Predicting the New York Jets Opening Day Lineup

We're finally back. New York Jets football is about a week away. Gang Green returns to the field with higher expectations than they've had in the past. That's not to say that anyone expects them to be a good football team, but they do have some expectations.

With Frank Reich leading the offense, and a talented Offensive Line and group of skill position players, the Jets offense should be fun for the first time in a long time. The Jets have not had an offense ranked outside the bottom-10 in scoring in the league since 2015. While the offense certainly won't compete with the best in the league, avoiding a bottom 10 mark in the league feels like it should be very attainable for this group.

Meanwhile, the Jets focus this offseason was almost all on the defensive side. Head Coach Aaron Glenn is going to call plays again, after yielding that responsibility in his first year. The Jets spent nearly all of their money in free agency on the defensive side of the ball. Not to mention they used the #2 pick and a 2nd round pick on premium defensive positions. Neither Glenn nor General Manager Darren Mougey can afford for the defense to be anything near as bad as it was last season.

So who are the players that will lead this team with modest expectations? Let's take a look at the expected starting lineup in Week 1 agains the Tennessee Titans.

The former Jets second round pick is back for his second stint with the franchise. Smith found success as a starter in his career with the Seahawks, but a disastrous stint last year with the Las Vegas Raiders left many speculating that the soon to be 36-year old quarterback is at the end of his career.

However, Smith dealt with a horrible situation last year. He had Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator, the NFL's fifth-worst pass blocking offensive line, per PFF grade, arguably the NFL's worst WR group, and a severely unperforming top-10 pick in Ashton Jeanty at RB.

Smith comes into a much better situation here with Reich as his offensive coordinator, an above average OL, an above average RB, and a WR room that if nothing else has a true WR1. Will that be enough to get him back to how he looked in Seattle? I Ccn't say for sure, but Aaron Glenn is certainly betting on it.

Breece Hall needs no introduction. He's one of the best skill position players in Jets history. He's second in team history in yards from scrimmage per game, behind only Hall of Famer Curtis Martin. He averages over 1,500 yards per 17 games. He's a threat both in the backfield and as a receiver. He's a home run hitter, even if he may not be the most efficient runner in the league. If the Jets offense is going to take off this year, Hall will be a big reason for it.

One thing to keep an eye on though is how often Hall is used in the passing game. The last two Jets offensive coordinators underutilized Hall, only to admit that was a mistake as the season went on. Hall hasn't featured much in the passing game in practice this year with Smith only targeting him three times all camp according to Zack Rosenblatt .

Garrett Wilson is a true WR1 in this league. He suffered from injuries last season that limited him to by far the worst season of his career. He's an easy bounceback candidate for the Jets.

AD Mitchell is someone the Jets are incredibly high on. Reports all offseason have come that Mitchell and Smith have great chemsitry that could turn into a breakout season for the former second round pick. However, Mitchell is very unproven entering his third year.

I'm going with Isaiah Williams as the expected starter in the slot. He had a better camp and better preseason than Omar Cooper. Williams was also named a team captain. That said, I'd expect Cooper to get a ton of reps, and I wouldn't be surprised if he does in fact start over Williams.

Mason Taylor had a great camp and preseason, really establishing himself as Smith's safety blanket. Look for Taylor to be Smith's first option on short yardage plays and against zone. He's got great hands and finds soft spots in the defense easily. He just lacks the athleticism to be anything more.

That's where Kenyon Sadiq comes in, who likely would have been the opening day starter had he been healthy. However, he missed all of the offseason and camp due to injury after hernia surgery. It looks like he's going to be ready to take the field to start the season, as he's been practicing ahead of the game. However, that missed time is going to be hard to make up. Expect a slow start from the rookie.

Olu Fashanu made a nice jump last year. He finished as the Jets best pass blocking offensive lineman per PFF grade. He still struggles in the run game, and that's where he needs to make a big improvement this season. Still, if he stagnates, at least the Jets can go to sleep at night knowing they have a legitmate left tackle. After all, Olu finished with a 69.2 grade last season, that was 17th among the left tackles who played at least 50% of their team's snaps. From Week 7 to the end of the year, Olu was 17th among all tackles in total grade.

Parham was the Jets lone starter on offense acquired via free agency. Signing a two year, $20 million contract this offseason, Parham steps in at LG to replace John Simpson. He was part of that horrible Raiders offensive line last season. He gave up six sacks, the second most of any guard in the NFL. His 63.5 grade was 32nd of the 61 guards who played at least 50% of their team snaps last year. The hope is that was a blip, as Parham was much better the year before when his 74.3 grade was 17th among all guards who played at least 50% of snaps.

Josh Myers returns as the center after a disappointing season in 2025. He was the clear weak link in the Jets offensive line, grading out as second worst center in the league to play at least 50% of snaps. He gave up the third most sacks and the third most pressures from the position, and he was among the worst run blockers. Jets are hoping for major improvement here.

Joe Tippmann was named a captain this season. He enters his second full season as a guard in the NFL. He struggled with the transition early last season, but came into his own as the season went on. From Weeks 10-18 last season, Tippmann was 10th among all guards in pass block grade. He was also called for just one penalty over the final six games of the season.

Armand Membou is the Jets most talented offensive lineman. A stud out of the gate, Membou was a league average right tackle as a rookie. He's shown again this offseason that he has the talent to be an All-Pro. The question for the second year man is if he can take that leap in real games this season.

David Bailey was a lock to be here as soon as the Jets used the second pick in this April's draft on him. The former Texas Tech superstar comes in with high expectations as a pass rusher, and he's looked every bit that good in camp. Bailey is going to need to prove his worth quickly, as his pass rushing skill is his only dominant skill. He has a known weakness against the run.

Opposite him will be free agent addition Kingsley Enagbare. The former Packer had a standout camp while Joseph Ossai was injured. As a result he has leapfrogged Will McDonald on the depth chart and likely earned the Week 1 start.

This will be the first time Enagbare is a starter in his NFL career. The most snaps he's ever played in a single season before is 509. He's been used as a heavy rotation player, but never the main guy. Over his career, Enagbare has just a 9.8% pressure rate, slightly below league average for an EDGE rusher. He'll be expected to set the edge as the run stuffer opposite Bailey. That's a role he's never really thrived in at this point in his career. Perhaps Glenn's system gets more out of him.

Will McDonald will see plenty of snaps as well. He's the team's designated pass rusher and will be set loose on every pass down this season.

There's going to be a heavy rotation here, but I expect Sweat and Phillips to get the majority of the reps.

Sweat comes from Tennessee via trade. He had a breakout 2025 season where he established himself as arguably the NFL's best nose tackle. Of players who took at least 350 snaps, Sweat's 83.3 Defense grade was 5th best among all Defensive Tackles. His 79.2 run defense grade was 4th best.

I'm going with Phillips here as the second starting defensive tackle over David Onyemata for a couple of reasons. First, Phillips was with the team last year and likely has a better grip on what Glenn wants. Second, he was named a team captain. Third, his run defense will be important on early downs.

Another triumphant return for the Jets, as Demario Davis is back for his third stint with the team. The man Rex Ryan once compared to Ray Lewis hasn't had the same career as the all-time great, but he has been one of the best linebackers of the last decade.

Davis, even as he's grown older, has shown to be one of the game's best linebackers. Of linebackers to play at least 50% of snaps, Davis was 5th in defense grade last season. He's come to New York to be the leader of this defense and fill the vacuum as the voice on the field that CJ Mosley left. Of course, as with any player in their age 37 season, a steep dropoff could happen at any moment. But for now, the Jets are hoping that Davis owns the role that he's excelled in for over a decade now.

Meanwhile, Jamien Sherwood is happy he doesn't have to fill that role. In his first season as a starter after a big contract extension, Sherwood failed to live up to the money and fill the role that Mosley left behind. Now back in his usual role, Glenn is hoping to see the Sherwood that the Jets got the two years prior playing next to Quincy Williams and CJ Mosley.

The Jets cornerback room is a concern to say the least.

Brandon Stephens is still one of the most confusing free agent signings I've ever seen the Jets make. He was among the worst corners in the league before they signed him. And now he's their cornerback #1 without much competition despite not playing well last season. Stephens gave up over 500 yards on over 67% completion and 8 TDs last season. From Week 10-18 last season, Stephens ranked 57th of 69 cornerbacks who played at least 50% of their team's coverage snaps in coverage grade.

It's too soon to judge AZ Thomas. The Jets 3rd round pick last season sat on the bench last season before the team traded away Sauce Gardner. He took over as a starter at that point, but got injured soon after. Over the three games Thomas did start he allowed just 5 receptions on 11 targets for 46 yards and 0 TDs. Those are good numbers, though his coverage grade was just a 47.3, in large part thanks to two costly penalties. He's going to get a shot to start this season. If he can show those raw numbers are real that'd be a huge win for the Jets.

Jarvis Brownlee will start the season as the slot cornerback, but it does feel like he's just holding the spot until rookie second round pick D'Angelo Ponds is ready to take over. Brownlee was arguably the worst slot cornerback in the NFL last season. After arriving from the Titans via trade, Brownlee took over as the starting slot corner until he got hurt. From Week 6-12, when he was a starter, he had the third worst coverage grade in the NFL.

This unit did not have an interception last season. It was the first time in NFL history that a defense has gone an entire season without an interception. With no changes to the cornerback lineup expected in Week 1, it's just hope that will change.

Minkah Fitzpatrick isn't the player that he once was, but he's still an above average safety. After a career revival in Mimai last season, the Jets acquired Fitzpatrick in a trade and paired him with former Dolphins coaches as his DC and his DB coach. So they're hoping to keep that momentum going.

One thing to keep an eye on is that they changed Minkah's usage pretty heavily last season. He was used a lot closer to the line of scrimmage, and especially as a slot corner last year. While I don't expect he'll be used that close to the LOS again this season, I would expect a lot of three safety looks with Minkah acting as a slot corner.

By all accounts Dane Belton won the starting safety job this offseason. We'll see if that holds true. Belton is a traditional strong safety type. He plays almost like another linebacker and has a nose for the football. After a breakout season for the Giants last year, Belton is hoping to build on that with the Jets.

Andre Cisco will also see plenty of time, whether that's starting next to Minkah or as a third safety to take the deep role when Minkah slides into the slot.

Grupe was the New Orleans Saints kicker in 2024, 2025, and the early part of the 2026 season. He was an above average kicker in 2025 when he hit 87.1% of his field goals. He's a sniper from long range, nailing 70.3% from 50+ in his career. He has been erratic from 30-49 though, missing 9 combined kicks from that range over the last three seasons.

That said, after struggling early with the Saints last season, Grupe found a home in Indianapolis. He was perfect for the Colts, hitting all 11 field goals he took including four of four from 50+. His season, and career, long was 60 yards.

By all accounts Grupe had an excellent camp for the Colts, but was just beat out by Spencer Shraeder after missing two of four field goal attempts in preseason. One was from 61 yards, the other from 36 yards, though he did also hit from 46 and 36 in the preseason finale.

Austin McNamara was robbed of an All-Pro selection last season and was without a doubt the best Jet last season. He returns at the one position the Jets can confidently say is a strength.

Last year's team MVP, Isaiah Williams was also robbed of an All-Pro spot. He led the NFL in punt return TDs and was an all-around special teams stud.

This will be year three as the Jets primary kick returner for Nwangwu. He's returned one for a touchdown in each of the last two seasons. Always a dangerous return man, it's just about staying healthy for the former All-Pro kick returner.