This past weekend was the NFL Draft. As many of you may know, I am a huge NY Jets fan. The Jets have been horrible for the past decade. They have the longest playoff drought in the league. So the Jets often have good picks in the NFL Draft. But they usually screw it up.
But this year was different! The Jets absolutely crushed the NFL draft!
Setting the stage
To begin, the Jets had 2 picks in the top 10 and 4 in the top 38. It’s pretty rare to have that many high picks.
There was a lot of speculation that they might trade one of their top picks to try and get a star wide receiver like Deebo Samuel. By report, they made some offers but nothing materialized so they ended up sticking with their picks and growing from the ground up…which I like.
Recap of the Jets NFL Draft
First Round, Pick #4
The Jets chose Sauce Gardner who is a cornerback from University of Cincinnati. Arguably the best CB in the draft, he didn’t let up a touchdown for his whole college career! That’s insane. Cornerback was an absolute need for the Jets and now they have their guy.
First Round, Pick #10
The Jets took Garrett Wilson, a wide receiver from Ohio State. Again, another absolute need for the Jets was a wide receiver. That’s why they flirted with trading this pick for a proven WR. But, with Wilson, they got arguably the best WR in the draft and get him for much cheaper than the $25+ million per year that Deebo would have commanded.
First Round, Pick #26
That’s right. The Jets traded back up into the first round of the NFL Draft! I loved this. They saw one of their top ranked players still on the board and got aggressive to get him. The layer is Jermaine Johnson II, a defensive end from Florida State. Again, the Jets needed an edge rusher bad, like real bad. This was someone who they even considered taking with their tenth pick. And he was still available. Huge win for the price of one of their third round picks and a later round pick.
Second Round, Pick #36
Here again, the Jets got aggressive. They identified a top player still on the board and moved up using a later round pick. This player was Breece Hall, the #1 ranted running back in the Draft. RB wasn’t really a huge need but when a player this explosive is available, you take him!
Third Round, Pick #101- Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State
Fourth Round, Pick #111 – Max Mitchell, OT, Louisiana
Fourth Round, Pick #117 – Michael Clemons, DE, Texas A&M
In the third and fourth rounds of the NFL Draft, the Jets took some good developmental players.
Ruckert seems to be more of a blocking tight end but someone they think will actually be a better NFL player than a college player, where he was overshadowed by his WRs, like Garrett Wilson.
Mitchell is a versatile offensive lineman which is always in need.
Meanwhile, Clemons is a good player with great measurable who got into some trouble in college. The Jets did their due diligence and feel he can be a diamond in the rough.
Final grade: A+
It’s impossible to tell exactly how things will work out until the players actually take the field.
However, usually the Jets leave you scratching your head after the NFL Draft. But this year, and even last year, was different. The picks made sense. Even if not everyone pans out, you can’t fault the decision making with the information on hand.
So for me, this is an A+ draft and reason to be excited for this upcoming NFL season!
What do you think? How did the Jets do in the NFL Draft? What team do you follow? How did they do? Let me know in the comments below!
