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Rich CiminiApr 13, 2026, 08:00 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The 2026 NFL draft<\/a> (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN App) will start on April 23 in Pittsburgh. The New York Jets<\/a> are scheduled to make nine of the draft’s 257 picks<\/a>, beginning with the No. 2 overall selection in the first round Thursday night<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the three-day event (Rounds 2-3 on April 24 and Rounds 4-7 on April 25), we will update this page with analysis on every pick.<\/p>\n A full list of Jets’ selections are below, in addition to positional needs.<\/p>\n NFL draft coverage: Round 1: No. 2<\/p>\n Round 1: No. 16<\/p>\n Round 2: No. 33<\/p>\n Round 2: No. 44<\/p>\n Round 4: No. 103<\/p>\n Round 4: No. 140<\/p>\n Round 5: No. 179<\/p>\n Round 7: No. 228<\/p>\n Round 7: No. 242<\/p>\n Top three needs<\/a>: WR, QB, Edge<\/p>\n Get ready for the 2026 NFL draft \u2022 Mocks: Kiper<\/a> | Miller<\/a> | Reid<\/a> | Yates<\/a> The bulk of free agency was devoted to the defense. Now, it’s time to get a playmaker to complement wide receiver Garrett Wilson<\/a>. The receivers not named Wilson have combined for only two career TDs — both by Adonai Mitchell<\/a>. The low-cost acquisition of Geno Smith<\/a> provides a Band-Aid at quarterback, but the Jets need to add a young arm to the mix. They could add a developmental QB on Day 3, waiting until 2027 to make the big splash — when they have three first-round picks.<\/p>\n They signed Joseph Ossai<\/a> to replace Jermaine Johnson<\/a> (traded) on the edge, but there’s still a glaring need for a speed rusher opposite of Will McDonald IV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fill in the blank: The Jets will draft a quarterback in the __ round.<\/p>\n Fourth round. Keep an eye on Drew Allar<\/a> (Penn State), who recently had a private workout at the Jets’ facility. He’s a developmental prospect with great size (6-foot-5 ,228) and arm strength. Of course, this becomes moot if they pick Ty Simpson<\/a> (Alabama) at No. 16 or 33.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rich CiminiApr 13, 2026, 08:00 PM CloseRich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-603951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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