Welcome to Bizarro World, where the Jets are getting universally praised for what they did in this year’s NFL Draft.
The organization that used to hear the boos from the upper deck when Pete Rozelle read off names had a solid draft on paper, which has fans feeling optimistic and draft analysts throwing the Jets verbal bouquets.
“I feel like we’re a better team now than we were going into this weekend,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. “ I feel like we’re a better team now than we were to start the entire offseason.”
Douglas was aggressive, trading up twice to get players he had targeted. He walked out of this draft with players considered to be the best cornerback (Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner), wide receiver (Garrett Wilson) and running back (Breece Hall) in this draft. Jermaine Johnson II was rated as a top-5 edge rusher.
The Jets finished the draft Saturday with just two picks in the fourth round. They selected Louisiana tackle Max Mitchell and Texas A&M defensive end Micheal Clemons.
While the Jets surely will enjoy the praise after enduring deserved criticism in recent years for their dismal record, they know immediate draft grades mean nothing and they’ll have to wait to see how this all pans out.
“I’ve also been in places where we’ve been universally mocked,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “We took Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson in the first three rounds [of the 2012 draft in Seattle] and got a D grade, if I remember right. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got to develop these young men. They’ve got to come in and they’ve got to perform. We’ve got to put them in the best position possible. We’ll know in about three years.”
The players may not become stars, but it is hard to argue with the logic behind Douglas’ draft. He targeted playmakers on both sides of the ball. He added freakish athletes with blazing 40 times and did not wait for them to fall to him. He traded back into the first round to get Johnson when he slid to No. 26, then jumped up two spots to draft Hall in the second round.
“We made the most of our opportunity we feel like in adding quality players,” Douglas said. “Ultimately, we’ll see how it all plays out over the next couple of years. Nothing ever goes perfectly in terms of the draft process, but I feel like the last two years some things have gone our way and we’ve made the most of our opportunities. That’s going to help us moving forward.”
After the trades on the first two days of the draft, the Jets were left with just two picks on Saturday, both early in the fourth round. It meant they were done picking before 1 p.m. Eastern time, but they still had to sign undrafted free agents after the draft ended.
Mitchell is a versatile offensive lineman the Jets believe can play tackle, guard or center. Clemons had seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss for Texas A&M last year.
“The two guys we picked today, I would say one adjective to describe both of them is tough — very, very tough,” Douglas said.
Clemons has some red flags. He will be 25 before he plays an NFL game. He had several injuries in college that caused him to miss the 2018 season and much of the 2020 season.
He was also arrested twice in a three-month span in 2021. In August, he was arrested and charged for carrying of a weapon, failure to identify/giving false information, less than two ounces of marijuana possession and driving with an invalid license. He had been arrested three months earlier in May for driving with an invalid license.
“We were aware of some of those issues going into this process,” Douglas said. “Part of our process is getting together with the player, getting together and having a security meeting regarding every player in the draft. We felt comfortable about adding him to the organization. Feel good about him not making those similar mistakes moving forward.”