With the NFL season coming to a close on Sunday night, the window for mock draft season opened up.
Although the draft is still months away, that hasn’t stopped pundits from trying to predict the first round and beyond. Following the Super Bowl, CBS Sports whipped up its latest mock draft, pairing the Jets with an interesting selection.
With three consecutive offensive linemen taken in front of the Jets, New York opts for the best player available rather than taking or potentially reaching for a need. That’s how Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons lands in green and white in this post-Super Bowl mock.
Here is CBS Sports’ explanation for the surprising selection:
The Jets have glaring needs along the offensive line and at wide receiver but four tackles are already off the board and this class is deep at WR. Instead, New York takes Simmons, who can line up just about anywhere on the field. He reminds us of a bigger version of Derwin James.
Simmons is the prototypical player for today’s NFL. He can go from rushing off the edge to off-ball to slot coverage with ease. While Simmons is probably one of the best defensive prospects in this draft and certainly one of the closest prospects to being a sure thing, it doesn’t excuse the Jets from passing on wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb.
The Clemson product is certainly a polarizing prospect who the Jets would be able to line up all over the defense. The thing is, the Jets already have that type of player in Jamal Adams, who compares similarly to Derwin James.
In any event, if the Jets find themselves in this situation, they should put the 11th pick up for sale and open up for business. Adding more draft capital and trading back to take an offensive lineman, say Houston’s Josh Jones, is the safe route. The safe route isn’t sexy, but the Jets don’t have the roster flexibility to ignore glaring holes in the first round if the team has any intentions of competing in 2020.