NY Jets: 3 NFL Draft day trade packages the team should consider

The NY Jets have to be aggressive if they want to fill the remaining voids on the roster. Here are 3 NFL Draft day trade packages the team should consider.

The NY Jets haven’t been to the postseason since 2010. It’s been nine consecutive years of nothingness. Obviously that means the green and white have holes to fill on the roster to get over the hump.

With the majority of free agency in the rearview mirror, the next logical path to improve the talent on the roster is the 2020 NFL Draft.

The big question on the minds of every NY Jets fan is what should the team do in the first round with the 11th overall pick?

The decision has been boiled down to two positions both on the offense: wide receiver or offensive tackle?

Both are big needs for Gang Green and it’s been a long time since the team has pulled the trigger on either in the opening round of the NFL Draft.

Since 1997, Santana Moss is the only receiver to be drafted by the NY Jets in the first round (16th overall out of Miami in the 2001 NFL Draft).

The offensive line has been neglected even more than receiver: in the last 32 years the green and white have only drafted two offensive linemen in the first round and that was in 2006 when they double dipped with D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold.

So which position should the team go with in round one? Receiver? Offensive line? Or how about both?

The NY Jets have eight selections in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. Here are the details on where they pick and more importantly what the value of each pick is according to the folks over at Draft Tek:

1st round (11th overall)

• 1250 points

2nd round (48th overall)

• 420 points

3rd round (68th and 79th overall)

• 250 points and 195 points

4th round (120th overall)

• 54 points

5th round (158th overall)

• 27 points

6th round (191st overall and 211th overall)

• 13.8 points and 5.8 points

Recently on social media, an interesting question was raised: “assuming the Jets take an offensive lineman with pick 11, can you see Joe Douglas trading back up into the late first round to grab a wide receiver?”

After hearing this question we decided to create three potential NFL Draft day trade packages the NY Jets should seriously consider.

Next: 3. Using old connections

*In every one of these three NFL Draft day trade scenarios we are under the assumption that the NY Jets selected one of the top four offensive tackle with the 11th overall pick.*

With the team’s first pick they plugged the gaping hole at left tackle. Now the team is feeling froggy and decides to aggressively fill the other top need at wide receiver with a draft-day trade.

We referenced the NFL Draft Value Chart in the opening slide and if we take another look at that we can assess the NY Jets’ ammunition in this year’s draft.

If the team combines its’ second-round draft choice (48th overall) and it’s primary third-round draft choice (68th overall which is originally from the NY Giants in the Leonard Williams trade) they can move up to the backend of the first round.

Those two picks for the Jets are worth a combined 670 points. While the Baltimore Ravens first-round pick (28th overall) is worth 660 points. Not only does this trade make sense from the trade value standpoint, but there’s also the obvious connection between NY Jets general manager Joe Douglas and the Ravens organization. Douglas spent the first 14 years of his professional career with Baltimore as a scout.

Using The Draft Network’s “Mock Draft Machine” here are the top wide receivers that could be available with the 28th overall pick:

• Denzel Mims, wide receiver, Baylor
• Jalen Reagor, wide receiver, TCU
• Tee Higgins, wide receiver, Clemson
• Michael Pittman Jr, wide receiver, USC
• Brandon Aiyuk, wide receiver, Arizona State

Next: 2. Adding an LSU superstar?

*In every one of these three NFL Draft day trade scenarios we are under the assumption that the NY Jets selected one of the top four offensive tackle with the 11th overall pick.*

The NY Jets drafted an offensive lineman in this simulation for the first time in 14 years. That should cause celebrations around the country, but it doesn’t mean the job is done.

With that on the mind, maybe Joe Douglas and the Jets’ brass wants to trade back even higher in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft? This time around we give a call to the Las Vegas Raiders who hold two first-rounders in this year’s draft (No. 12 and No. 19 overall respectively).

If the Jets wanted the 19th overall pick it would prove costly: the team’s second-round pick (420 points) and both of the team’s third-rounders (445 points). The Raiders’ selection is worth (875 points), so technically this trade would fall short by 10 points (combining the second and 2 thirds), but they can figure out the logistics.

At this point, the team could target a fascinating wide receiver that seemingly would check off all the boxes. LSU’s Justin Jefferson has been a popular mock draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles who hold the 21st overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The 6-foot-3, 192-pound stud can play any of the wide receiver positions on offense. He’s got great hands, is quite the technician, and thrives in 50-50 ball situations. Justin Jefferson locked his status as a top-20 pick in the upcoming draft with a strong performance at the NFL Combine.

Next: 1. Adding an All-Pro talent

The #Jets Zone w/ @BoyGreen25 feat. @nyjets Team Reporter @EGreenbergJets:– Answered your #TakeFlight fan mail on 2020 #NFLDraft, #FreeAgency. – How has #coronavirus affected day-to-day operations for #NYJ?– Top takeaways from Joe Douglas presser.https://t.co/IxdeM6hogq

— The Jets Zone (@TheJets_Zone) April 2, 2020

*In every one of these three NFL Draft day trade scenarios we are under the assumption that the NY Jets selected one of the top four offensive tackle with the 11th overall pick.*

In the famous words of Gabe Wilson from the movie “Us“: “if you want to get crazy, we can get crazy.”

Realistically the highest the NY Jets can go (without including their 11th overall pick) is probably 15th overall owned by the Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately, based on trade value, the Jets couldn’t trade for the 15th overall pick with just picks in this year’s draft, we had to dip into future capital to pull this move off.

In this scenario, we’d have to combine our second and highest third-round pick from this year’s draft and throw in a future second-round pick to lock this deal in.

If the team was able to pull off this trade it would be the eighth time in the modern NFL Draft era that the NY Jets have owned multiple first-round draft choices in the same class:

2013: Dee Milliner (9th overall, CB, Ohio State), Sheldon Richardson (13th overall, DL, Missouri)

2008: Vernon Gholston (6th overall, EDGE, Ohio State), Dustin Keller (30th overall, TE, Purdue)

2006: D’Brickashaw Ferguson (4th overall, OT, Virginia), Nick Mangold (29th overall, C, Ohio State)

2000: Shaun Ellis (12th overall, DL, Tennessee), John Abraham (13th overall, DL, South Carolina), Chad Pennington (18th overall, QB, Marshall), Anthony Becht (27th overall, TE, West Virginia)

1995: Kyle Brady (9th overall, TE, Penn State), Hugh Douglas (16th overall, DL, Central State)

1984: Russell Carter (10th overall, DB, SMU), Ron Faurot (15th overall, DL, Arkansas)

1972: Jerome Barkum (9th overall, TE, Jackson State), Michael Taylor (20th overall, LB, Michigan)

Using The Draft Network’s “Mock Draft Machine” here are the top wide receivers that could be available with the 15th overall pick: Jerry Jeudy or Henry Ruggs III of Alabama or CeeDee Lamb of Oklahoma.

Everyone seems to have a different receiver at the top of their board. For example, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, the Jets’ top wide receiver on their board is Lamb.

The reason why we picked the Denver Broncos as the ideal trade partner is because that’s likely the last frontier as it pertains to the upper echelon receiver prospects. One of the top wideouts should still be on the board when Denver is on the clock.

This trade would obviously be quite cost-prohibitive and not everyone will be willing to pull the trigger on this deal. But think about walking away from the 2020 NFL Draft with two bonafide stars at both offensive tackle and wide receiver.

If the team pulled the trigger on one of these possible deals, it would put third-year quarterback Sam Darnold in the best position to succeed in 2020 and that should be priority No. 1.