{"id":768717,"date":"2026-02-22T10:45:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768717\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T10:45:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:45:23","slug":"jets-should-gain-clarity-on-no-2-pick-at-nfl-combine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768717\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets should gain clarity on No. 2 pick at NFL Combine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 21, 2026, 3:48 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The New York Jets<\/a> have sizable decisions to make throughout the 2026 NFL draft.<\/a> The first crucial decision occurs at No. 2 overall. The expectation is that the Jets will choose between four top defensive prospects with the second pick.<\/p>\n

Ohio State linebacker\/EDGE Arvell Reese<\/a>, Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey<\/a>, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs<\/a>, and Miami EDGE Rueben Bain Jr<\/a>. are viewed as the consensus top defensive prospects in the draft. The Jets will have their pick of the litter.<\/p>\n

The process of sorting through these prospects began months ago with scouting evaluations. But the decision-making process is about to pick up.<\/p>\n

The Jets will possess an excellent opportunity to intimately assess all four prospects at next week’s NFL Scouting Combine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Jets should have formal interviews with all four prospects. Hopefully Bailey, Reese, Downs, and Bain Jr. participate in the testing process. The more information the Jets gather, the better.<\/p>\n

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

Each prospect is facing pre-draft questions that could be answered at the NFL Combine. Is Downs, a safety, really worth drafting at No. 2 overall? Just how off-putting are Bain’s arm-length measurements? Does Bailey possess the lower-body mass needed to hold up? Does Reese’s testing results indicate he’s more of an off-ball linebacker, or a pass rusher? Those are just some examples.<\/p>\n

The NFL Combine will have a profound impact on the Jets’ decision at No. 2 overall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 21, 2026, 3:48 p.m. ET The New York Jets have sizable decisions to make throughout the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[95878,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,97197,97198,97116,95882,95930,96027,96747,96683,95895,96684,95899,96177,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-768717","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-tagcollege-sports","22":"tag-tagnew-york-jets","23":"tag-tagnfl-draft","24":"tag-tagnfl-hub","25":"tag-tagnfl-scouting-combine","26":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","27":"tag-tagsmg-breaking-wire","28":"tag-tagsports-news","29":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113882056190907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768717","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=768717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}