B-
New York Jets
A solid, sensible weekend for the Jets: B-.
by aechean ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 3 steals
· 6 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Jets spent Round 5, Pick 39 on Patrick Payton, a name the board had a full 69 spots lower. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B-.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Haulcy. That cornerback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
They will answer for taking linebacker early while cornerback and interior defensive lineman went begging. The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 16 they get a cornerstone up front, reach and all. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 20th overall pick they get a matchup problem out wide at a price that makes it sweeter.
In the 24th pick they get a three-down second-level presence at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
Denzel Boston at No. 33 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Nicholas Singleton at the Round 2 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It fills a real need, too.
Taking A.J. Haulcy in slot 92 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A want over a need in the Round 4 slot: Harold Perkins Jr. adds a linebacker while cornerback and interior defensive lineman keeps waiting.
Drew Allar at slot 107 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Parker Brailsford slipping to Round 4, Pick 40 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Patrick Payton in pick 179, miles early. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They reached into another round for Logan Fano, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Robert Spears-Jennings in pick No. 228 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid sticker price for Diego Pavia in No. 242, and that is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.