New York Jets take a closer look at rising WR, edge prospects

Two of the New York Jets top-30 visitors are rising up draft boards, while a third may see his stock drop significantly.

The Jets have hosted or will host official visits with Ohio State receiver Garrett Wilson, Florida State pass rusher Jermaine Johnson and Georgia defensive linemen Devonte Wyatt.

Wilson, the No. 13 overall prospect in the latest Fanspeak-Jake Rigdon big board, is a possibility for the Jets at Pick No. 10. However, Wilson might not make it that far.

From Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network: “People inside the Jets’ facility in Florham Park do not believe Wilson makes it to them with their second pick in Round 1, the 10th selection. This means it’s a distinct possibility the Falcons will take him at No. 8. The overall feeling is should the Falcons pass on Wilson at eight and the Jets at 10, the Commanders will swipe him off the board with the 11th pick.”

As for the No. 4 overall pick, New York is vetting its pass rusher options, with opinions varied on the Nos. 2-4 players at that position: Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, Georgia’s Travon Walker and Johnson. Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson is the consensus top pass rusher and is expected to be taken by Jacksonville with the No. 1 overall pick.

Walker, meanwhile, could go as high as No. 2 to Detroit, while Houston could take Thibodeaux with the third pick.

That would leave the 6-foot-5, 262-pound Johnson, who ran an impressive 4.58-second 40 at the Combine. Johnson had a breakout year for Florida State after transferring from Georgia, where he was fighting for playing time on one of the most NFL-ready defensive lines in recent memory. Johnson finished the season with 70 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks and was named as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and made first-team all-conference honors.

With that said, the Jets also like Thibodeaux, according to media reports. From Jets X-Factor’s David Wyatt-Hupton: “… (M)ost of what we’ve heard indicates the critiques around Thibodeaux are off the mark and that the Jets love what he could become in their defense.”

But that hasn’t stopped the team from doing their due diligence on Johnson.

Pauline of PFN says Johnson could wind up as a top-5 player at this point. From Pauline: “… Sources close to Johnson tell me the New York Jets have been in constant contact with the edge rusher and have been doing an inordinate amount of research on the Florida State product.”

And then there’s Wyatt, who stood out at the Combine but is one of the older prospects in this draft at age 24. (For what it’s worth, Alabama DL Phidarian Mathis is the same age.)

It was widely assumed he would land somewhere in the middle-to-late first round. Now? A recent report says some teams have removed Wyatt from their draft boards. He was arrested and charged in February 2020 with three misdemeanours; those charges were eventually dropped.

Walter Football details how some teams view Wyatt in the latest Hot Press Report.

If the 6-foot-4, 304-pound senior winds up falling out of the first round because of those concerns, then it’s not out of the question that he’ll still be available when New York goes back on the clock with picks 35 and 38 in the second round.

Will New York still land a pass rusher and receiver in the first round? Find out here in Fanspeak’s latest Jets mock draft.

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