The New York Jets have been a mess at the quarterback position over the last 20 seasons in the NFL. Chad Pennington, Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Zach Wilson, and many other names have been under center for this franchise. The Jets have the longest playoff drought in the NFL. New York has not made the playoffs since the 2010 season. They were in back-to-back AFC Championship Games with Sanchez as the starting quarterback under head coach Rex Ryan.
East Rutherford, N.J. 11/26/2006 Jets Laveranues Coles (87) coming down with a touchdown pass from QB Chad Pennington while the Texans Demarcus Faggins looks on in the third quarter Sunday at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.
It has been a lot of dark years for this franchise. With the dark years for this franchise, the Jets fanbase is looking for some potential light at the end of the tunnel. There is a chance that New York could potentially find its franchise quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft. Who was the best Jets quarterback over the last 20 NFL seasons?
PFF Lists Chad Pennington as the Best New York Jets Quarterback Over the Last 20 NFL Seasons
East Rutherford, N.J. 09/24/2007 Jets WR Laveranues Coles (87) hauling in a touchdown pass from Chad Pennington over the Dolphins Travis Daniels (29) Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.
Profootballfocus.com writer Nathan Jahnke had a very hard time figuring out who the best Jets best quarterback over the last 20 seasons has been. He thinks that Pennington has been the Jets quarterback over the last 20 seasons over Sanchez. Jahnke said,
“Quarterback is usually one of the easiest positions to fill on these all-time teams, with most franchises having a clear top option or at least a small group of strong contenders. The Jets were the exception. New York lacked stability at quarterback throughout much of the PFF era, and only Chad Pennington, Sam Darnold and Geno Smith recorded multiple seasons with a PFF passing grade above 60.0. Pennington earned the highest grade of the trio.
Much of the rest of the offense is made up of Pennington’s teammates or players from the Jets teams that reached back-to-back AFC Championship Games, the franchise’s most recent playoff appearances. The two notable exceptions are Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson, the brightest spots on the current roster. Alijah Vera-Tucker is the other. Left guard was one of the weaker positions on those late-2000s Jets teams, and Vera-Tucker graded highly enough to earn a spot despite spending only one season at the position in New York.”
Sam Darnold was the third overall pick for the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft. It didn’t work out for him in New York. Darnold was the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in 2025 and won a Super Bowl with them. He got his act together in the prior season with the Minnesota Vikings and was also a backup for the San Francisco 49ers. Darnold was very talented when coming out of college with the USC Trojans.
It is also sad that the best Jets quarterback over the last 20 seasons is Pennington. He was no doubt a good quarterback in the NFL. Pennington also won the AFC East title as the Miami Dolphins quarterback when he left the Jets and Brett Favre was the quarterback for New York then. This franchise has been a circus under owner Woody Johnson.
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