Getty New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacting ahead of an NFL game.
The New York Jets are doing homework on one of the biggest players in the 2024 NFL draft.
NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero shared on social media that the green and white are one of several NFL teams that are set to host University of British Columbia offensive lineman Giovanni Manu for a visit this week.
Pelissero called the 6-foot-8, 352-pounder a “behemoth.”
Earlier this offseason Bleacher Report NFL Insider Jordan Schultz called Manu, “the best kept secret in the NFL Draft.”
An Interesting Mystery Man for the Jets to Consider
Schultz called Manu “freakish.” He put up some numbers at his local Pro Day recording a 33.5-inch vertical and a 4.96 40-yard dash.
That would have been the fifth-fastest time among offensive linemen at the NFL Combine. Manu’s vertical jump would have ranked No. 7 among the hog mollies in Indianapolis.
Schultz said on X previously Twitter that 16 NFL teams were in attendance for Manu’s Pro Day.
Here’s a fun one: The best kept secret in the NFL Draft is Tongan OT Giovanni Manu, who checks in at a freakish 6.073, 352lbs. Manu ran 4.96 at his Pro Day, which featured half the league in attendance. He also verted 33.5 inches.
Manu just concluded his first 30 visit, with…
Despite his imposing physical size, Taylor Kyles of CLNS Media said that Manu is an “Intriguing developmental prospect late on day 3 or as a priority UDFA.”
Day three of the NFL draft spans from the fourth round through the seventh round. So late day three would put him in the sixth to seventh-round range.
A priority-free agent is a fancy way of saying a player wasn’t drafted. When that happens the power shifts from the team to the player.
When an NFL team is on the clock they hold the power of picking any player that they’d like. However, once the draft ends, any player who wasn’t selected now gets to choose their next home.
It becomes a heated bidding war with conversations between player’s agents and teams. Players are attempting to find the right team that provides them the clearest path to making a 53-man roster come the fall.
Jets Have a Unique Advantage at the End of the NFL Draft
The NFL awarded the green and white three compensatory picks this offseason for the free agents it lost last year.
Not many headlines were made from it considering New York’s draft choices came in the sixth and seventh rounds respectively. However the Jets now hold the final two picks in the 2024 NFL draft.
The No. 256 and No. 257 overall picks allow the Jets to get a headstart on the priority free-agent market.
When the draft ends there will be a mad dash to collect the players that somehow slipped in the class and didn’t hear their names called. The Jets are the final frontier before that happens.
This means Gang Green can either get their pick of the litter before the other 31 NFL teams get into the mix. Or the Jets can sell off that pick to the highest bidder and trade it away.
The Jets have seven total picks in the 2024 class, but they only have two picks inside the top 100. Gang Green has been able to fill the majority of the immediate needs in free agency which has opened the door for the potential of a trade whether up or down in the draft.