Adding Weapons 🔫

Jets continue to support Zach Wilson

☀️ Good Morning!

Welcome to a special Saturday edition, you didn't think I'd leave you hanging over draft weekend did you 😉

💚 PERFECT MATCH: The Jets really wanted Jermaine Johnson, I mean really wanted him. According to multiple reports, Joe Douglas called every single team from pick #15 right down to where they found a trade partner in Tennessee at #26. It worked out well for the Jets, but they were willing to jump higher.

🤫 HUSH HUSH: Joe Douglas wouldn’t go into specifics on the trade discussions between the Jets and teams like San Francisco/Tennessee Titans in relation to Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown but did say there had been plenty of conversations over the last week. When all is said and done, the Jets were absolutely thrilled to get Wilson at #10.

📠 Despite Joe Douglas not wanting to go into details, Matt Barrows (49’ers reporter for the Athletic had the details of the Jets’ offer to San Francisco for Deebo. “49’ers might have been persuaded by a King’s ransom offer for Deebo Samuel. What they got was significantly less than that. Per a league source, the Jets offered pick No. 10 and a 5th rounder in exchange for Samuel and the 49ers’ 2nd rounder, No. 61 overall”

1️⃣ ➡️ 2️⃣ According to Peter Schrager of NFL Network, the Jets had Jermaine Johnson near the top of their EDGE rankings, “I know he was either one or two on their (the jets) board with Kayvon Thibodeaux” - So much for the narrative that the Jets were never taking Kayvon. Chances are if Sauce is gone, the Jets take Kayvon.

🅰️ GRADES: Now we have the most pointless exercise in the draft, instant draft grades for the first round, but I do like to give you all the information possible on TJW so here goes. Here were the grades after the first round.

NFL.com - Grade A
Pro Football Network - Sauce Gardner (B+), Garrett Wilson (A), Jermaine Johnson (A+)
Bleacher Report - Sauce Gardner (A), Garrett Wilson (B+), Jermaine Johnson (B)
CBS Sports - Sauce Gardner (B+), Garrett Wilson (A), Jermaine Johnson (A)
Sports Illustrated - Sauce Gardner (A-), Garrett Wilson (A-), Jermaine Johnson (A+)

👊 RIVAL WATCH: Buffalo took Kaiir Elam, CB out of Florida in the first and then Georgia running back James Cook in the second, before taking Baylor linebacker Terrel Bernard in the 3rd. The Patriots took Cole Strange, the guard from Chattanooga (😭) in the first and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton in the second. In the third the Patriots took Houston CB Marcus Jones. The Miami Dolphins made their first pick in the 3rd round and took Georgia linebacker Channing Tindall.

🗣️ QUOTE: Coach Saleh to Jermaine Johnson “You’re gonna wreak havoc in this system. It’s tailor-made for your size, your length, your speed, your tenacity. You're coming to a hell of a room”

2️⃣ SECOND ROUND

➡️ Heading into the second round the Jets had the 6th overall pick, and the best available players based on their draft score were as follows:

The Jets wasted no time in hopping up two places to No. 36 overall, trading a 5th round pick (No. 146th overall) to the Giants for the privilege.

With the #36 pick, the Jets take Breece Hall, Running Back, Iowa State

I’m sure this will come as a bit of a surprise, but the combination of Breece Hall and Michael Carter in the Jets backfield is mouth-watering.

The Houston Texans who were picking at #37 were rumored to be in for a running back, so the jets knew that if they wanted to guarantee the selection of their #1 guy they needed to jump to #36. Again this is Joe Douglas being aggressive and going up to get the guys he really wants.

Hall tested off the charts in the pre-draft process scoring a 9.96 in terms of his Relative Athletic Score. He also tested as “elite” in both speed and explosion and we know how much Joe Douglas values athleticism.

Hall clocked up 1,460 yards last year with 713 of those coming after contact, not to mention the 20 rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns.

Hall’s 76 missed tackles forced ranked 4th in college football for the 2021 season and he had 36 plays that went for 10+ yards (8th in college football), and 22 of those went for 15+ yards (5th most). 175 of his rushing attempts came in zone which was the 9th most of all running backs.

The stats paint the picture, but he is the perfect fit for the Jets. He had speed, power, and size to wear defenses down, and when he gets a breather teams have to deal with Michael Carter, so the Jets are going to be absolutely relentless…especially when you consider they just invested in Laken Tomlinson and drafted Alijah Vera-Tucker last year.

He finished his Iowa State career with 5 touchdowns of over 75 yards, which shows he has the long speed to go with that strength and toughness in the short game. His patience to allow holes to develop reminds me a little of Jonathan Taylor.

Outside of his rushing ability, he also recorded 82 receptions for 734 yards and 6 touchdowns over his three-year career. He also recorded just 1 drop on 60 targets over the last two years, so he has soft and reliable hands to help Zach Wilson.

🗣️ “For a while, it felt like it was taking forever, but once I got the call and saw New Jersey, I just knew this was the moment, so this has just been a blessing”

On if the Jets picking him surprised him:

🗣️ “It didn’t really surprise me, I had a formal meeting with them at the combine and some zoom meetings, so I’d already kinda built a relationship with the coaches”

During an interview at the draft, Breece Hall confirmed that the Jets had tried to trade into the first round to take him but it hadn’t gone through. That shows the aggressive nature of JD and how much the Jets actually wanted him.

Jets select Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State

In what seemed like a wait for the ages as countless people I’ve never heard of took their sweet time announcing selections before the Jets finally had an opportunity to make another selection.

The Jets selected the hometown guy (Long Island) and Jets fan Jeremy Ruckert from Ohio State, a player who many expect to be a better pro player than college player based on his usage and ability to both block and catch at a high level.

Over four years at Ohio State Ruckert had 54 catches for 615 yards and 12 touchdowns, there were a lot of mouths to feed in Ohio so Ruckert was often the 4th option and you can only catch the footballs thrown your way. When Ruckert wasn’t involved in the passing game he was heavily involved in opening up running lanes.

While in Columbus Ruckert caught 77.6% of his targets and came down with 44.4% of his contested catches, with only 2 drops on record. As you can see from the table below he only saw significant targets in 2021.

Ruckert will join Garrett Wilson in New York and offer Zach Wilson another big target to help with his development.

The Jets have continued to rebuild their tight end room with Ruckert coming in, considering they also picked up C.J Uzomah and Tyler Conklin in Free Agency. The Jets coached Ruckert at the Senior Bowl, so they have a firm idea what they are getting.

Ruckert has the talent to be a good receiver in the league, but he’s also a fantastic blocker with absolute maximum effort, that’s going to make him a welcome addition into the TE room.

He can work outside or in the slot, but his future comes as an in-line tight end where he can go to work in the run game and create mismatches in coverage. He’s got good speed and a wide catch radius, he also plays with good body control and can make adjustments to the ball in the air.

Ruckert was my #3 rated tight end in the class, so while I may have elected for a Zach Tom or a Brandon Smith here, I love bringing in a hometown guy and I’m confident in his pro potential.

Remaining Options

The Jets have two selections in the 4th round as of right now and that’s it. They may decide to trade back to pick up a 5th or 6th round selection or they could just go for the best players on their board.

Offensive Lineman - Zach Tom, Braxton Jones, Spencer Burford, Lecitus Smith, Dohnovon West.

Linebackers - D’Marco Jackson, Brandon Smith, Darrian Beavers, Damone Clarke, Jesse Luketa, Malcolm Rodriguez & JoJo Domann.

Safeties - Verone McKinley III, Dane Belton.