Jets currently at No. 5 in the NFL Draft...Offensive Line? Wide Receiver?
The grip on a top five pick in next spring’s NFL Draft is currently tenuous for the New York Jets. Despite a second straight win, for at least one more week the Jets are currently holding a top selection next April.
That might not last long, however. But for now, it is a good thing for their re-build.
The Jets are likely to win a couple more games this year with at least two very favorable match-ups remaining against the Cincinnati Bengals (0-10) and the Miami Dolphins (2-8).
If the Jets sit at sixth, however, they could go in a couple of different directions in the draft. A draft, coincidentally, that was shaken up at the top with the injury to Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this past weekend.
And with needs along the offensive line, wide receiver and at pass rusher, the Jets can go a couple different directions with the top pick if they somehow stay at No. 5.
“The Jets won't get the top pass rusher – [Ohio State defensive end] Chase Young will be gone,” said former NFL scout Dan Shonka, who now runs the NFL Draft resource site OurLads.com
“Offensive line may be a reach but Junior Tristian Wirfs – tackle [from] Iowa or [tackle] Andrew Thomas [from] Georgia is an option. Corner JeffOkudah [from] Ohio State or Jerry Jeudy [from] Alabama wide receiver.”
The idea of drafting the productive Jeudy has appeal to Ric Serritella. The founder of the NFL Draft Bible and an advance scout for the NFLPA Bowl thinks that the addition of playmaker at wide receiver could be a boost for quarterback Sam Darnold.
“It’s no secret that the team lacks playmakers for quarterback Sam Darnold to target in the passing attack,” Serritella said. “The addition of Jeudy would provide him with a legitimate number one wide out for the first time in his [NFL} career.”
NFL Draft tracker website has the Jets taking Jeudy as well.
The outlook isn’t so great for the Jets to stay in the top five, however, let alone move up into say the top three picks in the draft. The Jets are one of six teams currently on three wins (two of those six teams, the Arizona Cardinals and the Detroit Lions have a tie to their results this season). And with a favorable schedule and a little momentum from the past two weeks, the Jets might win their way out of the top 10 in the draft all together.
This isn’t necessarily a horrible thing as they can still draft well from the middle of the first round. But it’s just a reality that their ability to draft an elite player at the top of the draft or trade back with a quarterback-needy team to accumulate more picks is being impacted by this smallest of winning streaks.
In all honesty, it is probably better for the franchise and its overall direction to win a few more games and close out the season strong. But a nice draft pick from all this losing is certainly enticing too.
