B-
New York Jets
The Jets checked most of the boxes and earned a B-.
by Warren1 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
The Jets went off the board in a big way for VJ Payne, 98 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another.
That Jackson pick is the receipt they will wave around later. The interior defensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 2 they get a premier pass rusher. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 16th overall pick they get a sideline-to-sideline linebacker at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
Denzel Boston at slot 33 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.
Value with a capital V on Chris Johnson in pick No. 44, a genuine coup. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached into another round for VJ Payne, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They talked themselves into Quintayvious Hutchins at the Round 4 slot, and the board did not agree. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They jumped the gun on Taylen Green, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Domani Jackson at pick No. 228 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Marvin Jones Jr. well ahead of where he belonged. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.