Five things to know about edge rusher David Bailey, the Jets’ top pick and No. 2 overall selection of the draft on Thursday night:
A Regular Speed Demon
Perhaps you’ve heard that Bailey’s speed off the edge was among the best in college football for Texas Tech last season. Bailey then demonstrated that speed at the NFL Combine, ripping off a 4.50 in the 40.
There are various ways to compare that time to other edge rushers. The combine tracker listed both Bailey and Ohio State’s Arvell Reese with the defensive ends as edges, and Reese’s 4.46 nipped Bailey for the best time in that group.
But if we go to **NFLCombineResults.com** and look at their D-end 40 leaders since 1987, we don’t see Reese (he was listed with the OLBs). What we do see is that for the available times for all DEs in the past 40 combines, Bailey’s 4.50 is sixth-fastest at the position, behind the likes of Penn State’s Chop Robinson (4.48 in 2024) and Dwight Freeney out of Syracuse (4.48 in 2002). Bailey is in pretty fast company as he starts the NFL phase of his career.
Student of the Game
Bailey studied some great pass rushers while in college. And when he transferred to Texas Tech last season, he lined up behind one of them in the Big 12 record book. Von Miller 17.0 sacks for Texas A&M in 2009 are the most in conference history, and Bailey’s 14.5 sacks last year not only tied for the 2025 FBS lead but came in tied for third in Big 12 history.
“Yeah, for sure I watched a lot of Von Miller,” Bailey said. “That was probably the first professional player that I started watching and I watched him a little bit freshman year. … But I think it was after that sophomore year when I started like really honing in on him. I’d watch his highlights, I’d create cutups on my phone.”
Miller’s not a bad guy to go to school on — he’s got 138.5 career sacks, tied-for ninth in league history, and is still going, actively seeking to re-sign with the Commanders, his latest NFL team last season.