Jordan Travis Decision Accentuates Jets’ Draft Mistake

In a somewhat shocking development, 2024 New York Jets Draftee Jordan Travis retired from the NFL today. We all knew about the gruesome injury he suffered in November 2023, but perhaps the comebacks of Teddy Bridgewater, Alex Smith, and countless others in recent memory have desensitized us to the fact that these injuries are life-altering and life-changing forever. We expected him to recover as fully as possible and be ready to play football – some people even expected him to be the heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers.

Instead, he has retired with zero full-contact practices under his belt, zero snaps taken in any game, and zero memories of any kind as a New York Jet.

My colleague Glenn Naughton graded the Jets’ 2025 Draft class as a C, and my grade was very similar: a B-. My two glaring issues were the omission of a defensive tackle to pair next to Quinnen Williams, in what some pundits called ‘the deepest defensive tackle draft in the last 20 years, and the omission of a quarterback when there is no clear franchise quarterback on the roster. The Jets have been starved for a franchise QB for 50 years, and somehow, some way, every single regime seems to fall into the same pitfall: no competition at the league’s most important position.

I won’t recite the 50-year history of Jets quarterbacks, but it should be obvious to you that the QB2 for the Jets has almost always been someone who arguably shouldn’t be employed in the NFL. Guys like Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian, Luke Falk(!) have held that position, so how can the QB1 of the time feel any pressure to perform or succeed when they know their spot is a lock no matter what? That lack of accountability crushed Zach Wilson, and by the time they tried to fix it and hold him accountable (by benching him for Mike White), it was too late; his confidence was crushed.

Why Bring in a QB?

Bringing in healthy QB competition breeds excellence. Iron sharpens iron. QB2s also help your starter prepare for each game on a week-to-week basis, so you really want the sharpest minds in the room. The Jets had a bona fide opportunity to add a young, promising talent such as Will Howard, Kyle McCord, or Quinn Ewers to groom and develop into their mold of clay, sculpting them any way they saw fit.

In Year 1 of establishing a culture, they had the opportunity to acquire a signal-caller whose NFL knowledge would be based solely on the teachings of Aaron Glenn and his offensive staff. They passed on that great opportunity to hand the keys over to Justin Fields and completely ignore Plan B. Have they not learned from the 50 years worth of examples, where Aaron Glenn got to see firsthand as a player?

Evidently not. And the one fail-safe available, the apparent ‘steal of the draft‘ Jordan Travis, has now issued his retirement, meaning Justin Fields is the sole long-term option for the Jets at quarterback. With the Jets competing hard under Glenn and winning 5-9 games this year, they almost certainly will be out of the running to secure a top pick next year. We never know how the draft board will change over the next twelve months, but next year’s class appears top-heavy, whereas this year’s class had quite a few developmental projects who can be coached into stars.

For someone who prides himself so much on coaching and considers himself a great coach, this was an extraordinary opportunity for Aaron Glenn to prove that and develop the Jets’ long-term solution. Instead, as was the case with Zach Wilson and Sam Darnold before him, Justin Fields will be handed the job with absolutely no threat to anyone taking it from him. And suppose he performs at his usual level. In that case, the Jets will simply be taking another lap on this hamster wheel of mediocrity and wonder why they continue to struggle to find a franchise QB. This isn’t to say Jordan Travis was the answer, but he was certainly an option. Without drafting anyone new and adding only longshot undrafted free agent Brady Cook, the Jets only have one option: Justin the Jet, or prepare for regret.

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