The NFL Draft is one of the most exciting and unpredictable time of the football calendar. Leading up to April 25-27 in Detroit, newyorkjets.com will analyze different projections to the Jets at No. 10 overall.

Today's mock draft, posted Monday by Bryan McArdo of CBSSports.com, shows GM Joe Douglas and the Jets staying on the tackle position and selecting Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga.

Why It Makes Sense
Sure, the Jets secured one of the game's best pass-blocking LTs in Smith and one of its most reliable RT performers in Moses, so where's the need? Well, in '25, '26 ... Aaron Rodgers may or may not be under Jets C that long but it's certainly possible that Smith, who turns 34 in December and has had injury issues, is one-and-done, and Moses, 33, more durable and with slightly less tread of his tires, could still be in that category as well.

Fuaga (6-6, 334) has been in the top-three tackle cluster all offseason. He's a beefy, aggressive finisher type who started 25 games at RT his last two seasons with the Beavers. All scouts seem to love his pass-blocking maturity — his smoothness, hand punch and foot speed. Some think his run blocking will need pro polish, although pff.com said he made "remarkable strides in 2023" and that his run-blocking ability "is his trump card." NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah sees Fuaga as "the most physical blocker in the draft."

Other Tackles Taken Before No. 10
In McArdo's mock, Fuaga was the third tackle to go in the top 10, following Notre Dame LT Joe Alt (No. 7 to Tennessee) and Alabama RT JC Latham (No. 9, to Chicago).

NFL Network's Ian Rapaport has reported that the Jets and Titans were among those who held predraft visits with the towering (6-9, 321) Alt, who has remained the consensus first-tackle-out-of-the-box with his polished, disciplined play for the Fighting Irish. Latham (6-6, 342) has been poetically described by NFL.com's Lance Zierlein as "a bulldozer in human form."

After those two, another popular name among Jets fans is Penn State's Olu Fashanu (6-6, 317), who had been in the early tackle top three. McArdo — as well as many other analysts — sees Fashanu going to New Orleans at No. 14. If the Jets trade down, other tackle options lower in Round 1 could be Washington's Troy Fautanu (6-4, 317), Georgia's Amarius Mims (6-7, 340), Duke's Graham Barton (6-5, 314) and Oklahoma's no-sacks-allowed Tyler Guyton (6-7, 328).

Alternative Options at No. 10
Many would argue that with tackle initially set for '24 and viable, battle-tested, young backups on the roster in Carter Warren and Max Mitchell (and no, we're not going to say Alijah Vera-Tucker), it only makes sense to get that next top receiver for Rodgers to throw to.

The favorite choice of late has been Georgia TE Brock Bowers (6-4, 240), who looks to be available at 10 if the Jets are interested. Despite missing a chunk of time last season with an ankle injury, he returned for the Bulldogs' last three games to conclude a prolific college career that included 2,538 receiving yards, most ever by an SEC TE, and 31 TDs (26 receiving) in 40 games over his final three seasons.

Then there is wideout. With LSU's Malik Nabers and Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. likely off the board, it looks to be a coin flip whether Las Vegas-born Rome Odunze (6-3, 212) of Washington will go to the Bears at No. 9 or if his next stop will be One Jets Drive. Odunze in fact has visited the Jets and will have traveled to Chicago for another of his visits this week. He finished his Huskies career with 188 catches, 3,060 yards and 22 TDs in 36 games.

And let's not forget that HC Robert Saleh has already said this year, "The more pass rushers the merrier." What if either of the top two edge men, 'Bama's Dallas Turner (6-3, 246) and Florida State's Jared Verse (6-4, 254), falls to 10? Turner obviously wasn't with the Tide when Quinnen Williams was, and Verse didn't reach the 'Noles until Jermaine Johnson departed for the pros, but either pick would reunite same-college alums on the Jets' DL to create havoc at the next level.

Bottom Line
The case can be made for Joe D going any of the above directions: T since he's an old O-lineman himself and knows the draft isn't just about this season but the ones after that, or TE if the team loves Bowers as best available or WR Odunze if he's at the top of the Jets' board when they're on the clock. Or DL because as an old OL himself, he knows the value of a top edge rusher or three.

Douglas of course would never tip his hand until April 25. At the Combine he offered his guiding draft principles: "In terms of intelligence, toughness, reliability, there's some good candidates out there that can come in and help us."