Jeremiyah Love was not the first offensive player taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, but the running back is in front of Fernando Mendoza on another front.
Love has been installed as the betting favorite to be the offensive rookie of the year after being picked by the Cardinals at No. 3. Various sportsbooks have pegged Love’s odds at anywhere between +200 and +300, but he is the consensus top choice on the day after the draft.
Mendoza was the first overall pick by the Raiders and the quarterback joins Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, and Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon to round out the top five choices.
The Jets made edge rusher David Bailey the first defensive player off the board at No. 2 and he is the favorite for the award. Oddsmakers differ on how other players line up behind Bailey, but Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain, Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, and Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane are bunched together as the other top choices.
If the Jets ever turn things around, they may look back on the 2026 and 2027 NFL drafts as the time when they stockpiled talent to become a winner.
On Thursday night, the Jets had three first-round draft picks: They used their own pick, No. 2 overall, on linebacker David Bailey. Then they used the 16th pick, acquired from the Colts by trading Sauce Gardner, on tight end Kenyon Sadiq. And then they traded up from the second round to get the 30th pick and use it on wide receiver Omar Cooper.
Next year, the Jets have three more first-round picks. They have their own first-round pick, they have the Colts’ first-round pick from trading Gardner, and they will have the higher of the Cowboys’ or Packers’ first-round picks for trading Quinnen Williams to Dallas.
The total of six first-round picks in a two-year span represents an enormous influx of talent. Or at least it will if Bailey, Sadiq and Cooper pan out, and if the Jets use their three first-round picks next year wisely.
Using draft picks wisely is no sure thing for the Jets, but with the draft capital they have, they’re a team with the potential for a major turnaround.
The Jets added players at three different positions during the first round of the draft on Thursday night and there was one common thread between their three choices.
Edge rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, and wide receiver Omar Cooper all played for teams that went to the college football playoffs last season. Cooper made it all the way through the tournament as part of Indiana’s national title winners and the Jets traded back into the 30th pick in order to add him to their haul.
That Indiana title came after years of the Hoosiers wandering in the football wilderness and Cooper said helping the Jets end their own exile from success is “the goal” that he’s set for himself as he enters the NFL. Head coach Aaron Glenn said that the history of success for all three players was a big factor in the team’s choices.
“When you have targets, you identify guys you like, you love — you go get them,” Glenn said, via the team’s website. “And that’s exactly what we did today. And any time you can bring guys with a winning background on your team, that only helps the morale of your team. So, there’s a lot of things that goes into that, but to get three first-round picks and the caliber guys that we got, the personality, the mentality, the football character, all those things are huge, bringing those guys on our team.”
It’s not the first time in recent memory that the Jets have made three first-round picks in the hope of getting the franchise on track. They did it in 2022 with Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson, but Wilson is the only one left on the roster to welcome a trio that will be aiming for better results during their time in Jersey.
The Jets ended up with three first-round draft picks, getting help for a team that desperately needed help at every position.
After selecting Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey second overall and Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, the Jets traded back into the first round. They gave up picks 33 and 179 overall for the 30th overall choice.
The Jets used the selection on Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.
They needed a No. 2 wideout to pair with Garrett Wilson, giving Geno Smith two legit outside weapons.
Cooper had 69 receptions for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The 49ers have a longer wait for their first pick after a second trade down in the first round. They went from 27 to 30 in a trade with the Dolphins and now move back to 33, the first choice in Friday night’s second round.
With their first first-round pick on Thursday night, the Jets went defense. With their second, it was offense.
Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq is the 16th overall pick in the draft.
Sadiq ran a blazing 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the Combine. His presence gives new offensive coordinator Frank Reich a potent weapon to go along with receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall.
Whether and to what extent it improve things this year depends largely on the performance of quarterback Geno Smith, the team’s second-round pick from 2013 who’s back for a second stint.
The Jets inherited the 16th overall pick as part of the trade that sent cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts during the 2026 regular season.
