Two days before the 2026 NFL Draft, Jets general manager Darren Mougey was not giving much away at his pre-draft press conference.
Mougey spoke mainly in generalities when it comes to what the Jets will do in this year’s draft — one in which they have four picks in the top 44.
It is widely believed that the Jets will select either Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey with the No. 2 overall pick. The argument between the two is one about potential vs. production.
Reese is projected as one of the best players in this draft, but one who has not played much edge rusher in college and will be asked to make a transition in the NFL.
Bailey had 14 ½ sacks last year, but may not have as high of a ceiling as Reese.
As we all search for clues on who they might draft, the fact that the Jets canceled a top 30 visit with Bailey is viewed by some around the NFL as an indication the Jets won’t take him.
The argument is that you would want to spend as much time as possible with a player you were selecting No. 2 overall and would never give up a chance to talk to him again.
Mougey downplayed that idea.
“I’ll say this with top 30 [ visits], every team uses them differently and have different ways of using that mechanism,” Mougey said. “Some don’t even use the top 30 at all, right? I would say for us, when we do top 30, every single player and case is different.
“Sometimes I want this player to meet with our player engagement department. Sometimes I want this player to meet with our sports performance. Sometimes it’s purely medical, sometimes it’s a recruiting process, sometimes it’s a smokescreen, and in regards to David, we had good touch points with him at the combine. We went to his pro day and had a good dinner with him, and we were just kind of juggling our 30s and how to use them, and I wouldn’t look too much into a cancellation because there were the other ones that we may have changed as well.”
There has been some discussion about whether the Jets should take Bailey because he is more prepared to contribute in 2026 as an edge rusher than Reese is and Jets coach Aaron Glenn needs to win immediately after a disastrous 3-14 season in his rookie year as coach.
Mougey said the Jets are always evaluating the short-term gains vs. long-term gains with prospects.
“That’s a discussion we have really about every single player, whether it’s a first-round player or a seventh-round player,” Mougey said. “We’re in the business of projecting these guys, right what their value could be like. We’re talking ceilings and floors all the time with all these prospects and how they fit here and what they could be, what they could not be based on their deficiencies or abilities.”
The Jets find themselves in the difficult position of having the No. 2 pick in a one-quarterback draft.
Ideally, the Jets would have been able to take their franchise quarterback this year. But Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is expected to be taken No. 1 overall by the Raiders and there is a dropoff to the No. 2 projected quarterback, Alabama’s Ty Simpson.
There is not even a surefire edge rusher at No. 2 like an Aidan Hutchinson in 2022 or Nick Bosa in 2019. That leaves the Jets debating whether to take Reese or Bailey, who both come with questions. Mougey said this is a good class of edge rushers despite the perceived deficiencies.
“[I] feel good about this draft class,” Mougey said. “With the edge group, I think there’s different flavors, different styles that do things in different ways. But it is a pretty good group.”
