The New York Jets needed their second overall pick to hit, and by all accounts, edge rusher David Bailey is doing exactly that at training camp. The Texas Tech product has drawn rave reviews from inside the building, with one person at Jets camp saying he’s “looking like a 5-year vet, feels like we got this right.”

Now, I always loved this pick for the Jets. The national reporting at the time had it down to either Bailey or Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, and I wanted New York to take Bailey the entire time.

Why? I think Bailey is the better pass rusher. Reese is maybe more of a project, someone who needs time to find his role in the NFL. Bailey looks ready to contribute right now, and that matters for a Jets defense that desperately needs a jolt.

What Bailey can do for this defense

You might ask what an edge rusher does to fix a secondary that didn’t record a single interception last season. And look, that was the talk of the town. It was quite frankly embarrassing. But the connection between the pass rush and turnovers is direct.

I think David Bailey pairing across from Will McDonald at edge rusher, along with Joseph Asai and Kingsley Enagbare brought over in the offseason to help revamp this pass rush, is going to change the Jets defense in 2026. We know in the NFL that the more pressure you can create up front by rushing four, you can keep seven in coverage and force quarterbacks into decisions they really don’t want to make but feel like they have to.

The Jets also brought over Demario Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick as veteran additions this offseason. Are they past their prime? Probably. But they are great locker room guys who can still contribute at a fairly high level. When you build a defense from the trenches first, let the pass rush get after the quarterback, and allow everything else to take care of itself in the back half, good things happen.

Bailey over Reese looks like the right call

I’m not saying the Jets can get back to a top-10 defense this year like they were under Robert Saleh for two or three seasons. But I believe David Bailey is going to be a very impactful player right away, and his presence will create a lot of change for that unit. New York should be a more respectable defense in 2026 because of this pick.

And look, we’ve got a lot of doubt and a lot of questions about the Jets year in and year out. It is the Jets, per usual. But Bailey is another piece of this young nucleus brought in to help lay the foundation and potentially change this football team going forward. He was their top pick in the draft this year. I think they nailed it by taking him instead of a potential gamble with Reese, and I’m excited to see what the rookie out of Texas Tech can do this fall.