Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn head to the NFL Combine next week in what will be a crucial part of a busy offseason. The Jets are expected to turn over their roster in a significant way, particularly on defense, as they try to recover from a 3-14 season and address their many needs via significant draft capital and cap space.
Free agency will come first, opening March 11, but the combine will be a crucial piece of the NFL Draft puzzle too, as they will meet with and observe the many prospects who will be in Indianapolis.
Between now and April’s draft, much will change with regard to which holes on the roster the Jets need to fill; as it stands right now, they could make a case for drafting players at pretty much any position.
They’ll have the ability to draft at least two — one with their own pick (No. 2) and one with the pick acquired from the Colts in the Sauce Gardner trade at the deadline (No. 16).
What might they do?
Prospects to target 2nd overall
1. EDGE Arvell Reese, Ohio State (No. 1 in Dane Brugler’s rankings)
2. EDGE David Bailey, Texas Tech (No. 6)
3. EDGE Rueben Bain, Miami (No. 10)
4. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State (No. 4)
At this point, it feels like a foregone conclusion that the Jets — assuming they stay at No. 2 — will be drafting a defensive player. That was locked in when Oregon quarterback Dante Moore returned to school. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will almost certainly go first to the Raiders.
Defense is the strength of this draft, especially at edge. The Jets need as many high-impact defensive players as they can after last season’s putrid performance. Play-makers on the back end. Pass rushers on the front end. There aren’t many, if any, defensive players on the Jets’ roster who should be absolute, no-doubt starters in 2026 based on their performance in 2025.
Reese has the highest ceiling of this group, and potentially anybody in this draft writ large. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has him rated as the No. 1 prospect in this class for a reason. He’s impressive across all physical and athletic metrics, and his ceiling feels extremely high considering the way the Buckeyes used him in college, predominantly as an off-ball linebacker. That’s partially why his 2025 stats don’t jump off the page (10 tackles for loss, 6 1/2 sacks, zero interceptions). Do you know who else was used in that way at the collegiate level and, as a result, had similarly modest production? Micah Parsons, who had 14 tackles for loss and five sacks in his last year at Penn State. Reese would be a fun toy for Aaron Glenn to play with as he takes over the defense.
If the Jets are looking for someone with proven pass-rush production, two other prospects would be defensible picks at No. 2. Bailey was dominant on one of the nation’s best defenses in 2025, getting 14 1/2 sacks, 19 1/2 tackles for loss, 23 QB hits and three forced fumbles in 14 games. He tied for the national lead in sacks and led defensive players in pressures (81), and twice he had more than 10 pressures in a game.
Brugler wrote that Bailey “fires off the ball like a sprinter with stride length and hell-raising intentions to quickly build forceful momentum to the quarterback. He is at his best with a runway and must continue to polish his secondary moves.”
If the Jets go to a 3-4 defensive front, Bailey is an ideal fit.
No matter the front, though, it’s hard to ignore how Bain played for Miami last season, especially in the College Football Playoffs. The knock against him is his short arms, but that didn’t prevent him from ranking second behind Bailey in pressures (80). Bain had 8.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and three QB hits. Among edge rushers to play at least 400 snaps, he ranked No. 5 in run-defense grade by PFF.
About Bain, Brugler wrote that he’s “a uniquely thick body type with short arms and average get-off, Bain isn’t the picture-perfect embodiment of what NFL teams covet in a pass rusher. But he consistently deconstructs blocks with power and is a tough player to slow down. He uses anvil-weighted hands to jar blocks off balance or command the edge in the run game.”
Downs might be the most intriguing — and most tempting — of these four players. If the Jets purely want to pick the best player on the board at No. 2, that might very well be Downs. The Jets have been searching for the answer at safety ever since parting ways with Jamal Adams, the last safety the Jets took in the first round (No. 6 in 2017). Glenn worked wonders developing Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch with the Lions, and Downs would be a worthy muse for the coach. Downs’ production doesn’t jump off the page either, and yet he still finished ninth in Heisman voting in 2025. In coverage, he didn’t allow any touchdowns, only allowed 5.9 yards per reception and opposing quarterbacks had a 47.9 passer rating throwing to his coverage area. He graded out well across the board on Pro Football Focus — run defense, tackling and in coverage.
Brugler referred to him as a “human missile” and said that Downs “is one of the better safeties I have ever evaluated” because of his speed, elite tackling skills, body control and reaction skills in coverage.
The issue: Safety is not considered a premium position in the modern NFL; it would be difficult to justify drafting a safety this high. Malaki Starks was the first safety picked last year; he went at No. 27. No safeties were taken in the first round in 2024 or 2023, and Daxton Hill and Lewis Cine were taken 31st and 32nd in 2022. Adams was the last safety to go in the top-10.
Others to consider: WR Carnell Tate (Ohio State), WR Makai Lemon (USC), RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame), CB Mansoor Delane (LSU), OT Francis Mauigoa (Miami).
Love is probably the only one of this group that is really worthy of the No. 2 pick on talent — but picking a running back second doesn’t tend to go over well (just ask Dave Gettleman). If the Jets franchise tag Breece Hall, that won’t be a need anyway.
Positions to target 16th overall
Quarterback: This very well may be a draft that has only one first-round quarterback. If there’s a second, it would very likely be Alabama’s Ty Simpson (ranked No. 34), who showed some significant potential last season but struggled when it mattered late in the season. His lack of experience (15 career starts) doesn’t typically portend success in the NFL. The only other quarterback who could play his way into the first round in the pre-draft process would be LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (No. 82), but mid-first round would be an extreme reach for a prospect who looked like a first-round pick in 2024 before injuries set him back in 2025.
Wide Receiver: If any of Ohio State’s Carnell Tate (No. 10), Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson (No. 12) or USC’s Makai Lemon (No. 14) fall to this spot, they might be the early favorites to be the selection. Each brings a different flavor at wide receiver — a position of need across from Garrett Wilson. Adonai Mitchell showed promise but not enough to bank on him. Tate is a dynamic playmaker down the field (10 catches, including six touchdowns, on 13 targets of 20-plus yards) with sure hands (zero drops on 53 targets). Lemon (5-11) is on the smaller side but has garnered comparisons to Amon-Ra St. Brown due to his ability to catch passes no matter where the ball is thrown. Tyson doesn’t jump out in terms of size or speed and has an injury history, but he’s an impressive pass-catcher with a fun highlight reel. If all three of them are gone, keep an eye on Washington’s Denzel Boston (No. 25), a big-bodied receiver (6-4, 210) with sure hands (3.1 percent drop rate).
Interior Offensive Line: This would only become a possibility in Round 1 if the Jets opt not to re-sign either John Simpson or Alijah Vera-Tucker, both of whom are set for free agency. Penn State’s Vega Ioane (No. 13) grades out well as both a run and pass blocker, and Brugler compared him to the Rams’ Steve Avila. Brugler doesn’t have any other guards graded as first-round prospects.
Edge Rusher: If the Jets don’t draft an edge rusher at No. 2, it becomes a likely target here. Auburn’s Keldric Faulk and Miami’s Akheem Mesidor are the next-best prospects after Reese, Bailey and Bain. Faulk has intriguing size (6-6, 270) and was one of the better run defenders in the country at his position, but only produced two sacks last season. Brugler wrote that “there are more ‘almost plays’ than ‘impact plays’ on his tape.” Mesidor is on the older side as a six-year senior, but he had his best season in 2025 playing with Bain: 17 1/2 tackles for loss, 12 1/2 sacks and four forced fumbles.
Interior Defensive Line: The Jets have a solid pairing at defensive tackle with Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs, but they lack high-end talent on the defensive line and depth on the interior. Florida’s Caleb Banks (No. 24), Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald (No. 26) and Clemson’s Peter Woods (No. 33) would all have a case at this spot. Banks is an impressive athlete for his size (6-6, 334) and has long arms too. He missed most of the 2025 season due to injury, though. McDonald is an impressive run stopper who is still developing as a pass rusher. Woods had a disappointing season after going into the year viewed as an elite prospect, but the traits are still there to make a leap in the NFL.
Linebacker: Both Brugler and NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah have Ohio State’s Sonny Styles graded as an elite-level prospect (both have him at No. 5). It’s unlikely Styles would fall this far but off-ball linebackers don’t tend to get drafted in the top-10 anymore — it can’t be entirely ruled out. He’s a 6-foot-4, 240-pound linebacker with a 4.5-second 40-yard-dash who is still only 21. He’s a former safety and has the versatility to line up at multiple spots.
Safety: After Downs, Brugler has two other safeties valued as potential first-round picks: Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman (No. 23) and Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. Brugler compared Thieneman to former Texan and Chief (and current Saint) Justin Reid and raved about his open-field athleticism. McNeil-Warren is adept at the “Peanut Punch” to force fumbles, per Brugler, which would be a welcome skill to a Jets defense that forced four turnovers last year.
Cornerback: This doesn’t top the list of needs since the trio of Brandon Stephens, Azareye’h Thomas and Jarvis Brownlee showed enough promise to run it back with them as starters again. But none showed enough to say they should be no-doubt starters in 2026 — and none has shown they can be a No. 1 corner either. Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy (No. 16), Clemson’s Avieon Terrell (No. 18) and Tennessee’s Colton Hood (No. 28) would all be options at No. 16.