Too many times in NFL history, top executives have tried to overcomplicate the team-building process.
The New York Jets have exemplified this over the last 15 years.
Questionable draft decisions, poor player development, and head-scratching coaching hires have led the team to endure the longest active playoff drought in North American sports.
There is a good lesson for the Jets to learn from their struggles. Sometimes, the easiest way to dig out of a hole is to do the simplest thing.
In this case, the simple thing is to draft blue-chip talent… every time.
Yes, it could be that easy.
Jets need players from proven talent factories
Telling an NFL team to target blue-chip talent seems all too simple.
But that isn’t the case with the Jets. On too many occasions over the last few years, the Jets have targeted risky prospects from less-than-stellar programs, with middling results.
The only way for them to reverse their struggles is to reverse their process.
For example, over the last six drafts (2020-25), the Jets have drafted just four players in the first three rounds who hail from one of the top 10 schools in producing active NFL players: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas, and Oregon.
LSU TE Mason Taylor (2025 second round)
Penn State OT Olu Fashanu (2024 first round)
Ohio State TE Jeremy Ruckert (2022 third round)
Ohio State WR Garrett Wilson (2022 first round)
When you see how few players the Jets have pulled from the top college programs, it is not too surprising that they have struggled to win football games.
Luckily, this year is a chance to correct those errors. When the Jets make their pick with the second overall selection, they have their choice between three blue-chip talents from Ohio State: linebacker Arvell Reese, safety Caleb Downs, and wide receiver Carnell Tate.
Ohio State’s defense was indisputably the best in college football this past season. Targeting one of the unit’s best players, Reese or Downs, seems like a clear-cut way for the Jets to ensure they strengthen their defense.
Some NFL teams have followed the blue-chip model before to great success. Jokes ran rampant when the Philadelphia Eagles took five Georgia defenders from 2022-23, and look where it got them: world champions in 2024.
The Green Bay Packers tied the Eagles for the most players from Georgia in 2025. Slotted just behind them were the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Baltimore Ravens.
Loading up on top talent from top programs is a safe path to success. The Jets have struggled to follow this path for years.
New York can’t overcomplicate this process. If they want to join the ranks of the top teams in the league, simplifying their draft approach is how to do it. Focusing on players from the top programs in college football is the easiest way to do that.