Jets GM Joe Douglas increased his weekend options Thursday night, swapping the Jets' 10th overall pick and a sixth-rounder (No. 203) to Minnesota in exchange for the 'Vikes' 11th pick, a fourth-rounder (No. 129 overall) and a fifth-rounder (No. 157 overall). Douglas then took Penn State T Olu Fashanu and looked ahead to his remaining seven picks including a trio in Round 4 (Nos. 111, 129 and 134).
"Adding those extra picks, adding ammo is great," Douglas said. "It gives us a lot more flexibility. So, we'll huddle up tomorrow, assess how the rest of the round goes and we'll put our board together again for tomorrow night. I'm sure just like there was a pick 10, there will be about five or six scenarios that we'll run through in terms of moving up, moving back, staying put. So, having these extra picks certainly adds the flexibility to do a lot of different things."
The prevailing notion headed into draft weekend was while there was excellent front-line talent at both tackle and wide receiver, there is much more depth at receiver in the '24 class. As the first round concluded Thursday, Ladd McConkey (Georgia), Adonai Mitchell (Texas), Keon Coleman (Florida State), Malachi Corley (Western Kentucky) and Malik Washington (Virginia) all remained on draft boards throughout the NFL.
"It felt like we were in a unique situation where Coach (Robert Saleh) and I – I mean we burned our retinas out watching tape together the last few weeks," Douglas said. "The depth as pass catcher and tackle is really unique and obviously the best players in the draft are playing those positions. We saw three receivers go really high and then two tackles went high. So, we wanted to make sure that we could capitalize on the best remaining player."
After the Cardinals took Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State) 4th overall and the Giants selected Malik Nabers (LSU) 6th overall, Washington wideout Rome Odunze landed in Chicago at No. 9. Douglas then swapped spots with the Vikings and took Fashanu over a group of players including TE Brock Bowers, T Taliese Fuaga and T Amarius Mims.
"Those receivers are great players, they're going to be great pros," Douglas said. "They weren't there [at 10], so I can't really live in that world. They're going to be tremendous players."
It was a fascinating first round to say the least as the first 14 picks were offensive players, the most in the common era. And six quarterbacks were taken in the first round, tying the record set in 1983. The Jets opted for protection for Aaron Rodgers in Fashanu, but they have plenty of more assets to add additional offensive playmakers around him.
