Jets Might Shockingly Draft Receiver In First Round Not Named Tetairoa McMillan

McMillan is the highest-rated wideout in the 2025 draft class

Aug 12, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; New York Jets helmet during the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Could the New York Jets shock the world and take a wide receiver in the first round who isn’t named Tetairoa McMillan?

Wide receiver is an urgent positional need for the Jets at the moment. New York employs superstar wideout Garrett Wilson but doesn’t have ample talent at the position beyond Wilson, especially if and when veteran Allen Lazard gets traded.

As such, the Jets will be looking to add at least one receiver in the upcoming NFL draft, and they haven’t been ruled out from selecting one with their first-round pick at No. 7 overall.

The cream of the crop for receivers in this draft is widely considered to be Arizona’s six-foot-four athletic specimen Tetairoa McMillan, so if the Jets committed to a receiver at No. 7, it would more than likely be him.

However, The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt recently mentioned another wide receiver in connection to the Jets’ first-round selection.

“Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan and Texas’s Matthew Golden would be two options in the first round, but the Jets can find talent after the first too,” Rosenblatt wrote.

Golden is a different type of receiver than McMillan. He’s much smaller at five-foot-eleven but extremely explosive and could be just as productive.

Golden had 58 receptions for 987 yards and nine receiving touchdowns in 2024 for the Longhorns. He ran a 4.29 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Golden at No. 7 overall wouldn’t make sense given his overall player rank in the class, but perhaps Rosenblatt is suggesting that the Jets could trade down from No. 7 and select Golden with a later pick in the first round.

It’ll be fascinating to see what GM Darren Mougey does in the first round. The Jets have been linked to various players at No. 7 on both sides of the ball, including Penn State star tight end Tyler Warren.

Will Mougey trade No. 7 and accrue more picks in the process? We’ll know in less than a month.

More NFL: Jets Might Surprisingly Sign Projected $7.7 Million Seahawks Pro Bowler