The 2025 season was past difficult for the Jets. It simply didn’t work out with Justin Fields. He proceeded to rule over a dismal 3-14 marketing campaign that noticed Sauce Gardner, a cornerback they’d made the highest-paid at his place simply months prior, traded away, packaged to Indianapolis in a teardown so full it left little ambiguity about intent. Getting issues proper within the NFL draft woul do fo a
The Rebuild
In response, Geno Smith has been acquired from Las Vegas because the Raiders clear the way in which for the Heisman-winning Nationwide Champion Fernando Mendoza to take over because the face of the franchise at primary total. He returns as a bridge possibility that did little to encourage a lot optimism, both with the MetLife Stadium devoted or on-line betting websites. The early NFL futures at Bovada make the Gang Inexperienced a whopping +650 outsider to achieve the playoffs subsequent season, the third longest odds of anyone behind the Miami Dolphins (+1000) and Arizona Cardinals (+1800).
Fortunately, the entrance workplace appears aware of simply how far the Jets are behind the heaviest hitters within the AFC and has responded accordingly. The Massive Apple outfit already had two first-round picks within the 2026 NFL draft following Gardner’s departure to Indianapolis. They’d then surprisingly add a 3rd to their arsenal after they traded with the San Francisco 49ers to safe the thirtieth total choose, marking the second time in 4 years that they’ve had three picks within the opening spherical.
So, who did the Jets choose, and what can we anticipate to see from every of them in 2026? Let’s have a look.
David Bailey, No. 2 Total
David Bailey spent three seasons at Stanford, 29 profession sacks throughout 46 video games for the Cardinal, a real freshman who began from day one after selecting Palo Alto over Alabama and Penn State after being named state Defensive Participant of the Yr on a 12-0 championship crew in highschool. He was good at Stanford. Then he checked out his draft projections and determined good wasn’t sufficient.
The switch to Texas Tech in 2025 was calculated. Lubbock gave him the schematic freedom and the amount of pass-rush alternatives he wanted to show what he already knew about himself. What adopted was essentially the most dominant particular person edge season in current school soccer reminiscence: 14.5 sacks, co-leading all of FBS. Nineteen-and-a-half tackles for loss. Massive 12 Defensive Lineman of the Yr. AP First Staff All-American. And right here’s the quantity that makes all of the others land tougher, 81 pressures generated on 177 fewer pass-rush snaps than Rueben Bain Jr. Bailey didn’t accumulate these numbers by way of quantity. He maximized each single alternative he was given.
He walks right into a Jets defensive room that allowed 36 landing passes in 2025, recorded zero interceptions, and completed thirty first within the league in sacks. The void Bailey is trying to fill is one among an outright id disaster. Aaron Glenn’s protection has wanted an anchor, an edge-setter who opposing offences genuinely should plan round, and now they’ve their man.
Jets discover their man on D with David Bailey #2 💪
+205 ✅ pic.twitter.com/Ess5t6BX3q
Kenyon Sadiq, No. 16
When the Jets submitted their card at 16, many of the draft world had vast receivers penciled into that slot. Makai Lemon’s identify circulated prominently amongst mock draft writers who thought they’d learn the Jets’ room. Then Kenyon Sadiq’s identify appeared on the display, and the specialists had been compelled to recalibrate in double-quick time.
As an alternative of heading to the portal after simply 9 appearances and 5 catches in his freshman 12 months, Sadiq stayed, developed throughout the program, and in 2025, he was rewarded for that persistence. Fifty-One receptions for 560 yards and eight touchdowns, incomes All-Massive Ten First Staff honors and the Geese’ single-season document for catches by a good finish.
Then he ran a 4.39 on the Mix. From a 241-pound body. A 43.5-inch vertical. Twenty-six bench-press reps. George Kittle comparisons had been circulating earlier than he’d shaken Roger Goodell’s hand, and for as soon as, the comparability didn’t really feel like hyperbole.
Decide 16 solely existed as a result of GM Darren Mougey turned Sauce Gardner into draft capital; the cornerback’s departure to Indianapolis generated the Colts’ 2026 first, which turned this choice. That’s roster building. You soak up the emotional issue of transferring a franchise cornerstone, you exchange the ache into belongings, and you utilize these belongings to land a possible franchise tight finish who adjustments the mathematical drawback defenses face on third down.
Sadiq’s formation versatility means you may’t pre-align your security to the tight finish spot and cheat protection towards Garrett Wilson. You must account for each of them. Each snap. That’s not a small factor for returning QB Geno Smith.
Omar Cooper Jr., No. 30
The Jets didn’t stumble into Omar Cooper Jr. They refused to let him depart the primary spherical. The Jets traded again in surrendering Decide 33 and a fifth-round compensatory choice to San Francisco as a result of they’d recognized their goal and weren’t prepared to observe him disappear earlier than they received the possibility to assert him for themselves. That aggression is the other of sixteen years of reactive, passive draft-room tradition. It’s the form of transfer that tells you ways a entrance workplace thinks.
Cooper is a child from Indianapolis who attended Lawrence North Excessive Faculty, helped them declare their first sectional championship since 1990, stayed residence when he may have gone wherever, enrolled at Indiana, and repaid that loyalty with one of many nice particular person seasons in Hoosiers historical past. In 2025, on a 16-0 nationwide championship crew, he led Indiana with 69 receptions for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns, tied for third-most in FBS. Profession: 115 catches, 1,798 yards, 22 touchdowns throughout 42 appearances, together with a 75-yard dashing rating that underlined the big-play upside you’re actually drafting.
Now image what Geno Smith’s weekly preparation appears to be like like from a defensive coordinator’s desk. Wilson aligned outdoors. Cooper within the slot, working vertical stacks by way of zone protection and urgent man along with his short-area quickness. Sadiq flexed out from the formation, demanding linebacker consideration on each route. Decide one to cheat towards. There isn’t reply, and that’s exactly the purpose. Bailey rushes the passer. Sadiq stresses linebackers. Cooper stretches the sphere. In a single evening, the Jets constructed one thing that appears like an precise offence and an precise protection concurrently.
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