By my count, the Jets have met with 32 offensive draft prospects. I have written 32 sentences. Enjoy.
QUARTERBACKS
ZACH WILSON, BYU: Wilson’s arm strength allowed for a career year at BYU in 2020, and he will be the Jets quarterback come April 29th.
JUSTIN FIELDS, OSU: The elusive signal-caller led Ohio State in a campaign to the National Championship, but questions remain regarding Ohio State’s system’s translation to the NFL.
TREY LANCE, NDSU: Lance has the most athleticism and arm strength in the draft, but will need a year to develop under a veteran QB.
MAC JONES, ALABAMA: No.
RUNNING BACKS
Precursor – the Jets run scheme under John Benton and Mike LaFleur will be a Wide Zone. This means that they will run outside of the tackles (think RB Off Tackle in Madden) frequently. A good thing to have in this scheme is vision – you’re heavily relying on the ball carrier to read the defense correctly.
It’s also likely that the Jets will run a ‘running back committee’, meaning that the running backs on the roster will split snaps rather than having one rusher run for 2,000 yards.
MICHAEL CARTER, UNC: With elusiveness and excellent vision, Carter is best suited for a running back committee in which he is utilized in both the running and passing game, specifically a zone scheme.
TRAVIS ETIENNE, CLEMSON: Trevor Lawrence’s favorite target is an excellent receiver out of the backfield, and he can fit in any offensive scheme.
DEMETRIC FELTON, UCLA: The speedy WR/RB hybrid is an incredible athlete, but he may be a little bit too small in size to succeed in the NFL.
KENNETH GAINWELL, MEMPHIS: The high-school quarterback has excellent agility, vision, and a shocking amount of power for his stature.
NAJEE HARRIS, ALABAMA: The angriest runner in the 2021 draft class, Harris will turn on the ‘beast mode’ and refuse to go down when in the open field. (I’m breaking the rules for a bit. Harris is 23 already (the same age as Sam Darnold) and is not worth selecting in the first round. If he is there in the third, I may invest in him.
JAVIAN HAWKINS, LOUISVILLE: Hawkins is a speedy back who should serve best as a complementary RB who is utilized heavily in the passing game.
KHALIL HERBERT, VT: The Hokies RB has the ability to make big plays with the snap of a finger, but his pass protection leaves much to be desired.
JERMAR JEFFERSON, ORST: Jefferson has phenomenal vision and is a decisive back, but lacks speed in the open field and can be inconsistent at times.
KENE NWANGWU, IOWA STATE: Nwangwu is INCREDIBLY fast, posting an unofficial 4.32 at Iowa State’s pro day.
JARET PATTERSON, BUFFALO: Patterson is an all-around back who can work his way through tight spaces, but he’s best fit in a RBC.
WIDE RECEIVERS
LaFleur and the 49ers usually ran a horizontal passing scheme. Watching it, I thought of the West Coast playbook in Madden. Think short passes, using all of the field, driving down the field chunk by chunk. You want a receiver who’s elusive, good after the catch, forcing the cornerbacks to play an area rather than a specific man.
FRANK DARBY, ASU: Darby is a competitive receiver who is skilled at seperating and getting open, but lacks speed.
RASHOD BATEMAN, MINN: Bateman reminds me of Michael Thomas and he should be able to be a featured receiver in a vertical passing offense.
RONDALE MOORE, PURDUE: Moore is electric, a multi-tooled weapon with blazing speed – but his injury concerns may be a little too much for teams to take him early. (I know an em-dash is technically a combiner of 2 sentences. But I don’t care. I make the rules)
AMARI RODGERS, CLEMSON: Rodgers is a slot receiver and is aggressive in the open field.
ANTHONY SCHWARTZ, AUBURN: Schwartz is a burner who is the fastest player in the draft, and the Jets have met with him multiple times.
DEVONTA SMITH, ALABAMA: The Heisman winner is a fantastic college WR, sure, but his size may prove to be an inhibitor in his playing career without the comfort of playing in a Sarkisian scheme.
IHMIR SMITH-MARSETTE, IOWA: Smith-Marsette’s production at Iowa did not mirror his skills, and he is speedy – but he has mild off-field issues and his Hawkeye career ended prematurely after he flipped into the end zone, landed wrong, and hurt his ankle.
ELI STOVE, AUBURN: Stove is a Swiss Army Knife, able to take handoffs, play the slot, return kicks, and line up outside, and his Instagram name is @Kitchen_Appliance_12, so I think we should draft him just because of that fact.
KADARIUS TONEY, FLORIDA: A track star and quarterback in high school, Toney is best fit for a vertical attacking scheme in which he can fly.
TIGHT ENDS
This one’s tough. I’m not sure I know how to evaluate tight ends.
JACOB HARRIS, UCF: The redshirt senior played both WR and TE, clocking a blazing 4.39u 40 time at UCF’s pro day.
BREVIN JORDAN, MIAMI: Jordan was utilized as both a blocker and a receiver in the Miami offense.
TOMMY TREMBLE, NOTRE DAME: Tremble can fit the ‘Juszczyk’ role of the LaFleur offense – he can play fullback, line up at tight end, and play the slot.
OFFENSIVE LINE
TEVEN JENKINS, OKST (OT): A natural right tackle, Jenkins is a punisher that’ll serve you pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
LARNEL COLEMAN, UMASS (OT): To be quite frank, Larnel Coleman is not on any draft boards, and I have not heard of him before.
ROBERT JONES, MTSU (OG): Jones has heavy hands and plays the guard position well, but his athleticism leaves much to be desired.
DAVID MOORE, GRAMBLING (OG): An aggressive finisher, Moore is best set for an offense that likes to run ground-and-pound.
ALIJAH VERA-TUCKER, USC (G/T): Vera-Tucker started 7 games at LT for USC this year due to injuries and excelled, but he is even better when playing on the interior.
CREED HUMPHREY, OKLA (C/G): Humphrey is a southpaw (a rarity at the center position), has excellent football IQ, and is a solid interior blocker.
Defense comes next.
