4 players the NY Jets should have drafted instead of Will McDonald

The NY Jets made one of the most surprising picks of the 2023 NFL Draft when they selected Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald with the 15th overall pick. It was a stunning selection for a number of reasons.

Not only were the Jets already loaded at edge rusher, but McDonald himself was widely seen as a fringe Day 1 prospect. You'd be hard-pressed to find a mock draft that had him going in the top 15.

Of course, the NFL Draft is unpredictable. It's impossible to predict at this stage how McDonald will develop in the NFL. That doesn't mean we can't provide some post-draft analysis, however.

The Jets would have been better off going a different route with their first-round pick. Any of the following four players would have made more sense for the team than McDonald.

4. Nolan Smith, EDGE, Georgia

The Jets didn't need to draft an edge rusher, but with their top four offensive tackle targets off the board, the approach is at least a little more understandable. That said, McDonald shouldn't even have been their preferred choice.

McDonald will turn 24 in June, is coming off a disappointing senior season, and weighs just 239 pounds. The Athletic's Dane Brugler had him ranked as the eighth-best edge defender in this year's class.

Meanwhile, Georgia's Nolan Smith, a consensus top three or four edge rusher, was still on the board. He ended up falling all the way to the Philadelphia Eagles at pick 30 in what many are calling one of the steals of the draft.

Smith is two years younger than McDonald, is arguably an even better athlete, and could be considered a more versatile player. If the Jets were going to draft an edge rusher, it should've been Smith.

3. Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah

To the surprise of some, the Jets have been connected to many of the top tight ends in this year's class. Despite the team adding three new tight ends last offseason, the Jets have shown interest in adding another one this year.

They had the opportunity to select any of the top tight ends in this year's class at pick No. 15 and they passed. One player that should have been on their radar more was Utah's Dalton Kincaid.

Kincaid passed Notre Dame's Michael Mayer as the consensus No. 1 tight end in this class in the months leading up to the draft. The former Utah standout was named third-team All-American following a standout senior season that saw him finish with 70 catches for 890 yards and eight touchdowns.

Kincaid is an offensive weapon. The 23-year-old was targeted a total of 165 times in college, hauling in 126 catches. He dropped just two of those targets for an unbelievable 1.6 percent drop rate.

At 6-foot-4, 246 pounds, Kincaid thrives as a move tight end and could have been used as an all-around offensive chess piece for the Jets. Line him up in line. Put him in the slot. Even play him a little at H-back.

This Jets' skill position group could really use one more difference-maker, and Kincaid could have been that guy. The Jets could move on from Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah after this season as well, so Kincaid would've been a pick for both the present and future.

Kincaid likely would have played a larger role in his rookie season with the Jets than McDonald will. He would have been a more impactful selection.

2. Calijah Kancey, DT, Pittsburgh

The Jets may have missed out on the top offensive tackles in this class, but they still had the opportunity to address a position of need with a highly-touted prospect at pick 15.

Pittsburgh defensive tackle Calijah Kancey was one of a number of prospects connected to the Jets in rumors leading up to the draft, and with good reason too. The 2022 Unanimous All-American filled a pretty sizable need for the Jets.

The team did go out and sign veteran Quinton Jefferson to a cheap one-year contract, but the losses of Sheldon Rankins and Nathan Shepherd hurt the depth of the Jets' interior defensive line.

The Jets could really use another defensive tackle to complete their rotation, and Kancey could have been that guy. At just 6-foot-1, 281 pounds, the undersized defensive tackle out of Pittsburgh drew obvious comparisons to Aaron Donald.

While the Donald narrative is a bit overblown, Kancey is still a phenomenal athlete with elite physical traits. He's an explosive interior disruptor with impressive lateral quickness and quick hands.

Kancey wouldn't be a perfect fit for a Jets' team that could really use more of a traditional 1-technique run-stuffer, but he would have made more sense than McDonald. At least there isn't a logjam at Kancey's position.

The Jets could still look to address the interior of their defensive line on Day 2 — Wisconsin's Keeanu Benton is a favorite of mine — after passing on the opportunity to do so on Thursday. Still, it's hard not to feel like Kancey would've made more sense than the player the Jets went with.

1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State

This was the dream pick for the Jets at 15. Once it became clear that the top offensive tackles were no longer going to be available, many fans started to get excited about the possibility of drafting Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Of course, the Jets opted to go in a different direction, and Smith-Njigba would slide a few more picks until he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks at 20, jumpstarting a run of four wide receivers.

Smith-Njigba was my favorite wide receiver in this class and one of my preferred targets for the Jets. At 6-foot, 196 pounds, the 21-year-old wideout is a silky smooth athlete and outstanding route-runner with incredible hands.

He was credited with just six drops in his entire collegiate career, three of which came in one unfortunate game in 2021. That 2021 season was a historic one for Smith-Njigba, as he set a new single-season Big Ten record with a whopping 1,606 yards on 95 catches in 13 games.

There's a reason Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson called Smith-Njigba the best wide receiver in a receiver room that also featured Wilson, Chris Olave, and Jameson Williams. That's how good he can be.

As touched on earlier, the Jets' skill position group could very much use another difference-maker. Smith-Njigba absolutely could have been that guy.

This would have allowed the Jets to move on from Corey Davis, doubling their cap space in the process and completing what could have been one of the best skill position groups, on paper, in the NFL.

Instead, the Jets went with a sub-package edge rusher who likely won't play more than 30 percent of snaps this season. Given the incredibly short window with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, I would have liked to see the Jets target a player who could make a larger impact.

But as with all post-draft takes, no one really knows. Maybe this article will age horribly and McDonald will become a perennial All-Pro. For his sake, and for the Jets' sake, I absolutely hope that happens.