Worst NFL Games... Ever? My Day With The Jets And Giants

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 10:03 PM.