The New York Jets created plenty of headlines when they canceled their top-30 visit with Texas Tech pass rusher David Bailey.
On Tuesday, April 21, general manager Darren Mougey held his pre-draft press conference with the media and was asked about the situation that had occurred.
“I’ll say this with [the] top 30s, every team uses them differently and has different ways of using that mechanism. Some [teams] don’t even use the top 30s at all. I would say for us, when we do top 30s, every single player and case is different. Sometimes I want this player to meet with our player engagement department, sometimes I want this player to meet with sports performance, sometimes it’s purely medical, sometimes it’s a recruiting process, [and] sometimes it’s a smoke screen,” Mougey explained.
“In regards to David, we had good touch points with him at the Combine, we went to his Pro Day, and we had a good dinner with him. We were just kind of juggling our 30s and how to use them. I wouldn’t look too much into a cancellation because there were other ones that we may have changed as well,” Mougey added.
‘With top 30s every team uses them differently … I would say for us when we do top 30s every single player & case is different. Sometimes I want that player to meet with our
Interesting Peak Behind the Curtain
Mougey mentioned the term “recruiting” as one possible reason to use a 30-visit on a prospect.
The 30 visits are often referred to as “top 30” by the public and even by some key team personnel. Mougey did it himself during the press conference.
That often gets misinterpreted. A top 30 visit isn’t the top 30 prospects on a team’s board. It is a formal meeting that takes place between a prospect and a team at their own facilities.
That is a key point to highlight because you can have any type of prospect visit the facilities. Sometimes they can be potential first-round picks, and other times they can be borderline draftable players.
So when Mougey mentions the recruiting element, the Jets could bring in a player that they don’t think will be drafted, but convince them that this would be the place for them to land as an undrafted free agent.
“Last year, of all the New York Jets’ top-30 visits that were reported — not all of them were leaked — only one player (wide receiver Arian Smith) was drafted by the team. Two others (safeties Jordan Clark and Dean Clark) were signed as undrafted free agents,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic wrote.
Mougey Is Keeping Things Tight
“Give general manager Darren Mougey credit. His pick, days before the draft, remains unclear — a rarity. That’s not usually the case. Most league sources SNY spoke with, as of Monday, believe the pick will be [Arvell] Reese. Bailey is viewed as the better pass rusher — multiple sources, including two general managers, told SNY he’s the best in the class. But Reese is considered the better overall prospect,” NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY wrote.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager also gave credit to Mougey for running a tight ship and then shared a completely different sourced take.
“Well, Jets fans, you’ll like hearing this: there is nobody talking out of the Jets’ building. I can say this, having covered the league for many years, this is the first time I can say this that there are absolutely no leaks out of Florham Park. Yet everyone seems to think it’s Arvell Reese. Guess what? The rest of the league doesn’t feel that way. David Bailey is still very much in play at No. 2. So much so that when I put out my mock draft tomorrow morning, which is my last and final one, I’ll be having David Bailey as the No. 2 overall pick,” Schrager explained.
Darren Mougey Explains Canceled David Bailey Jets Draft Visit