Jets Are Approaching Top 5 Status Thanks to Four-Game Slide

Draft pick improves as New York falls further out of AFC Playoff picture

The New York Jets have been moving on up, but not in the standings.

While sliding down into a tie for 13th place in the AFC, the Jets have ascended in the 2024 NFL Draft order. Their four-game losing streak has them approaching Top 5 draft status.

The Jets (4-7), who have suffered three losses by 21 points or more over the last four weeks, would pick No. 8 overall if the season ended today. Draft order is determined by current overall record with strength of schedule serving as the primary tiebreaker.

The Jets will keep their 2024 first-round selection, which was originally slated to go to the Green Bay Packers as part of the compensation package for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. With Rodgers failing to play at least 65 percent of the team's snaps this season due to a Week 1 Achilles rupture, the Green & White will instead send a 2024 second-rounder to Green Bay.

In 2023, the Jets used their first-round selection (No. 15 overall) on Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald. The 24-year-old rookie has seen a slight uptick in usage the past couple weeks, recording two tackles apiece in games against Buffalo and Miami.

The Carolina Panthers are in position to secure the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, but the rights to that selection belong to the Chicago Bears as a result of trade this past offseason.

A Top 5 selection could prove especially valuable this upcoming April as multiple potential franchise quarterbacks are likely to be available. The Jets had two Top 10 choices in 2022, selecting cornerback Sauce Gardner at No. 4 overall and receiver Garrett Wilson with the No. 10 pick.

With only six weeks of regular season games remaining, NFL Media draft analyst Chad Reuter provided "a look at the first-round order for the 2024 NFL Draft heading into Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season, along with the top five needs for each team."

Latest Losses Reasons to Bury Jets With Six Weeks Remaining

Excerpt from 2024 NFL Draft order: Jets move up 10 spots:

PICK 8: New York Jets

Biggest needs: OT, IOL, QB, S, WR

Week 13 opponent: vs. Falcons

Aaron Rodgers will probably want his former Packers pass-catchers Allen Lazard (who was a healthy scratch against the Dolphins) and Randall Cobb (who's set to become a free agent) around again next year, and Garrett Wilson surely isn't going anywhere. Could the Jets, who have gone from holding Pick No. 18 to No. 8 during their four-game losing streak, swing a trade for a high-profile veteran as they attempted to do at the trade deadline? Even if they do land a big-name receiver this offseason, either via trade or free agency, New York should draft another young talent to pair with Wilson for the long term. 

— Chad Reuter (NFL.com)

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