After another heartbreaking year and extending their North American sports leading playoff drought to 13 seasons, it’s time for the New York Jets to focus on the offseason.

The Jets won’t be looking at any major changes to the coaching staff, so they will be focused solely on the draft and NFL free agency to finally end the 13-year streak behind head coach Robert Saleh and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The roster for the Jets is filled with a lot of talent, but it is far from perfect, even with Aaron Rodgers playing at full strength in 2024.

With that goal in mind, here is a Jets offseason road map to get them over the hump and compete for a Super Bowl in 2024.

For the last step of the Jets offseason plan, I decided to take a look at three guys the Jets should look to draft in April outside of the first round. I would assume that it is a foregone conclusion that the Jets will take an offensive tackle with their first pick, so these are three players they should target outside of that pick.

Three Players Jets Should Target in NFL Draft

Brenden Rice, WR USC

Brenden is the son of the best wide receiver to ever play the game, Jerry Rice. But that isn’t the reason the Jets should be targeting him. Brenden is a raw, but very talented wide receiver that has a very high ceiling in the NFL.

Brenden utilizes his outstanding length and "alpha dog" mentality on 50/50 balls and displays an expansive catch radius. He has the hands you would expect from someone who came from Jerry Rice and has a prototypical body to play wide receiver in the NFL. He is listed at 6-3, 215 pounds and still has the frame to put on a little more muscle.

Rice needs to improve his consistency at the position in order to make more of an impact at the next level. Rice’s college stats read like a mountain range with high peaks and low valleys. You would like to see some more consistency in his output.

Rice also needs to work on some fundamentals at the position. Too often he will dance at the line and make his release more complicated than it needs to be. In the NFL, if the QB expects you to be somewhere by a certain time, you need to be there and not dancing at the line. Especially a guy like Aaron Rodgers.

In a stacked wide receiver class, the Jets might be able to sneak Rice on to their team in the third round, but Joe Douglas might have to move up to the end of the second round to snag Rice.

Spencer Rattler, QB South Carolina

It can’t be too early to start looking for the heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers can it?

The former South Carolina and Oklahoma product was the MVP of the Senior Bowl where he went four for four passing for 65 yards and a touchdown throw to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint in the game's opening drive.

The part of Rattler’s game that I believe the Jets should find attractive is how well he produced when things weren’t perfect. He wasn’t a quarterback that spent his college games standing upright in the pocket, hitting his back foot, and stepping into throws. He was often pressured and didn’t always have the best talent surrounding him.

He has a lot of experience with over 1,300 throws in college and is a natural athlete while being a skilled pocket passer. He has a fantastic arm and can make any throw on the field.

Rattler is far from perfect. He needs to improve his football IQ better and develop under the tutelage of an NFL coach. He needs to learn to play within a system and play on-time within the offense. It won’t be a year one start for him, but he could be special if he develops.

Personally, I would rather have a guy that knows how to make something happen when things go wrong than a guy who knows how to run an offense when the receivers are open, and the pocket is protected. 

Zak Zinter, G Michigan

We got the tackle in round one. Let’s not stop there.

Zinter would likely have been a day two pick in the draft, if not for the horrible injury in the Wolverines' win against Ohio State in November. Zinter broke his tibia and fibula and ended his season. The injury required Zinter to have surgery to put a titanium rod put in his from his knee to ankle. Needless to say, Zinter’s rookie season would be look at as a red shirt year likely spent on the PUP or IR.

But Zinter isn’t the kind of guy that will roll over and play “woe is me”. He will work hard and come back stronger than the player he was when he went down, which was pretty good to begin with.

Zinter was unanimous first-team All-American and part of not one, but two Joe Moore Award-winning offensive lines. His resume goes on and on but the thing that will stand out to Joe Douglas is that he was also named captain by his teammates at Michigan his senior year. Joe loves guys who were named captain because it usually correlates to high-character leaders in the locker room.

Zinter is a beast in the run game and can stone guys in pass protection but will need to develop his footwork against speed rushers on the inside. Zinter needs some fine-tuning but can be a starting guard in the league for years if a team is patient with his rehab and development.

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Don’t be surprised to Joe Douglas make some moves to get the players they want. After all, they won’t have Aaron Rodgers forever.

Be sure to check back at all the stops I made along the Jets off-season roadmap and check back in for more Jets offseason coverage in the coming days and weeks.

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