{"id":694131,"date":"2026-01-21T16:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/694131\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:28:13","slug":"mel-kipers-2026-nfl-mock-draft-has-the-jets-filling-their-two-most-important-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/694131\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Kiper\u2019s 2026 NFL mock draft has the Jets filling their two most important needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper Jr. has released his first mock draft<\/a> of the year. With the team\u2019s two first round picks Kiper projects that the Jets will address two of their most important needs.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0New York Jets<\/p>\n

Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State<\/p>\n

The Jets ranked 31st in sacks with 26, and\u00a0Will McDonald IV\u00a0was the only player on the roster with more than four of them (eight).\u00a0Jermaine Johnson\u00a0is heading into his fifth-year-option season, meaning the depth chart could be thinning out on the edge. With coach Aaron Glenn\u2019s defensive background, getting that unit right will be an offseason priority. Reese played off the ball before moving into an edge rusher role in 2025, and he has the traits to make an impact there in the NFL. I love his instincts and burst. (And if New York wanted him at linebacker, there\u2019s a void there with\u00a0Quincy Williams\u00a0entering free agency.)<\/p>\n

For the Jets fans screaming that the team needs a quarterback, I\u2019m with you. There just isn\u2019t another passer worthy of a top-two selection right now after\u00a0Dante Moore\u00a0decided to\u00a0go back to Oregon\u00a0for another season. Perhaps that changes. Maybe the Jets go get a veteran and make this irrelevant anyway, waiting for 2027, instead, when they have three first-rounders. But right now, New York is better off taking the top defensive prospect on the board \u2014 and maybe getting lucky at the QB position when it is back on the board in the middle of Round 1.<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0New York Jets\u00a0(via IND)<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama<\/p>\n

Recall that the Jets were left out of the quarterback game when they were on the board the first time at No. 2; there just isn\u2019t another top-five QB prospect in this class right now beyond Fernando Mendoza. But getting linebacker Arvell Reese there then getting the class\u2019 QB2 here? That\u2019s a pretty good first round for New York.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear, though: I do have some concerns about Simpson. He has 15 career starts, which means this pick would come with a lot of risk. That\u2019s just not enough game experience. We also can\u2019t ignore his dip in performance in the second half of the 2025 season. But there\u2019s also no questioning his upside. Simpson has good pocket presence, and he fired 28 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this past season. If the Jets can surround him with talent on offense and develop him, he has a high ceiling.<\/p>\n

The two most important positions on a football team are quarterback and edge rusher. The Jets currently have pretty glaring holes at both spots.<\/p>\n

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One might think it\u2019s logical for the team to look to fill these holes with its two first round picks. These selections would have their share of risk. Neither Reese nor Simpson is a finish product. Both players are in need of development. You might call these picks high risk, high reward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper Jr. has released his first mock draft of the year. With the team\u2019s two first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2222,6446,7,8142,1771,1917,255,6,14741,796,20708,26524],"class_list":["post-694131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-arvell-reese","tag-dante-moore","tag-football","tag-jermaine-johnson","tag-mel-kiper-jr","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-quincy-williams","tag-the-jets","tag-ty-simpson","tag-will-mcdonald-iv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115934036729616013","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694131","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=694131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}