B
New York Jets
The Jets found their guy under center in Mendoza: B.
by Connor MacDuff ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
The search is over. The Jets handed the keys to Fernando Mendoza, and the whole operation now runs on his development.
Every board in the league had Alexander lower, and that gap is the story. The Price steal is the beam this whole class leans on.
With safety and interior defensive lineman unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them. They punted on safety, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Good work on the whole, with safety the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get their quarterback of the future. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In slot 16 they get a three-down second-level presence, and a steal at that. Need was not the driver here.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went linebacker with Sonny Styles while clear needs at safety and interior defensive lineman sat open.
A slide stopped in pick No. 44, with Omar Cooper Jr. worth more than the price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Taking Jadarian Price in the 103rd pick is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Oscar Delp at No. 140 is money in the bank, a tight end taken below his worth. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Domani Jackson in the 179th overall pick lands just on the right side of the ledger. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Trey Zuhn III in pick 228 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. The roster fit checks out.
Kalil Alexander at Round 7, Pick 26 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.