Originally posted April 27, 2023. This article will be updated over the next couple of days.
Last updated April 28, 2023 19:04 ET.
Round 1, Pick 15
Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia
Prior to trading for Aaron Rodgers, the Jets held the number 13 overall selection in this year’s draft. A first-round pick swap with Green Bay was the first part of that exchange and the Jets now have pick 15.
Before the trade on Monday, I had the Jets selecting Tennessee offensive lineman Darnell Wright, who I believe could end up becoming the top tackle in the class.
Now, stuck behind the Patriots, the Jets lose Wright to New England, who take him immediately before at 14.
Broderick Jones is a fine second choice.
Jones played in 26 games over three years with the Bulldogs.
In 2020 he saw only 25 snaps.
As a sophomore, he played 11 games at left tackle, seeing 434 snaps and allowing just two two sacks and five quarterback hurries.
In 2022 as a junior Jones appeared in 13 games and on 805 snaps without allowing a sack.
Jones is very fast for an OT. He ran a sub-5 40 at the combine. He’s someone undersized at 6’5″ 311 pounds, but he has long arms and enough agility to get to blocks he might not otherwise.
He rates well as both a pass blocker and a run blocker.
Jones is arguably the most athletic offensive lineman on the board. He had only 22 starts in college, so he might start on the right side to begin with in New York while he gains some additional experience.
The Jets appear solid at OL on paper, but Becton can’t stay on the field and parts of their line are aging out or could use upgrades. Re-signing McGovern to a low-risk, low-money deal to bring stability to the center position was a huge win for New York, but they need an elite OL talent like Wright at tackle to keep this team moving ahead.
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Round 2, Pick 43
Jack Campbell, LB, Iowa
The Jets filled their biggest need in Round 1 by taking offensive tackle Broderick Jones. He wasn’t their first choice, but in our mock the Patriots move ahead of the Jets without doing a thing — they sit at 14, and after the Rodgers trade the New York is down at 15 — and New England snatches their preferred lineman wright out from under them.
This pick fills their second biggest need, inside linebacker.
The Jets in fact needed help in the middle from offense to defense as of Monday morning: quarterback, center, offensive line, defensive tackle, linebacker, and strong safety.
The Jets filled two of those needs early this week. First they re-signed OC Connor McGovern. CFCP wrote at the time of the signing that McGovern was worth 1-2years at $5-6M per. The details of the McGovern contract are now available, and the Jets got an absolute steal.
After making over $10M last season, McGovern tested the market in free agency and found no buyers. He ended up returning to the Jets on a very team-friendly 1 year, $1.915M deal with a base salary of just $1.165M and $1.25M guaranteed.
This was an outstanding signing for the Jets. McGovern has been a solid presence in the middle for New York, and is a fantastic bargain at this price, which makes him only the 25th highest-paid center in the league in APY.
The Jets are now set at center at a very low cost and don’t need to spend any of their limited draft capital at the position. (Prior to the Rodgers trade I had the Jets using pick 42 or 43 to address their desperate center need.)
Jack Campbell played four years in college. He started at Iowa in 2019 and saw only 2 games. He had 5 total tackles.
In 2020 he played just five games, totaling 29 tackles (3.5 for a loss), 1 sack, an interception, and a forced fumble. He briefly moved to Cincinnati that season to play TE but never appeared in a game.
Back full-time at Iowa for 2021 and 2022, Campbell appeared in 27 games and racked up 265 tackles (9 for loss), 2 sacks, 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and a touchdown.
Campbell proceeded to crush the combine, putting up a 96th-percentile broad jump and three-cone. He’s a monster-sized linebacker at 6’5″ 249 pounds who runs a 4.65 second 40 and a 1.59 second ten yard. His arms are measured at a lengthy 78 2/8″.
Campbell would improve the Jets immediately. They had the NFL’s 4th ranked defense in 2022, but where it excelled was on the outside (cornerback, defensive end).
He was won the 2022 Dick Butkus Award for best linebacker in the country, and was voted by coaches and media to the 2022 All-Big Ten first team.
Campbell is an outstanding tackler, is fantastic in coverage, and stout against the run. He’s also demonstrated an ability to get to the QB using his surprising speed, though that’s not his primary role.
Jack Campbell is smart and a natural leader. He’ll start immediately for the Jets, and should be a team captain by year 2 or 3.
Campbell could go earlier than this. The Jets should be praying that he does not.
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Round 4, Pick 112
Xavier Hutchinson, WR, Iowa State
The Jets attempted to trade for Odell Beckham, Jr. this offseason. Beckham had a meeting with the team in New York scheduled on Monday April 10. On Easter, the day, before, Beckham and his agent spoke with the Baltimore Ravens, who offered Beckham a one year deal worth up to $18M. Beckham immediately canceled his flight.
Beckham will have a 2023 base salary from the Ravens of $1.165M. He receives a $13.835M signing bonus which is spread out over five years at $2.767M per. Beckham also can make up to $3M in reception-based incentives:
Receptions (non-cumulative)
30: $250,000
40: $500,000
50: $750,000
60/Team Lead: $1M
The $13.835M is of course guaranteed.
The Jets were never going to match this deal, but the fact that they had invited Beckham to meet with the teams suggests that the team still wanted to add to their receiving corps. But do they still now?
Even after trading away Elijah Moore to the Browns in exchange for Pick 42 in this year’s draft, the Jets’ receiver depth chart looks like this:
Garrett Wilson
Corey Davis
Allen Lazard
Mecole Hardman, Jr.
Denzel Mims
Irvin Charles
Malik Taylor
Dionte Spencer
Wilson is a stud. He put up an 83-1013-4 line as a rookie in 2022 while catching passes from a series of quarterbacks who should not be starters in the NFL.
Davis has played only 22 games over two seasons for New York, but was acceptably productive when he was on the field (66-1028-6).
Lazard had his best season as a pro last year for the Packers (60-788-6), has great familiarity with Aaron Rodgers, and is just 27 heading into his sixth NFL season.
Hardman has never lived up to his 2nd round draft status. Over four years in Kansas City, he totaled 151-2,088-16 in the regular season. He is, however, an outstanding special teams player who should be returning punts and kickoffs this year for the Jets. He’s on a one year, $4.5M deal with $4.08M guaranteed.
Mims has been dreadful in New York since they drafted him 59th overall in 2020. In 30 games he’s gone 42-676-0.
The other receivers on the list are purely depth players.
The Jets can win with those receivers and Rodgers at quarterback. Do they really need to spend a Day 3 selection on another wide receiver?
Their interest in Beckham seems to suggest that the Jets believe they do. It might not, though.
The Jets were pursuing Beckham before they had obtained Aaron Rodgers. It’s very possible that they wanted him only as another tool to convince Rodgers to come to New York. At the very least, their publicized interest in Beckham was a signal that the Jets were still looking to add more weapons for Rodgers should he decide to come to New York. (Yes, Rodgers announced over six weeks ago that he intended to play for the Jets, but we are talking about Aaron Rodgers — I’m still checking the Jets newswire every day to see if Rodgers has changed his mind despite his already having signed the contract.)
The Ravens used Beckham precisely to lure back Lamar Jackson. There will be plenty of young, inexpensive wide receiver talent available for them at pick 20 in this year’s draft (UPDATE: There was, and the Ravens selected Zay Flowers).
And Baltimore didn’t sign Beckham to a reasonably-priced, longer-term deal. They signed him to a ridiculously priced one year deal that gives no indication that they see him as anything more than temporary bait. They didn’t consider the promise of a 2023 first round receiver pick as enough to demonstrate their commitment to building around Lamar. They needed an overpriced big name wideout to get Jackson’s attention.
Now the Jets do have Rodgers. There’s no need to for them to continue to make moves to appease him. If they were to acquire another receiver, where would they put him?
Wilson is their future at the position, and perhaps the future of the team’s entire offense. Lazard isn’t going anywhere. The Jets signed him to a 4 year, $44M contract after he appeared as a demand on Rodgers’ ransom note.
Cutting or trading Davis is an option. A pre-June release would free up $10.5M in cap space and leave only $666,668 in dead money. I’m not sure what the Jets could get for him in a trade. Maybe a 6th round selection.
Having said all of this, I still see the Jets investing in a WR on Saturday, and I think they will do so with their first pick of the frame. I don’t see anyone at their two remaining positions of need (defensive line and safety) who will be available and worth drafting at 112.
Why are they taking one? Maybe to appease the fan base, though I think they’ve probably done enough of that at this point. Maybe they really do think they need one. Maybe they plan on dealing or cutting Davis. (I would be fine with that.)
Here is a list of draftable WRs I have available at 112 in my mock (listed in alphabetical order):
Xavier Hutchinson, Iowa State
Andrei Iosivas, Princeton
Charlie Jones, Purdie
Trey Palmer, Nebraska
Parker Washington, Penn State
Dontayvion Wicks, Virginia
Michael Wilson, Stanford
I don’t know why I listed them in alphabetical order. I’m going with the first one.
Keep in mind, we are in the fourth round now. The elite talent is long gone. The consensus tier 2 talent is gone. A lot of the third tier talent is gone.
This is what the Jets will be getting with Xavier Hutchinson.
Xavier Hutchinson played three years at Iowa State, and was given plenty of playing time (37 games).
In 2020 over 12 games, Hutchinston had 6 receptions for 771 yards (12.0) and 4 touchdowns.
In 2021 over 13 games, he had 83 receptions for 987 yards (11.9) and 5 touchdowns.
In 2022 over 12 games, he had 107 receptions for 1,171 yards (10.9) and 6 touchdowns.
For his career with the Cyclones, Hutchinson’s line was 254-2929(11.5)-15.
These are very good numbers, and they came against surprisingly tough competition (Iowa State had the 18th highest strength of schedule in 2022) and with average QB play. Hutchinson improved every season, though his efficiency dipped slightly last season.
Hutchinson isn’t an elite athlete, but he’s has excellent hands and is a threat after the catch. He can line up wide or in the slot. At 6’2″ he will provide a big target for Aaron Rodgers.
The Patriots, Bills, and even Dolphins need CB help. All will likely address the secondary with their earlier draft picks in 2023 but a roster that includes Hutchinson, Wilson, Lazard, Hardman, and Mims (I do think Davis will be elsewhere soon) could cause problems for them as their secondaries develop.
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Round 5, Pick 143
Keondre Coburn, DL
(Coming soon)
Round 5, Pick 170*
Rashad Torrence II, S, Florida
(Coming soon)
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