A-
New York Jets
Nobody dealt better than the Jets this weekend: A-.
by wreeder36 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
When the story of this class is written, it opens with DJ Campbell at the Round 4 slot, a reach of 70 spots that the board flatly disagrees with.
The phones were where this weekend was really won. They banked enough surplus on Washington Jr. to cover a lot of smaller sins. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
With edge rusher, safety and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them.
Add it up and few war rooms did better this weekend, Arvell Reese and all.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 16 they get a three-down second-level presence at a price that makes it sweeter.
In pick 18 they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. A real need, handled.
In the 20th pick they get a mismatch in the passing game at fair value. More want than need.
They took Omar Cooper Jr. at par in slot 33, which is nothing to complain about. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
D'Angelo Ponds at Round 2, Pick 15 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They read the board right and Emmanuel Pregnon was the payoff at the Round 2 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Logan Jones. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Mike Washington Jr. at the 97th pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The roster fit checks out.
They left a pile of value on the table to take J.C. Davis this early at pick No. 103. It fills a real need, too.
DJ Campbell in Round 4, Pick 12 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A curious use of the 113th overall pick. Edge rusher, safety and other spots needed the pick; a linebacker in Harold Perkins Jr. did not.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 140 with a little surplus value in Hezekiah Masses. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Drew Allar in the Round 5 slot is fair value, right on his grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They paid sticker price for Dae'Quan Wright in No. 179, and that is fine. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Value with a capital V on Thaddeus Dixon in pick 228, a genuine coup. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jack Kelly in the 242nd pick is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Good price on Eli Heidenreich in No. 244, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.