2022 NFL Draft: Sam Howell on top of NFL preseason mock draft
player. 30. Pick Analysis. Drake Jackson. 4. Scouting Report. EDGE. USC
Robert Saleh came over to the New York Jets in the 2021 offseason and it felt at the time that they got the biggest fish on the entire head coaching market.
Saleh had done outstanding work in San Francisco well before the 49ers reached the Super Bowl with one of the league’s best defenses. He consistently had his side of the ball playing well above their means in terms of just the level of talent at each position, and then the stars started coming.
The New York Jets are certainly starting a bit from scratch when it comes to Saleh’s new personnel, but they did go out in free agency and pick up guys like Carl Lawson off the edge, Sheldon Rankins on the interior, former first-round pick Jarrad Davis at middle linebacker, and LaMarcus Joyner in the secondary.
There are pieces in New York already as well with Quinnen Williams a budding star on the defensive line and CJ Mosley hopefully back and healthy for the first time since basically he signed in New York.
In the 2022 NFL Draft, it’s not a hot take to assume the Jets will likely focus on the defensive side of the ball.
They invested heavily in the offensive side of the ball in 2021 with top pick Zach Wilson, another offensive player in round one in guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, then Elijah Moore at receiver in round two.
Drake Jackson may not have the same type of fanfare right now as Kayvon Thibodeaux, but he has a chance to really establish himself in 2021 as an elite prospect off the edge.
In his first 17 college games, he has 7.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss, and he’s really just starting to scratch the surface.
As a freshman, he led the Trojans with 25 pressures and four passes deflected at the line of scrimmage.
The sky is the limit for this guy who would be outstanding coming off the edge for Robert Saleh.