NY Jets: Grade and analysis for all 10 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft

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Round 5, 146th Overall, NY Jets: Jamien Sherwood, LB, Auburn

We finally get our first subpar grade of the draft and it comes with the team’s first defensive selection, Auburn’s Jamien Sherwood. It’s not that Sherwood was a bad pick, per se, but I would have preferred the team go in a different direction.

Sherwood is a hybrid linebacker/safety who will probably contribute more on special teams than defense early in his career. He’s a hard-hitter and a good tackler, but he remains too inconsistent in his form.

This pick does fill a need at weak-side linebacker, but the selection of Hamsah Nasirildeen a round later somewhat negates that. Perhaps the Jets would have been better off targeting another lineman here (Brenden Jaimes or Jaylon Moore) instead of Sherwood.

It’s still far too early to judge, but this isn’t the pick that I would have made.

Grade: C-