Getty Cincinnati pass rusher Myjai Sanders making a play in the middle of a college football game.
If we weren’t already, we sure are fully entrenched in mock draft season now with the New York Jets.
On Monday, February 7 ESPN NFL draft analyst Jordan Reid dropped a full two-round mock draft filled with hope and promise.
A lot of Gang Green fans were excited with the results, although none more so than a former player and current analyst.
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A Juicy Mock Draft
The Jets have four picks in the top-38 and that is a lot of ammunition to get some things moving and grooving. Here were all of Reid’s selections for the Jets in his mock:
First-round
No. 4 overall: Ikem Ekwonu, offensive lineman, NC State
No. 10 overall: Garrett Wilson, wide receiver, Ohio State
Second-round
No. 35 overall: Myjai Sanders, EDGE rusher, Cincinnati
No. 38 overall: Trey McBride, tight end, Colorado State
.@Jordan_Reid ESPN #NFLDraft analyst just orchestrated the greatest #Jets mock draft of all time!
No. 4 Ikem Ekwonu, OT, NC State
No. 10 Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State
No. 35 Myjai Sanders, EDGE, Cincinnati
No. 38 Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State
Most fans that saw this haul celebrated on social, but none harder or more emphatically than former Jets player and current analyst Leger Douzable.
He said, “if the Jets get this in the draft, it may go down as one of, if not the best draft(s) in Jets history!”
The problem with the Jets historically is they haven’t been able to stack really good draft classes in back-to-back years. Heck, recently they haven’t even been able to successfully nail a single class, up until 2021.
Now they have a chance to build a solid foundation that can sustain success not just for a single year, but for many years to come.
The 2021 class had a phenomenal mix of stability, surprising pops, and a lot of overflowing potential heading into the future. That sets up for this 2022 class to be one of the most important drafts in franchise history.
The Jets possess a historic haul of picks, but the key is executing on those selections and making them count.
What Reid did so well in his mock draft was maximize value and surround Zach Wilson with both protection and playmakers that’ll make his life easier. No mock draft will satisfy every Jets fan, but this one comes pretty close.
The other piece to this puzzle is what the Jets end up doing in free agency. Considering this snapshot of the first two rounds, the green and white would have to attack free agency pretty hard from a defensive perspective.
Some Interesting Draft Factoids
If this draft came to fruition it would be the third straight year that general manager Joe Douglas used a first-round pick on an offensive lineman.
Also as Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg noted on Twitter, the pair of day two picks in Sanders, McBride were both coached by Gang Green in this year’s Senior Bowl.
We talked about it in the buildup to the annual college all-star event that the Jets would have a unique advantage by allowing their coaching staff to participate.
They got to see how these players responded to adversity in practice. How did they interact with the cafeteria staff when they were eating meals? Did they show up early to practice? Stay late and ask questions?
It would’ve been a lot harder to find out the answers to all these questions on their own, but with the help of the Senior Bowl, they got a full week to get to know all of these talented players.
Another fun fact from this Reid mock if it actually happened, it would continue a Douglas streak of only selecting offensive players in the first round.
In his two drafts to date, he has taken Mekhi Becton, Wilson, and Alijah Vera-Tucker. Although Sanders would instantly become the highest-drafted defensive player by this current regime.
This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last mock Jets fans read through this offseason. Although for now it may be the best mock put together thus far.
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