4 positions of need the NY Jets should avoid early in the 2023 NFL Draft

The NY Jets enter the 2023 NFL Draft with quite a few roster holes to address. That means the Jets can tackle a number of different routes as it pertains to bolstering their roster in the draft.

Positions like the offensive line and even wide receiver could be addressed early on Day 1 of the draft. However, there are some obvious positions the Jets aren't going to target early.

It's safe to say the Jets won't be drafting a running back or a cornerback in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. This article isn't going to discuss the obvious, though.

We're here to take a look at four positions of need — or at least realistic potential targets — the Jets should not address in the first round.

4. The NY Jets should not draft an edge rusher in Round 1

The Jets don't necessarily need an edge rusher, so this first entry comes with a bit of a caveat. It's not a true position of need. That said, when Robert Saleh is your head coach, the defensive line is always a position group that can be upgraded.

The Jets have been linked to prospects like Georgia's Nolan Smith and Iowa's Lukas Van Ness, but it wouldn't make much sense for the team to use a premium asset like the No. 13 overall pick on a defensive end.

The Jets just drafted Jermaine Johnson in the first round last year. They have Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers, Bryce Huff, and Micheal Clemons, who all deserve playing time in 2023. If anything, their focus should be on giving guys like Johnson and Huff more snaps.

Saleh has always preached that you can never have enough defensive line depth, but the Jets are probably good here. If they add an edge rusher at all, it shouldn't come within the first few rounds of the draft.

3. The NY Jets should not draft a defensive tackle in Round 1

The Jets have a lengthy history of drafting interior defensive linemen in the first round. From Quinnen Williams to Leonard Williams to Sheldon Richardson to Muhammad Wilkerson, no position group has been targeted by the organization in the first round more over the last 12 years.

You could certainly make an argument for the Jets drafting another defensive tackle in 2023, especially following the departures of Sheldon Rankins and Nathan Shepherd.

The Jets did sign veteran Quinton Jefferson last week, but it seems likely that the team adds another player to their defensive tackle room this offseason. They just shouldn't do so in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

There is one exception here. If Georgia's Jalen Carter somehow slips to pick No. 13, or if the Jets want to move up a couple of picks to get him if he starts to fall, it would be difficult to argue against that move.

Carter is a true blue-chip talent, and if the Jets are okay with his off-field concerns, he should be the pick if he's there at 13. It's just hard to imagine he will be.

Pittsburgh's Calijah Kancey is an exciting prospect who has drawn comparisons to Aaron Donald, although his size is an issue, and the Jets don't need another athletic three-technique defensive tackle. They already have Williams and Jefferson to fill that role.

Clemson's Bryan Bresee might make more sense, although pick No. 13 is likely a bit early for him. There are also genuine medical concerns with the former No. 1 recruit.

The Jets should seriously consider adding another defensive tackle later in the draft, preferably a bigger-bodied guy who can stop the run, but as far as the first round is concerned, there are better options.

2. The NY Jets should not draft a linebacker in Round 1

The Jets can absolutely still use another linebacker. C.J. Mosley is set to return as the starting MIKE, while the team re-signed Quincy Williams to a new three-year contract in the offseason.

However, the Jets don't have a starting-caliber third linebacker right now, and the duo of Mosley and Williams had their share of struggles in 2022, regardless. Linebacker is a position of need.

The problem is, there just aren't any linebackers worth targeting in the first round this year, at least not at pick No. 13. Clemson's Trenton Simpson, Arkansas' Drew Sanders, and Iowa's Jack Campbell each have some intriguing traits.

There's also Alabama's Henry To'oTo'o and Washington State's Daiyan Henley, who could be appealing Day 2 targets. But none of those players project as top-15 picks, and it's quite possible we don't see a single linebacker drafted on Day 1.

The recent track record of drafting off-ball linebackers in the first round isn't exactly strong, either. Quay Walker, Devin Lloyd, Zaven Collins, Jamin Davis, Isaiah Simmons, Kenneth Murray, Jordyn Brooks, and Patrick Queen are the linebackers drafted in the first round over the last three years.

That's not a particularly inspiring group of players. The hit rate has been strikingly low.

The Jets would be better off re-signing Kwon Alexander or adding another linebacker later in the draft. They could even roll with the guys already on the roster — players like Jamien Sherwood and Hamsah Nasirildeen.

The Jets need linebacker help, but they aren't going to find it in the first round of this year's draft.

1. The NY Jets should not draft a safety in Round 1

The Jets traded for Baltimore Ravens safety Chuck Clark last month in a deal that quite possibly could be one of their best moves of the entire offseason.

Clark is a starting-caliber safety and locker-room leader who should immediately step into an important role in the Jets' defense. The team should not be done at the position, however. I've maintained that opinion since the trade happened.

Lamarcus Joyner is likely on his way out after a lackluster 2022 season. Jordan Whitehead and Clark are currently penciled in as the team's starting safeties, although the Jets should absolutely look to add a more natural free safety at some point.

The issue is they likely aren't going to find that player early in the draft.

In what is considered to be a very weak safety class, Alabama's Brian Branch is the lone safety prospect expected to be taken in the first round. Branch is a versatile chess piece who should be an early starter, but he doesn't fit the archetype the Jets should be looking for.

If not Branch, there isn't another safety the Jets should consider targeting in the first round. Alabama's Jordan Battle, Florida State's Jammie Robinson, Georgia's Christopher Smith, and Texas A&M's Antonio Johnson are all possible Day 2 targets for the Jets or another team.

That said, none of them are worthy of first-round consideration, let alone the No. 13 overall pick. If the Jets want to address their safety depth in the draft, that's fine.

But if their plan is to add a true starting-caliber player early in the draft, they should probably rethink their approach.