Draft Sleepers: Jackson Slater

Edition #840

☀️ Good Morning ☕

The start of the off-season program began for the Jets yesterday, with Aaron Glenn being a new head coach the Jets get a two-week head start on the likes of the Bills and Dolphins, although the Patriots also started their program yesterday with new Head Coach Mike Vrabel.

The name of the game during the first phase is strength, conditioning and culture. Glenn said it himself, they’ll be plenty of time for scheme and play programming, right now it’s about getting used to the new regime and setting the standards.

We’re about to go into silly season with draft rumours, in the words of Edgar Allen Poe, Samuel Johnson, William Johnson Neal or whoever is now credited with the origin of this quote: “Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half That You See”

🟢 The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman had his mock draft out recently and he had the Jets taking Membou - "The Jets could use a right tackle, and Membou is really intriguing. He had a fantastic combine in meetings and on the field. He clocked a 4.91 40-yard dash with a 1.74 10-yard split, and he vertical jumped 34 inches and broad jumped 9-7. Membou came to football late but has displayed all sorts of promise. He's really twitchy and sudden with unreal quickness for his size. South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart was a freshman All-American, but Membou dominated him in their matchup."

🟢 Yahoo Sports pair Nate Tice & Charles McDonald had the Jets landing arguably the best player in the draft in Abdul Carter - "The Jets would be flying to the podium if this scenario were to unfold. Carter is the No. 2 overall player on my big board and has real game-wrecking potential as a pass rusher. He would inject some real juice into a front and unit that tapered off in 2024."

🟢According to Jeff Benedict who’s a former Atlanta radio host and Falcons insider, the Atlanta Falcons have already contacted the Jets about moving up to #7 in the draft in an effort to land linebacker Jalon Walker. They’re looking at the Jets in order to jump the Saints and Panthers who pick 9th and 8th respectively. He states that it will likely be a draft day deal and that Atlanta is willing to part with their 2026 first round pick to make it happen.

🟢 Players reported for the first day of the non-mandatory off-season program, Justin Fields was there as expected

🟢 The Jets hosted Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams on a top-30 visit yesterday. The 5’11, 190lb receiver put up a 4.4 forty at the combine and caught 70 passes for 1198 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. He spent the first three years of his college career at UNLV before transferring to Washington State and while he had a good year in 2023, 2024 was his real breakout. He’s expected to go between picks 40-80 and the Jets have two selections in there (#42 & #73).

🟢 The Jets have also met with South Alabama wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett, a player who wasn’t invited to the combine despite catching 91 passes for 1,126 yards and 9 touchdowns last season. He had an impressive Senior Bowl which put him on the many teams radars and he ran a 4.39 forty as well. Speed and more speed is something we haven’t had a lot of recently.

By now you’ll probably know I’m partial to a draft sleeper. I try and cover the top prospects as that’s where the majority of the interest is, but everyone covers the top prospect. Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to dig a little deeper to find some value at the backend of the draft

For the safety position I singled out Marshall’s J.J. Roberts

Draft Sleepers: A Safety Pick

For the tackle position I singled out UCONN’s Chase Lundt

Draft Sleeper: Chase Lundt

Tomorrow I’ll put forward my wide receiver sleeper but today I’m focusing on the internal offensive line with my guard selection.