Field Yates, ESPN’s well-traveled and highly experienced NFL insider, has his thoughts about the nine individual selections the Jets have in next week’s draft. But he and nyjets.com senior reporter Eric Allen jumped right into the Green & White’s big-picture pool during their Now Boarding podcast.
“It’s not hyperbole when I say this,” Yates began. “No team has a chance to change its roster complexion and its franchise’s future more than the Jets over the next two years.”
He obviously was casting a scout’s eye toward 2027, when the Jets spend the rest of their draft capital haul from the Sauce Gardner-to-Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams-to-Dallas same-day November trades. And if you haven’t done the math yet (which Jets fan hasn’t?), Fields whips out his draft calculator.
“They have nine first- and second-round picks between this year and next,” he said. “Three first-round picks next year, but now we’re focused on this year. Four in the top 44, two in the top 16, three in the top 33 — no matter how you slice it, the Jets have a chance to dramatically alter their roster.”
Yates toted up the Jets’ view looking ahead. Looking back in franchise draft history, this year’s draft at the current time (before any trades may or may not be made) marks only the fourth time that they’ve had four of a draft’s first 50 selections. Here’s how the first three of those draft foursomes and their Jets teams fared. We’ll use 59 games as our cutoff, since that’s how many games Gardner and Williams could have played in as Jets: