The Jets added players at three different positions during the first round of the draft on Thursday night and there was one common thread between their three choices.
Edge rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, and wide receiver Omar Cooper all played for teams that went to the college football playoffs last season. Cooper made it all the way through the tournament as part of Indiana's national title winners and the Jets traded back into the 30th pick in order to add him to their haul.
That Indiana title came after years of the Hoosiers wandering in the football wilderness and Cooper said helping the Jets end their own exile from success is "the goal" that he's set for himself as he enters the NFL. Head coach Aaron Glenn said that the history of success for all three players was a big factor in the team's choices.
"When you have targets, you identify guys you like, you love — you go get them," Glenn said, via the team's website. "And that's exactly what we did today. And any time you can bring guys with a winning background on your team, that only helps the morale of your team. So, there's a lot of things that goes into that, but to get three first-round picks and the caliber guys that we got, the personality, the mentality, the football character, all those things are huge, bringing those guys on our team."
It's not the first time in recent memory that the Jets have made three first-round picks in the hope of getting the franchise on track. They did it in 2022 with Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson, but Wilson is the only one left on the roster to welcome a trio that will be aiming for better results during their time in Jersey.
