The 2022 NFL Draft starts on Thursday, April 28. As a lead-up to the draft, we’ll be giving a team-by-team breakdown for positional needs. For each team, we’ll give an overview of the current depth chart and how big of a need each position is in the upcoming draft. You can find the rest of the team needs (as they’re updated) and the rest of our draft content in the 2022 NFL Draft hub.
What Picks do the New York Jets have in 2022
The New York Jets have nine picks.
Round 1 (4)
Round 1 (10)
Round 2 (35)
Round 2 (38)
Round 3 (69)
Round 4 (111)
Round 4 (117)
Round 5 (146)
Round 5 (163)
New York Jets Top POSITIONS OF NEED
WR, RT, EDGE, LB, CB
New York Jets Strength of Schedule, 2022
The New York Jets have the 2nd hardest NFL strength of schedule for the 2022 NFL season.
New York Jets Offense
By Rich Hribar
QUARTERBACK
Zach Wilson
Joe Flacco
Mike White
The Jets selected Zach Wilson with the second pick in last year’s draft.
Wilson was firmly on the struggle bus with the bulk of the 2021 rookie passers. He ended the year last among all qualifying quarterbacks in the league in success rate per pass play (38.7%), completion percentage (55.6%), and completion rate below expectation (-10.3%) while throwing for 6.1 yards per pass attempt (30th).
With just a year under his belt, the Jets will look to provide as much insulation in aiding Wilson in taking a step forward in his second season.
The team has a veteran backup in place in Joe Flacco to go along with midseason legend Mike White.
RUNNING BACK
Michael Carter
Tevin Coleman
Ty Johnson
Austin Walter
La’Mical Perine
Trevon Wesco (FB)
Nick Bawden (FB)
In the first season under Mike LaFleur, the Jets went from a bottom-rung rushing offense to a respectable one in 2021.
The Jets closed the year 13th in yards per carry (4.4 yards) and 14th in EPA as a team on the ground (15.6 points), but they still ranked 24th in overall success rate (45%) rushing in large part thanks to an offensive line that ranked 27th in ESPN’s Run Block Win Rate (68%).
Michael Carter was in and out of the lineup as a rookie attached to the Jets, but his underlying output was solid with room to grow if he can retain a lock atop the depth chart this offseason. Carter’s 5.3 yards per touch were 15th among backs with 100 or more touches.
Reliable veterans Tevin Coleman and Ty Johnson are still in place as depth. Coleman led the team with a 54% success rate rushing a year ago while Johnson chipped in 610 yards and four touchdowns on 95 touches. Johnson also served as the team’s primary passing down back, running 101 routes on third down a year ago compared to 29 for Carter and just eight for Coleman.
Both Coleman and Johnson are only signed for this season, leaving La’Mical Perine as the only other back here signed beyond 2022 outside of Carter. Running back is not a necessity here, but that lack of contractual depth and shortage of overwhelming talent could still leave the team open to selecting another running back to complement Carter big picture.
WIDE RECEIVER
Elijah Moore
Corey Davis
Braxton Berrios
Denzel Mims
Jeff Smith
Rodney Adams
Lawrence Cager
DJ Montgomery
Tarik Black
New York wideouts ended the season 30th in the league in yards per target (7.0) and dead last in success rate per target (43%). That was largely impacted by quarterback play, but they also had a hard time keeping their receiver room intact throughout the season as Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, and Jamison Crowder played just five games together.
At the end of the season, Crowder led the team with 51 receptions while Moore led the way with 538 yards and five receiving scores.
Moore fought through an injury-filled rookie campaign in which he missed six games, but there were some flash points where we saw the ceiling potential for Moore. We still need Wilson to make a jump in play to aid Moore breaking out as Moore and Wilson connected on just 19-of-42 targets (45.2%) while Moore secured 24-of-35 targets (68.6%) from other New York passers.
Prior to a season-ending injury after nine games played, Davis was averaging 3.8 catches for 54.7 yards per game. Last year’s big free agency signing still has two years left on his contract, but the Jets also have next to no monetary commitment should they need to move on after this season as Davis carries a dead cap hit of just $666,667 next offseason.
Crowder was allowed to leave via free agency while the team kept in-house replacement Braxton Berrios. Without Crowder on the field, Berrios collected a 19.1% share of the team targets, but he carried an anemic 33% success rate when targeted while Crowder (66%), Davis (63%), and Moore (57%) lapped him in that department.
The Jets have been linked to a number of wide receivers this offseason, but the only move they have made so far is retaining Berrios, leaving them as a prime candidate to continue to add to the position and giving Wilson as much weaponry as they can provide.
TIGHT END
C.J. Uzomah
Tyler Conklin
Ryan Griffin
Brandon Dillon
Kenny Yeboah
Jets tight ends combined for 50 catches for 534 yards and three touchdowns last season, ranking near the bottom of the league in all of those areas.
Looking to immediately improve the position, the team signed a pair of capable veterans in C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin. Those players may not flip the position from the bottom of the league to a strength, but it gives them two viable contributors.
Conklin and Uzomah ranked tied for 10th among all tight ends in route participation this year at 73.1%, but Conklin checked in 27th in target rate per route (17.3%) and Uzomah 52nd (13.5%). In the run game Conklin graded out 43rd in run blocking per Pro Football Focus while Uzomah was 66th.
Signing both veterans on multi-year deals removes this from being an area of draft need.
OFFENSIVE LINE
LT: Mekhi Becton/Conor McDermott/Grant Hermanns
LG: Laken Tomlinson /Greg Van Roten/Ross Pierschbacher
C: Connor McGovern/Dan Feeney
RG: Alijah Vera-Tucker/Isaiah Williams/Cameron Clark/Dru Samia
RT: George Fant/Chuma Edoga/Parker Ferguson
Even with improvement in 2021, the Jets’ offensive line still has improvement to make on ranking 17th in ESPN’s Pass Block Win Rate metric (61%), and 27th in their Run Block Win Rate (68%) metric.
That said, the three linemen that allowed the highest pressure rates for the Jets last season (Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Greg Van Roten, and Morgan Moses) are not expected to be starters entering the season, with two of those players no longer with the team.
2020 first-round left tackle Mekhi Becton only played 48 snaps before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He is expected back to compete with George Fant as the starting left tackle spot, although Becton is expected to be one of the team’s starting tackles no matter what in his third season.
The team does not have a true right tackle in the interim if both players battle it out at left tackle while Fant himself is only signed through the 2022 season. The team still has the flexibility to start both Becton and Fant and go heavy on defensive selections, but also having the veteran available as a swing tackle in the final year of his contract while using premier capital on another rookie tackle is still very much in play.
The Jets have their guard spots locked in with Tomlinson (who they signed in free agency through 2024) and Vera-Tucker, who the team selected 14th overall in last year’s draft. Vera-Tucker started 16 games at left guard but will be moving to the right side of the line after adding Tomlinson.
Connor McGovern still is the team’s starting center, but also is entering the year on the final season of his contract. McGovern graded out ninth among all centers in 2021 per Pro Football Focus, while he allowed a 3.1% pressure rate on pass blocking snaps, the lowest on the team.
The Jets should be in the market to shore up right tackle while adding interior depth to their line in April.
New York Jets Defense
By Dan Pizzuta
Interior Defensive Line
Quinnen Williams
Sheldon Rankins
Solomon Thomas
Nathan Shepherd
Jonathan Marshall
Tanzel Smart
Quinnen Williams continues to be a top pass rusher from the inside. He was fourth among defensive tackles in ESPN’s Pass Rush Win Rate and ranked 16th at the position in pressure rate, per SIS. The Jets will pick up Williams’s fifth-year option, which will keep him under contract through 2023.
Sheldon Rankins played 57% of the defensive snaps in his first year with the Jets. He played a serviceable interior defense and will play 2022 on the second season of a two-year deal.
The Jets brought in Solomon Thomas, who has experience with Robert Saleh in San Francisco. Thomas had his best season with the Raiders last year with career-highs in sacks (3.5) and quarterback hits (12). With more snaps inside next to Williams, the Jets could hope that continues to unlock some upside from the former first-round pick.
EDGE
Carl Lawson
Jacob Martin
Bryce Huff
John Franklin-Myers
Kyle Phillips
Tim Ward
Bradlee Anae
Jabari Zuniga
Carl Lawson was the big defensive free agent signing for the Jets last season but a torn Achilles forced him to miss the entire 2021 season. The Jets expect Lawson should be able to return in time for training camp.
John Franklin-Myers played more pure edge out of necessity and had some decent production. Franklin-Myers had 14 quarterback hits, six sacks, and was 50th among edge rushers in pressure rate last season. During that season, the Jets signed him to a four-year extension to keep him through 2025.
Bryce Huff, a 2019 undrafted free agent had some flashes when he stepped in at the start of the season, but injuries forced him to miss a big chunk of games in the middle of the year. He ended up appearing in just nine games.
Jacob Martin signed a three-year deal this offseason and provides better depth than the Jets had at the position last year. He played 61% of the snaps for the Texans last season and ranked 56th in pressure rate.
Off-ball Linebacker
C.J. Mosely
Quincy Williams
Del’Shawn Phillips
Jamien Sherwood
Hamsah Nasirildeen
Hamilcar Rashed Jr.
Javin White
Few teams have gotten less from a big free agent swing than the Jets have gotten with C.J. Mosely. Between a 2019 injury and a 2020 opt-out, 2021 was the first full season Mosely played with the Jets. He did play 92% of the defensive snaps but was slightly below average in coverage, ranked 52 out of 85 qualified linebackers in yards allowed per coverage snap last season. The Jets will open up $15.5 million in cap space if they move on from Mosely after the season, so this is likely his last as a Jet.
Quincy Williams was about average in coverage (40th among those linebackers in yards allowed per coverage snap) and nine tackles for loss highlighted some downhill ability. 2022 is the last year of his rookie deal.
The Jets played nicked 72.1% of the time, the sixth-highest rate in the league, which had those two linebackers on the field most of the time.
Cornerback
D.J. Reed
Bryce Hall
Michael Carter II
Brandin Echols
Javelin Guidry
Isaiah Dunn
Rachad Wildgoose
Justin Hardee
The Jets’ corners did their best last season, but it was a lot to ask of mid- and late-round picks. Of 93 corners with at least 300 coverage snaps in 2022, Brandon Echols ranked 64th in Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap, Michael Cater ranked 67th, and Bryce Hall ranked 72nd.
D.J. Reed was signed as a free agent who has experience with Robert Saleh as a former 49ers draft pick, but Reed did his best work in Seattle. Last season, Reed ranked 27th in Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap.
Youth and depth are present but some top-end talent could still be added to this group.
Safety
Jordan Whitehead
Ashtyn Davis
Lamarcus Joyner
Will Parks
Elijah Riley
Kai Nacua
Zane Lewis
Jovante Moffat
The Jets lost Marcus Maye in free agency after the franchise-tagged safety tore his Achilles in early November. Jordan Whitehead was brought in as a free agent and Whitehead should serve as a downhill box player.
That leaves the deep part of the field for Ashtyn Davis and Lamarcus Joyner. Joyner re-signed on a one-year deal after a torn triceps forced him to miss just about all of 2021 on his previous one-year deal. Davis, a 2020 third-round pick, hasn’t completely developed into the rangy defender he showed the potential to be as a prospect, but could continue to develop with more playing time.