The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine is less than 10 days away. With the Super Bowl behind us, the football world is turning its full attention to the incoming draft class—which means it’s time to grind the film.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, one of the most respected analysts in the draft space, has recently been diving into the top offensive tackle prospects in the 2026 class. His most glaring takeaway is extremely relevant for the New York Jets, who hold the second overall pick.

“Finishing up the OT class and it seems like most of them have something in common– they got absolutely smoked by Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey,” wrote Jeremiah on his X/Twitter account.

Finishing up the OT class and it seems like most of them have something in common– they got absolutely smoked by Texas Tech Edge David Bailey.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) February 13, 2026

Bailey, 22, is considered a dark horse candidate for the Jets’ second overall pick, a race that is mostly comprised of edge rushers. Ohio State linebacker/edge rusher Arvell Reese has emerged as the consensus favorite, while Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. is giving him a push.

Bailey is not attracting much national attention as Reese or Bain for the No. 2 pick, but there is a contingent of Jets fans who have embraced the idea. In a January poll of more than 1,200 Jets fans, 22% of voters preferred Bailey as the team’s target at No. 2, not far behind Reese, who garnered 28% of the vote. Bain led the way at 43%.

Despite the lack of national mock drafts that send Bailey to the Jets, it seems clear that a segment of the team’s fanbase would love to see him be the pick—and based on Jeremiah’s analysis, it might not be as shocking a selection as many would think.

In fact, our recent analysis of the 2026 EDGE class at Jets X-Factor identified Bailey as the prospect with the best chance to become a star.

During his 2025 season with the Red Raiders, Bailey excelled in four metrics that have proven to carry strong predictive weight for first-round EDGE prospects: pressure rate (21.3%), sack rate (4.0%), pass-rush win rate (21.6%), and overall Pro Football Focus grade (93.3).

His cumulative performance across these four metrics, i.e., his “Big 4 Score” (which correlates strongly with future NFL success), was the best among the projected top-10 EDGE prospects, and puts him in the company of players like Nick Bosa and Aidan Hutchinson.

As of Feb. 14, only 4% of mock drafts over the past week have mocked Bailey to the Jets at No. 2, according to NFL Mock Draft Database.

Don’t be shocked if that number rises over the next two months as analysts begin gaining a deeper understanding of Bailey’s game, especially if he lights up the combine.