With the Reese’s Senior Bowl down in Mobile, Alabama officially in the books, it’s fair to say that for the Jets and the 29 other teams not playing this Sunday, that draft season is under way.
GM Darren Mougey and the Jets are lucky that this year’s class aligns quite nicely with some of Gang Green’s biggest needs. In fact, the depth in this class at defensive tackle, tight end and wide receiver is good enough for the Jets to consider plucking two players at one or more of those spots.
Today we’re going to focus on defensive tackle and pick out some names you should be familiar with. Tight end and wide receiver will follow in the coming days.
Mason Graham, Michigan: The best DT in the class, Graham would have to be the pick at number seven overall if the Jets wanted to snag him. An explosive defender who would pair very nicely with Quinnen Williams, there’s a chance he won’t be on the board when the Jets pick. If he’s there though, the Jets should strongly consider taking him.
Derrick Harmon, Oregon: Harmon was just named the co-defensive player of the week down in Mobile. Taking him at at seven would be too early and he’ll likely be off the board when the Jets are next on the clock.
Tyleik Williams, Ohio State: A powerful compact defender with great get-off, Williams has the tools to be a disruptive player in the middle of a defense. A drop to round 2 is also unlikely in this case.
Walter Nolen, Ole Miss: Nolen was projected by many to fall to the top of round 2 where he was consistently one of our favorite options in mock draft simulators. However, in his first mock of the offseason, Daniel Jeremiah has Nolen going 17th overall to the Bengals.
Kenneth Grant, Michigan: Graham’s running mate with the Wolverines, Grant shows an impressive motor for a man of his size and he finds a way to impact both the pass and run game.
Deone Walker, Kentucky: This is a tough one. Coming in to this season we believed Walker would vault himself into the round 1 conversation. A massive man at 345 pounds, we first took notice of him as a freshman at Kentucky. His size, movement skills and awareness were beyond impressive. However, this season was a disappointment for Walker whose effort, for whatever reason, looked to lack for much of the season. Walker could still go in round 2 and be an elite defender, but we expected so much more.
TJ Sanders, South Carolina: Another powerful big body on the interior who impressed in Mobile, Sanders should hear his name called early on day two if not late day 1. A 285-pounder on the interior who is light on his feet while showing violent hands.
Howard Cross III, Notre Dame: We expected Cross III to come out last year but he went back to school and managed to be a key part of Notre Dame making it to the National Championship game. Another interior defender who shows quickness off the ball and a relentless motor.
Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech: When we first watched Peebles on film we couldn’t help but notice how he consistently stressed offensive linemen with an explosive get-off and great use of leverage to beat blockers and get in the backfield. Another name we heard over and over in Mobile, Peebles helped himself out quite a bit at the Senior Bowl.
Ty Robinson, Nebraska: When we watched Robinson on film, we thought he was much bigger than his listed size of 296 pounds based on his ability to beat blockers up front and envelope oncoming running backs. A likely mid-rounder, Robinson would be a nice pick to pair with a player you could take early on.
Tonka Hemingway, South Carolina: Hemingway’s game reminded us quite a bit of former Jets DT Sheldon Richardson, but that’s probably because he wore number 91 and was used as a weapon on the goal line at times. But offensive contributions aside, he’s another guy you can get outside of the top 100 who can contribute in the middle of the defense.
JJ Pegues, Ole Miss: An athletic 325 lb defensive tackle, perhaps a team could take the aforementioned Hemingway along with Pegues and pair them in the backfield together?
While this list may end here, the list doesn’t. There are a handful of tackles we didn’t get to and some we’re still doing our homework on, but we think we’ve made our point. If you need a DT in this year’s class, you may as well take two.
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