As the season comes down to a merciful end for the New York Jets, their eyes are already turning to rebuilding for the 2025 season. The Jets currently sit at an abysmal record of 4-11 and are destined for a top 10 pick at best in the draft.

The Jets will be hiring a new general manager and a new head coach just as soon as they can, and have already started conducting interviews. Once the GM and coach are set, assuming Woody Johnson doesn’t scare off all the potential candidates, they can get to work together on the roster.

While I believe that the Jets have a lot of good, young talent worth holding on to, they will need to continue to build out their roster as there will likely be significant roster overhaul as contracts expire, and the new regime looks to put their mark on the team. The Jets will look to once again build through the NFL Draft no matter who the GM and head coach is.

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Currently, the Jets hold the number eight overall pick with two games left to go. In AtoZ Sports latest three-round mock draft from Travis May, he had the Jets sticking to their draft board and not reaching for a first round quarterback once Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward were off the board. May has the Jets taking Michigan cornerback Will Johnson.

Some may have already forgotten since he missed a little time with injury this fall but Will Johnson returned two interceptions for touchdowns, defended four passes, and allowed exactly zero plays over 30 yards in just six games this season. He was already considered the top overall perimeter cornerback in the nation prior to this season. Johnson will be overshadowed by Travis Hunter in terms of hype but he is just as good or better at corner. Pairing him with Sauce Gardner would be unfair.

DJ Reed will likely leave the team in free agency as the Jets will look to get Sauce Gardner, Breece Hall, Jermaine Johnson and Garrett Wilson signed and there won’t be enough left to bring back Reed. That being said, this might be worst case scenario for the Jets with many of their top choices of the board.

I imagine the Jets would like to get a star receiver to pair with (or potentially replace) Wilson or a dominant player along the defensive front. In this scenario, all of those players are off the board, so the Jets went with Johnson.

I don’t hate this pick. Johnson has an excellent combination of size, experience, ball skills and intelligence. He is a natural athlete and has the ability to track and play the ball in the air. Has shown he can play in a variety of coverages. He is a true number one corner to pair with Sauce for a shut-down back end of the defense.

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In the second round, May has the Jets addressing the elephant in the room with Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.

This might be early for Quinn Ewers, but the Jets need a hard reset at quarterback. If they miss in round one and still land a quarterback who–at his best–has looked like a first round talent, that's potentially perfect for the future they want and need to start building towards. Aaron Rodgers is clearly washed.

A lot can change for me in the next few months as I dive deeper into draft prep, but I hate this pick. Ewers makes a lot of bad decisions and seems to be always hurt. Ewers has flashes of brilliance and has head scratching technique and decisions that make him one of the most inconsistent quarterbacks in the game. Inconsistency and development are the last two things I want for a team that hasn’t had a true franchise quarterback in my lifetime.

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In the third round May has the Jets grabbing Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams. The Jets will pick in the back half of the third round because they traded their third-round selection for Davante Adams but still own the Detroit Lions pick thanks to a draft day trade in 2024.

Williams is an undersized, often injured slot receiver that would be a little too much of a lottery pick for me in the third round. Third round players, despite the Jets history, are supposed to be contributors in the NFL. The Jets already have a third-round project receiver on the roster in Malachi Corley (remember him?) and don’t need another one. At this point of the draft my focus would be building depth along the interior of the lines as much as possible.

There is a long time to go between now and April’s NFL Draft, but what else do Jets fans have to do but dream of next season.

Jets limping to the finish line as they lose promising rookie for the season with injury

It has been a lost season for the New York Jets and it just got a little worse. Starting left tackle and Jets first round pick Olu Fashanu is headed to IR for the rest of the season with a foot injury head coach Jeff Ulbrich announced on Tuesday. Fashanu avoided an Achilles injury but […]