Jets Country

Five Day Three Targets for the Jets

From Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford to Oregon safety Verone McKinley III, here are five prospects for New York to target on the third day of the 2022 NFL draft.

Max Schneider

In this story:

The Jets are one week away from the peak of their offseason. Joe Douglas, a general manager dead set on building through the draft, will get another crack at it with a whole lot of ammunition to revamp his roster.

While much is made of the early selections, the Jets won’t climb out of the gutter by hitting on those alone. Four of New York’s nine picks come in the fourth round or later, and Douglas will likely make a trade to snag a pick in rounds six or seven. Day Three selections are often used for depth, and for the Jets, who have caught the injury bug for the entirety of the last couple seasons, depth is more important than ever.

Here are five guys the Jets could target on Day Three of the NFL Draft:

Matt Waletzko, OT, North Dakota

Day Three sleepers often fall into two categories. Either they have all the physical tools without the level of refinement to hurdle into the first few rounds, or they’ve been productive college players whose athletic traits aren’t perceived to translate adequately to the next level. Waletzko fits squarely into the former category. He’s a rare athlete, enough to get him on scouts’ radar playing at North Dakota (not to be confused with North Dakota State, which has pumped out NFL players for several years now). Waletzko is 6-foot-8 and 312 pounds. His 36-inch arms rank him in the 96th percentile of offensive linemen. He’s a long and agile tackle with the kind of tools that are tailor-made to pass protect in the NFL.

Waletzko’s length and speed can also work wonders in an outside zone run scheme, where he can get off the line and latch onto corners to open up gaps for backs. That should translate in the screen game as well. North Dakota ran a lot of outside zone, so going to an offense where he feels comfortable with the scheme transition should ease an otherwise difficult transition. Waletzko is making a big jump in competition level and is still somewhat of a developmental project, but he ticks every single physical box that an offensive coordinator could want in a high-end starting left tackle.

Verone McKinley III, S, Oregon

McKinley is the other kind of Day Three prospect. His 5-foot-10, 198-pound frame with a 4.65 40-yard-dash at his Pro Day might not stick out, and some scouts think he would work best if he converts to corner, but everything on tape tells a different story. The reason a conversion to corner is even on the table is because of how elite his ball skills and instincts in coverage are. McKinley had ten interceptions and nine pass breakups in his last two full seasons. He jumps underneath routes without hesitation and pursues deep balls to the catch point, making up for his lack of top-end speed by diagnosing reads just a tick earlier than most safeties.

Make no mistake about it, McKinley is a deep safety, and it’s just as much out of necessity as it is his skillset and ball pursuit. He isn’t the best run stopper and struggled with missed tackles in college, but he can be a starting single-high deep safety in the NFL at a really high level for someone who doesn’t figure to go in the first four rounds. That works perfectly for a team like the Jets because of how he complements Jordan Whitehead. Whitehead is at his best when he can climb up and play the run to hit guys in the backfield like a traditional strong safety. This pick makes a lot of sense as a late-round flier if the Jets don’t address safety earlier.

D’Marco Jackson, LB, Appalachian State

Jackson is a late-round linebacker prospect that has a legitimate chance to be a starter on an NFL defense early in his career, and that’s not something that can be said for many Day Three guys. He graded out well in 2021 (83.4 on Pro Football Focus) and was an important part of a stout Appalachian State defense that has quietly been one of the best in college football the past few years.

Jackson can take on and shed blocks with his 6-foot-1, 234-pound frame. He’s especially explosive in the run game, but there isn’t a facet of the game where he really lacks. He can play the run, drop into coverage and blitz the quarterback. He was used significantly more as a blitzer in 2021, where he racked up five sacks with 11 hurries. Jackson can tend to come in a little high, which causes some sloppy missed tackles, and coverage won’t be his biggest strength in the pros, but he can be a weapon on first and second downs that won’t be exposed anywhere, and at the very least can be a rotational player early in his career. The Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, Jackson is a team captain with an unmatched motor who showed out at the Senior Bowl in front of the Jets coaching staff.

Kyle Philips, WR, UCLA

Philips is projected to go on Day Three, but he should absolutely be in the conversation as one of the ten best receivers in a particularly deep class. The UCLA product is a slot receiver through and through. His instincts and ability to shake his man to create windows are outstanding. He doesn’t have great long speed, but his short-area bursts and ability to stick his foot in the ground to separate is what sets him apart. Philips is savvy enough to slow down corners before jumping into full speed to create separation. He’s smooth out of his breaks with an understanding of how to attack defensive backs’ leverage to win over the middle. He’s also a willing and capable blocker, a must-have for modern slots.

Athletically, there’s very little that sticks out about Philips. He ran a 4.58 40-yard-dash, he’s a bit slender, and his hands are on the smaller side, but he has been a productive and reliable slot option in the short passing game and in the red zone for an offense that never quite got the most out of the quarterback position while he was there. Hunter Renfrow’s breakout this year showed what a wide receiver with Philips’s skillset can accomplish in the NFL, and he should reap the benefits of that should teams decline to take him on Day Two.

Jerome Ford, RB, Cincinnati

Ford started his career at Alabama, but found himself behind Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. on the depth chart. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. When he transferred to Cincinnati, you could see the skills that caught Nick Saban’s eye in the first place. Ford is fast, enough to threaten the back-end of the defense on every run. His 4.46 at the combine doesn’t even do his speed justice. He’s often one cut and gone, never getting caught from behind, as evidenced by his four touchdowns of 70 yards or more. He combines that speed with a 5-foot-11, 211-pound frame that allowed him to produce 656 yards after contact on the season with 19 touchdown runs.

The size and speed are there. The vision is there. The hands (he caught all 31 passes thrown his way) and pass protection ability are there. And yet, Ford seems to have slipped through the cracks on a College Football Playoff team because of all the hype surrounding Sauce Gardner and Desmond Ridder. By all accounts, Ford is a Day Three pick, but he profiles as a potential top five running back in this class. He needs to sure up his ball security (he fumbled six times in college) and work on his route-running to be a larger receiving threat, but at the very least, he could earn enough carries to make a strong tandem with Michael Carter in the Jets backfield.

Honorable mentions: Sam Williams, Pierre Strong Jr., Chris Paul, Matt Araiza

MORE:

Follow Max Schneider on Twitter (@Max_Schneider15). Be sure to bookmark Jets Country and check back daily for news, analysis and more.

Published
Max Schneider
MAX SCHNEIDER

Max Schneider is a native New Yorker and an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he was the Sports Editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler. He has previously worked for The Nashville Predators, The Players’ Tribune and Nashville SC. You can follow him on Twitter (@Max_Schneider15).

Home/News