It is decision time for Jets general manager Joe Douglas — playmaker or protector?
That is what the decision at pick No. 10 in the first round of Thursday’s NFL draft is expected to come down to for Douglas.
Does he feel the Jets need to get another pass catcher for Aaron Rodgers or another player to keep him upright?
Whatever happens ahead of them, the Jets feel confident they will be able to land a good player at No. 10.
“We definitely have 10 players that we’re excited to take,” Douglas said last week. “We’re ready to roll.”
There could be four quarterbacks taken in the first five picks, which would help push down non-quarterback talent toward the Jets.
They could be looking at one of the top three wide receivers — Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze — falling to them or getting to a point where Douglas moves up to take one.
Then, there is Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who seems to be the most popular player linked to the Jets in mock drafts.
Bowers scored 31 touchdowns (26 receiving, five rushing) in three years at Georgia and can line up all over the formation.
He is the consensus top tight end in the draft and considered one of the top five players in the draft by some draft evaluators.
If the Jets do select Bowers or a wide receiver in the first round, it will give the offense a weapon to go along with Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall and help Rodgers, who has never completed a pass to a wide receiver or tight end drafted in the first round by the team he was on.
Douglas did not use any names but commented on what was available this year in the top 10.
“There’s a lot of special players on the offensive side of the ball and guys that are playmakers and top-level blockers, top-level playmakers, dynamic playmakers and they’re all a different flavor,” Douglas said, “whether you want a precision route runner that’s super productive, whether you want an explosive just freak, whether you want a high-level route runner that can go up and get the ball and also run by people. There’s different flavors in blockers too. A tight end that’s a Swiss Army knife and can move all around the formation and can really stress the defense. It’s a really cool group.”
Bowers is the Swiss Army knife and we’ll see if Douglas wants to add that to his offense.
Douglas did not tip his hand in his pre-draft press conference, but did talk about how much a good tight end can help an offense.
“If that tight end can become someone that turns into what Kansas City [has in Travis Kelce], San Francisco [has in George Kittle], what [Sam] LaPorta did last year in Detroit,” Douglas said, “those are dynamic weapons for your offense and guys that put a lot of stress on your defense because they can create mismatches. It’s hard to put a linebacker on those guys. You put a DB on one of those guys and it creates a size mismatch. You put a safety on those guys, he better be able to run, he better be able to play man coverage. The right type of tight end can be a real weapon.”
The argument against taking a pass catcher is that Rodgers is 40 years old and coming off an Achilles injury that could hinder his movement.
The Jets signed Tyron Smith and traded for Morgan Moses to play tackle.
Both players are 33 and have recent injury histories.
The odds are low that both are going to be healthy for 17 games and their time with the Jets could be limited to this year.
Taking a tackle at No. 10 like Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, Alabama’s J.C. Latham or a versatile lineman like Washington’s Troy Fautanu would address depth now and give you a possible long-term starter on the line later.
The team’s offseason moves up to this point have indicated an “all in” mentality for 2024.
Taking a pass catcher over a lineman would continue that trend.
A year after trading for Rodgers, it is all about what sets him up for the most success.
We’ll find out Thursday night if Douglas thinks that is a playmaker or a protector.
