It was not a great weekend to be a New York Jets fan.
Not only did their division rival New England Patriots punch their ticket to Super Bowl LX, but former Jets draft pick and current Seattle Seahawk Sam Darnold is headed to the big game as well, reminding every fan of their team’s failures in developing young quarterbacks.
To twist the knife even further, New England may not have even made it past the Denver Broncos had it not been for the impact play of one special teamer, a defensive tackle who started his career in New York but was let go this past season.
Leonard Taylor III, who got a fingertip on what would’ve been Will Lutz’s game-tying kick late in the fourth quarter, is just the latest in a long line of gut punches for Jets fans.
Leonard Taylor III’s Midseason Move
Taylor was with the New York Jets to start the 2025 season, but didn’t see much playing time through the team’s first six games.
Despite appearances against the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Weeks 2 and 3, Taylor was a healthy scratch in each of the other four games.
He was released by the team on October 14 and signed to the New England Patriots practice squad two days later.
“I went from a losing team to a Super Bowl team, so it’s pretty great. It’s pretty amazing, just knowing that all the hard work I put in has finally been noticed and seen,” Taylor said in the locker room after the AFC Championship victory via MassLive’s Mark Daniels.
“It’s pretty wild leaving an organization that was fighting every week to get to a win to now coming to a team that’s consistently winning. It’s pretty fun.”
When he was released, New York was 0-6. Walking into New England, he joined a 4-2 team with aspirations of winning the division.
Here they are now, planning a trip to Santa Clara for the Super Bowl.
What was it that the Jets couldn’t get out of Taylor that Mike Vrabel and the Patriots staff could? Was there a misevaluation, or a lack of scheme fit?
Regardless, the former undrafted free agent has certainly proved he belongs in the NFL, and it’s Gang Green’s loss for letting him go.
How Much of an Impact Has Leonard Taylor Made?
The former New York Jet played sparingly when he first joined the New England Patriots, but after a few weeks of practice, Leonard was up to speed, and the coaching staff continued to trust him more and more.
Sunday’s AFC Championship game was just the sixth time this season that the former Miami product was elevated to the active roster for gameday, but he has dressed for every single game of the Patriots’ playoff run.
According to MassLive, New England’s divisional playoff matchup against the Houston Texans was the first time Leonard was assigned to field goal blocking, after he showed his chops in a practice rep.
“(Coach) kind of squeezed me in there. I think one field goal block last week, I ran over an o-lineman, and he kept me in there. It was pretty cool,” Taylor told Daniels.
Thanks to Taylor, the Patriots avoided overtime with the Denver Broncos after getting another defensive stop and one more first down on offense.
And while he isn’t the sole reason New England is headed to their 10th Super Bowl of the 21st century, it still has to sting for Jets fans who can’t stand their rival Patriots seeing so much success with a former player while they struggle to put together a coaching staff for 2026.
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