{"id":684300,"date":"2026-01-17T14:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/684300\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T14:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:28:12","slug":"jets-may-come-to-terms-with-drafting-a-non-premium-position-at-no-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/684300\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets may come to terms with drafting a non-premium position at No. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jan. 17, 2026, 7:45 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

The New York Jets<\/a> were left reeling after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore announced his intention to return to school<\/a> and forego an opportunity to enter the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n

The Jets were widely expected to target Moore at No. 2 overall. General manager Darren Mougey must now pivot to alternative options<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The truth about this upcoming draft class is that the majority of top-end prospects play non-premium positions. Typically, teams target a quarterback, offensive tackle, or pass rusher at No. 2 overall. The Jets may not possess that opportunity this year.<\/p>\n

The best overall prospect in the class is arguably Ohio State safety Caleb Downs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Safeties never go No. 2 overall, but the Jets defense could use an excellent communicator and physical tone setter. Head coach Aaron Glenn must rebuild the Jets’ horrid defense from the ground up, and Downs, who generates turnovers, could spearhead a resurgence.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s also Ohio State linebacker\/EDGE rusher Arvell Reese. If Reese was guaranteed to transition to being a full-time pass rusher, he’d be the no-brainer choice at No. 2. He may still be, but the Buckeyes played the hybrid defender in more of an off-ball linebacker role. Traditionally, that’s a non-premium position in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Finally, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love could be considered. The Jets are unlikely to target a running back, but it’s worth noting Breece Hall is a pending free agent<\/a>. Love has an argument for being the best overall prospect in the class regardless of position value.<\/p>\n

As of now, the Jets possess the No. 2 selection in a one-QB draft. The best overall prospects are linebackers, safeties, and running backs. Mougey may be forced to ignore positional value by just drafting the top player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 17, 2026, 7:45 a.m. ET The New York Jets were left reeling after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[95878,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,97197,97198,97116,95882,95930,97809,96027,95896,96747,95888,96683,95895,95906,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-684300","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-tag2026-nfl-draft","19":"tag-tagamerican-football","20":"tag-tagbig-ten-conference-football","21":"tag-tagbreece-hall","22":"tag-tagcollege-sports","23":"tag-tagnational-sports","24":"tag-tagnew-york-jets","25":"tag-tagnfl","26":"tag-tagnfl-draft","27":"tag-tagnfl-hub","28":"tag-tagoverall-positive","29":"tag-tagsports-news","30":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115910915330074409","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684300","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=684300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}