The New York Jets have received fantastic praise from fans and media alike for their 2022 NFL draft haul.
This special group has the potential to be an absolute difference-maker for this franchise. However, those weren’t the only people praising the green and white for their draft haul.
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Did That Really Just Happen?
During his post-draft presser Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones told local and national reporters that his team had offensive lineman Tyler Smith ranked higher on their board than Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson who ended up going earlier in the first round.
To prove it, Jones incredulously lifted up a copy of the Cowboys’ draft board and revealed it to the members of the media in attendance.
To prove to reporters that the Cowboys had Tyler Smith ranked higher on their board than Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson, Jerry Jones showed a copy of the team’s draft board.
Jerry Jones: “I’m dead serious.”
Stephen Jones: “Don’t show them that. … Put that sheet down.”
Thanks to the advancements of modern technology all of the cameras on sight were able to get a copy of the Cowboys draft board and transcribe it.
Jon Machota of The Athletic was able to “enhance the photo” and break down all the players’ names that appeared on the sheet.
With that information, he was able to break down the entire Cowboys big board that featured all of their first-round grades and interestingly enough two familiar names cracked the list:
- Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon: drafted at No. 5 by the Giants.
- Evan Neal, OT, Alabama: drafted at No. 7 by the Giants.
- Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan: drafted at No. 2 by the Lions.
- Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State: drafted at No. 10 by the Jets.
- Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati: drafted at No. 4 by the Jets.
@CowboysStats Lol not for lack of trying… I legit went home and screencast our video of the presser from my laptop to my TV… this was all I got
The Jets ended up with three first-round draft choices in the 2022 class and apparently, they were able to land two of the top-five players on the Cowboys draft board in Wilson out of Ohio State and Sauce out of Cincinnati.
A Unique Opportunity
Leading up to the draft there was a ton of smoke around the Cowboys attempting to make a blockbuster trade up.
Ultimately they stood pat and weren’t willing to pay the necessary price to launch up that high. However, after seeing the top of their draft board there is an alternate reality where Dallas lands one of the Jets’ top stars.
Instead, the Jets were the ones that were able to walk away with multiple impact players. Unlike Jones, general manager Joe Douglas keeps that kind of private information very close to the vest.
Although over the last week we have been able to find out a few things that almost happened.
Head coach Robert Saleh revealed that the Jets nearly took pass rusher, Jermaine Johnson, out of Florida State with the No. 10 overall pick. The only reason they didn’t was that Wilson was still on the board, if he wouldn’t have been, they would’ve taken JJ.
A few times Douglas got froggy during the first round and nearly pulled the trigger on a few deals.
One of the most notable ones was revealed by Rich Cimini of ESPN on his podcast this week. The Jets and Seahawks had a “deal done” to swap first-rounders but it fell apart last second because Seattle got cold feet and Gang Green was uncertain if they needed to make the move.
Again this was all centered around trading up for Wilson, the talented Buckeyes wideout. There was a fear inside the Jets war room that someone was going to trade up and snatch him from under their nose, so they got heavy in trade negotiations to prevent that from happening.
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Jets Stole 2 Top Targets From Cowboys, Jerry Jones: Report