{"id":849900,"date":"2026-04-02T19:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849900\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T19:56:24","slug":"2026-nfl-draft-lance-zierlein-mock-bolsters-jets-defense-in-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849900\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL draft: Lance Zierlein mock bolsters Jets defense in Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Jets<\/a> appear to be taking a “best available” approach in Lance Zierlein’s latest 2026 NFL draft mock.<\/p>\n

The NFL.com analyst does not have the Jets reaching in the first round for a quarterback. Rather, key positions on defense are addressed in the mock.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

With New York’s two selections in the Round 1 mock, at No. 2 and 16 overall, the Jets are predicted to pick two defenders from Ohio State.<\/p>\n

The first is a popular name linked to New York’s selection at second overall, Arvell Reese. The other is safety Caleb Downs.<\/p>\n

Zierlein’s breakdown<\/a> on both players to the Jets can be found below:<\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 2 overall: Arvell Reese, Ohio State\"Ohio<\/p>\n

Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Arvell Reese (8) reacts during the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

GM Darren Mougey has loads of draft capital and should be allowed the runway to build his squad. Reese is an unpolished diamond, but the Jets can take a swing on the upside.<\/p>\n

Round 1, No. 16 overall: Caleb Downs, Ohio State<\/p>\n

Downs’ slide stops with the Jets, who should be overjoyed to add a culture player offering a tremendous competitive nature and the ability to play strong safety and some nickel.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Lance Zierlein mock bolsters Jets defense in Round 1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Jets appear to be taking a “best available” approach in Lance Zierlein’s latest 2026 NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2222,613,7,2527,255,6,1446,796],"class_list":{"0":"post-849900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-arvell-reese","9":"tag-caleb-downs","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-lance-zierlein","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-ohio-state","15":"tag-the-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116336879721985738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849900","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=849900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}