The New York Jets were really, really bad in 2025 and finished with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Second-year GM Darren Mougey has started his tenure in East Rutherford, New Jersey with darn-good process, trading away the likes of Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, and Jermaine Johnson for draft picks — in the case of Johnson, for nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat — and made three first-round picks in this year’s draft.
Here’s a rundown of their 2026 rookie class.
Here’s the New England Patriots
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David Bailey, EDGE, Jets
The Jets had a challenging decision to make at No. 2 overall — and I genuinely believe they made the right one with Bailey over Arvell Reese. Bailey is a relentless and powerful outside speed rusher who destroyed all of the NFL-draft eligible tackles he faced in 2025. He may not have All-Pro upside, yet his floor feels extremely high.
Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Dolphins
Sadiq is one of the most athletically gifted tight ends to enter the NFL in the past 20 years. My comparison for him was Vernon Davis. While I don’t expect him to command targets like Brock Bowers did as a rookie two years ago, there’s a complete skill set with this tight end — he’s a monster after the catch, can separate, and while not enormously powerful, gets after it on a regular basis as a blocker.
Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana
I liked Cooper Jr.‘s game, especially because I probably emphasize YAC more than other draft analysts. He’s a good, not amazing separator and has strong, reliable hands in traffic. Like Bailey, I’m not sure if Cooper Jr. will ever be considered one of the truly elite players at the position. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t a steady contributor. And no, I don’t think the Jets jumped the Bills to “steal” Cooper Jr. from them.
DeAngelo Ponds, CB, Indiana
If Ponds was like one or two inches taller and had 10-15 more pounds on his frame, he absolutely would’ve been a first-round pick. His film was that sensational at Indiana, and he looked impossibly twitchy with spectacular range and ball skills. Then he jumped 43 1/2” at the combine in the vertical and ran in the low 4.3s at the Indiana Pro Day. He’s a nasty tackler too. Loved this pick.
Darrell Jackson Jr., DT, Florida
Jackson Jr. was the hulking nose tackle type many Bills fans believed Brandon Beane would target in the early-to-mid rounds of his draft. Heck, maybe he did but just couldn’t land the nose tackle he wanted. We’ll probably never know. Jackson Jr. is one of those “first guy off the bus” types on the interior with a sculpted, lengthy frame and stars as a run defender. He left a lot to be desired as a pass rusher.
Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson
The experience of watching Klubnik as a college football fan in the fall to evaluating him as a draft prospect were noticeably different. As I honed in on the details of his skill set as a quarterback in February, I liked much more than I expected I would after watching a large portion of his Clemson career. He has a strong arm, moves naturally away from pressure in the pocket — he’s just a bit scattershot with his accuracy and takes far too many risks. For a team that clearly does not have its quarterback of the future on the roster, I didn’t hate this selection.
Anez Cooper, OG, Miami
The Miami offensive line was ridiculously large across the board — Cooper was over 6’5” and 347 pounds with offensive tackle length at right guard. And he plays precisely as expected, as a mauler. In Round 6, the Jets could’ve done much worse along the offensive line than Cooper.
VJ Payne, S, Kansas State
Payne’s production analytics, and especially his workout, were excellent. I didn’t adore his film, so he was one of the prospects that the numbers were more impressive than what I observed on the field. Infamously, the Jets did not record a single interception during the 2025 season — a feat that felt impossible in the modern day — so adding an athletic defensive back with the last pick was sensible.
