With the new leadership team in place for the Jets, the focus now turns to the roster construction element of the offseason.

I’m sure that Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn are already deep into the evaluation process, pinpointing areas of the team to strengthen across free agency and the draft. 

We’re going to focus today on three positions in the 2025 NFL Draft that are absolutely loaded with talent, not just at the top but throughout. 

Fortunately for the Jets, those positions just so happen to coincide with some of the biggest perceived needs for the team. 

Tight End

There may not be a Brock Bowers-type talent in this year’s draft, although Penn State’s Tyler Warren is challenging that theory based on his 104-reception, 1233-yard, 8-touchdown season in 2024. He’s almost certainly a top 15 talent in the draft and it’s likely he’ll be joined in the first round by Michigan’s Colston Loveland who put up a respectable 56 catches, 582 yards and 5 touchdowns despite inconsistencies at the QB position. 

Warren’s in-line blocking paired with his receiving talent will likely ensure he’s the first TE off the board, but Loveland has all the potential to be a dominant receiving threat in the NFL. 

Those two are the top talents in the draft, but the real depth of this TE class sits between rounds two and five. Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr is smaller than the top two, but he’s coming off a 117-catch season, racking up 1555 yards and 10 touchdowns. Texas man Gunner Helm was the go-to target for Quinn Ewers and finished his college career with 12.9 yards per reception, showing his downfield potential. Miami’s Elijah Arroyo is currently enjoying a great start to Senior Bowl week in Alabama and weighed in heavier than expected, which will only increase his draft stock. 

As you start to move further down the draft you get to guys like Benjamin Yurosek from Georgia who’s body of work in college won’t blow you away, but the potential to develop is astronomical. Mitchell Evans from Notre Dame, Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt, Mason Taylor from LSU and Terrance Ferguson from Oregon are all players who will likely go on day two or early on day three.

It’s not often you get a TE class as deep as the 2025 one and with Tyler Conklin and Kenny Yeboah set to hit free agency and Jeremy Ruckert entering the final year of his rookie contract, TE is a glaring need for the Jets. 

Safety

It’s been a while since the Jets invested heavily in the safety position, but with defensive back Aaron Glenn at the helm that could change in 2025, and fortunately for the Jets the safety class is ripe for picking. 

Look at enough draft rankings and you’ll see that Georgia man Malaki Starks is largely considered to not only be the best safety in the class, but one of the best players full stop. Starks finished his three-year Georgia career with 6 interceptions, 17 passes defensed and 44 defensive stops. With great size and instincts, he’ll be a top-15 player from this class. 

If the first round is a little too rich for your taste, you’ll find plenty of talent through rounds 2-3 starting with my favourite safety prospect in the draft, Xavier Watts from Notre Dame. Watts has that canny ability to seemingly know the play before the ball is snapped, and his instincts and ball pursuit are at an elite level. Watts allowed just 1 touchdown in over 1,100 coverage snaps in college and brought down 13 interceptions in the last two years. 

Further down you get prospects like Sebastian Castro from Iowa, Kevin Winston Jr from Penn State, Lathan Ransom from Ohio State, Nick Emmanwori from South Carolina and Andrew Mukuba from Texas, all of whom will likely be gone before the fourth round starts. Mukuba in particular is coming off an outstanding season where he allowed just 43.5% of passes to be completed into his coverage with 0 touchdowns allowed and 5 interceptions. 

If you want a little sleeper to keep an eye on, Upton Stout from Western Kentucky is on the smaller side but happens to be one of the best tackling safeties in college football. 

Defensive Tackle

The Jets have worked to find a running mate for Quinnen Williams for a while now, and the 2025 draft is possibly their best route to find a long-term solution. It’s arguably the deepest position in the draft. 

Starting at the top you have Mason Graham, a player I looked at last week in my preview of the Jets #7 selection in the draft. He’s a dominant and disruptive force in the middle, capable of taking on and beating double-teams. If paired with Quinnen, it’s going to present a big headache for offensive line coaches around the NFL. 

Graham is supported by a number of outstanding prospects and it wouldn’t shock me to see four defensive tackles taken in the first round. Kenneth Grant who’s a teammate of Graham at Michigan has been one of the best run defenders in college, closely followed by Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams. T.J. Sanders has the pop in his hands and the long arms to swallow up interior runners, and with plus explosion he’s a guy that defensive line coaches will love to work with. 

That’s just the first round. Go further down the draft and you get guys like Walter Nolen who arguably is a first-round talent himself. Omarr Norman-Lott is a big unit who flourished after transferring to Tennessee from Arizona State. Texas man Alfred Collins doesn’t possess the pass-rush potential of some of the names on this list, but he’d come in and instantly upgrade any team’s interior run defense, something the Jets struggled with at times in 2024. Deone Walker is a giant of a man and has already turned some heads at the Senior Bowl in Alabama. 

A testament to this position’s depth, all the guys mentioned so far will probably be gone by the start of the third round. Then you start looking at guys like Derrick Harmon from Oregon, JJ Pegues from Ole Miss, Simeon Barrow Jr. from Miami and you’re still only around the 4th round. In fact, I’ve seen some of those guys around the first and second round, especially Harmon who Daniel Jeremiah had as his 22nd overall prospect. 

It’s a good year to need a tight end, safety and defensive tackle… and you could argue those are three of the biggest priorities for the Jets.