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New York Jets cornerback Azareye'h Thomas reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the Carolina Panthers.

The New York Jets have a deep cornerback room.

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report explained why defensive back Azareye’h Thomas is the most important second-year Jets player to watch in 2026.

“That first-round Armand Membou selection is on the right track, and there’s limited pressure on second-rounder Mason Taylor now that they’ve drafted Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq”, Gagnon wrote.

“But Thomas should be in the mix for a starting job after making minimal impact as a fairly raw rookie third-round pick. In the quest to fill Sauce Gardner’s shoes, it would be big for the Jets if this pick were to ultimately hit,” Gagnon added.

Thomas, 21, will turn 22 before the start of the 2026 season. He has three years left on his $6.5 million rookie contract through the 2028 season.

Life Isn’t Fair

Gardner was a first-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons.

He became the first rookie corner to be named a first-Team All-Pro since Ronnie Lott in 1981 after the 2022 season. Gardner followed that up by becoming “the first cornerback since the AFL/NFL merger to be named a first-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons,” Jets digital media assistant John Pullano wrote.

If you’re being compared to a player like that, it is inherently unfair. Just like it was unfair when Gardner was compared to Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis. Such is life in the world of sports.

Despite the unfairness, it makes sense that Thomas and Gardner were mentioned in the same sentence. When the Jets traded Gardner in a blockbuster deal with the Indianapolis Colts, Thomas replaced Sauce in the starting lineup for the Jets.

Last year, he appeared in 12 games and made five starts. One of his big issues was staying on the field due to injuries. He did finish the year with seven pass deflections and 22 total tackles.

2 Players, 1 Spot, an Offseason to Decide It

ESPN’s Rich Cimini said Nahshon Wright and Thomas are “battling” it out for a boundary starting corner job with the Jets.

Brandon Stephens will be the opposite boundary corner. There will be a battle on the inside between D’Angelo Ponds and Jarvis Brownlee Jr for the slot role.

That leaves one starting spot in the corner room up for grabs. It’s a fascinating conversation.

Wright is a one-year wonder player. Before last season, he had never started more than two games in a single season. So there isn’t a large sample size, but the sample size that was presented was spectacular.

Is that a sign of things to come? Or was that a blip on the radar?

NFL teams clearly think it was a blip on the radar. Wright was an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and he only received a one-year $3.5 million contract with a maximum value of $5.5 million.

Teams are telling him that they don’t buy it. He will have to prove this year that it wasn’t a fluke.

Thomas showed signs in an even smaller sample size of being an interesting player, but injury issues have halted that promise.

In training camp, two of them will walk into the octagon, but only one will walk out with a starting job.