Jets Own Three of the Top 43 Picks

With the draft approaching, the Jets have an immediate need at center and long-term need at defensive tackle. Outside of Quinnen Williams, the Jets’ youngest interior D-lineman is Thomas (27). The Green & White recently added veteran Quinton Jefferson (30), who enters his eighth year in the NFL after a career-high 5.5 sacks in 2022 with the Seahawks. The team also has Tanzel Smart (28) under contract.

Injuries decimated an offensive line that saw the Jets start nine different combinations last season and many pundits believe the Jets will take a tackle with the 13th overall selection in the draft. This tackle class is headlined by Paris Johnson (Ohio State), Darnell Wright (Tennessee) and Broderick Jones (Georgia). Some believe that Northwestern’s Pete Skoronski, an excellent tackle at the collegiate level, will ultimately shift inside to guard. If the Jets elect to go with a tackle in the second round, Dawand Jones (Ohio State), Anton Harrison (Oklahoma) and Matthew Bergeron (Syracuse) could get consideration.

“That’s definitely a position where we’d like to create some more stability and continuity, especially with the injuries we sustained last year,” said Douglas at the NFL Combine. “Duane’s [Brown] under contract, Max Mitchell’s coming back. Max is doing great, another player that’s recovering. Mekhi [Becton] is doing great. So, you know, feel good about those three guys coming back. Duane, he just had a procedure on his shoulder and he’s recovering well. But again, O-line, D-line are going to be a high priority for us always and so if there’s an opportunity to upgrade tackle, center, guard, D-tackle, D-end — we’re always going to look at doing that.”

At center, McGovern started 48 games for the Jets from 2020-22. Douglas told reporters that the Green & White have interest in former Titans C Ben Jones, but no meeting scheduled. Two centers from the Big 10, Joe Tippman (Wisconsin) and John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota), are likely to receive Day 2 consideration…