The New York Jets are in an interesting position as we get closer to the 2026 NFL Draft. The first year under head coach Aaron Glenn wasn’t a rousing success, but with five first-round picks in the next two drafts, they are better equipped than most other teams.
But they need to be careful with their selections to build the perfect roster for contention. Recently, rumors linking them to Jeremiyah Love circulated. However, a veteran league insider isn’t buying into that hype.
New York Jets Shouldn’t Target Jeremiyah Love
Seen as one of the best prospects in the draft class, Love is far and away the best running back available. Already drawing comparisons to the likes of Jahmyr Gibbs, his potential is through the roof.
At Notre Dame, his statistics only improved as the years went on. In his final season, he tallied an astounding 1,372 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns, bringing his two-year totals to almost 2,500 yards and 40 total touchdowns.
That kind of production, especially for an offense that ranked in the bottom-five of the NFL on PFSN’s Offense Impact Metric, could be a life-changer for the Jets. And, the organization certainly recognized that with a reported interest in the Fighting Irish product.
However, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated doesn’t think a move in that direction will work out. In his latest mailbag surrounding the 2026 NFL Draft, he outright claimed, “I’d be surprised if the Jets took Jeremiyah Love with the second pick.”
On face value, that may have seemed harsh towards a legitimate blue-chip prospect. But Breer’s lack of confidence stems from two main reasons. “And that has nothing, zero, to do with what I think of him as a football player.”
Firstly, it boiled down to the current roster construction and the team’s draft situation. “Clearly, they plan to be young and build, and probably look at getting their quarterback next, not this year, which makes taking a back that high a funky fit.”
The next reason, though, was rather simple. So far this summer, the Jets have laid out a plan. Unless they want to go in a completely different direction, adding Love might not make sense.
“They just franchise-tagged Breece Hall,” Breer wrote. “It’s not like when they did that, they lacked evidence to the type of prospect Love is. And it just seems unlikely to me that if Love were a serious consideration, or the favorite to go No. 2 (and he is worthy of going that high), that the Jets would choose to tag Hall.”
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It remains to be seen where New York will go with the second overall pick. With Fernando Mendoza the prohibitive favorite to land with the Las Vegas Raiders with the first overall pick, the rest of the draft class is open for them.
It then becomes a matter of priorities and which positions the team specifically wants to target to add a blue-chipper in the mix. Breer believes Love is unlikely, but with other spectacular names like David Bailey and Arvell Reese remaining on the board, there are plenty of solid options for the Jets.
