The New York Jets, armed with two top-16 picks in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, are uniquely positioned to turn the franchise around.
With Dante Moore heading back to Oregon for another season of college football, there likely won’t be a quarterback rated high enough for the Jets to pull the trigger on a new starter at No. 2, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find playmakers and add talent to their offense and defense.
In the latest mock draft from Pro Football Focus, Gordon McGuinness has New York doing just that with their two premium draft selections.
Jets Select Texas Tech Edge David Bailey No. 2 Overall
McGuinness’ first selection for the New York Jets is Texas Tech defensive end David Bailey, one of college football’s most dominant defenders this past season.
“The news that quarterback Dante Moore is staying at Oregon for another season is a blow to the Jets, who could have either selected him at No. 2 overall or traded the pick for serious draft capital,” wrote McGuinness.
“With Moore off the board, the most logical route would be to target one of the top defensive players in the draft. Bailey’s 81 quarterback pressures in 2025 led all FBS edge defenders, and while he’s not as refined a prospect as Penn State’s Abdul Carter was last year, he is more than good enough as a pass rusher to be worthy of a top-five selection.”
After Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza presumably goes No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, the real draft begins with the Jets at No. 2.
They’ll have several avenues available to them in terms of high-end defenders, such as Miami’s Reuben Bain Jr. or Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, but Bailey could be the best of the bunch.
ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper has Bailey as the fifth-highest rated prospect on his big board.
“A transfer from Stanford, Bailey gets after the quarterback. He had 14.5 sacks over three seasons for the Cardinals, and he matched that total in 2025 alone after notably becoming more of a finisher this season,” said Kiper.
His 20.2% pressure rate was the best in the nation — despite actually being lower than it was in 2024 (22.2%) and 2023 (22.1%).”
With New York finishing with the 31st-least amount of sacks in the league in 2025, Bailey would be a welcome addition to their defensive line room.
Jets Select Washington WR Denzel Boston No. 16 Overall
With their second first-round selection thanks to the Indianapolis Colts and Sauce Gardner, the New York Jets select Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston to improve their group of pass-catchers.
“With the Jets likely to look to free agency or the trade market to fix their quarterback situation, finding the right players for their offense in the draft becomes even more important,” continued McGuinness.
“Boston could be the perfect partner for Garrett Wilson at wide receiver, coming off a season in which he earned an 89.3 PFF receiving grade against man coverage and caught 76.9% of his contested targets.”
Garrett Wilson was the Jets’ leading receiver in yards for the 2025 season, and his last reception came in Week 6 against the Denver Broncos.
That is simply unacceptable, and while it’s easy to point to the quarterback play as the reason why, New York did nothing to add to their wide receiver room before the season, outside of adding Josh Reynolds and forcing Allen Lazard to take a pay cut.
Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie, midseason acquisitions, showed some signs of life during the backend of the 2025 season, but I’m not sure you can count on either to be a legitimate threat across from Wilson on a down-to-down basis.
That’s where Boston comes in.
Going back to Kiper’s big board, the Washington receiver charts in as the 24th highest-rated prospect.
“Boston has developed into a nuanced route runner who uses his size and physicality to shield defenders from the football. His length and catch radius make life miserable for opposing cornerbacks,” said Kiper.
“And the way Boston quickly finds openings in coverage jumps out on tape, helping him to 14.2 yards per catch on the season. He has Velcro-esque hands, allowing him to go high or low to haul in difficult receptions.”
If the Jets draft turns out this way come April, both sides of the ball would receive a massive boost in these two blue-chip prospects.
All that’s left to do is figure out who is playing quarterback and wonder if Aaron Glenn can turn a 3-14 team into a fringe playoff contender.
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