The stage of the NFL offseason where teams begin meeting once again has finally arrived. Just this week, eight teams began organized team activities.
Eight teams kick off OTAs today:
🏈Bills
🏈Cardinals
🏈Dolphins
🏈Falcons
🏈Raiders
🏈Ravens
🏈Steelers
🏈Titans— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 18, 2026
As for the Jets, their OTAs aren’t on the docket until May 27th. They’ll practice 10 times from the 27th through June 11th with the goal of reacquainting all of the players with the schedule and drills. This time together will also allow the new players to spend valuable time on the field with the players who remained from the team last season.
From a fan and analyst perspective, Jets OTAs allow people to identify position battles and get a sense of hierarchy for each position group. Let’s check out three things to watch out for when the Jets take flight on the practice field for the first time in roughly a week.
Three Things to Look Out for Once Jets OTA’s Start
The QB Hierarchy: How Will It Start and How It May Change
When keeping track of the Jets OTAs, it is important to note which players work with the first team, the second team, etc. Typically, this is even more important when a team has a competition for the starting quarterback spot. Luckily, the Jets don’t have that problem as they acquired Geno Smith in the offseason. However, the Jets do have a pretty clear opening at the backup spot.
Currently, the Jets have three QB’s behind Smith on their roster – Brady Cook, who started multiple games in 2025, Bailey Zappe, who has started 9 games in his NFL career for the Patriots and Browns and rookie QB Cade Klubnik from Clemson.
Based on the offseason hype alone, many Jets fans would assume that Klubnik will end up with the second spot. However, he’s battling with two players with NFL experience. While he may get there eventually, it’s not a shoe-in right now.
There’s also the possibility the Jets add another QB in free agency. Recently, they held a visit with veteran Russell Wilson. If he were to be signed, he would very likely end up as the backup on gamedays. It was also reported that Smith was given other names as potential backup options, but there hasn’t been any follow-up visits similar to the Wilson situation.
Geno Smith was presented with various options at backup quarterback and he was excited about the prospect of Russell Wilson, per source.
Jets and Wilson spoke at some point prior to the draft and scheduled Monday night’s visit then. https://t.co/BEdgecKfDI
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) April 28, 2026
As it stands right now, the Jets backup quarterback job for 2026 is up for grabs.
Mason Taylor and Kenyon Sadiq’s Usage
Following the Jets’ shocking first round selection of Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq at 16th overall, there were two viewpoints that arose. On one side, people speculated that this would be the end of Mason Taylor, and Sadiq would eat into all of his snaps.
The other side, and perhaps the more realistic one, is that the Jets will look to get both players involved and on the field together often. It would make sense for the Jets to do this based on the league beginning to like multiple tight end sets more (looking at you Rams). It will be important to watch how these two are used at Jets OTAs.
Taylor is the more traditional player at the position out of the two. In 2025, he took the vast majority of his snaps as an in-line player, meaning he was lined up directly next to the offensive line. In contrast, Sadiq spent an equal amount of time in-line and in the slot for the Duck’s offense last season.
It is likely given Taylor’s skillset that this role translates into the NFL for Sadiq. However, this doesn’t mean Sadiq will never play in-line though. He is a strong blocker and a great athlete that will have his uses when the Jets are under center.
The Cornerback Competition
The Jets defense was bad in all facets last season. Zero interceptions, barely any sacks or turnovers in general and an incredible amount of yards allowed. However, the team did have some promising players rostered, especially in the cornerback room. Rookie Azareye’h Thomas, free agent acquisition Brandon Stephens and trade acquisition Jarvis Brownlee Jr. all had solid seasons and are looking to be building blocks for 2026.
Despite these additions, the Jets also brought in two names that could shake things up in turnover machine Nahshon Wright and rookie D’Angelo Ponds from Indiana.
Now, it is incredibly unlikely that the Jets get all five of these guys on the field at once, so decisions will have to be made. If the Jets are looking for true shutdown mentality and want to be tough, the starting three would probably be Thomas, Ponds and Brownlee.
They can then rotate in Wright and Stephens, although the latter could be a cut candidate if he ends up trending towards a backup spot. That is not to say that one of those veterans can’t win a starting spot, though. The competition in this room should be fierce throughout the entire summer, including the Jets OTAs.
Jets OTAs Will be Extremely Important
Overall, these OTAs, and the rest of the eventual summer practices will be incredibly important. The team was arguably the worst in the sport last season, but the organization did a lot on paper to raise the floor. The roster really isn’t bad at this point, so now the players and coaches need to execute.
The latter are just as important in this process as well, as the coaching turnover was as high as the player turnover this offseason. The new coaches, as well as Aaron Glenn, have a lot to prove alongside the players.
