NFL Executives Rank the Jets 7th in the AFC

There are a lot of people in the NFL hoping for the Jets' downfall, I wrote about that over on my newsletter today. I think it’s a mixture of fans wanting to keep us down, wanting to be proven right and the controversial off-field actions of the Jets' new QB. It’s strange but I’m embracing it. Like someone said to me today “There’s nothing worse than being irrelevant’

The Athletic released their annual AFC rankings today, and it’s safe to say that NFL executives are undecided on the potential of this team.

6 different executives were asked to rank the teams and here are the results.

Two executives ranked the Jets as the 5th best team in the AFC, one ranked them as the 7th, one the 8th and two the 9th. On one hand, it’s good that everyone had us inside the top 10, on the other hand, nobody is picking up to be the cream of the crop in the AFC.

So, according to the NFL executives polled, there are six better teams than the Jets in the AFC, including Monday’s opponents the Buffalo Bills.

One executive had the Chiefs ranked as the 5th best team in the division, so I have to presume he was on something when the polling was done. Every other executive had them #1.

The full rankings are below:

1. Kansas City Chiefs
2. Cincinnati Bengals
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Buffalo Bills
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Los Angeles Chargers
7. New York Jets
8. Miami Dolphins
9. Pittsburgh Steelers
10. Cleveland Browns
11. New England Patriots
12. Denver Broncos
13. Tennessee Titans
14. Las Vegas Raiders
15. Indianapolis Colts
16. Houston Texans

There are a few reasons provided for the lower-than-expected rankings.

One executive said: “I think you have an old Rodgers on a Jets team that was really flawed last year,” a voter ranking the Jets ninth in the AFC said. “Other than Garrett Wilson, do they have speed on offense? And, by the way, no offensive line play.”

Another added: “I hate to do that because I think there is a chance it’s just a disaster,” one of them said. “I’ve seen this movie before. They have handed the keys to a descending quarterback and they can’t protect him, but the thing that saves them is, they are still good defensively.”

The speed comment on offence is interesting as the Jets added Mecole Hardman this pre-season, Breece Hall hit some pretty high MPH on the GPS and we have Xavier Gipson who also showed his shiftiness in the pre-season.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, with one executive referencing the defence, a unit that has the potential to be the best in the league.

“The only teams as happy as the Jets are Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago,” another exec said, referencing Rodgers’ former rivals in the NFC North. “Just the bits and pieces we have seen, having that rookie of the year wide receiver (Wilson) with that quarterback and their ability to keep people under 20 points, it’s pretty promising.”