Jets' brutal draft-day mistake has become impossible to ignore this season

The New York Jets’ decision to pass on a wide receiver in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft was one of those decisions that felt highly questionable in the moment. Now, with the 2025 season nearing its conclusion, it stands out as one of the most objectively damaging draft-day mistakes this franchise has made in years.

That's not hyperbole, either.

The Jets made the highly controversial decision to select Iowa State pass rusher Will McDonald at No. 15 overall back in 2023, passing on Ohio State star Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who went five picks later to Seattle.

It was a baffling choice at the time, as the Jets desperately needed help at wide receiver alongside Garrett Wilson, while their defensive line was already overloaded with Jermaine Johnson, John Franklin-Myers, Bryce Huff, and Quinnen Williams.

Two years later, nothing about that decision looks better. McDonald is mired in the most disappointing season of his young career, while Smith-Njigba has evolved into one of the NFL’s premier wide receivers.

Many Jets fans pushed for the team to draft Smith-Njigba at the time, only for the team to shockingly draft an undersized edge rusher instead. The decision was a miscalculation at the time, and it's even more of a disaster with the benefit of hindsight.

Jets' disastrous Will McDonald decision has proved to be a draft-day disaster

The context makes the whole thing worse. The Jets essentially drafted McDonald to replace Bryce Huff rather than pay Huff what would’ve been an affordable extension at the time before his breakout season.

McDonald, Huff, and players of that archetype win with burst and bend but struggle to anchor against the run. The Jets believed they could get a younger (by one year!), cheaper version of Huff and let the original walk.

Instead, they paid nothing to keep Huff, let John Franklin-Myers go for virtually nothing, signed Javon Kinlaw (who flopped), and traded for Haason Reddick in a move that needs no introduction. Their entire defensive line plan collapsed, and McDonald has become collateral damage.

McDonald did impress in 2024 as a pass rusher, producing 61 pressures (tied for 13th among edge defenders) and posting a 16.3 percent pressure rate that ranked sixth in the NFL, ahead of stars like Nick Bosa and Brian Burns. But his run defense was catastrophically bad.

He finished the year with a 39.5 Pro Football Focus run-defense grade, which ranked dead last among all qualifiers, and a full six points worse than the next-worst edge defender. McDonald already turns 27 in May, unusually old for a player still viewed by many as developing.

This season has been a step backward in nearly every area. McDonald failed to record a single pressure in Week 14 for the first time since his rookie year. He has finished with two or fewer pressures in eight of his 13 games.

Outside of a four-sack eruption against Cleveland, he has just one sack since Week 1. His 27.4 PFF tackle grade ranks 108th out of 110 qualified edge rushers. His 38.2 run-defense grade ranks 109th. He’s simply overexposed, playing a role he isn’t built for.

McDonald should be a situational rusher playing 30–40 percent of snaps, not a starter who has to defend the run on early downs. Even Micheal Clemons has played more snaps than him at times, and that's a decision that two different staffs have made.

Meanwhile, Smith-Njigba has become a superstar. He leads the entire NFL in receiving yards with 1,428 through 13 games, nearly 300 yards more than any other player. He has 89 catches and is tied for the league lead with nine receiving touchdowns.

The Jets could have paired him with his former Ohio State teammate, creating the league’s best young wide receiver duo. Instead, they drafted a worse version of Bryce Huff to replace the Bryce Huff they already had — and still haven’t fixed their wide receiver room heading into 2026.

The Jets will have to decide whether to exercise McDonald’s fifth-year option this offseason. Honestly, at this stage, declining it would not be a surprise.

He’ll be under contract in 2026, but he should not be penciled in as a starter. The Jets are expected to invest heavily at both wide receiver and edge rusher, the two positions directly affected by this mistake.

Remember, this wasn’t just a hindsight error. It seemed obvious to many at the time, too. Two years later, the Jets are still paying for this costly miscalculation.