D+
New York Jets
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Jets to a D+.
by bbg ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The Jets lost the trade war and it was not close, handing partners the better end again and again.
They are betting Rodriguez proves the room right and everyone else wrong. Leaving quarterback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. On value alone, Lew makes the weekend a net positive.
The Jets clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
Olaivavega Ioane in slot 16 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It fills a real need, too.
Gennings Dunker at No. 33 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Brandon Cisse at the 38th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jacob Rodriguez in the Round 2 slot, miles early. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Lee Hunter in pick 67 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They robbed the room for Connor Lew here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They jumped the gun on Red Murdock, taking him earlier than his grade liked. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They took Lander Barton at par in Round 7, Pick 12, which is nothing to complain about. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.