The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall

[HTTR]

I too have circled back to considering Downs at 7.

I am not certain if this makes sense but I'd rather he be gone before 7 so that decision is off the table.

I however figure there is a 50% chance he is one of the fallers to us at 7

Downs was the guy I wanted at first. A lot of us did. At one point I had come to the conclusion that there was very little chance he would even fall to us. Then, not doing drills at the combine and pro day knocked him back a peg. But he is still the same player that, based on his stellar play throughout his career, was considered a top 10 pick in the first place. His size or lack thereof has been a known quantity all along. And I don’t blame him for sitting out the drills. He had way more to lose then to gain by doing it and he was never going to look good in the underwear Olympics standing next to Styles and Reese.

Delane sounds great, but now it’s a question if he’s even the number one corner in the draft. So my list is back to the same four guys…

Love
Tate
Styles
Downs

2-4 is close. Tate would be 4th if not for the glaring need.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I too have circled back to considering Downs at 7.

I am not certain if this makes sense but I'd rather he be gone before 7 so that decision is off the table.

I however figure there is a 50% chance he is one of the fallers to us at 7

Him not doing the combine or any speed-agility exerices at his proday bugged me.

But lol, I am slowly getting over it.

If I had to pick a player on offense who can move the needle THIS season it would be Love. I do think Tate would, too.

On defense, Downs I think would be the biggest needle mover for THIS season.

All indications seem to be they are moving heavily in the Flores defense direction, mind you Daronte Jones ran some of those principles at LSU. And in that defense the safeties are critical components. And considering Downs was the ultimate chess piece on the field for Ohio State.

Do I want Quan Martin who seemed to struggle grasping the basic Joe Whitt defense -- deal with all the presnap, postsnap shifts. and end up in the right spot?

Will Harris is a smart dude, but what if he gets hurt again? Downs would basically almost guarantee that their safeties would be good. I like having Harris more for depth or heck in three safety sets which Flores runs a bunch of.

He's not my top want but wouldn't hate it at all.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Downs was the guy I wanted at first. A lot of us did. At one point I had come to the conclusion that there was very little chance he would even fall to us. Then, not doing drills at the combine and pro day knocked him back a peg. But he is still the same player that, based on his stellar play throughout his career, was considered a top 10 pick in the first place. His size or lack thereof has been a known quantity all along. And I don’t blame him for sitting out the drills. He had way more to lose then to gain by doing it and he was never going to look good in the underwear Olympics standing next to Styles and Reese.

Delane sounds great, but now it’s a question if he’s even the number one corner in the draft. So my list is back to the same four guys…

Love
Tate
Styles
Downs

2-4 is close. Tate would be 4th if not for the glaring need.

I might be in the same place. I've wavered more on Styles than any player in the top 10, purely from a position value stand point.

I'd be cartwheels thrilled if its Love. I like Tate a lot, a lot more than some on this thread. Styles is a freakish talent so be thrilled with him.

Downs is sort of the its not sexy pick but I do think he ends up really good and is perfect for this team -- I think he would do more for the secondary under this scheme than Delane would.

Bain to me is a wildcard. I am agnostic about him. If he's this beast pass rusher that his fans think he is -- no brainer, that's my top want still which is build that D line -- but alas I am not sure he is that guy so on the fence on him.

 

[DWinzit]

That literally makes zero sense to me. The Jets have way too many holes to take Love. We wouldn't even take Love at 2. They are going premium. Hall will only make 14mil this year as a top 5 paid rb in the league. Gardner makes like 30mil and Williams like 24.

Hall is a great value at that price. No way us or any team takes Love when you have a high level player at that position for only 14mil. I still say they are going to take Bailey if they stay. Financially, it's the only move that makes sense

I am relaying you what numerous serious Jet fans are saying...and they do not know each other. Make sense or not, they do not trust their owner and have seen the other stars traded away. Hall does not want to play on the franchise tag. They were supposed to work out a long term deal but sounds like that isn't working out so well.

 

[DWinzit]

Him not doing the combine or any speed-agility exerices at his proday bugged me.

But lol, I am slowly getting over it.

If I had to pick a player on offense who can move the needle THIS season it would be Love. I do think Tate would, too.

On defense, Downs I think would be the biggest needle mover for THIS season.

All indications seem to be they are moving heavily in the Flores defense direction, mind you Daronte Jones ran some of those principles at LSU. And in that defense the safeties are critical components. And considering Downs was the ultimate chess piece on the field for Ohio State.

Do I want Quan Martin who seemed to struggle grasping the basic Joe Whitt defense -- deal with all the presnap, postsnap shifts. and end up in the right spot?

Will Harris is a smart dude, but what if he gets hurt again? Downs would basically almost guarantee that their safeties would be good. I like having Harris more for depth or heck in three safety sets which Flores runs a bunch of.

He's not my top want but wouldn't hate it at all.

It bugged me as well. So has the knee questions. So has the position values and I include in that the idea that this is a strong DB class.

I keep having concerns with who will be the leader of the D. That may be difficult for him to do right away being a rookie and being mashed with a new staff, new scheme with lots of existing and new players. However, why not him if he is what everyone touts? He at least would represent a leader if not the leader on the field

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Doesn't seen unclear to me. Based on what's been said so far and FA so far, seems heavily Flores. I'd be dissapointed if it weren't and somewhat shocked too based on comments and FA.

If Chaisson and Oweh are going to be used as traditonal 4-3 ends, in a non Flores like defense, teams will be running down their throats all season.

As for who the best overall CB is, that's unclear.

What I mean is Flores tended to play a lot of zone behind pressure.

We don’t know if that’s exactly what Jones is going to do or want to do.

There are certainly going to be a lot of similarities but the defenses won’t be identical. Both because Jones and Flores are different people and because of different personnel.

So we know some parts of what the defense will look like but not entirely. And it’s possible a really good man corner could fit really well. Or maybe not. I don’t think we know that yet.

 

[KDawg]

Ever since I noticed Styles lack of explosiveness it’s been bugging me more.

I keep watching him and seeing him gently (and reliably) bringing ball carriers to the ground.

And he tackles everyone near the armpits.

It shouldn’t take away how much I like him, because he does everything else you want from a potential green dot.

But man… he is not a tone setter. It’s pretty clear Downs was the tone setter of that group defensively.

I’m all over the place with my top 5. It keeps changing.

But for now it’s:
1. Love

2. Tate - if we are using McLaurin as his likely career path, and I think that may be a fair assessment, I think I prefer that at wide receiver more than I prefer some of the defensive options.

3. Flip a coin: Styles, Downs, Delane, McCoy

By tomorrow Styles might be back at 2. I need to convince myself that the pillow fight tackling isn’t a big deal (and I know it isn’t but it still irks me)

 

[Chris]

Football fans version of The Bachelor now. 🤣

 

[KDawg]

Football fans version of The Bachelor now. 🤣

I think I’m very clearly in the Love or just give me one of those guys camp.

I’ll include Bain there. Because I DO know he’s going to be a monster.

 

[DWinzit]

Ever since I noticed Styles lack of explosiveness it’s been bugging me more.

I keep watching him and seeing him gently (and reliably) bringing ball carriers to the ground.

And he tackles everyone near the armpits.

It shouldn’t take away how much I like him, because he does everything else you want from a potential green dot.

But man… he is not a tone setter. It’s pretty clear Downs was the tone setter of that group defensively.

I’m all over the place with my top 5. It keeps changing.

But for now it’s:
1. Love

2. Tate - if we are using McLaurin as his likely career path, and I think that may be a fair assessment, I think I prefer that at wide receiver more than I prefer some of the defensive options.

3. Flip a coin: Styles, Downs, Delane, McCoy

By tomorrow Styles might be back at 2. I need to convince myself that the pillow fight tackling isn’t a big deal (and I know it isn’t but it still irks me)

Wow McCoy has nosed his way in

 

[Dlts20]

I am relaying you what numerous serious Jet fans are saying...and they do not know each other. Make sense or not, they do not trust their owner and have seen the other stars traded away. Hall does not want to play on the franchise tag. They were supposed to work out a long term deal but sounds like that isn't working out so well.

Trust me, I believe you. I wasn't discounting what you said about the fans. I'm speaking of the front office. They may very well take Love also but it will be on a trade down if they stay in range. I just can't see them doing it at 2 but I wouldn't be upset if they did. Either way, we should end up with a well known prospect

 

[KDawg]

Wow McCoy has nosed his way in

Not really. He’s kind of a “talent is there and I don’t know enough about the medicals so I’ll include him”

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

Ever since I noticed Styles lack of explosiveness it’s been bugging me more.

I keep watching him and seeing him gently (and reliably) bringing ball carriers to the ground.

And he tackles everyone near the armpits.

It shouldn’t take away how much I like him, because he does everything else you want from a potential green dot.

But man… he is not a tone setter. It’s pretty clear Downs was the tone setter of that group defensively.

I’m all over the place with my top 5. It keeps changing.

But for now it’s:
1. Love

2. Tate - if we are using McLaurin as his likely career path, and I think that may be a fair assessment, I think I prefer that at wide receiver more than I prefer some of the defensive options.

3. Flip a coin: Styles, Downs, Delane, McCoy

By tomorrow Styles might be back at 2. I need to convince myself that the pillow fight tackling isn’t a big deal (and I know it isn’t but it still irks me)

I get what you're saying, and sort of agree. Styles isn't a thumper. But thumping or lack thereof is not affecting what makes him special. He doesn't thump, but he also doesn't miss tackles, so it's not a true minus.

Styles whole appeal, imo, is how unique he can be in coverage compared to norms for the position. To compare all the Ohio State guys:

• Reese ++ coverage potential compared to Edges, = coverage potential compared to Off-Ball
• Styles ++ coverage potential compared to Off-Ball
• Downs = coverage potential compared to Safeties (there are pluses and minuses to Downs coverage so it averages out to neutral)

Do I wish Styles had more power, especially as a blitzer. Yup. But he can still be insanely effective in Daronte Jones/Flores defensive scheme! His speed, length, and fluidity have serious potential to be real problems for NFL offenses. I watched a lot of Brian Urlacher. He had an extra 20 pounds on Styles and could seriously thump, but he was another super tall LB with range that made things really difficult for offenses. He could blitz, he could drop back to Deep Tampa 2 Mike zones, he was as instrumental in the Bears coverages working as any of their safeties.

Styles can't thump like Urlacher. But he's got the potential to be an even more extreme version of Urlacher's coverage prowess. 6'5 with 81" wingspan, he can jump, he's fast and importantly fluid. He flips his hips in coverage well. That coverage potential would be magnified in this defense. The QB isn't sure whose blitzing, and now he's also not sure what routes could be taken away by whom, because Styles could show Blitz then drop back and mess up a Seam route. Styles would make pre-snap reads even more difficult to trust for opposing QB's.

Fred Warner is a longer linebacker that's great in coverage and makes things difficult for opposing offenses. Now imagine a Fred Warner that's 1.5" taller, 4" longer, 5" higher jumping, 0.2s faster 40, etc etc you get it. Styles on this defense has the potential to be so much more annoying to scheme against than Downs in this defense.

P.S. If we wanted a thumping safety in the 1st round, we'd go with a different one. Downs can thump but he's not as much of a thumper he's billed as. He can do it, but that's not a unique skill for him. He's not last seasons rookie safety Nick Emmanwori on the Seattle Seahawks. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren can thump better than Downs. Downs is here cause his floor is supposed to be Kam Curl on the Rams. Ceiling isn't a whole lot higher, but the floor is what's appealing. He's supposed to be the least likely to bust defender in the draft. (Love is the least likely to bust player overall)

 

[KDawg]

I get what you're saying, and sort of agree. Styles isn't a thumper. But thumping or lack thereof is not affecting what makes him special. He doesn't thump, but he also doesn't miss tackles, so it's not a true minus.

Styles whole appeal, imo, is how unique he can be in coverage compared to norms for the position. To compare all the Ohio State guys:

• Reese ++ coverage potential compared to Edges, = coverage potential compared to Off-Ball
• Styles ++ coverage potential compared to Off-Ball
• Downs = coverage potential compared to Safeties (there are pluses and minuses to Downs coverage so it averages out to neutral)

Do I wish Styles had more power, especially as a blitzer. Yup. But he can still be insanely effective in Daronte Jones/Flores defensive scheme! His speed, length, and fluidity have serious potential to be real problems for NFL offenses. I watched a lot of Brian Urlacher. He had an extra 20 pounds on Styles and could seriously thump, but he was another super tall LB with range that made things really difficult for offenses. He could blitz, he could drop back to Deep Tampa 2 Mike zones, he was as instrumental in the Bears coverages working as any of their safeties.

Styles can't thump like Urlacher. But he's got the potential to be an even more extreme version of Urlacher's coverage prowess. 6'5 with 81" wingspan, he can jump, he's fast and importantly fluid. He flips his hips in coverage well. That coverage potential would be magnified in this defense. The QB isn't sure whose blitzing, and now he's also not sure what routes could be taken away by whom, because Styles could show Blitz then drop back and mess up a Seam route. Styles would make pre-snap reads even more difficult to trust for opposing QB's.

Fred Warner is a longer linebacker that's great in coverage and makes things difficult for opposing offenses. Now imagine a Fred Warner that's 1.5" taller, 4" longer, 5" higher jumping, 0.2s faster 40, etc etc you get it. Styles on this defense has the potential to be so much more annoying to scheme against than Downs in this defense.

P.S. If we wanted a thumping safety in the 1st round, we'd go with a different one. Downs can thump but he's not as much of a thumper he's billed as. He can do it, but that's not a unique skill for him. He's not last seasons rookie safety Nick Emmanwori on the Seattle Seahawks. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren can thump better than Downs. Downs is here cause his floor is supposed to be Kam Curl on the Rams. Ceiling isn't a whole lot higher, but the floor is what's appealing. He's supposed to be the least likely to bust defender in the draft. (Love is the least likely to bust player overall)

I agree with all of this. But still… I value a tone setting high FBI guy at the green dot

 

[DWinzit]

Not really. He’s kind of a “talent is there and I don’t know enough about the medicals so I’ll include him”

Yeah I get the medical unknowns, and part of why he does't quite reach my top 7+ list

 

[skinsinparadise]

What I mean is Flores tended to play a lot of zone behind pressure.

We don’t know if that’s exactly what Jones is going to do or want to do.

There are certainly going to be a lot of similarities but the defenses won’t be identical. Both because Jones and Flores are different people and because of different personnel.

So we know some parts of what the defense will look like but not entirely. And it’s possible a really good man corner could fit really well. Or maybe not. I don’t think we know that yet.

That's the thrust of the scheme, zone behind the pressure. Him running man primarily behind it is more traditional and not so Flores like.

It would be like saying they are going to do something like name that pizzeria, but maybe just calzones and no pizza.

 

[ES1974]

I think I’m very clearly in the Love or just give me one of those guys camp.

I’ll include Bain there. Because I DO know he’s going to be a monster.

‘just give me one of those guys’ seems to go against the grain of a view of not wanting to trade back. That statement aligns to a ‘we might as well move back a few picks’ view.

 

[KDawg]

‘just give me one of those guys’ seems to go against the grain of a view of not wanting to trade back. That statement aligns to a ‘we might as well move back a few picks’ view.

Not quite. I still have a preference. But if guys are gone I’m okay with most of the group. But there is a pecking order.

It’s Love.

Then Styles/Tate/Delane

Then Downs/Bain

Then McCoy.

But I wouldn’t be mad at any of them in a vacuum. Taking Downs over Love would piss me off. There is nuance to it.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I was listening to McShay and Breer on a podcast, it was a good discussion, among other things they said, they know some teams aren't high on Tyson at all, and its not just about the injuries.

NFL scouts on the most polarizing prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft

Jordyn Tyson. Ty Simpson. Kadyn Proctor. Rueben Bain. A few quotes from the scouts inside. Subscribers can access their full capsules.

www.golongtd.com

On Tyson

• “This guy is one of the most noncompetitive receivers I’ve done in a while. Body catcher even when it’s not contested. I’ve never seen anybody catch slants and just slide to the ground like this guy does. It’s nuts. He’s just not a tough dude. He doesn’t make catches when bodies are around him. Very inconsistent. And Hines Ward coaches him, which is crazy. Because I know no way Hines is saying, ‘This is what we need here.’ I don’t like him at all. He gets hurt all the time and I don’t think he’s very tough.”

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

That's the thrust of the scheme, zone behind the pressure. Him running man primarily behind it is more traditional and not so Flores like.

It would be like saying they are going to do something like name that pizzeria, but maybe just calzones and no pizza.

I get it. but until we see it, we don’t know for sure how they are going to put things together exactly.

I don’t think our defense is going to be a carbon copy of the Flores defense. It will have similar traits but will also be tweaked based on what Jones likes and our personnel.

Which is why I said we don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like yet