{"id":670316,"date":"2026-01-12T02:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/670316\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T02:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:37:21","slug":"espn-sends-jets-qb-and-defender-in-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/670316\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN sends Jets QB and defender in Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jan. 9, 2026, 1:35 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The 2026 NFL offseason has arrived for the New York Jets and all eyes are on the upcoming draft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Jets (3-14) are slated to pick at No. 2 and 15 in Round 1 at the event. There is a lot to come before the draft such as free agency, but ESPN still put out an early 2026 mock draft this week as the 2025 NFL season came to a close.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">With the Jets&#8217; selections, ESPN NFL draft analyst Jordan Reid slates Oregon quarterback Dante Moore to head to New York, followed by defensive tackle Kayden McDonald from Ohio State.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Quarterback will be the hot-button position for the Jets throughout the offseason, but the Green and White must revamp their defense before next season too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=83224X1595658&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fnfl%2Fdraft2026%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F47503334%2F2026-nfl-mock-draft-first-round-predictions-32-picks-jordan-reid&amp;xcust=SJET&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fjetswire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fjets%2F2026%2F01%2F09%2F2026-nfl-mock-draft-espn-new-york-jets-jets-qb-dante-moore-kayden-mcdonald%2F88103364007%2F\" data-v-afl=\"\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN&#8217;s<\/a> breakdowns on Moore and McDonald can be found below:<\/p>\n<p>Expert NFL picks: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (nfl)|e|auto spike click:5|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/picks\">Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dante Moore, QB, Oregon*<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">With five first-rounders over the next two drafts, the Jets have a prime opportunity to replenish a roster that lacks talent everywhere. The Justin Fields experiment didn&#8217;t go as planned, so the Jets could part ways with him this offseason. Moore could give them a smooth, poised operator who has the potential to be a high-end starter. He has yet to make his intentions known about declaring for the draft, but if Moore does come out, he would be drafted very high &#8212; and coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey could get their franchise signal-caller.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">After dealing defensive tackle Quinnen Williams at the trade deadline, the Jets need to rebuild their defense from the inside out. McDonald would be a great start. He&#8217;s a forceful run defender who constantly creates chaos for opposing offenses. His 7.8% run stop percentage ranked second among FBS defensive linemen this season. McDonald can also be disruptive as a pass rusher (three sacks this season) and can push the interior of the pocket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 9, 2026, 1:35 p.m. ET The 2026 NFL offseason has arrived for the New York Jets and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[95878,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,97197,97198,95882,95930,95892,95896,95888,95895,97513,95897,95899,97325,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-670316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sstssportsnfljets","17":"tag-sstsnjets","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagbig-ten-conference-football","20":"tag-tagespn-inc","21":"tag-tagnational-sports","22":"tag-tagnfl","23":"tag-tagnfl-hub","24":"tag-tagoregon-ducks-football","25":"tag-tagoverall-negative","26":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","27":"tag-tagquinnen-williams","28":"tag-tagsports-news","29":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115879808007409568","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}