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The New York Jets hold the power position in the 2022 NFL draft. With over nine picks they have the quantity and with four of those selections inside the top-38 they also have the quality.
So what they do and which prospects they’re looking at will have a massive ripple effect on how the first round shakes out.
It seems like they may have tipped their hand on their intentions at the top of the class.
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Very Interesting
Sources recently told Tony Pauline of the Pro Football Network that the Jets have been in “constant contact” with Florida State pass rusher Jermaine Johnson.
He added that Gang Green has done “an inordinate amount of research” on the defender.
The most popular mock draft pick for the Jets this cycle has been at EDGE rusher with the No. 4 overall pick. There have been a few names thrown around like Travon Walker out of Georgia, or Kayvon Thibodeaux out of Oregon, but the one getting the most traction is Johnson.
He has had arguably the best pre-draft cycle of any player.
The 23-year-old is coming off the best year of his college career racking up 11.5 sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss, and accumulated over 70 tackles.
Johnson then went to the Senior Bowl and absolutely annihilated whichever offensive lineman was placed in front of him. Entering the cycle right after the season, he was thought of as a borderline first-rounder. After the Senior Bowl, he had launched himself inside the top-15.
It has been an insane rise and now the latest chatter has him inside the top-10 just weeks away from the draft.
When I interviewed Pauline for my YouTube channel (you can watch the full interview here), he said that based on all of the sources he has spoken with the No. 4 overall pick will come down to either Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner or Johnson out of FSU.
The Pressure Is On
The Jets have some tough business decisions to make over the next few weeks.
One of the biggest is what to do at the No. 4 overall pick. Gang Green is dealing with what the kids call a first-world problem.
With two picks inside the top-10, the challenge for general manager Joe Douglas is picking someone at No. 4 that he can’t afford to lose and hoping the other player he wants slides to No. 10.
With that being said the Jets can’t afford to walk away from the first round of this draft without one of the top pass rushers. If they pass on Johnson at No. 4, they may not get a chance to land any of those top EDGE artists at No. 10.
If that happens they’ll have to then settle for a second or third-tier option at the top of the second round. Or even worse, be forced to trade up and overdraft someone because of need.
That is why in theory you want to fill as many needs as possible in free agency so you can enter the NFL draft with full flexibility. The Jets need pass rush help and unfortunately, everyone in the NFL knows it.
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