Jets draft bust somehow sinks to embarrassing new low in preseason loss

Malachi Corley’s rookie struggles were supposed to be behind him, but instead, they’ve only snowballed into something far worse. In the New York Jets' 31-12 preseason loss to the New York Giants on Saturday, the second-year wideout somehow managed to sink his stock to an embarrassing new low.

No, it wasn’t one single play — like his infamous Halloween night blunder in 2024 — that sealed his fate this time. Instead, it was a string of miscues piled on top of an increasingly obvious truth about Corley's current standing on the roster that served to solidify his status.

The former Western Kentucky star finished the night without a catch, but the real concern goes deeper than the box score. Corley didn’t even see the field on offense until the fourth quarter, a telling indictment of just how far he’s fallen in the Jets’ pecking order.

Before that, Corley had appeared on just two snaps — both on the kick return team. On the first, he whiffed on a crucial block that allowed return man Donovan Edwards to be brought down, and on the second he was flagged for an illegal double-team block.

The writing has been on the wall for some time, but Saturday's performance felt like the final coat of paint sealing his fate. Corley's Jets days are numbered.

Malachi Corley will not make the Jets' 53-man roster

The Jets traded up to the first pick of the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft to select Corley a year ago in a move that has quickly become one of the worst in recent franchise history.

The previous regime was enamored with the Western Kentucky product, infamously adopting a “no matter what” approach on draft day to ensure he ended up in Florham Park.

They even leaked that they had Corley ranked as the No. 4 wide receiver in the entire class, ahead of players like Brian Thomas Jr. and Ladd McConkey, both of whom put together 1,100+ yard rookie seasons.

That level of conviction spoke volumes about how the front office viewed him, and it only heightened expectations for a player many believed would be a fixture of the Jets’ offense for years to come.

But the Jets almost immediately realized their mistake once Corley arrived at training camp. The so-called "YAC King" was unable to find his way onto the field over the likes of Xavier Gipson and even Irvin Charles in a thin Jets wide receiver room.

Corley spent half his rookie season as a healthy scratch, finishing the year with just three catches for 16 yards. The most memorable moment of his rookie year by a long stretch came in Week 9, when he celebrated a would-be 19-yard rushing touchdown prematurely by dropping the ball short of the goal line.

At this point, there's a very real possibility that that's the closest Corley will ever come to an NFL touchdown. It's hard to envision any scenario in which he makes the Jets' roster this summer.

Such a rapid fall from grace is almost unfathomable — from the 65th overall pick in last year's draft to realistically WR9 or WR10 in one of the worst wide receiver rooms in the NFL.

Corley has worked exclusively with the third-team offense in the preseason, playing alongside the likes of undrafted rookies Quentin Skinner and Dymere Miller and former CFL standout Ontaria "Pokey" Wilson.

He’s now buried near the very bottom of what might be the weakest wide receiver depth chart in the entire NFL. It doesn’t get much worse than that, and if it does, it likely won’t be with the Jets.

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