An Achilles heel that helped doom Joe Douglas with the Jets is back in the spotlight amid a recent cut and looms as a major test for team’s new leadership
Malachi Corley’s cut underscores one of former Jets GM Joe Douglas’ greatest blindspots…New York needs better from this regime.
The New York Jets are hoping the combination of Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn can revitalize the franchise. It’s been more than a decade since the Jets have punched their ticket to the postseason and they’re now looking up at the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. The Bills continue to look like a legitimate championship contender, whereas the Jets are in a foundational building window with their new braintrust.
Getting things rolling will require a cohesive effort and several years of roster-building in order to close the gap. And if Mougey and Glenn are going to be successful, they’ll need to find more success than the previous regime had in one of the key phases of building through the draft — the middle rounds. As the team turns the page from former general manager Joe Douglas in 2025, they’re doing so in more ways than one. The Jets waived a mid-round pick by Douglas just one year ago with wide receiver Malachi Corley’s departure today. Corley was a third-round draft choice in 2024.
The transaction highlights one of Douglas’ biggest Achilles heels — one that Mougey and Glenn must be significantly better at in years to come.
Joe Douglas’s mid-round draft resume biting Jets in the rear entering 2025
Douglas assumed his position with the Jets in early June of 2019. He ran five drafts with the New York Jets and made a grand total of 16 draft selections in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft, ranging between the second to fourth rounds. Some of Douglas’ greatest hits have come on either end of the poles, including Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, and presumably Olu Fashanu in the first round and Jamien Sherwood and Michael Carter II firmly into Day 3. The mid-round resume underscores why the Jets are currently in the midst of a foundational rebuilding effort.
Second-round picks under Douglas
2020 NFL Draft: WR Denzel Mims
2021 NFL Draft: WR Elijah Moore
2022 NFL Draft: RB Breece Hall
2023 NFL Draft: OL Joe Tippmann
2024 NFL Draft: None
The second-round resume for Douglas appeared to turn the corner with the selection of Breece Hall but consecutive top-60 draft choices on Mims and Moore are a tough pill to swallow. The best pick of this bunch appears to be Joe Tippmann, who can serve as a cornerstone for the team’s offensive line into the future with the new regime in place.
Third-round picks under Douglas
2020 NFL Draft: SAF Ashtyn Davis, DE Jabari Zuniga
2021 NFL Draft: None
2022 NFL Draft: TE Jeremy Ruckert
2023 NFL Draft: None
2024 NFL Draft: WR Malachi Corley
The third-round resume for Douglas is sobering. This should be a range of the draft that offers valued role players and developmental starters. New York has next to nothing to show for the third-round of the Joe Douglas era entering into 2025, with only Jeremy Ruckert left on the roster. New York’s new regime drafted tight end Mason Taylor in this year’s NFL Draft — so Ruckert will have his hands full providing a breakout in 2025 as the lone holdover from Douglas’ tenure in the third round.
Fourth-round picks under Douglas
2020 NFL Draft: RB La’Mical Perine, QB James Morgan, OT Cameron Clark
2021 NFL Draft: RB Michael Carter
2022 NFL Draft: OT Max Mitchell, EDGE Michael Clemons
2023 NFL Draft: OT Carter Warren
2024 NFL Draft: RB Braelon Allen
The best selection by Joe Douglas in the fourth round could very easily be the last pick he made — running back Braelon Allen is young, physical, and appears to mesh well with Aaron Glenn’s vision for a physical football team. Clemons has played the most football for New York out of this group but he’s a player who needs to tighten up his play going into 2025.
There are plenty of reasons why Douglas’ tenure in New York didn’t work out. Several of them are completely out of Douglas’ control. But as the general manager of the organization, the buck stops with you when it comes to personnel. And the draft resume for Douglas with the Jets offers some wins early on — but those wins in the draft are too few and far between once you get into the “money rounds” of the NFL Draft.
If Mougey and Glenn want a better product on the field, that’s a good place to start.
New York Jets News
Jets’ 53-man roster cuts claim one of Joe Douglas’ final draft selections as team turns the page to a new era in 2025
It’s one-and-done in the Big Apple for Malachi Corley.
