Every QB Drafted by the New York Jets

Namath is the only Jets quarterback to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and while Brett Favre was inducted into the Hall in 2016, he only played for the Jets in 2008 (a season that has its own trauma for Jets fans).

The Jets have had just six quarterbacks make the Pro Bowl aside from Namath, and several who did wore a non-Jets uniform in their appearance. The last to do so was Favre in 2008, and while 2025 starter Justin Fields was invited to the Pro Bowl, he declined. Notable once-Jets to make the Pro Bowl include Sam Darnold and Geno Smith with the Vikings and Seahawks, respectively.

Here's a look at every Jets quarterback draft pick to date, with 49 selected through 2025.

New York Jets Quarterback Draft History

Quarterback Notes and Nuggets

• Joe Namath, 1965
  Namath is arguably the best quarterback the Jets have ever drafted. The 1969 Super Bowl champion was a craze in New York, and the origin of what some fans call the "Namath Curse," that the one quarterback to lead the Jets to the promised land is also the origin of their cellar-dwelling history.
• Ken O'Brien, 1983
  O'Brien was the first Round 1 signal-caller the Jets pulled the trigger on after Namath, taking 18 years between such picks, and O'Brien mostly delivered. That said, an important addendum is the Jets whiffed on future Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who was picked by the Dolphins three picks later after widely being an expected target for New York. O'Brien came out of the then-obscure UC-Davis, and was so unknown that ESPN reporter Sal Marchiano messed up his details twice during his draft coverage. O'Brien made the Pro Bowl in 1985, where he led the NFL in passer rating, and 1991, though it was Marino who had the better career. Marino made the Hall of Fame nod, though O'Brien collected a mini-revenge when the Jets took down Marino's Dolphins in a 51-45 overtime thriller where the two gunslingers combined for 927 passing yards and 10 touchdowns.
• Chad Pennington, 2000
  Pennington's draft story is unfortunately known less for the Jets' smarts in drafting him, but rather who they could have gotten instead. Pennington was selected by the Jets in the first round and 18th overall selection in 2000, and will always be known as one of the "Brady 6," or the six quarterbacks taken ahead of Tom Brady, who went to the Patriots with the 199th overall selection. Pennington had a solid career with New York, winning a division title in 2002 and leading the league once in passer rating and twice in completion percentage. However, it was Brady who naturally had the last laugh, particularly over the Jets, which he beat in 31 of his 39 contests.

• Mark Sanchez, 2009
  Sanchez was a longtime backup at the University of Southern California, and only got his shot in his junior and senior seasons due to an injury to starting quarterback John David Booty. His draft stock skyrocketed in 2008 when he led USC to a 12-1 record and Rose Bowl victory, and after being selected in the first round by the Jets, Sanchez helped author the meteoric rise of Rex Ryan's dominant Jets teams in 2009 and 2010, falling just short of a Super Bowl appearance in two straight years. Sanchez, who became the fourth rookie quarterback in NFL history to win his first playoff game in 2009, also joined Ben Roethlisberger, who he would lose to in the 2010 AFC title game, as the only rookies to reach the conference championship in their first two seasons. Regression, and the infamous "butt fumble" of 2012, paired with a season-ending injury in the 2013 preseason cut Sanchez's Jets career short.

• Geno Smith, 2013
  Smith was a widely-touted quarterback prospect out of West Virginia in 2011, receiving first-team All-Big East honors and an NCAA-leading 42 touchdowns in his senior year. Smith wound up falling to the second round and the Jets in 2013 after concerns that he didn't handle the drafting process in a consummately professional manner. After struggling in 2013, Smith was benched in 2014 and then suffered a fractured jaw in a 2015 locker room incident that sidelined him for eight weeks, leading to the Jets' "Fitzmagic" run with Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015. Smith found some success later with the Seahawks, where he won the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year award and made the Pro Bowl. Smith enters 2026 as, again, the starting quarterback for the Jets after returning on a one-year deal following a brief stint in Las Vegas with the Raiders.

• Sam Darnold, 2018
  The Jets took Darnold with the third overall selection in 2018, picking Darnold between stars Baker Mayfield (No. 1 to the Browns), Saquon Barkley (No. 2 to the Giants), Denzel Ward (No. 4 to the Browns) and Josh Allen (No. 7 to the Bills). Darnold would struggle in New York, with his woes including his "seeing ghosts" quote from his four-interception game against the Patriots in 2019. After being traded to the Panthers, Darnold stated he felt he could have succeeded in New York. Apparently, being let go from the Jets was the best antidote, as Darnold has had a successful career with the Vikings and Seahawks, winning his first Super Bowl ring over the Patriots in 2026.