Tom Rock: For Jets, franchise QB hunting season begins this weekend

Geno Smith and the Jets open their schedule next Sunday in Tennessee. After a workout on Wednesday the players and coaches will take a few days off to catch their breath after the preseason, regroup on Monday, and embark on their 17-game journey.

But while they take the holiday weekend to chill, the team’s more important season will begin.

The college football schedule really kicks in over the next few days, so a number of potential future Jets quarterbacks will be taking the field. And if you are of the mindset that the most significant thing the Jets can accomplish in 2026 is finding a quarterback for 2027 and beyond, well, that process is about to start in earnest. The team’s scouts and evaluators will be hard at work getting their first on-field impressions from some of the biggest draft-eligible names in the country.

Not all of them will be legacy-defining games. It’s hard to imagine anything Arch Manning does or doesn’t do against Texas State, or Dante Moore against Boise State, both on Saturday, will have a deep impact on where they wind up selected next April. They probably won’t even play the entire game in the opener. They will be judged more on what they accomplish in December and January than early September.

But there is certainly enough intrigue around others with far less pro-popping resumes to make these next few days a fun must watch for the Jets and their fans. And if you are the rare optimistic Jets rooter who believes they could win more than a few games this season with some combination of Smith, rookie backup Cade Klubnik, and whoever else passes through the roster at the most important position on the field — raise a glass to Bailey Zappe’s recent return to the practice squad! — then you also think getting the top choice in the upcoming quarterback lottery is not going to happen. Yep, that’s what passes for optimism these days.

The point being that the Jets may have to dig a little deeper into the pile than they did the last few times they drafted a quarterback in the first round and took Mark Sanchez fifth overall, Sam Darnold third, and Zach Wilson second.

Maybe that’d be for the best. This is not a team that seems to flourish when it has dibs. Recent drafts have shown that getting stuck with the leftovers — from Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson to Bo Nix and even Jaxson Dart, none of whom were the clear-cut top picks — isn’t an awful strategy.

So who are some of the players to eyeball during this Labor Day weekend?

There is Sam Leavitt at LSU which opens Saturday night against Clemson. Leavitt has already thrown for 4,652 career yards and 36 touchdowns while adding another 816 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing in his college career, and he led Arizona State to the playoffs in 2024. Now he is a Tiger and working with Lane Kiffin to bring wins to Baton Rouge and also boost his draft stock.

DJ Lagway was the top quarterback prospect in the country coming out of high school but couldn’t quite put everything together at Florida. Now he is at Baylor and begins his season against Auburn on Saturday.

Trinidad Chambliss returns to Ole Miss and faces nationally-ranked Louisville on Sunday night. Chambliss is small (6-0, 210) but exciting and many are comparing him to Kyler Murray. If he can lead Ole Miss to another deep playoff run this season it’ll be hard to deny his ability to win.

And there is CJ Carr from Notre Dame who threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. While he will be without some of his most talented teammates from last year’s squad, including running back Jeremiyah Love and new Giants receiver Malachi Fields, it may give Carr more of an opportunity to showcase himself. The Irish open against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

Throw in LaNorris Sellers at South Carolina, Nico Iamaleava at UCLA and CJ Bailey at N.C. State (who already played a game last week and lost to Virginia) and there are possibilities everywhere.

At this time last year hardly anyone had Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza pegged as the top pro prospect in college football. He wasn’t even considered a first-round talent by many. All he did was go on to win the Heisman and National Championship before becoming the top overall pick by the Raiders. Who was thought to be a first-rounder? Klubnik, who went to the Jets in the fourth round. And Manning and Moore, who stayed in school for another year. Things can change.

Starting this weekend, while Smith and the Jets leisure, they probably will for college football’s quarterbacks.

Starting next year, with any luck, they might for the Jets, too.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.