Can the Jets afford to move up?

Edition #608

Good morning!

Some teams are starting their off-season program this week. The Jets won’t start their program until the 15th of April with the first OTA starting on May 20th. Mandatory Minicamp won’t start until June 11th. It’s going to be very interesting to see if Zach Wilson makes an appearance on April 15th, my guess is he’ll probably give it a miss. Today we’re focusing back on the draft, asking whether the Jets can afford to trade up to grab their desired prospect.

RISKY: The Athletic polled some NFL executives ahead of the new season, and most seemed to hint at the inherent risk of the situation

“Yes, it’s going to leave a large mess if it doesn’t work,” an exec said, “but it’ll be someone else’s job to clean it up.”

“It’s almost comical, but if the quarterback plays, he plays almost instantly at a top-tier level and they become a playoff threat immediately even without a plan,” another exec said.

“If this is your last chance to get it right, don’t half-step,” the first exec said. “But to say they are incurring risk is beyond an understatement.”

Unsurprisingly the Athletic added its own negative filler comments.

MOCK: The NY Post ran their own mock draft for the Jets, and went all 7 rounds. They had the Jets loading up on offence.

Round 1, No. 10 overall: Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
Round 3, No. 72 overall: Devontez Walker, WR, North Carolina
Round 4, No. 111 overall: Audric Estime, RB, Notre Dame
Round 4, No. 134 overall: Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State
Round 6, No. 185 overall: AJ Barner, TE, Michigan
Round 7, No. 256 overall: Kenny Logan, S, Kansas
Round 7, No. 257 overall: Dallas Gant, LB, Toledo

If you asked me to put the likely draft scenarios for the Jets in order, here’s how I’d rank them based on everything we know today.

1. Jets trade back 2-4 picks and get another 3rd round pick.

2. Jets select a player at #10 overall

3. Jets trade up to select the #1 target on their board.

Yet the idea of the Jets trading up remains a point of interest for the fanbase. I’ve seen it mentioned a number of times over the last 24-48 hours, and while the thought of Marvin Harrison Jr, Mike Williams and Garrett Wilson sharing the field is an enticing thought, can the Jets really afford it?