{"id":868383,"date":"2026-04-17T12:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/868383\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:48:19","slug":"3-reasons-why-jets-will-be-fine-if-they-draft-david-bailey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/868383\/","title":{"rendered":"3 reasons why Jets will be fine if they draft David Bailey"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Bailey or Arvell Reese?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the New York Jets must decide on in six days when the 2026 NFL draft<\/a> kicks off in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

National popularity for the Texas Tech product in Bailey has spiked in recent weeks<\/a>, despite Ohio State star Reese being considered the best non-quarterback of the class<\/a>. Will that be enough to entice the Jets into focusing their efforts on the supposedly \u201csafer\u201d pick<\/a> in Bailey?<\/p>\n

Much of the Jets X-Factor team has discussed the potential downsides<\/a> of choosing Bailey over Reese. The focus is mainly on fair concerns about his run defense and incidents that include stomping on an opponent in 2024 and getting into a physical altercation with a photographer last year.<\/p>\n

Those are fair reasons to favor Reese, but make no mistake: The Jets could be perfectly fine if they ultimately choose Bailey over Reese.<\/p>\n

Today, we will focus on three reasons that the team would still be on the right track with the Texas Tech product.<\/p>\n

Injection of star power<\/p>\n

Take a look at the Jets\u2019 defensive roster. How many true stars do you see? How many marketable players?<\/p>\n

Minkah Fitzpatrick and Demario Davis are probably the two most \u201cmarketable\u201d stars on the team, and they\u2019re both considered \u201celder veterans\u201d more than stars.<\/p>\n

The reality is that New York currently lacks the kind of star power that would strike fear in the heart of any opposing offense. For the work he did at Texas Tech and his aggressive nature, Bailey would immediately have the potential to become the best player on the Jets\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n

Leading the country in sacks doesn\u2019t happen by accident. Nor does leading your team to the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

New York needs marketable stars on defense\u2014players who strike fear into the hearts of offenses.<\/p>\n

Bailey does that and more if he\u2019s the pick at two. <\/p>\n

Not just \u201csafe\u201d<\/p>\n

If you ask most Jets fans (and some analysts), the reason why Bailey would end up being the pick at No. 2 is that he\u2019s a \u201csafe option,\u201d and the Jets need \u201csafe\u201d to save the job of head coach Aaron Glenn.<\/p>\n

The second part of that suggestion is ludicrous. Glenn has specifically made it clear he wants to build a winner for the Jets. If he were worried about saving his job, he would not have signed off on the trades of Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams last year.<\/p>\n

He also probably wouldn\u2019t have settled for Geno Smith as the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n

Glenn is going to do what\u2019s best for the Jets organization, not what\u2019s safest. When the conversation focuses on a player with 14.5 sacks in his final year in college, the pick isn\u2019t just safe, but it boasts a limitless ceiling as well.<\/p>\n

New York needs a star pass rusher who can change the game with one rush. They don\u2019t have that right now, but they could get it with Bailey.<\/p>\n

Bailey isn\u2019t merely a \u201csafe\u201d pick\u2014he is a potential game-wrecker.<\/p>\n

Coaching<\/p>\n

Easily the largest weakness in Bailey\u2019s game is his run defense. There are times when it\u2019s downright alarming<\/a> on tape, and that has led many of my colleagues to say he\u2019s not worth the second pick when a more complete player like Reese is available.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair criticism. But it also glosses over one key advantage the Jets have at their disposal:<\/p>\n

Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.<\/p>\n

Back with the Jets after an eight-year run with Pittsburgh, in which he turned T.J. Watt into a Defensive Player of the Year, Dunbar has plenty of experience in getting quality edge rushers to become more complete performers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s simply no \u201cperfect\u201d prospect in this class that the Jets are itching to take with the second overall pick. The reality is that if New York drafts Reese, they are taking a flier and hoping the coaching staff can develop him into a top edge rusher.<\/p>\n

If the pick is Bailey, they have to hope the coaching staff can turn him into a plus run defender to match his excellent pass-rushing ability. <\/p>\n

What would New York rather have: a sure thing of a pass rusher with a need for development as a run defender, or a high-upside question mark in need of development as a pass rusher?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Bailey or Arvell Reese? That\u2019s what the New York Jets must decide on in six days when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[2222,331,4155,7,3228,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,15,6531,3231,3916,3234],"class_list":{"0":"post-868383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-arvell-reese","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-david-bailey","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-free-content","13":"tag-jets","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-jets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkjets","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nfl-draft","20":"tag-ny-jets-column","21":"tag-ny-jets-news","22":"tag-ny-jets-players","23":"tag-standard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116420129839861357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868383","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=868383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}