With just under three weeks until the start of the regular season, we are at the point where we have a pretty good idea of how each team should look in the 2025 season. Of course, there are usually a few surprise teams who make preseason predictions look ridiculous, but for the most part we can look at these teams and estimate their likely records.
That’s exactly what ESPN did in a recent article, by asking one insider from each team to give a floor and ceiling for the 2025 season, as well as the X-factor that should determine which way the team goes. For the New York Jets, that insidejets 14-r is ESPN’s Rich Cimini, and he listed the Jets’ ceiling at 9-8 with a possible floor of 4-13, which would actually be a regression from 2024.
As for the Jets’ X-factor in 2025, Cimini names head coach Aaron Glenn. “The first-year coach inherits a penalty-prone team that got pushed around in the trenches and cracked under pressure (last season, the Jets had a franchise-record six losses after leading in the fourth quarter),” Cimini writes. “In a word, the 2024 Jets were soft. Glenn's mission is to make the Jets physically and mentally tougher than last season. If he can accomplish that, his first year will be a success.”
Cimini is exactly right about Glenn and the mammoth task on his shoulders, but there’s some other critical X-factors for the Jets in 2025, too. Quarterback Justin Fields is a big one. If offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand can unlock Fields’ upside as a passer, the Jets offense could surpass every expectation. The development of rookie tight end Mason Taylor is another.
In the end, a 9-8 season may not look like much, and it probably wouldn’t end the Jets’ 14-year playoff drought, but it’d be an excellent step in the right direction and would imbue Gang Green with hope that they finally are doing things right.