RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sources(Every roster is different, but there are traits on each one. All summer, Daniel Kelley will go roster-by-roster to identify the top fantasy football sleeper and bust on each roster and make a bold prediction for each team. This is Sleepers, Busts & Bold Predictions .) In 2015, Ryan Fitzpatrick was the fantasy QB11, with 285.2 PPR points. It was a perfectly fine season. Not great, but nothing to be ashamed of, especially for a journeyman. The team hasn’t had a quarterback reach even 260 PPR points in a season since. In a time when quarterback fantasy scoring is higher than ever (Mark Sanchez was the QB10 in 2011 with 237.3 points, which would have been QB16 last year), the Jets just haven’t gotten the message. The team has had 20 different quarterbacks start at least one game since 2011, from Sam Darnold’s 38 starts to Greg McElroy and Chris Streveler getting one apiece, and if you had completely ignored them in fantasy you wouldn’t have missed out on much of anything. The Jets have 3,211.9 PPR points from the QB position in the last 15 years. There are 12 teams beating them by at least 1,000 points in that time. Will Geno Smith help fix things? Or, failing that, is this the year that the Jets get themselves set up to draft a quarterback who can turn it around? You know, in ways that Darnold and Sanchez and Zach Wilson were supposed to?
2026 Sleepers, Busts & Bold Predictions: New York Jets
Sleeper: Adonai Mitchell, WR
Adonai Mitchell’s claim to fame right now is the disaster of a play that more or less got him exiled from Indianapolis last year, when he dropped what should have been a 76-yard touchdown reception right before he crossed into the end zone. There are two things there, though: First, this wasn’t a premature “drop the ball” celebration a la Emari Demecardo — he was just trying to transfer the ball from one hand to another and whoopsiedoodles’ed it. We can argue over whether that was worth it, but he wasn’t showboating. But second, that play should have been one of the highlights of the season in a good way, because the drop was the end of a beautiful catch-and-run where Mitchell fought off multiple defenders. It was actually a great play, just one marred by the end. That’s sort of been Mitchell’s football life dating back to college. He was a flashy speedster with drop issues, then he was a potential first-round pick who dropped to Day 2, then he was the wild card in the Colts receiver room. Now, he’s the WR2 or WR3 in a Jets offense that only has one known quantity at the position. There’s a reason the team insisted on getting Mitchell back in the Sauce Gardner trade. Now, Omar Cooper Jr. might end up seizing the WR2 job behind Garrett Wilson, but don’t be surprised if Mitchell is right in there as well, and you can get him as the WR63 (basically free) in drafts.
Bust: Kenyon Sadiq, TE
It’s worth noting that Sadiq isn’t going that high in drafts, so even if he comes up light, you aren’t out much of an investment. But as good as I think he can be in the long run, I’m pretty firmly out on Sadiq as a fantasy football investment in 2026. Mason Taylor was a pretty decent performer as a rookie. Sadiq is a very exciting rookie, but he’s not Brock Bowers or Kyle Pitts Sr. as a prospect. Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are, in some order, the top two weapons in the New York offense. Sadiq is in a bunch with Taylor and the aforementioned Mitchell and Cooper. Someone is going to see Sadiq’s name value as a first-round tight end and take him earlier than he should. And they will regret it. (Worth noting: When the person inevitably drops Sadiq, and he’s out there for free in, say, Week 9? I do not at all hate a speculative for-free add at that point.)
Bold Prediction: The Jets Win 7+ Games in 2026
I would like it on the record that I do not think the 2026 Jets will necessarily be good . But I do think they’ll be competent. In the wake of the zero-interception disaster last year, the Jets grabbed every available defensive player they could this offseason, and that generally meant older players. It’s not a good bet for the long term, but it’s likely to give the unit a bump for one year. Meanwhile, call me crazy, but I do believe in a Geno Smith renaissance, at least for this year. And then it’s the schedule. The Jets actually have a middle-of-the-road schedule overall, leaning toward the harder side of things. But it’s a stars-and-scrubs sort of schedule. Yeah, they play New England and Buffalo twice each, and they play the NFC North. But they also get Tennessee, and Cleveland, and Las Vegas, and Arizona, and of course Miami twice. Maybe they don’t sweep all those games. But the Jets can get to 5-6 wins with no trouble. They probably can’t get to 9-10. But 7? That’s not a big ask. And the problem is that it sets them up to maybe have a tough time getting their long-term quarterback yet again.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.