Draft season is upon us ladies and gentlemen! With the NFL Draft less than a month away, I thought it would be a good time to drop a full 7 round mock; with trades! But this year, I wanted to do it a bit differently. Instead of your basic 7 round mock where you scroll through pages of picks and find your team’s selections with relatively no commentary, I decided to break the mock-up and do an article on each individual team’s haul! Giving you a breakdown of what each team brought in and how I think it could help. So without further adieu, let’s kick things off!
With the 2nd pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the New York Jets select…
- Zach Wilson, QB, BYU(1st round)
- Najee Harris, RB, Alabama(1st round)
- Nick Bolton, LB, Missouri(2nd round)
- Brevin Jordan, TE, Miami(3rd round)
- Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson(3rd round)
- Ben Cleveland, OL, Georgia(4th round)
- Aaron Banks, OL, Notre Dame(5th round)
- Janarius Robinson, DE, Florida St(5th round)
- Darrick Forrest, S, Cincinnati(6th round)
- Trevon Grimes, WR, Florida(6th round)
The Jets are in such an interesting spot and could really go in a number of different directions that would shape the way this draft goes. Some think it is a foregone conclusion they select Wilson; me not so much. I think there are 2 REAL possibilities here; 1. They trade down. Many still like Darnold and for all we know, they do too. They could trade back a handful of spots and still get an elite player! Or 2. They could still love Darnold and pivot from QB at the top. With weapons like Chase/Pitts available or an elite OT, this team could decide to load up! But for this exercise, I decided to go chalk so to speak.*Note: due to the length of this series, this was written prior to the Darnold trade*
The Jets have a ton of draft capital and can really load up this team. They kick things off by taking Zach Wilson 2nd overall to be their QB of the future. Wilson is full of talent! His arm talent is unquestioned and his ability to throw from different platforms is very impressive. He does an excellent job working through progressions and manipulating the defense.
After Wilson, the Jets use 3 of their next 5 picks surrounding him with some excellent weapons! They take the top RB, Najee Harris, with their second 1st round pick. Harris is a do-it-all type of back with excellent athleticism and can be a 3-down back for them. Next, they add a very athletic and dynamic TE in Brevin Jordan. Jordan is a player that I believe would be thought of in higher regard if it weren’t for issues at QB. This kid can do it all and is a matchup nightmare! Lastly, they add a dynamic WR in Amari Rodgers that put up some impressive numbers for Clemson. The addition of these three weapons can immediately bolster this offense and make them a scary team in the future.
In addition to the offensive weapons, the Jets add some talented players to the defensive side of the ball. Nick Bolton is a very talented LB that can diagnose, get sideline to sideline, and is a hard hitter. He will bring a spark to the defense and help them in a number of different ways. Late in the draft, they are able to grab an athletic DE with upside in Janarius Robinson from Florida St as well as Darrick Forest out of Cincinnati.
Overall, I think the Jets do an excellent job of adding talent at many different levels. They start to round out what could be an impressive offense as well as adding solid defenders and depth. This draft could, and should, be the first step in rebuilding this team to compete for a playoff spot!
