Jets Got Tougher 👊
The draft class is complete.
`☀️ Good Morning
Welcome to this very special Sunday edition. We’ll be back to normal proceedings next week but right now we need to talk some more draft.
📉 Credit to Rich Cimini for this stat. This is the first time in the Common Draft era (since 1967) that the Jets have taken a running back, wide receiver, AND tight end in the first 3 rounds. The Jets are finally loading that offense.
🆙 Joe Douglas did confirm that the Jets attempted to trade up into the first round to take Breece Hall, unfortunately, they couldn’t find a deal that worked but was aggressive in moving up in round 2 to snag their man.
1️⃣ Breece Hall was the highest-drafted RB by the Jets since taking Blair Thomas 2nd overall in 1990. The world and the NFL were very different over 30 years ago, I’m not sure we’ll ever see an RB taken that high again.
😱 The last time the Jets took a TE in the third round or higher was 2014 when they selected Jace Amaro in the second round. Let's hope the selection of Jeremy Ruckert turns out a little better.
🗣️ Joe Douglas on Breece Hall: “It was an opportunity to get a top-20 playmaker in the draft, an exciting weapon that can truly fit in our backfield and our scheme with what we have going”
🅰️🅱️Time to jump into the grades that were handed out for the Jets work in the 2nd and 3rd round:
NFL.com - A
CBS Sports - Breece Hall (B), Jeremy Ruckert (A-)
Bleacher Report - Breece Hall (A), Jeremy Ruckert (A)
Sports Illustrated - Breece Hall (B), Jeremy Ruckert (B+)
The Athletic - Breece Hall (C), Jeremy Ruckert (B)
⚖️ I’ve been thinking about this over the last 24 hours and I’m always reluctant to make pro comparisons for players because I feel as though it heaps unrealistic expectations on the shoulders of these guys coming into the pros. Saying that I can’t help but think of Jonathan Taylor when watching Breece Hall. Taylor is more physical and Hall is more athletic, but their styles and their patience just match. It jumps off the screen for me, but maybe that’s just me.
4️⃣ Moving to the 4th
The Jets came into today with two selections in the fourth round, the 111th and 117th. Entering day 3 the best players according to NFL.com were below, not many of the top players were in positions of need for the Jets.
Round 4: Pick 111 - Max Mitchell, OT, Louisiana
We always knew an offensive lineman was on the cards and Joe Douglas decided to bag the highest graded tackled in the FBS (according to PFF, 95.4) in Max Mitchell.
In a nice moment that was captured by the Jets media team, the Jets had Chris Nolan the Area Scout who scouted Mitchell make the call…
Mitchell is a very big man at 6’6 and 307lbs, he allowed 2 sacks and 9 pressures over 392 pass-blocking snaps last year and was the highest-graded run-blocking tackle in the FBS.
He’s played on both sides of the line for Louisiana clocking 728 snaps at left tackle and 1,532 snaps at right tackle, he’s even had 60 snaps inside at left guard. He offers swing tackle potential for the Jets, although I see his natural fit on the right side.
I have spoken about Mitchell a couple of times on TJW and I do like his potential, but the 4th round is a touch rich for me and personally, I would have gone for Zach Tom, but let’s see if Joe Douglas deserves this offensive line guru tag that followed him to New York.
Athletically he’s not an overly impressive prospect but he was a leader with Louisiana and we know how Joe Douglas values leadership. He’s got a good strong punch, and his hands are responsive in pass sets, he shows quickness off the snap and he does have the power to move people off the line and work his way to the second level.
Max Mitchell will go into camp expecting to offer depth at both tackle positions, as long as Becton and Fant can stay healthy he will benefit from a year working with John Benton and the rest of the Jets coaches. He will join Chuma Edoga and Connor McDermott as the main depth pieces at tackle.
He has the traits to become a valuable piece down the line, but I’m not sure the Jets want him starting in 2022.
Over his four years at Louisiana, he allowed 4 sacks over 1,100 pass-blocking snaps, that’s a sack allowed every 275 snaps. He allowed 32 pressures in total, which is one every 34 snaps.
Round 4: Pick 117 - Micheal Clemons, Edge, Texas A&M
This pick was a little bit of a surprise for me considering there is a red flag on Clemons record, the Jets have preached environment, culture, and accountability since Joe Douglas took charge and Clemons does have an arrest in August of 2021 for unlawful carrying of a weapon, invalid license and marijuana possession. It was his second arrest with the first being for an invalid license as well. But the positives with Clemons far outweigh any negatives.
What I will say for Clemons is I believe that has been the only incident and talk out of Texas is that he came in ready to work after being suspended to start the 2021 season and ended up putting his most productive season together. So the Jets are taking a chance on him, but it’s probably not as big a deal as some will make it out to be.
Outside of that…Clemons was largely considered a 3rd round prospect so the Jets have hit on value here at pick 117, and athletically he definitely fits the profile of a Joe Douglas player.
He has excellent size and good explosion metrics and he led the Aggies with 46 total pressures in 2021, including 8 sacks. His play strength is outstanding and he has a motor that always runs hots and despite what a lot of scouting reports say, I do see a fair bit of bend to his game. He’s not the most explosive prospect but he can turn the corner and flatten to the QB.
According to NFL, one NFC team didn’t mind the lower body stiffness saying: "I'm not going to worry about him being kind of stiff in his rush because he's long and he's strong. Those traits start in our league."
After spending one year at JUCO, he will be 25 by the time the season starts, but when you get to the 4th round I don’t think that matters very much. Over the last two years with Texas A&M he’s recorded 62 pressures and 13 sacks, and that matters to be more than his age.
If you really want to see what Clemons can do, switch on the LSU tape from 2021. He had 3.5 sacks and he could have had more. He’s ferocious and as strong as an OX. I think this is one of the Jets best selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, and that’s saying something considering how well the draft has gone.
He’s had experience running from both a 2 and 3-point stance at Texas A&M and although he did have a handful of snaps inside at defensive tackle, he’s a defensive end through and through.
He has exceptional length to seal the edge, but he can be a little overaggressive at times and lose some containment on the outside. Better coaching will hopefully limit those moments and allow him to use that length to make plays in every facet of the game.
Joe Douglas on the selections of Mitchell and Clemons:
“The two guys we picked today, I would say one adjective to describe both of them is tough, very very tough. Max Mitchell can be a versatile piece on the offensive line, guy was at the senior bowl, highly competitive, very smart, versatile guy, he’s been practising at tackle, guard, snapping the ball as a center, feel he can be another versatile piece to add to the offensive line to give us some flexibility moving forward.
With Big Mike, feel like he’s one the nastier players in this entire draft. The physicality, the edge that he plays with, the toughness that he brings, I don’t think you can have enough of that, we don’t think you can have enough of that on this team. Added two guys with this kind of toughness can add to the fabric of the team”
🎯 Jets Draft Class 2022:
H/T to Andres from Jets UK Podcast for this graphic, which is 🔥
✍️ UDFA Signings
We’ll get into all these guys over the coming days/weeks but here are the confirmed UDFA signings for the Jets as far as I can see. The first four guys on this list are guys I think have a real shot at making the roster this year.
RB - Zonovan 'Bam' Knight - NC State - Rushed for 2286 yards and 18 touchdowns over 3 years at North Carolina State
WR - Irvin Charles - IUP - Has 39 catches for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021 after being dismissed from Penn State and transferring to IUP.
LB - DQ Thomas - Middle Tennessee State - One of the most productive linebackers out there. He’s coming off a season where he had 88 tackles, 17 TFL, 5 sacks & 2 INT.
DT - Savion Williams - Florida A&M - Recorded 21 pressures and 8 sacks while also recording a 71.5 grade against the run. Has inside/out versatility.
CB - Allan George - Vanderbilt - Allowed a 53.7% completion into his coverage and 6 touchdowns without recording an INT.
DT - C.J Brewer - Coastal Carolina - Enjoyed a dominant senior season posting 31 pressures, 6 sacks, and even picked up an INT.
WR - Keshunn Abram - Kent State - Recorded 47 receptions for 699 yards and 3 TDs
RB - DeAndre Torrey - North Texas - Rushed 248 times for 1215 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021, forced 44 missed tackles and has 27 runs of 10+ yards.
S - Tony Adams - Illinois - Recorded 6 INT’s in his Illinois career. Allowed 57.9% completion into his coverage in 2021 with 63 total tackles.
S - D. J. Ford - East Carolina - Allowed 12 receptions on 17 targets in 2021 for East Carolina after transferring from North Carolina. Also had 32 tackles, 2.5 TFL.
WR - Ron Hunt - North Carolina A&T - Caught 22 passes in 2021 for 2 touchdowns and only 27 passes total over 5 years at North Carolina A&T.
Saw Zach Tom as a more of a versatile lineman, with great potential to become the Jets next starting Center, but he will do well in Green Bay. Curious that the Jets didn’t address Center/Guard even in UNDFA’s ( a very unimpressive group, terrible ? Joe really? ). Good news for McGovern/Feeney. With the UNDFA’s , Jets will need to make about 6 cuts, could be interesting. Max Mitchell fan, third round value, nice fit , swing Tackle, limited upside but starting potential , Chuma replacement. Clemons has warts, but he was a team Captain, got respect from his peers, like the Nasty, reflects the importance of Edge in this Defense, good bye Zuniga. The best way to support a QB is to have a dominant running game, Breece Hall could be part that, very nice fit. Wilson needs to work on his play action mechanics. Would have picked Ruckert at 69, got him at 101, didn’t lose value on the JJ trade and the associated pick. Jets are going to run the ball, commitment to 21 & 22 personnel.
"The world and the NFL were very different over 30 years ago, I’m not sure we’ll ever see an RB taken that high again."
I am not sure if you are specifically referring to the Jets when you mentioned this in the article, otherwise it happened in 2018 with Saquon Barkley going #2 overall.
Ironically, that led to us getting Sam Darnold, which has now turned into Breece Hall.