Breece Hall was a great selection for the NY Jets at pick 36

Needless to say, there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the NY Jets' drafting of Iowa State running back, Breece Hall, at pick 36 in the second round.

As one of the more contentious selections of the first two days, Hall enters the NFL with a plentiful abundance of doubt in his corner by way of many in Jets Nation who thought the 36th pick could have been much better utilized for another position other than running back.

Now, while it's true the running back position at the NFL level continues to die a slow death in terms of overall "importance" to a roster with the ever-increasing influx of the passing game, I have to say I think the Breece Hall pick at No. 36 was a steal for Joe Douglas and company.

Several factors contribute to this conclusion I've come to....

1. The context of the pick

Those in the camp that the Jets made a mistake going running back at pick 36 would be a lot more justified had the first round not gone the way it did for Joe Douglas and company.

The biggest needs for the Jets going into the draft were wide receiver, pass rush, and secondary.

They knocked the secondary pick out of the box immediately when they took Sauce Gardner at No. 4 overall. Was it a little extra considering the fact that Bryce Hall and D.J. Reed were already on the roster? Perhaps. But so what? Gardner was the best player in this class, and the Jets would have been foolish to pass him up.

Then the Jets knocked out the wide receiver need with the selection of Garrett Wilson at No. 10.

Does Wilson create the most separation of any receiver in this class? I think that's a fair assumption to make. At the very least, it's between him and Jameson Williams.

Is Wilson the best receiver in this class? Again, I think that's another fair assumption to make, at least from a talent standpoint seen throughout his college film. It's once again between him and Jameson Williams.

Is Wilson the best receiver the Jets could have gotten in this class to fit their style of play? That is the big question because there is a very fair argument to be made that Treylon Burks, a younger Deebo Samuel, may have actually been the better fit so the Jets could extend the run game and keep quarterbacks like Josh Allen on the sideline.

Until the careers of this year's wide receivers start to get hashed out, however, it is all speculation. Garrett Wilson was a solid choice. I just hope Zach Wilson is ready for the firepower he now has at his disposal.

Having selected a corner and wide receiver in the first round, had the Jets' next pick been that No. 36 slot and Breece Hall was still the choice, perhaps the outrage would have been warranted with a pass rusher still being a need to fill.

But luckily for the Jets, Joe Douglas traded himself back into the first round to land on the free-falling Jermaine Johnson out of Florida State, a widely-regarded top-10 pick by many throughout this entire draft process.

Why did he drop? I certainly don't know.

But major props to Douglas for making the big move to jump back into the mix and make sure the Jets got out of the first round with a pass rusher.

That set the number 36 pick up to easily be one to fill the Jets' next need in running back.