


The Jets have another member joining the hype train.
Paige Spiranac made her NFL predictions on Thursday night as the NFL season got underway, as she picked the winners of each division.
The golf influencer Gang Green’s chances under new quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“Here our my division winners, we’re starting off with the AFC and the East, I’m going with the Jets,” the golf influencer said. “I think they’re gonna live up to the hype.”
After she made her other division picks — which included begrudgingly picking the Bengals in the AFC North because she’s a Steelers fan — Spiranac went on to make her Super Bowl pick.
Again, the 30-year-old seems to like what the Jets have working going into 2023.
“And for our Super Bowl matchup, everyone’s gonna go with the same old picks,” she said. “How are you guys liking a Jets-49ers Super Bowl? Not too bad.”
The picks are definitely not the standard choices, at least not the Jets portion of the prediction.
New York hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season when it reached its second straight AFC title game, falling to the Steelers, despite a furious second-half comeback.
But with Rodgers in the fold and HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in training camp all summer, the Jets have faced higher expectations than they have in years.
Some of the Jets themselves have been exuding confidence, including cornerback D.J. Reed.
The second-year Jet believes the team’s defense could rank among the NFL’s best ever.
“I’m very confident. I think we have the potential to be the best defense in the NFL and honestly I think we can be historical,” Reed said Monday on a Zoom call after practice in Florham Park. “Not just the best defense in the league, but I think we can have a historical defense like the ’85-86 Bears, like the [Seahawks’ Legion of Boom] in 2013.
“I think we can be that dominant if we put all the things together and we just focus on the now and we’re deliberate. If everyone plays up to their potential, I think the sky’s the limit for us.”
It remains to be seen if Reed and Spiranac will be right in their predictions.
The Jets get their first chance at making waves in the AFC East on Monday night against the Bills at MetLife Stadium.