Positional Battles: Update

Good morning ☕🇮🇹

Connor Hughes caused a little stir yesterday with his tweet asking people to read between the lines when he tweeted

“Cade Klubnik completed a pass to Garrett Wilson just now for a short gain. Thought it was good blocking from Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou to give him time.

Finished the drive with a TD to Jelani Woods.”

Which many took as an indication that Cade Klubnik is now getting more reps with the starters, and that a QB competition had materialised. He later confirmed that wasn't the intent and that Geno Smith is unquestionably the starter for this franchise, despite Geno having another poor practice and Cade being 5-5 with multiple touchdowns in the session.

Aaron Glenn later confirmed that he plans to play the starters against Pittsburgh on Friday night, but he wouldn't commit to Geno playing because of the ongoing ankle injury.

So logically this all makes sense. Geno may not play to protect his injury, which means Cade will get game time witb the 1s which is why he's getting some practice reps with Membou, Fashanu and Wilson.

Makes sense.

Sorry, there is no QB controversy at 1JD. At least not at the moment anyway.

Cade is a popular guy right now and has shown that he has developmental potential, but like any rookie QB he still has a lot to learn. At some point this season the Jets will want to get a look at Cade in a game environment, but that won't be to start the season.

Call this battle done and dusted.

It was pitched at the start of camp as a three-way battle between Cade Klubnik, Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook, but that battle never materialised.

Klubnik showed from the start that he was a cut above the rest and now he's closer to QB1 than he is QB3. Cade has outperformed both QBs in camp and looked significantly more comfortable in the game against the Bucs.

Cade has the arm, the processing and the athleticism to do some damage in the NFL, and that puts him head and shoulders above the other two.

I don't think either Zappe or Cook have a chance to make the opening day roster so they're likely battling it out to be the priority QB3 on the practice squad.

Where Ponds plays when he's healthy will be an interesting development. Most see him inside in that slot CB role but that's pretty crowded with Jarvis Brownlee Jr and Stiggers. On the outside Thomas has quickly staked a claim to that starting spot opposite Brandon Stephens.

It's been a relatively quiet camp for Nahshon Wright so far and while he does bring turnover potential, he's liable to give up some big plays. Thomas doesn't have the same turnover potential but he's far stickier in coverage and won't be beaten as often.

It looks to me as though Thomas has the foot-up in the competition right now and I'm fully expecting him to be the one come opening day, but this is one worth watching when Ponds gets into action and apparently that's any day now.

The right to start at safety opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a hotly contested battle in camp and it continues to rage on.

At the start it was a three-way battle between Dane Belton, Malachi Moore and Andre Cisco, it seems as though it's now a two-way battle between Belton and Cisco.

The Jets seem to like Cisco more than the fans realise and he helped his case this week with an INT. His ability to create turnovers is what attracted the Jets last off-season. 2025 was a big disappointment even before the injury, but by most accounts he's looked good in camp.

Dane Belton has been one of the standout performers so far and the former Giant probably has the advantage right now. If we had to call it today then I'd say it's Belton's job to lose.

Just when you think this competition is done and dusted, it gets flipped on its head.

On Tuesday Cade York missed multiple kicks, but yesterday he was absolutely perfect (5-5), including a kick from 60 yards. Sanders went 4-5 on the day.

The issue for York is that while he has the stronger leg, his consistency is non-existent. So he can go 5-5 and make it look easy and the next day miss 3 kicks. Sanders seems to miss one every single day, which is usually from around 50 yards.

So do you take the guy who's looking automatic up to 45 yards but struggles for consistency beyond that? Or do you take the stronger leg who can make every kick but will probably have a game or two where he's completely off?

It's going to be a tricky decision for Banjo and Glenn. Right now I have Sanders slightly ahead in this battle.