Jets Passing on No. 1 Prospect Would Be Massive Mistake, Says Analyst

Robert Saleh Jets

Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh thinking long and hard in the middle of an NFL contest.

Everyone has an opinion on what the New York Jets should do in the upcoming 2022 NFL draft.

Although one analyst took it a step further by saying if Gang Green passes on one specific prospect this April, they would be making a massive mistake.

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Another Jets Draft Gaffe?

Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report broke down one mistake that every NFL team must avoid making in the 2022 NFL draft.

For the Jets, he said passing on Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton would be a massive gaffe.

“Considering Hamilton’s immense talent and how well his skill set projects in today’s NFL, it seems unlikely he’ll be available at No. 10. The Jets must strongly consider him with the fourth selection if Hamilton even makes it past the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans.”

Gang Green was recently burned after taking a safety with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. While Jamal Adams wasn’t a bad player, he quickly became one of the best safeties in the NFL, but the positional value of the safety position and his attitude quickly came under scrutiny.

Ultimately he was dealt away for a bounty of picks that featured two future No. 1s.

Now just a few short years later they have an opportunity to dip their toe back into the safety waters in the first round and Sobleski argues that Adams’ failure should have no impact on what they do this year:

“Hamilton is vastly different from Adams, whose game is predicated on his physicality and playing downhill. Hamilton is the unicorn in this class because of his size (6’4″, 220 lbs), versatility, and ridiculous range.”


Things Are Heating Up

ESPN NFL draft analyst Jordan Reid said that Hamilton is the “No. 1 overall prospect” on his draft board this year.

He was recently asked in a draft mailbag whether taking a safety with the No. 4 overall pick is too high?

“In most years, I would say yes, but Hamilton is an exception to the rule. He’s the No. 1 overall prospect on my board. The Jets and their fanbase likely have some buyer’s remorse after the team picked safeties Jamal Adams (2017) and Calvin Pryor (2014) in Round 1, but Hamilton brings a different skill set than either of them. He’s one of the unique prospects in this class and would immediately provide a playmaking presence to a defense that had just seven interceptions last season.”

Multiple times throughout this draft process, Rich Cimini of ESPN has shared that there is a budding connection between Hamilton and the Jets.

He reiterated that on Wednesday, February 23 saying, “word has it they like Hamilton a lot.”

It is important to note we are still in late February. The NFL Combine and free agency haven’t even started yet so take this comment with a grain of salt at this point in the offseason.

This is smokescreen season and the Jets could be leaking this information out there for one reason or another.

Could they still end up taking Hamilton in the first round of the draft? Absolutely but there is still a large period of time between now and the draft that we need to see how things play out before we overreact to nuggets of information leaking out.


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