Jets Shift Some of Their Focus Toward Bounty of Selections in Next 2 NFL Drafts

The Jets own the most selections in the top 45 of this year’s draft.
Besides Nos. 2 and 16, the Jets move to the top of their 3-14 cohort and select first in Round 2 (33rd overall). Then they have the Cowboys’ No. 44 pick.

The first time the Jets had four in the top 45 was 1984, when they held Nos. 10, 15, 37 and 39 and with them brought in S Russell Carter, DE Ron Faurot, C Jim Sweeney and TE Glenn Dennison. Faurot and Dennison played for the Green & White very little, Carter a little more, and Sweeney a lot — 158 starts, beginning at LG and LT before settling in as the Jets’ capable, seemingly indestructible starting center from 1988-94. Then of course came those Four Aces, which besides Ellis and Abraham included QB Chad Pennington (18th) and TE Anthony Becht (27th).

And the 2022 draft may have lost Sauce but at least until March still features starters Garrett Wilson (10th), LB Jermaine Johnson (26th) and RB Breece Hall (36th), with Hall able to become a free agent.

The Jets have eight selections in the first two rounds of the next two drafts combined.
Because the Dallas and Indy deals involve high picks next year as well as this year, the Jets’ prospects are arguably better than any other back-to-back drafts in franchise history.

In those drafts combined, the Jets have five first-rounders and three second-rounders The eight picks are the most of any NFL team and three more than the Browns, the Texans and the Rams with five each. And with three first-round choices next year, the Jets are the only team with multiple Round 1 picks in 2027.

The Jets have never spent eight picks on players in the first two rounds of back-to-back drafts. The closest they came was seven in 2021-22, with the four top picks from ’22 listed above joining Wilson, Vera-Tucker and WR Elijah Moore from ’21.

Six prime picks in consecutive drafts? That happened twice surrounding the 1984 draft cited above: the 2000 draft followed by the additions of Santana Moss and LaMont Jordan in ’01, and the ’22 foursome joined by Will McDonald IV and Joe Tippmann in ’23.

In short, the Jets have never had a draft bounty to improve their NFL standing like they have now, beginning with those lucky numbers, 2, 16, 33 and 44, which can be cashed in on the first two nights of the draft on April 23-24.