Report card: 2026 New York Jets Draft class

The 2026 NFL Draft is history and the New York Jets addressed plenty of areas that needed help as Aaron Glenn gets ready for his second season as the head coach. They were aggressive when they needed to be with their picks and took some calculated risks that only time will tell whether they work out for GM Darren Mougey and Glenn. Let's meet the 2026 New York Jets draft class and give our grade for each selection as the organization turns the page and gets ready for the start of organized team activities next month.

Round 1, Pick #2: David Bailey LB/DE, Texas Tech The Jets took a very curious strategy with Bailey as they cancelled their Top 30 visit with him a few weeks before the draft. Most analysts believed they would select Arvell Reese when news broke of the cancelled visit with Bailey. But, it was nothing more than a smoke screen as the Jets selected Bailey, who will be a Week 1 starter for a defense that struggled getting after the quarterback.

Bailey played three seasons at Stanford and saw his numbers improve each year before transferring to Texas Tech. He led all defensive ends with 73 pressures and finished with 13 sacks. He'll need to improve against the run but Bailey still finished last year with an overall PFF grade of 92.

4, ranking him fifth out of 852 edge rushers. Pairing him with Will McDonald should give the Jets plenty of speed on the ends and greatly improve a pass rush that ranked 31st in the league in sacks last year. Grade: A Round 1, Pick #16: Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon In a recent Jets Wire mock draft, I had the Jets taking Sadiq with this pick.