2020 NFL Mock Draft: New York Jets pick up an offensive tackle

Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama

The key goal for the Jets at this point should be to build a core for their offense. If they are going to give Sam Darnold a chance to succeed in the NFL, he needs substantially more talent around him. The two biggest areas where they need to improve are on the offensive line and at receiver. Replacing Robbie Anderson with Breshad Perriman is probably something of a lateral move. Perriman is a bit of a wild card, as he went on a 5-game tear at the end of last season when injuries to Evans and Godwin gave him an opportunity, but he had previously struggled with injuries and inconsistency. Even in the best case scenario where they get the good version of Perriman, they still need more weapons. OT is also a strong consideration here. Remember when the Eagles terrorized that offensive line for 10 sacks this past season? I’m sure the Jets’ front office remembers that as well. The Jets were among the worst offensive line groups in the NFL both for run and pass blocking last year.

I’m sure Joe Douglas would be pretty unhappy after seeing his dream target in Jeudy go the pick ahead of him and Lamb shockingly end up in Miami a few picks earlier. If either of them are on the board, they are likely the pick (I had actually already started writing a Jeudy write-up after pick #9, assuming the Browns would go for one of the OTs). The best receiver remaining, Henry Ruggs III, while bringing elite speed and great hands, isn’t on the same level as Jeudy and Lamb, and I don’t believe he’s worth foregoing one of the draft’s elite OT prospects. The Jets will be able to address receiver in the second round, where they will likely be able to pick from several very talented receivers. I don’t think that the same can be said for their OT options later on.

At OT, value more than matches up with need as they land the player that I think is the best OT in a great class. Becton and Wirfs are off the board here, so the choice is between Jedrick Wills and Andrew Thomas. Thomas is a great prospect in his own right, but I chose Wills based on his combination of elite athleticism, great footwork, and readiness to contribute at a high level right away. Here’s an overview:

Physical traits

Wills is an elite athlete at his position. His combine performance was a bit overshadowed by Tristan Wirfs having one of the best combines ever for an OT, but Wills showed high level explosiveness, and that shows up in his tape as well. His size is basically average for the position; he doesn’t have the insanely long arms that Becton or Thomas have, but that is more than counterbalanced by his strength and movement ability. His measurements and athletic testing are similar to Jason Peters when he was coming out of college.

Pass blocking

This is where OTs make their money in today’s game, and it’s an area where Wills has done quite well against high level competition. In 970 pass blocking snaps across three years, he only allowed a single sack, which is pretty impressive in the SEC. The things that stand out to me about his pass blocking are his quick feet and balance, as well as great awareness. If I had to criticize something, he could improve his hand usage, but he’s absolutely ready to start and do well right away. LSU threw a bunch of exotic stuff at him (blitzes, stunts, zone blitzes), and he wasn’t fooled by any of it, working seamlessly with his teammates to pick everything up. Here he is on a play where LSU runs a stunt in addition to bringing an outside blitzer. Wills (74) has no help to pick up the blitzer with an empty backfield, but he manages to slow both the stunt from 43 and the blitzer to give his QB time to get the ball out. Good stuff.

Run blocking

Wills is a dominant run blocker. Per PFF, he led the class in big time blocks. He combines the strength to move defensive linemen with the quickness and athleticism to block defenders at the second level. Here you can see him do both on the same play: on 4th and 1 vs. Auburn, Wills (74) manhandles a DT to the ground and then immediately blocks a linebacker as well.

He can execute any type of block you want. Here he is with a reach/scoop block on an outside zone play, using his quickness to fire over to the inside of Derrick Brown, allowing the guard to pick up the linebacker and creating a big hole:

Position

A lot will probably get made of the fact that Wills played right tackle instead of left (as did Wirfs). I don’t know if this is because Tua is left-handed (and hence the right side is his blind side), because he’d played RT in high school, or for any particular reason at all. When you have multiple first round OTs on a college team, one of them has to play on the right. In any case, I have no reason to think Wills can’t play on the left side if the Jets want him to, and great right tackles can certainly be extremely valuable themselves (Lane Johnson, for example). It’s not a significant concern in my view.

Summary

Wills is already really good and has all of the traits needed to become a great OT for the Jets. He’d be a great pick for them.

2020 BGN Mock Draft Order

1) Bengals (grantspectations): QB Joe Burrow
2) Washington (ablesser88): EDGE Chase Young
3) Lions (CMG97): CB Jeff Okudah
4) Giants (selgae aihpledalihp): LB Isaiah Simmons
5) Dolphins (dceagles): WR CeeDee Lamb
6) Chargers (dapeltz13): QB Tua Tagovailoa
7) Panthers (wardbell92): DT Derrick Brown
8) Cardinals (drc242): OT Mekhi Becton
9) Jaguars (Palaniappan K M): OT Tristan Wirfs
10) Browns (WentzAndFolesFan): WR Jerry Jeudy
11) Jets (Dr_Horrible): OT Jedrick Wills
12) Raiders (Phillysolo)
13) 49ers (eagles0132):
14) Buccaneers (BuckeyedEagles):
15) Broncos (J. Wil):
16) Falcons (Kephas)
17) Cowboys (PhillyBirdGang):
18) Dolphins (dshelton5):
19) Raiders (fredhugo):
20) Jaguars (ItownBallers22)
21) Eagles (20Safety_Hazards)
22) Vikings (Kramerpoo):
23) Patriots (Phoenix X Minimus)
24) Saints (big DUB):
25) Vikings (MrW254):
26) Dolphins (SemperFilly):
27) Seahawks (mattywils):
28) Ravens (Dirtybirdy47):
29) Titans (mr_england):
30) Packers (Nishant R SambhiReddy):
31) 49ers (Fly Like An Eagle):
32) Chiefs (Leo Bedio):

Now it’s time for you to vote for who YOU think the Jets should pick in the 2020 BGN Community Consensus Mock Draft.

2020 BGN Community Consensus Mock Draft

1) Bengals: QB Joe Burrow
2) Washington: EDGE Chase Young
3) Lions: CB Jeff Okudah
4) Giants: LB Isaiah Simmons
5) Dolphins: QB Tua Tagovailoa
6) Chargers: QB Justin Herbert
7) Panthers: DT Derrick Brown
8) Cardinals: OT Mekhi Becton
9) Jaguars: OT Tristan Wirfs
10) Browns: OT Andrew Thomas
11) Jets: