The Jets closed the book on their 2026 NFL Draft on Saturday night, making four Day 3 picks to take their total draft class up to eight players.

The headline acts came on Thursday night, when the Jets made three first-round selections, in the form of Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey, Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq and Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr.

Bailey was the second overall selection and the first defensive player off the board, joining the Jets after leading the FBS in sacks in 2025 with 14.5. He provides immediate pass-rush threat off the edge for a Jets defence that struggled to get to the QB last season.

Speaking on stage after his selection, Bailey said: “I’m grateful to all the fans who came out here tonight. I just want to be a sponge, soak up everything and make me the best player I can be to help this organization. I think they want to go in the right direction, and I’m just ready to work.”

At 16 overall, the Jets were widely anticipated to be targeting a pass catcher, but few analysts in the run up to the draft had pegged them as a suitor for Sadiq. The consensus top tight end option in the draft had the college production (51 catches, 560 yards, 8 touchdowns in 2025) and the eye-popping measurables (4.39s 40-yard dash; 43.5 inch vertical leap) to (literally) vault himself into the conversation among the top draft receivers, and so the Jets pulled the trigger on the dynamic playmaker.

“David Bailey said it already,” Sadiq told reporters after his selection. “This organization is trending in the right direction. And I’m just a piece that can help and I’m ready to help. Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”

Their day one work wasn’t quite complete yet. At 30th overall, the Jets traded back into the first round, sending the 33rd overall pick and a fifth round selection (179 overall) to the 49ers in order to select Omar Cooper Jr. The Indiana receiver had been considered one of the favourites to be selected by the Jets at 16 overall, and provides a huge boost to the receiving corps alongside Sadiq.

Cooper led the National Champion Indiana team in receiving yards (937), receptions (69) and touchdowns (13) as the top target of Heisman Award winner Fernando Mendoza. He has shown the versatility to play outside and in the slot, and is the first wide receiver taken in the first round by the Jets since Garrett Wilson in 2022 – which also marked the last time the Jets made three first-round selections.

“My strength is my yards after the catch,” Cooper told reporters. “I have really good, strong hands, and I also can run any route when given the opportunity. And I’m a good run blocker as well.”

Cooper was the first Indiana University player taken by the Jets since 1974, but we didn’t have to wait long for the next one. After a trade back from their 44th overall selection, the Jets used the 50th overall pick in the second round to take D’Angelo Ponds, one of the top cornerbacks in college football.

The player comparison for Ponds? Aaron Glenn, of course. As a fellow undersized cornerback with a ferocity and tenaciousness that belies his size, Ponds had been a game-wrecking force throughout Indiana’s National Championship run, with his pick-six on the first play in the CFP semi-final setting the tone early for the Hoosiers. He’ll have no better mentor than Glenn, who knows a thing or two about playing cornerback in the NFL.

The Jets made two early selections on day three, acquiring defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr out of Florida State with the 103rd overall pick, and then trading up to 110 overall to take Cade Klubnik, a quarterback out of Clemson.

Jackson is a big, strong lineman at 6’5 and 315 pounds, and will bring a physicality to the Jets run defence, with a chance to grow into an impactful pass rusher too.

Klubnik completed 66% of his passes in 2025, with 2,943 yards and a 16:6 TD:INT ratio, as his Clemson Tigers struggled to start the season but found form down the stretch to finish 7-5 in the regular season. He’ll get the chance to learn from Geno Smith this year and refine his skills.

“Really faced a lot of adversity this past year,” Klubnik said. “For me, I figured out how to take a team that’s not winning and transform and go win games to finish with four straight wins at the end of the year. So, I’m all about pushing the guys around me. And I’m a winner and I’m a competitor, and I hate to lose. So, if we’re not winning – we’re going to find a way to win.”

With their final two selections, the Jets added depth to both their offensive line and defensive backs rooms, selecting guard Anez Cooper out of Miami and safety VJ Payne out of Kansas State. Cooper made 45 starts at RG for the Hurricanes, earning all-ACC honors in each of the last three seasons. Payne started 42 games over four seasons at K-State, logging 196 tackles, three interceptions and four forced fumbles.

In total, General Manager Darren Mougey made four draft weekend trades, using three to move up the board and ultimately using just two of the Jets ‘assigned’ picks. A couple of the key themes among the Jets selections? Winning, and speed. Alongside their two national champion selections from the Hoosiers, the Jets leaned into successful programs with a number of their picks, whilst blazing 40 times stand out among their picks from top to bottom.