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After the Jets picked Iowa State RB Breece Hall in the second round,
former NFL defensive lineman, Dusty Dvoracek, who does a lot of college football games as an analyst, said on ESPNU Radio (SiriusXM) about the Jets:
“This is one of the greatest drafts I’ve ever seen,” said Dvoracek. “That is four starters in the first 36. [Joe Douglas] has knocked this out of the park.”
Hall was considered the best running back in the 2022 draft.
He’s a complete back – he’s not just a gifted runner, but also a terrific receiver and blocker. And his skill as a blocker should not be taken lightly because many college running backs enter the NFL as blocking liabilities. Not this guy.
So you add him to first-rounders CB Sauce Gardner, WR Garrett Wilson and DE Jermaine Johnson, and you can understand why Dvoracek was so effusive in his praise.
And the selection of Hall, which the Jets traded up two spots with the Giants to make, was a quintessential example of sticking to the value board. They didn’t necessarily need a running back, but the value was too good to pass up on.
The X-Factor in the first two rounds of the draft is clearly Jermaine Johnson, their third pick of the first round, a player the Jets traded up to get with selection 26. Why would one of the top pass rushers in the draft slip to 26? We all know those guys fly off the board because so many teams need them.
NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zeirlein thinks he knows why.
“Do you want me to be honest about (why he slipped)? Zeirlein asked on an NFL.com panel show. “It’s personality-based. There were some teams there were rubbed the wrong way by Jermaine Johnson in some of the meetings and interviews. That is one of the things I heard. One team in the top 10 said they wouldn’t take him because they just didn’t like the vibe from talking to him.”
Clearly the Jets don’t see it that way. And while media interviews only give you a small glimpse into the player, he came across well in his two press conferences with the New York media, one on Zoom, and then today in person. He certainly didn’t come across a guy in these two briefings who would rub people the wrong way.
If he turns into a double-digit sack guy for the Jets, he could turn out to be a major steal at the end of the first round.
Then in the third round, the Jets picked Ohio State tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who is from Lindenhurst, Long Island. Like Hall, this wasn’t necessarily a need pick, but a value pick.
“He made big-time plays against big-time opponents,” Douglas said.
“He’s an absolute bulldog in the running game (as a blocker),” said Jets coach Robert Saleh.
The selection of Ruckert is an example of a benefit of coaching at the Senior Bowl. The Jets coached the National Team. Ruckert was on that team. Let’s not forget that Jets’ tight-end coach Ron Middleton coached that team. Robert Saleh was there, but Middleton was the coach of the National Team. The Jets got some great insight on Ruckert on the field and in the meeting rooms, and this along with his Ohio State film, certainly contributed to them making this selection. Middleton is an excellent judge of tight ends.
April 29, 2022
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